Here is the third video from two weeks ago. 1080p with sound is the best way to view!

As shown in the still image (see earlier post), this video has some pretty tense moments when the track was covered in a dust cloud from another car going off track.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4qWRChdPdDo?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Whew... that was a gut check moment. I don't know if I could have stayed on the gas through that.

Nice pass on that Cayman.

I'm a little surprised you got a green flag and didn't get waved off with the way P4 was acting... not willing to get on line with P3. Must be a result of multiple starts and not being able to wave off...

All in all, very nice.

Very nice ......I look forward to the next episode of Boxster Race Theater!

P.S. Very jealous cold and another snow storm on the way here

Exactly. We all see that the first group got a Green so we all know that they have to give us the Green also. There is a lot of gamesmanship (or bullcrap, depending on your point of view) that goes on during a start.

And as such, some drivers will take little more advantage of this than others; but if it was something blatantly unfair, they'd black flag the car after the first lap and basically give him a stop and go penalty.

I'll admit that I was puckered.

Finally sorting thru all the media from two weeks ago and here is what the Boxster looked like after the big spin into the desert - what a mess! I spent an hour this morning cleaning both inside and outside.

How the heck does gravel get embedded in between the tire bead and the wheel like this yet the tire didn't lose any air? Think about how far that tire had to flex over to let that much gravel to be pressed into that space. I guess those are the things that can happen at 125mph. Incredible.

That is Brad Keegan, driver of an incredibly fast 911, pulling the driver side wheels off to have the tire service guys dismount the tires, clean out all of the gravel, and remount/rebalance.

Track support like this is invaluable. Thanks to Brad from Pro Motorsports in Burbank.

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...pscdzltkqg.jpg

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7uop8fmu.jpg

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psjgyqsxef.jpg

Great postings Tom, thanks. Keep 'em coming.

** Weight Reduction Update **

Keeping the Boxster street legal presents a few challenges when looking for opportunities to reduce weight, so today I decided to pull the SAI pump. Its only really needed every two years to pass smog (just like the cat's), so out it came! The SAI pump is actually fairly light at 4lbs but every pound counts.

Also, after 4 years my original fire suit was looking fairly worn and it was fairly heavy and correspondingly hot. When I bought this suit, I had no intention of going wheel to wheel racing so it was medium priced at $1400 retail which I bought for $900.

My new driving suit is made from a much lighter fabric (yet has the same fire protection rating) saving 1.2lbs over my old suit but more importantly breathes a lot more so it will be quite a bit cooler in warm weather. The new suit was a 2014 model which retailed for $1900 but I was able to find it on closeout for $695.

Since the spec min weight (including car, fluids, and driver) is 2650lbs, I have also been losing weight myself with a total of 10lbs thus far. Its not much fun but it isn't really that hard. I plan to keep going and drop another 10lbs myself over the next 2 months.

Thus, the totals so far are 12.5 + 4 + 1.2 + 10 = 27.7lbs or 69% of the 40lb goal!

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...pstrl6jwgx.jpg

I also removed the rear mud guards which got pretty bent up when I went off-roading at the last race. I'll get replacements so they don't act like air brakes under the car.

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psktz8oe1d.jpg

Its "New Windshield Day" again!

This windshield is exactly one year old but was damaged after the barrage of rocks and gravel that another car threw out in the first race three weeks ago. Its not unheard of for some racers to have to replace their windshield twice in a season - just depends how unlucky you are!

The damage started as impact damage on the outer edge and then the spidery crack started to propagate its way to the 6-8 inches that it is now.

The nice thing is a new windshield is amazingly clear compared to a 15 yr old windshield or one that has seen it fair share of track days.

$380 installed. After the install, I'll drop off the car at House Automotive and they will have the banner graphics and my name replaced this week.

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psnx3xawol.jpg

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psb5lwwzkd.jpg

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psyerc2lmv.jpg

Maybe your auto insurance covers replacement

I got some rocks thrown up on the freeway from a sweeper that put some chips in my windshield and I filed a claim with Caltrans. Sent the claim form in with estimates from 2 Porsche dealers and got a check for $913 from Caltrans a few weeks later!

