Ron Earp
Admin
I was hot and having a dream about sleeping in a no-tell motel. The bed was lousy and the sheets stank vaguely of old cigarettes and beer. A dog was lying on my leg. Every few seconds the dog would shiver. Odd dream I thought. Then I realized I didn’t have a dog and woke up with a start.<o
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The bed was still lousy and could be used for torture in countries that couldn’t afford better devices. I smelled a lot like cigarettes and beer. There was a large Greyhound in my bed. I wondered why it wasn’t sleeping with his owner who lie a few feet away, snoring like a two stroke chain saw with a bad carburetor and a ignition miss. The Greyhound was black and was in fact shivering periodically. I pulled some cover over the dog figuring I’d warm it up and then tried to go back to sleep. <o></o>
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I woke again to the sound of water falling, sort of like the sound a gentle stream makes as it meanders by your picnic site. The dog was out of the bed. I sat up and looked for the dog. He was standing by the door looking back at me and urinating on the carpet, or what passed for carpet in this place. It’s owner was still sawing down the forest. It was 6am and my head hurt. Welcome to racing at Carolina Motorsports Park, CMP.<o></o>
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Jeff and I were down for a double SARRC weekend at CMP. Two sprint races (that is a wheel to wheel short race for you Europeans, 30 mins) were being run and we thought we’d split the 260Z since Jeff’s TR8 was still laid up for the fuel injection conversion. I choose Saturday for racing and in addition to waking up with a dog peeing on the carpet we were looking at a wet weather forecast. The weatherman did not disappoint.<o></o>
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CMP is my favorite track to race. Relatively short at about 3.25 miles it has lots of corners and the driver is always busy at CMP. Incidentally, it is probably my best track for being competitive. <o></o>
<o> </o>
Qualifying came early and the track was still damp from Friday rains. I went out and performed a little track ballet in the kink, a typically high speed right bend in the main straight. Car was ok, I think I ended up qualifying near the front.
CMP SPIN VIDEO
As the morning wore on it was apparent rain was coming. <o></o><o></o><o></o>Fortunately, I’d traded for some rain tires and wheels a few months ago. Some Toyo Proxie DOT race tires in full tread. I’d just gotten them on the car when Steve Parrish, a fellow Z racer, came over.<o></o>
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> </o>
Given that I did get the wheels and tires from Jeffrey my confidence was now somewhat diminished .<o></o>
<o> </o>
As I was strapping in the car for grid time it was pouring steadily. Once in I realized we had a problem. I couldn’t see. Despite the anti-fog on the inside of the car it was fogged up like a bathhouse. I was wondering how to solve the problem when a buddy of ours, Neil, come over and mentioned his engine was blown in his RX7 and he wouldn’t be joining the coming crashfest. I mentioned my visual problem and he had a wonderful solution – he duct taped a shirt to a stick and handed it to me. “Just drive normally and then use the stick to wipe the inside of the windshield.” Yay.<o></o>
<o> </o>
The track was fooking flooded. Water everywhere. Pouring rain, not just rain, but Noah’s Ark proportions. We formed up for a green but got waved off because we were apparently not formed up. If a car was within 15 yards of my car I could see it. If the car had brake lights on that range extended to 40 yards. <o></o>
<o> </o>
Second form up and we got the green but I didn’t see it. A red BMW was in front of me on the first or second grid row so I just gave it some gas when I heard other cars gas up. Man, was the track slick. Since visibility was about nil I think I’d done much better with a in-car GPS zoomed all the way in, or, someone on the radio saying “okay…4…3….2…..1…..turn left now!”.<o></o>
<o> </o>
A couple of the front running cars with defrosters fared better. I ended up staying on track and not hitting anything, no small feat. Lots of cars were off but all in all the race was relatively clean. I ended up with a 4<sup>th</sup>, about 10 seconds off the lap times with guys with defrosters but ahead of a lot of other folks.<o></o>
<o> </o>
Video is up here, has a couple of minutes at the beginning of pace car laps.
