133 MPH at NASA Kansas Speedway

[husker boxster]

Originally Posted by steved0x

I just saw this entry on the RennsportKC blog about a Cayman that blew a clutch at KS speedway, was this during your weekend?

RennsportKC – Cayman Clutch Replacement

This blog is pretty cool BTW and has some good info (at a high level, not so much in a DIY format)

Steve

Yes, the poor guy got 1 or maybe 2 sessions in before it failed. Mechanical failure is always a bummer at DEs.

[steved0x]

Each one I have been to has had some mechanical incidents. At Roebling a few weeks ago somebody spilled coolant all over the track, and then later another older 911 dumped all his oil out, and then drove it all the way around the track where he finally ground to a stop, smoke pouring out the back. Then they shut the track down for about an hour while tractors with oil-dry kitty litter type pellets, sweepers, and all kinds of stuff were used to clean it up. I heard somebody say that was like $100 a bag and they used a lot of it. And I guess it is on the driver to pay for that.

I've had my breakdown (on the way to Sebring, so hopefully it still counts ) and hopefully I don't have another one for a while...

Nobody rolled their car is hit anything that time which was good. In June at Road Atlanta a Cadillac CTS-V over cooked it into turn 1 and rolled a few times, and a 911 got sideways coming over the hill into turn 12, tried to save it, and then when traction regained he flew off track to the right into the wall. All his airbags deployed and it tore up the right side of the car. Me and my son saw that one because we were in the hospitality/media building getting some AC. Ouch. I was very timid my next session and running laps around 5 seconds slower than my other sessions...

It is still great fun!

[husker boxster]

In the very 1st session of the weekend, a pro driver shorten up the front of his Mustang. The flatbed driver paraded the carcass around the padock, maybe to provide a sanity check to the other drivers. Fortunately, that was the only contact during the w/e.

There was a guy in a yellow Cayman who wrecked rather badly in the corkscrew at Laguna in June. He went straight off in 8A, so the thought was he lost his brakes. He was uninjured but you couldn't say the same for his car. It was the third to last session of the day, so they cancelled the last 2 sessions, which was one of mine. I almost didn't care as I was debating about running it anyway. The Sun afternoon sessions were getting a bit wild and I figured the last run of the day could be dangerous with everyone trying to get their last hot laps in. My plan was to be the very last driver out so I wouldn't be in the middle of the carnage.

Which brings me to my point. I want to improve as a driver and I appreciate the suggestions. I put my work out there for suggestions, so people are welcome to comment. But I also have to drive my car home at the end of the day (in the case of Laguna, 1700 mi) and to work on Mon. So I don't mind driving at 85% in corners because that will get me home. I truly believe in slow in, fast out as a good preservation rule. Things can happen that are out of my control, but I don't want to wreck my car because I needed to got to 120 in turn 4 so I could get to 140 on the main straight. Especially after only 8 sessions at the track. I'm not that good. In the words of Clint Eastwood, "A man's gotta know his own limitations". I'm not saying I don't want to hear suggestions, I'm just saying I also have to balance my enthusiasm with my everyday life.

At least that's the plan until the green flag drops.

[husker boxster]

I hope my last post doesn't sound pissy - that's now how I intended it to be. Your suggestions were all given in a positive manner and that's how I took them. I'm just saying I have to balance going fast and being safe. I tend to lean on the safe side. There is a danger side to this hobby.