The Days before the War Begins
April 5, 2003
"Gearing up for Opening Day"
Everyone is About to Show Their Poker Hand



The Hope. The Glory. The Scandal.  The Redemption. The Truth!

The story goes like this.......
I had a revelation after being stomped at the Streets of Willow back in December by The Jasons, who were using the Big Ass Ugly Wing.   Hummm........I could enter the S2000 in the Touring 3 class, and if I had a wing on it, I think we could win the class.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the cash for a wing.  But Jason has a wing, and he claims he is building an "Active Wing", which will have a two position switch, thus allowing him to lower it when going into a turn (more downforce), and raising to a "level position" when going down the straightaways (less drag).  Yeah....that is kinda cool.....and that could work.   I propose to Jason that he can be my co-driver in the S2000, along with Erik, if we can use his wing, splitter, extra rims, etc, and he drives the car between tracks.  I figure that each of us can run at least one session at every track.  I think we can build a winning car, and keep the price relatively low.  Relative.....I guess to say....the NSX.


New Aluminum Big Ass Pretty Wing for the NSX.  Much larger than old one.

But we can't let anyone else know we are entering the S2000 in the OTC, because if it leaks out, it will give other people in the Touring 3 class time to re-arm their cars with go-fast parts.  So we will sandbag it for now.  Erik agrees to keep it a secret.  We can't enter Unlimited 3, as that is the domain of  Terry's Lotus Elise, and to build my S2000 to beat that car, we would have to spend a ton of cash.  I figure that would be another $15,000 in tires/rims/go-fast parts, along with stripping the weight out of the car to try to win the Unlimited 3 class.  We also know that Erik will be working with Coffey to dial in the suspension for Coffey's Killer Datsun for Unlimited 3, and we don't want to deal with beating him.  The Flying Miata Team will also have some sort of Miata with a turbocharged motor in Unlimited 3.  Rylan says that he is gonna enter his S2000 in the OTC, so I try to persuade him to run U3, so he can run slicks and trailer his car.  Let Rylan deal with the Elise, 320+ HP 240Z cars, and Turbo Miatas......heh heh...cause he ain't gonna beat us in Touring!


Cool mounts for wing, with triangulation bar

January 31, 2003 Speedventures at Laguna Seca.
Jason debuts his Active Aero Big Ass Ugly Wing, and runs a blazing 1:43.63 with stock suspension and slicks, crushing the All Time Fastest Lap by an S2000 (1:44.45) set by the Mugen/King Car from a year earlier.  Jason now becomes the fastest normally aspirated S2000 at Laguna Seca. Unbelievable!  David Kennedy runs a 1:42.87 in his Comptech supercharged S2000.  Those lap times are incredibly fast.  As a comparison, when I first started tracking my NSX many years ago with BFG R1 tires (normally aspirated), I was happy to run a 1:48.  A few years ago, with Hoosiers on the NSX and the 944 Turbo, Wayne and I ran 1:42's (but with stock exhaust due to sound regulations at Laguna, which crippled horsepower).


The Active Aero Big Ass Ugly Wing.  (Kodak camera sucked for color correction)
 

The AABAUW is mounted on a spare trunk lid that Jason was able to cheaply purchase, so he can easily move it from car to car.  I know the wing seems ricockulous....but Jason is a good two seconds faster with the wing than without the wing.  The AMB Transponder does not lie.  Jason and I talk when no one is looking, agreeing that adding the AABAUW to my car is going to make it a killer T3 entry....heh heh heh...they won't know what hit them!

I tell Erik not to forget about the aero mods for the NSX, as we need to make the car stick better this year, as competition will be fierce at the OTC.  The plan is to put on bigger rear wing, lower the front splitter another couple of inches, flat bottom the car, etc.  Unfortunately, he has a ton of Viper guys bringing their cars to him, and they have events every weekend for the next month or so.  Looks like the NSX testing schedule is getting pushed out a bit.


Coffey/Lampe Monster Datsun.  You gotta hear this thing.  26 Large.  For just the motor!

February, 2003
I give in to the Go-Fast Crack Pipe.  I think we can win T3 with just the AABAUW, but to ensure victory, I break down and tell Erik to order some triple adjustable Penske shocks for my car, as I think my house refinancing will go through.  He has already experimented with valving and spring rates on Mumford's monoballed S2000, so it shouldn't be too much of a chore to figure out how to tune it.  Rylan starts thinking about monoballing his S2000.  He says maybe get can get Dave to do his S2000 also.  I start thinking....hummmm....I bet it would be cheaper if we order three sets of monoballed suspensions pieces from Erik......but then we realize that Raceaflais will kill us if we try to have Erik machine these parts a mere two months prior to the OTC.  We scrap the idea for now....