I might consider filing with insurance if this was my daily driver but getting sprayed with rocks and gravel while racing is definitely one of the risks (and subsequent costs) that have to be "self insured".

I guess because it's spec you can't run a Poly windshield? What about putting on the tear offs? I run a double set on my Boxster and it's still in great shape. This requires a small bit of trimming.

Porsche 911 996 & 997 ProShield Tear-Off - Pro-Tint, Inc

Hmm. Never thought about these. Excellent idea! :cheers:

You can use a Lexan (polycarbonate) windshield in Spec Boxster. For example:

996 Front Windshield Part# 60-996

Weighs 11 lbs. $675.

Probably safer than glass. I'm not sure how much weight that saves. How much does a glass windshield weight?

It's probably also a good idea to install clips to hold any windshield in place.

Considerably cheaper alternative

Porsche Boxster Windshields: Five Star Race Car Bodies

Great idea and I love the weight savings - but how well do these hold up with time and wear?

My poly rear window has not worn well at all. I can live with it in the rear but no way that I could put up with that in front.

You can apply 1,2 or 3 layers of clear film to take the abuse and get a "fresh" windscreen when it gets hard to see through

I have a poly front with 2 layers of tear offs. You can't really run them without the tear offs. I run two layers right now. It's held up for two years and about 20 track days so far. Mine came on the car and it is installed like the regular windshield.

Thanks for the info! As soon as this windshield needs replacement (which will probably happen within a year), I think i'll try the poly for the replacement.

We had new solid numbers put on the car (to replace the outline numbers) when the windshield banner and name graphics were replaced after replacing the cracked windshield.

The PCA corner workers occasionally said that the outline numbers were difficult to read while I was out on the track so this seemed like a good time to take care of that issue once and for all.

Old outline numbers
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psfvutzzqk.jpg

New solid numbers
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...pshllcuxk9.jpg


http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...pswadcftqy.jpg


http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psut9k0nxg.jpg

Looks good - like the color contrasts.

Its always exciting...

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psjunxzwof.png

Since I went to the square setup, I've only had set full set of rear 8.5" wheels and another half set. This meant that I couldn't swap between tire sets. I finally got another pair of rear wheels but found that I didn't have any more red plastidip to paint them - but I did find several cans of gold!

I've always wondered what gold wheels would look like so I went ahead and sprayed a set. I plan to run the gold wheels at the PCA Festival of Speed in two weeks. The good news is that I can always swap back to red in about an hour.

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psoomxixpf.jpg

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...pswpx8mkmm.jpg

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5berixed.jpg

Those look sharp it will be nice to see them on the car.

Tom, is this the color called "antique gold"..?

I really like the sublime tone and I was thinking on plastidipping my Carrera Classic wheels, I think they would look great on a white car with tan interior...

But I am not sure about having to remove the tires to do it properly...

This color is called "Vintage Gold" (without the metalizer). I think that this color would look awesome on a white car with tan interior!

I did not do the black basecoat which is supposed to give it more of an antique look. I simply sprayed it over the Porsche silver (two wheels towards the bottom of the photo) and over the PlastiDip red (two wheels at the top of the photo). As you can see, it covers pretty well. I used three cans for four wheels.

I have done this previously on wheels with the tires mounted - just blue tape off the tires and it works fine with the tires mounted. You have to put the blue tape on in short sections (because it is linear and won't bend around the wheel) so it takes a little time but its not hard. I also blue tape the inside of the wheels. Its really easy to do this with the tires on.

Also, be sure to have a paint mask (one that absorbs paint fumes, not just a dust mask) to avoid inhaling spray paint fumes.

Old trashed mudguards replaced. The old set had seen quite a bit of off-roading!

These parts sure seem expensive (around $80) for simple plastic trim pieces. Install was pretty quick and easy.

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...pspzuvpud7.jpg

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psjzv8nsz4.jpg

mine are broken on both sides as well

** Weight Reduction Update #2 **

As I mentioned earlier, I have been losing weight myself with a new total of 20lbs lost thus far.

Thus, the total weight loss now stands at 37.7lbs or 94% of the 40lb goal!