CMP RAIN RACE VIDEO
<o></o><o></o>
In summary, I like driving in the rain. I enjoyed how the car felt and I felt I could be fast if I could see. I will definitely not hesitate to race in the rain again but only if I get the visual aspect work out. And I’m working on that now.<o></o>
<o> </o>
Next up Jeff’s Sun race which was the best SAARC race I’ve ever watched. Period.<o></o>
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> </o>The bed was still lousy and could be used for torture in countries that couldn’t afford better devices. I smelled a lot like cigarettes and beer. There was a large Greyhound in my bed. I wondered why it wasn’t sleeping with his owner who lie a few feet away, snoring like a two stroke chain saw with a bad carburetor and a ignition miss. The Greyhound was black and was in fact shivering periodically. I pulled some cover over the dog figuring I’d warm it up and then tried to go back to sleep. <o
></o><o
> </o>I woke again to the sound of water falling, sort of like the sound a gentle stream makes as it meanders by your picnic site. The dog was out of the bed. I sat up and looked for the dog. He was standing by the door looking back at me and urinating on the carpet, or what passed for carpet in this place. It’s owner was still sawing down the forest. It was 6am and my head hurt. Welcome to racing at Carolina Motorsports Park, CMP.<o
></o><o
> </o>Jeff and I were down for a double SARRC weekend at CMP. Two sprint races (that is a wheel to wheel short race for you Europeans, 30 mins) were being run and we thought we’d split the 260Z since Jeff’s TR8 was still laid up for the fuel injection conversion. I choose Saturday for racing and in addition to waking up with a dog peeing on the carpet we were looking at a wet weather forecast. The weatherman did not disappoint.<o
></o><o
> </o>CMP is my favorite track to race. Relatively short at about 3.25 miles it has lots of corners and the driver is always busy at CMP. Incidentally, it is probably my best track for being competitive. <o
></o><o
> </o>Qualifying came early and the track was still damp from Friday rains. I went out and performed a little track ballet in the kink, a typically high speed right bend in the main straight. Car was ok, I think I ended up qualifying near the front.
CMP SPIN VIDEO
As the morning wore on it was apparent rain was coming. <o
></o><o></o><o></o>Fortunately, I’d traded for some rain tires and wheels a few months ago. Some Toyo Proxie DOT race tires in full tread. I’d just gotten them on the car when Steve Parrish, a fellow Z racer, came over.<o></o><o
> </o>“Hey Steve, check it out. I have some rain tires now. I’m gonna be fast! Do you have any rains?”<o></o>
<o> </o>
“I dunno, those look like those wheels that Jeffrey Roussel bought from me a year ago. They had some seven year old Toyos on them. I’ve got some new brand new Hoosier rains. You want a sandwich?”<o></o>
<o></o><o
> </o>“I dunno, those look like those wheels that Jeffrey Roussel bought from me a year ago. They had some seven year old Toyos on them. I’ve got some new brand new Hoosier rains. You want a sandwich?”<o
></o>
> </o>Given that I did get the wheels and tires from Jeffrey my confidence was now somewhat diminished .<o
></o><o
> </o>As I was strapping in the car for grid time it was pouring steadily. Once in I realized we had a problem. I couldn’t see. Despite the anti-fog on the inside of the car it was fogged up like a bathhouse. I was wondering how to solve the problem when a buddy of ours, Neil, come over and mentioned his engine was blown in his RX7 and he wouldn’t be joining the coming crashfest. I mentioned my visual problem and he had a wonderful solution – he duct taped a shirt to a stick and handed it to me. “Just drive normally and then use the stick to wipe the inside of the windshield.” Yay.<o
></o><o
> </o>The track was fooking flooded. Water everywhere. Pouring rain, not just rain, but Noah’s Ark proportions. We formed up for a green but got waved off because we were apparently not formed up. If a car was within 15 yards of my car I could see it. If the car had brake lights on that range extended to 40 yards. <o
></o><o
> </o>Second form up and we got the green but I didn’t see it. A red BMW was in front of me on the first or second grid row so I just gave it some gas when I heard other cars gas up. Man, was the track slick. Since visibility was about nil I think I’d done much better with a in-car GPS zoomed all the way in, or, someone on the radio saying “okay…4…3….2…..1…..turn left now!”.<o
></o><o
> </o>A couple of the front running cars with defrosters fared better. I ended up staying on track and not hitting anything, no small feat. Lots of cars were off but all in all the race was relatively clean. I ended up with a 4<sup>th</sup>, about 10 seconds off the lap times with guys with defrosters but ahead of a lot of other folks.<o
></o><o
> </o>Video is up here, has a couple of minutes at the beginning of pace car laps.
CMP RAIN RACE VIDEO
<o
></o><o></o>In summary, I like driving in the rain. I enjoyed how the car felt and I felt I could be fast if I could see. I will definitely not hesitate to race in the rain again but only if I get the visual aspect work out. And I’m working on that now.<o
></o><o
> </o>Next up Jeff’s Sun race which was the best SAARC race I’ve ever watched. Period.<o
></o><o
> </o><o
> </o><o
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