February 20th, 2003
Jason says that Dave Kennedy has PM'ed him about being his co-driver in his Comptech Supercharged S2000 for the OTC.  And that Dave uh.....also wants to use the AABAUW on his S2000.   Jason and I conference, and I tell him that if he can get TWO paid rides at the OTC with his wing, to go for it.  We figured that since Kennedy's Supercharged S2000 will be running in Unlimited 2(since he added supercharger, it bumps him up a class), we will probably be in different run groups, and we can simply swap the wing between the two cars.  We just need to make sure that there is a quick connect cable for the AABAUW.  Kennedy swears to keep the secret about our T3 entry.  Kennedy now figures he just picked up 2 seconds a lap by getting Jason on as his co-driver and the AABAUW.

Early March
Wing is finally ordered for the NSX, with size and dimensions figured out by Erik.  A "non-active" wing, built by a guy who builds wings for Trans Am cars.  Erik is convinced that a properly designed rear wing with the correct size and angle of attack will be just as good as an "active" wing.


Rylan stripped out 400 lbs out of  his S2000 for this event. Now at 2350 lbs!

Friday, March 21th
The Wing Maker says he shipped my wing from the east coast.  He tries to call Erik, but Erik is helping the Viper Days dudes this weekend at Thunderhill.  Helping them too much....rumor has it that Mumford runs somewhere around a 1:50.x.  Ouch!  Since the Wing Maker can't get Erik on the phone, he ships it via ground UPS.  DOH!  The Death March to OTC 2003 begins.  We will be working on cars/trailers/trucks for 12 to 18 hours a day from now until the OTC in order to beat Raceaflais.  Preparation is everything when it comes to a race weekend, and even more so when it is a full race week.

Wednesday, March 26th
Thrashing hard to get everything ready for our test day on Friday.  Erik has to "machine parts".  Uh....oh....you know what that means.  And he still needs to work on my car.  I call the rental RV place to see if they got my insurance papers.  They say, "Uh.....we have no record of your reservation".  Excuse me, I have a piece of paper saying I put down a deposit of three weeks ago for your top of the line RV.  After figuring out they made a huge error, they run around trying to find me an equivalent RV.  Wing hasn't arrived.  Scott throws up two pictures on www.corner-carvers.com, saying he thinks the replacement RV is gonna look like this or this.

Thursday, March 27th
Wayne and Erik are thrashing on getting his front suspension back together.  My wing hasn't come in yet.  Test day for tomorrow is looking bad.  No tracks are available this weekend for testing, as other clubs (SCCA, karts, motorcycles) have Buttonwillow, Willow, and Streets of Willow booked.  Wing hasn't arrived.  The twelve Sumitomo tires that we ordered for the S2000 haven't arrived yet.  Damn.  I need to get them shaved for our test day tomorrow or Monday.  Brent and Andy are helping out at the shop, getting tires mounted, tires shaved, picking up parts and food, etc.  I have Brent drop off the semi new tires (I drove them on the street for a day or so) on the S2000 rims at Yokohama to get shaved.  They are busy, so he has to go back later in the afternoon (35 miles away) to pick them up.  And then when the other tires come in, we have to send him back and have those shaved.


No heat, air, top, rug, panels, dash, etc.  It is Rylan's daily driver....so far..

Friday, March 28th
The thrashing continues all day long.  I recruit Wayne's nephew to run some errands, like getting $100 worth of Snapple, 15 cases of water (500 bottles), filling up the truck with 100 gallons of diesel, etc.  Erik calls the Wing Maker, and with UPS, they figure out the wing is uh....somewhere in Florida.  Seems like it is caught in a loop on the east coast.  Those bastards! 

Yokohama isn't happy.....I guess they don't want tires pre-mounted that have to be shaved.  Ooops, I thought I was doing them a favor.  How does the tire spin so you can shave them if they are not mounted??  They also DO NOT want tires that have been driven on, as I guess when they throw the tire in their shaving machine, it spins at high RPMs and a blade cuts the tire down to the desired tread width.  Except when you drive on the tires that have to be shaved, there are little rocks embedded in the tires that causes the blade to become dull very quickly, or worse, could explode.  Oooops.....I'm a moron, I didn't know.   I plead ignorance.