I will have my car weighed at the Festival of Speed so I have an accurate baseline weight. This should put me close to the goal of being able to manage the weight at the end of the race based on fuel remaining.

That is awesome! My Dr was on me last time, I need to do something, I cold probably stand to lose around 50.... :)

Tom,
Do you buy the Vintage Gold locally..?
I have not been able to find it and Amazon says from April 7 to 11.. :-(
Thank you!

EDIT: I ended ordering from Dipyoucar.com as I was not able to find the Vintage Gold locally… thanks again

Very commendable. That is not easy to do and has soooo many benefits.

A great day of practice at the California Festival of Speed! It was a little bit rainy here and there but the lap times were fast when the track was dry. I slid around a little bit but kept things well under control. A few others were not so fortunate and had some pretty serious damage.

In the first practice, I was fairly slow and off the pace of the front group by about 4 seconds. In the second practice I had the third best time (of 16 Spec Boxster's) and in the third practice I had the second best time. :) Looking forward to one race tomorrow and two on Sunday!

Here is a pic from this morning. I put on a new set of tires along with the gold wheels this evening.

http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psguuj2glz.jpg

Wow! What a great weekend at the California Festival of Speed!

There were reports of heavy traffic...
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...sqsck29od.jpeg

And rain while going through the NASCAR banking at 121mph...
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...syf49mh8c.jpeg

And even a little off-roading...
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...sbzagi0x6.jpeg

It was a great weekend, got to have a nice chat with Tom. What a great guy!
between my sessions, got a chance to see the Club Race that Tom was in, it was WILD!!!
These guys were running 4 across the super speedway hauling ass at 120 mph +, some 150+!
Then into the infield 3 across at turns 3 & 4 where they come off the super speedway dropping from triple digit speeds to around 40 mph. Theses guys have some brass balls!

A great 3 days of cars, a few crashes and camaraderie

No fair taking the shorter line ... :D

Sorry for the late posts but I was out of town this week on a business trip.

To re-cap the Festival of Speed results;

Race 1: Qualified 4th and battled back and forth for 3rd but was down to gas fumes with two laps to go and decided to come off the track rather than run dry and be stranded out on the track waiting for a tow after the race. Simply mis-judged how much fuel this track uses per lap. Final position: DNF

Race 2: Qualified 5th and had an epic battle with 4th place for almost the entire race. I did everything to get by him but couldn't get the pass done. One of the top 3 dropped out with a failed engine. Final position: 4th

Race 3: Qualified 4th and raced somewhat tentatively in the rain to a 3rd place finish.

Overall, it was a great weekend. My lap times were consistently in the Top 4 of the Boxster Spec field.

Video is coming! Here are some pic's;

Who needs that inside front wheel anyway?
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psh4jashmr.jpg

On the NASCAR banking...
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...pstvxtzbhg.jpg

Everyone stacks up into Turn 3 on the first lap - its as insane as it looks...
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psopedqny6.jpg

Close up on the banking...
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psljvjgpaq.jpg

This is a pretty big steering input!
http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/...psr4ur7ae3.jpg

Great job Tom, you made me work for it. That was a very fun weekend. Please stop loosing weight, its only making you faster.

Thanks Branimir, it was great racing with you! I'll post up the video as soon as I can get it edited.

** Weight Update #3 **

Spec Boxster minimum weight with driver and fuel is 2,650 lbs. My goal is to be able to manage the weight of the car by adjusting the fuel load at the start of a race so I am near the min weight at the end of a race (with some margin for error).

After one of the races at CFoS, I was sent to the scales for weighing. Total weight was 2,705 lbs with a 1/2 tank of gas. Subtracting 51 lbs for fuel (6 lbs/gallon x 8.5 gallons), says that the car/driver weighs 2,654 lbs.

In a perfect world, I'd like the car/driver total weight to be 2650 lbs with 1/8 tank of fuel, which means an un-fueled car/driver weight of 2650 - 13 = 2637 lbs.

Thus, I still need to reduce weight by 17 lbs.

To reach this goal, I have decided to lose another 10lbs myself (for a total of 30lbs lost by myself) and I need to find another 7 lbs to take out of the car to be at my minimum weight goal.