MMiskoe

Should just do that with the windshield then you'd have much more material to work with. Can I cut out the OE firewall and use that material as re-purposed then build a new firewall for no points because it is a required safety item and bulkheads can be built for free?

My kid got out of the car at about 5pm cursing a storm "Some spilled like 5 gallons of oil out there, all the way around the track". We just looked at him and congratulated him on being able to keep it on the track, told him to go get a sandwich. Guys in the pit next chuckled and said "must have been a big diesel truck out there to dump that much".

Just for curiosity, why did CC get their panties in a bunch over the front wing? It seemed pretty clever and well within the rules. Did you have "How do you like me now!" written on it?

Pretty simple equation to see that a bumpy track sees more benefit from the right shock package. - Since the package from Mazda is expecting a heavier car on softer springs, was there any re-valving done to match the new shocks to the lighter car, stiffer springs? - How old were the yellow ones? Not doubting that they are better, but is any of that better-er because the old ones were at the end of their life? - had the old ones been re-valved as noted above? We've been looking at this package too, if for nothing else it is an Easy Button approach to replace the Yellow SM's that have a million miles on them.

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So if you cut out the package shelf that creates the bulkhead between the driver & the fuel you use that material for your flares. Then because a bulkhead is mandatory safety equipment you fab up a nice one out of materials you purchase at no points. Right?

Ah - to be 15 and being cold isn't really a big deal you just treat it like a temporary inconvenience.

Miskoe Motorsports - Highlighter Yellow Miata with the comically large wing. Quick recap Drive down from NH to leave behind back to back snow days for the kids (bonus that they don't miss school). Last car through tech on Thursday night. Uneventful test day, learned enough to keep us from feeling foolish in the race. Started somewhere just shy of DFL it seemed like, I think there were about 5 cars behind us. Just kept working forward, never put a wheel off the track. Had a couple of pace car bad-lucks where the PC went out ahead of us, but behind the guys leading our class, but oh well, can't do much about it. We had left all our radio gear at home (they are well charged now) which gave us some trouble with pitting at the right time and we got shuffled back further than we needed to with pit stops. In the end - 2nd in class, 10th overall. We'll take it. Not too bad for an old man and two teenagers. Nothing like going out with your two sons as your co-drivers and having a finish as strong as we did. Never been to the track before. All the prep and car fabrication is done by the three of us. Mom approves purchases and does logistics. Families that race together stay together. Strange race, but none ever go as planned. Sorry to the Miata that I ran wide and we collided with about 10 minutes to go, think it was blue, or at least dark colored. Not the intent, not the way I like to drive.

Everyone was wearing hats because it was cold. I am also curious if any data was taken so I can see if I am part of the problem.

Interesting event. We drove down from New Hampshire thinking that we were leaving the snow behind us, no expectations that it would turn out as it did. Fog at the end sucked, but with the exception of the back straight it was driveable. I can't comment on what the flag stations could see, I suspect not much. I will put out here that the number of cars that went off was a tad surprising. We had someone on their roof Friday due to a late pit decision (and some genuinely scary decisions with the subsequent red flag), we had someone crash (pretty hard) in the middle of the back straight while under caution. More than once someone would go off while we were FCY. Once it got dark it seemed that people must have been driving with their eyes closed. Yes it was poor conditions, but it wasn't as if it changed all at once, it took all day to get that way. As drivers, we can and should do better!

Pretty safe to say that its unlikely the videos from the dark will make a definitive ruling, you just can't see that much. I was in the car for the last stint, it sucked. Stations seemed to either have yellow or nothing and it was impossible to tell if it was FCY or just local. It was interesting to watch that due to so many safety cars, some folks benefited, others didn't. I watched us go from P1 in class to full lap down because we got passed for the lead, then the pace car split us allowing the leader to go around and catch us up. Nothing to be done about it, but with that many FCY's it just becomes a crap shoot.

But I suspect none of you guys south of the Mason-Dixon line took a break from car prep today to take the dirt bike with studded tires out to do some flat-tracking on the ice. Studded tires, smooth ice, awesome.

This will likely be a dumb question to those who are local to the track, we're not local. - fuel is on the club paddock side? Accessible from the pit lane on foot with a dolly or are you driving tog get there? Fully self serve I imagine. - concessions - sup's say Saturday but nothing more. Are the likely to be open on Friday as well? What's the chance you can get a cup of coffee out of them at 7:10 on Saturday? Strange to be headed to a race at this time of year. There's ice 8" thick on the pond behind the house and it is currently snowing. Low's in the 40 degree range will seem tropical.

This doesn't work. Here's why. As stated before, the biggest complaint that gets made about tracks is the noise. To appease the neighbors limits get set for what the neighbors will have to put up with. That limit is based on what it sounds like at the property limit during races/track events. Tech line is not the race and does not have the cars at full load and is not likely at the edge of the property, so what the car sounds like there, is not the standard it needs to meet. It can be a data point that you can then extrapolate from, but not necessarily. Many tracks have their own standards that has ZERO to do with the folks hosting the race. Trust me, they don't want to have to enforce it either, but it is easier to enforce sound limits than to fight court orders and go out of business. But they will give you minimal warnings before pulling you in. Trust me, I've had my race shortened or lost all my qualifying times due to noise. Yes it sucks. Also as stated before this isn't a hard or new thing to deal with. We all benefit from it. Be glad that Champcar is at least giving some warning on the fact that they will be looking at this (or listening) at upcoming races. If you think the car is louder than most, have a plan to make it quieter. Step 1 create a standard (mostly done) Step 2 tell people they need to meet it (done) Step 3 monitor it and let people know how they're doing in a manner that allows them to go racing. (needs to be carried out)

The meter is in a fixed location on the side of the track. Car goes by, reading is taken. Done. There is no testing. This is why as an entrant you need that data. If you have a collection of identical vehicles, you can rev them to a certain amount at no load and take a reading. Then you can compare to other who have also been on the track and do some estimating to get an idea of what the sound will be under load, but it is an estimate and only works with identical vehicles (spec series).