I try to get people to bet me that I will win my class, putting me at a 1-1 favorite for winning the class. They assume I am talking about the NSX, but I am really talking about the S2000.


Mike's Mini-NASCAR

Saturday, March 29
At the shop from 7:00 a.m. until 1:00 a.m.  That's 18 hours of thrashing on Wayne's car, getting the trailer ready, moving tires from point A to point B, etc.  Jason drives from San Diego to Norcal and back to pick up the AABAUW that he let Dave borrow at Buttonwillow last week.  So he drove about 900 miles today.  But it doesn't matter to Jason, as he is PUMPED UP about the OTC.  This will be his first "paid ride" for a road racing event!

Sunday, March 30
Erik starts to work on the S2000, install shocks, remote reservoirs, springs, etc.  He says he will be ready to roll to Buttonwillow at 5:00 a.m. in the morning.  Wayne installs the "Blow Up" knob in his car.  Meaning the adjustable boost gauge.......

Monday, March 31st
I wake up at 2:45 a.m.  I start hooking up the trailer at the shop around 4:00 a.m.  Wayne and I get to Erik's at 5:00 a.m.  He is still finishing up with the alignment on the S2000.  6:00 a.m. he is done, but now has to shower and change as he has been up 36 hours without sleeping.  6:30 a.m. we leave Huntington Beach in the heart of rush hour traffic.  Two hours later, we make it through Los Angeles (45 miles away), and about 20 minutes later we pull over and pickup Rick White.   Rick is the guy who originally built Wayne's 944 Turbo from scratch.  He fabricated fiberglass body parts, put on lightweight VW control arms, sway bars you can adjust from inside the cockpit, the cage, etc.  Rick is recruited to be Wayne's co-driver for the OTC.

11:30 a.m.
We finally arrive at Buttonwillow, about 3 hours later than our planned time.  John Coffey is there, and has been waiting since 8:00 a.m. for us to show up.   I pull the S2000 out of the trailer with Jason's Active Aero Big Ass Ugly Wing (AABAUW), and Coffey starts ragging on it immediately.  He says it looks like something Jethro Clamplet would put on his car.  I told him wait until you see the lap times I am gonna throw down with the AABAUW.  I show him how we can change the rake of the wing in the cockpit.  20 minutes later, right before we take the car on the track, the 30 amp fuse blows on the AABAUW.  We have no more 30 amp fuses.  DAMN.  Coffey shakes his head, viewing me as being the Owner of Moron Racing.  The wing is stuck in the "level" position.  Can't test the wing today, so we swap on the stock trunk lid without the wing.


New BMWs, and Older BMW are at this event

At 11:30 or so we start testing on 1/4 of the Buttonwillow track.  A couple of Formula Atlantic teams have the rest of the track reserved for testing, as they are getting ready for the Long Beach Grand Prix. We are stuck with a little parking lot section of the track. Testing consists of Erik hoping in my car for a lap, making adjustments to shocks, taking car for a lap, adjusting shocks.  After doing this about four times, he comes in, and takes out Coffey's car for a few laps.  Then he takes Wayne's car out for a few laps.  Wayne's car is overheating again.  Sucks.  His car is fine on the track, water temp is no more than 180-200 degrees, but when he comes into the pit area and parks the car, in about 90 seconds, his car pukes a quart of radiator fluid out of the overflow bottle.  His car has been doing this for 9 months.  The decision is made that Rick and Wayne will go to the Bakersfield junk yard and try to find some similar plastic overflow bottles to the original Volvo one that was working before.   Erik's theory is that the overflow bottle is too small, as the one that used to work cracked, so another stronger, smaller bottle was installed.  With 20 minutes left in the day for testing, Wayne and Rick get back in time to throw on another Volvo overflow bottle.  The part of the problem is that the 944 radiator doesn't have a cap, and it depends on the cap on the overflow bottle.  Wayne takes the car out, hammers it.....and success, no overheating!  I get back home around 11 p.m., as we had to fight the LA traffic coming back home.  So it was another 20 hour work day to get ready for the OTC.  Wing hasn't arrived yet.  Bastards.

