I usually try to write up race weekends a few days after getting home, but NASA’s East Coast Championships left me exhausted both physically and mentally, and I’m only now finding some time to review the week of debauchery.
The event ran from Thursday to Sunday, but I left Tuesday morning as Sebring, Florida is nearly 900 miles from home. My first stop was in Charleston, South Carolina to see some friends on Tuesday evening.
NASA Mid-Atlantic wrapped up the 2017 season last weekend at VIR, with their annual “Oktoberfast” event – always a favorite. Three of us piled into my newly-acquired 2010 Range Rover, hooked the trailer to the hitch, and set off south down I-95 on Friday afternoon.
Track weekends in the fall are some of my favorite – the weather tends to be ideal for a weekend outside, which means drivers and engines alike are a bit more perky. This past weekend at Summit Point was no exception, with crisp 50* mornings and highs in the mid-70s both days.
It’s always fun wondering which of your track friends you’ll run into on the journey out of town – this time, I shared the Dulles Greenway and Route 7 with Navin, Will, and Jon at various points. We all made it to the track around 6:30 PM and unloading was quick.
The late Chief of Instruction, Dan Unkefer, had a saying he’d frequently utter to his HPDE students in the classroom. “If you need a straight, make a straight.” We lost Dan a few years ago, but our August event at VIR is named in his memory.
All of us who have ended up with racing licenses started off in Dan’s HPDE program and taken that phrase to heart over and over.
My trip to VIR started on a good note, though traffic quickly became unbearable. College move-ins, beach travelers and the upcoming solar eclipse meant everyone felt the need to be on I-95 on Friday afternoon. Thankfully, things eased up once I got past Richmond.
We always love seeing what others are doing with their weekends in motorsport! Jake’s friend Aaron spent a few days turning money into noise and horsepower at the North Carolina Center for Automotive Research (NCCAR). Aaron is a member of the Greater Washington Section of the Mercedes Benz Club of America, and a sister region invited the GWS group down for a weekend of HPDE.
Aaron has progressed through the ranks and now consistently drives in the Advanced group in a variety of Mercedes.
Towards the end of the last autocross event my friend Alex mentioned to me that he had the itch to try out a RWD car on-course. Alex is a Volkswagen guy having had his share of GTI’s, and currently owning a Scirocco and Golf R. He’s been autocrossing a bit longer than I have, but never in something powered by the rear wheels. It didn’t take much convincing on either of our parts when we decided to swap cars for an event. So this time at Bader Field, Alex would be driving my red E36 while I drive his blue Golf R, in the most German tribute to the 4th of July Bader Field has probably ever seen.
After the last two autocross events in the spring it was clear I needed to order tires. I managed to track down one of the last sets of RE71R’s before the giant backorder issue made them unavailable through the end of this summer. My friend and autocross instructor, Mike mounted and balanced them for me. After a quick alignment we were ready for event #3 at Bader Field.
Mike co-drove this event with me, which means we shared the car for the day. My seats are not adjustable, so we had to do a bit of interior decorating to the E36 in the form of a memory foam pillow in order for Mike to reach the pedals.
It’s officially summertime and the weather at Summit Point was a constant reminder. It was H-O-T all weekend.
Saturday’s qualifying was cut very short by a Spec E46 who dropped a wheel around T8ish, spun and stuffed it nose-first into the tires on driver’s right. The car looked mostly fixable but the track was put under full-course red and every tow truck, ambulance and fire truck was sent out.
Hyperfest is one of my favorite events of the year, and this year was no different. I was excited to be back at VIR with full aero and the upgraded differential, plus I had my parents, some family friends, and friends from DC all coming to watch the racing on Saturday.
Over the off-season I admittedly did nothing to my E36. It was the first winter in quite some time that the car didn’t actually need any work to participate in the spring events. And given New Jersey had such a mild winter this year, It was driven to school and work quite often. The one thing I did was store my Bridgestone RE71Rs in the basement in attempts to preserve the compound of the tire. As I found out at South Jersey SCCA’s opening autocross event, it didn’t quite work.
Our events are held at an abandoned airport right on the Bays of Atlantic City. There is constantly a sea breeze, so most early-spring events struggle to reach the 50s.