Tuesday, April 1st
Wing still not back yet.  My new motto is that never, ever ship OTC parts (or any race parts) via ground.  Just pay the extra freight and ship everything 2nd Day Air, you will have less stress and live longer.  Wayne is doing some last minute minor stuff to the 944 Turbo.  But at least we are 90% ready for the OTC.  I need a wing and some minor aero work on the NSX.  Minor stuff needed for S2000.  Minor stuff for 944 Turbo.  We are close, and should be ready to duke it out at the OTC for bragging rights.  I announced the last minute "Cheating Bastard" entry of the Pulp Racing S2000 in the Touring 3 category for the OTC.  If I can't beat the damn Radicals or the Comp Coupe, I can at least try to get a trophy for another category!


Team Radical with their Cheater U1 cars.  They are going for ALMS-like-Audi-1-2-3 finish

Saturday is an "Open Test Day" at Rupert's Pahrump Track.  The event officially starts Sunday, but Rupert gave everyone a big discount to use his track to test and tune their cars and make sure everything works correctly.  Everyone wants to get to the track on Saturday to get "Cheating Bastard Practice" on their competitors.  Those who like to gamble with Raceaflais will be doing their first shakedown of their car on Saturday.  That is cutting it to close for my comfort.  Our plan is to get to Pahrump early Friday night, relax, and get to the track early in the morning.


NSX and S2000 rims.  Ammo for the OTC.

Thursday, April 3rd
The wing for NSX finally arrives at Erik's shop.  Cool.  Erik pre-made the uprights to hold the wing, since we were getting the wing so late.  He hates to do that, as it never fits right unless he has the wing.  He had drawings and dimensions of the wing faxed to him.  Later on Thursday, he starts on the wing.  How hard could it be to mount a wing?   Tires come in.  I send Brent to get tires shaved at Yokohama.

Wayne and I pickup motor home.  Damn this thing is big. 

Home mortgage broker calls, says he wants to sign documents for the re-fi tomorrow.  Ughhhh!  Tomorrow?  Damn.  It only took 6 months for the re-fi to go through.   Whew...now I can pay the credit card bills that are piling up for the OTC.  Otherwise, I would be at the First Inaugural Meeting of Racer's Anonymous.  "I am a racing addict.  They foreclosed on my house because I would not pay for OTC 2003."

Wing doesn't fit uprights.  The Wing Maker sent uh...inaccurate schematics.  Erik tries to modify uprights to keep the wing stable, thus creating hundreds of lbs of down force from the air to keep the back end glued down when you are going 70-140 MPH in a turn.  We are schedule to leave for Pahrump Friday, 11:00 a.m.

Brent and I get this idea about shark's teeth on the S2000.  Humm....yeah....I call the wife, get some artistic advice, and I can hear her mind going, "Oh no, stickers on the car again".  We come up with this:


Shark?  Piranha?  Mosquito?  What that f....

I go to the grocery store at 9:30  p.m. to pick up groceries for the motor home.  Big mistake, I should have taken an army with me.  I fill up FOUR shopping karts of bread, meat, ice, paper towels, toilet paper, plates, plastic forks, chips, cookies, fruit, vegetables, spaghetti, cookies, candy, etc.  It takes almost 90 minutes at the grocery store to get all the crap we need for a 10 day trip. 


The Radical Team motor home and support trailer.  Both Bigger than Ours.  Damn!

Friday Morning
Erik works until 3:00 a.m. Friday morning, and can't make the uprights work.  He has to re-measure and make new uprights from scratch.    Brent goes to pick up shaved tires.  Then takes shaved tires to Allen Tire to get mounted.   We are furiously packing the trailers and motor home with all our stuff so we can beat the afternoon traffic.  At 10:30 a.m. the wife follows me to sign loan papers.  I am driving the S2000 with the huge AABAUW and the shark's teeth on it down the highway.  At the stop light she is looking at me like I am a 15 year old moron.  I turn on the AABAUW switch a couple of times.....and wink at her with the Wing a few times.  Now she really knows I have lost it......

Friday, April 4th, 1:00 p.m.
Not done.  Uh oh....traffic towards Vegas down the 15 freeway is gonna suck.

Friday, April 4th, 3:00 p.m. 
Not done.  Traffic really sucks now.  Wayne, Rick and Brent bail on us, and head out for Pahrump with the 37 foot rental motor home, which is pulling the go-kart trailer.  We have turned the go-kart trailer into Tire Central.  The go kart trailer has 20 slicks for the NSX, 12 shaved S2000 street tires, 4 NSX rain tires, 20 old Pirelli slicks for Wayne's 944 Turbo, 4 rain tires for the 944 Turbo, 8 NSX rims, 4 Porsche rims, 12 S2000 rims, 4 extra new Yoko slicks for Wayne, along with 4 slicks for Alan's Z06.  I wanted to get an alarm for the go-trailer, as I figured there must be $20,000 worth of tires and rims sitting in the trailer......but we ran out of time.


Team Radical doesn't trailer or drive to the test day.  This driver helicoptered in from SoCal

Friday, April 4th, 5:00 p.m. 
Wayne and company have gone about 30 miles in two hours. They hit the dreaded LA-to-Vegas-Friday-Afternoon traffic jam.  Erik is still working on uprights.  BP and I bail from the shop, and decide to go back to the house and rest.  I only got about 2.5 hours of sleep last night, as I was running around in a panic trying to get everything ready for the trip.  Ross Brawn ain't got nothing me.  We are back, loaded, and ready to go.....except the damn NSX ain't ready yet.

Friday, April 4th, 7:00 p.m. 
Call Erik.  He ain't done, but he is close.

9:00 p.m.
Call Erik.  Problems.  Got all the recently machined mounts on the car, wing is mounted, angle is good, etc.   Except bigger, higher wing flexes more.  Needs to have a triangulation bar welded between the two uprights.  He tries calling some welders to come by....but no takers on this Friday night.  He says the wing will wobble back and forth, which would make the wing useless.

10:00 p.m. 
He machines a triangulation bar, and welds it himself.  He doesn't like the welding job, as he is a perfectionist, but it will do for now. 

Midnight
He is just about ready.  We head to his shop.

1:00 a.m. 
He is still machining some parts for the upright.  Apparently some cool neighbor of his has a full machine shop, and Erik  has the keys to this shop so he can use the tools late at night when no one is around.  He finishes the parts, but then we have to clean up the shop, put tools back, etc. 


Flamemobile, big ass splitter, and big ass New Pretty Wing

2:00 a.m. 
SUCCESS!  Wing is on car, wing is solid and stable, and car is in trailer.  Let's get the hell out of here, the gates to the racetrack for the test day open at 7:30 a.m.  We can drive all night and get there in time.

3:00 a.m. 
FAILURE!  It takes an hour to cleanup his shop, and move all the cars and stuff back into his shop, along with packing his alignment tools, jacks, springs.   Then he says he has to stop at house, as he hasn't packed yet.

4:00 a.m. 
FAILURE!  It takes Erik an hour to pack his luggage.  What he packs, we don't know.  BP and I are waiting in the truck outside his apartment, and after going through two CDs of music, we don't know if we should shoot Erik or shoot each other, or just shoot ourselves in the head......


Rupert snagged a ride from Mosler, and they let him use their car for Touring One Class

7:00 a.m. 
FAILURE!.  I have slept a total of 3.5 hours the past two days, probably about the same as BP and Erik.  I can't keep my eyes open.  I pull over on the freeway at the halfway point to take a nap.  BP and Erik are snoring.  I sleep for about 7 minutes.  Then Erik's phone rings, some guys from back east wants suspension advice.  That wakes us all up, and I start driving again.

9:30 a.m. 
SUCCESS!  We arrive right after the driver's meeting starts.

Testing goes good.  NSX is rocking good.  Unfortunately, everyone else is rocking good.  Lap records for the various classes are being obliterated by anywhere from 3-5 seconds!  Anyways, we decide that I will buzz around in the NSX for some practice sessions, and Erik and Jason will work on dialing in the S2000.  Jason throws on the wing, and he and Erik take turns buzzing around the track.  A few minor adjustments, and Erik and Jason proclaim that with the wing on the car, the car feels great.   I didn't get a chance to take the S2000 out today, but I have plenty of time to drive it during the week.

The NSX is feeling great.  With slicks on the car, I feel like Superman.  Back in October or so, James Sofronas said he was trying to import a bunch of Yokohama slicks in the 17x8 size for BMW club racers, and wanted to know if wanted any.  It is a special order, because normally Yokohama doesn't ship this size to the US.  So I said, yeah.....put me down for 14 fronts and 10 rears (18x10)....figuring it would last me for the year.  The fronts are harder to get than the rears, which is why I ordered more fronts.  In January or so, they arrived.  But I was a moron and ordered too tall a rear slick.  Erik looks at the rear tires on the NSX, and he says it looks like a dragster. 

Luckily Erik was able to get them swapped out for a shorter 18x10 tire from Yokohama.  For many years, NSX track guys have tried to get slicks, but it was very hard since we have 17 inch fronts and 18 inch rears, and the normal manufacturers like Goodyear, Dunlap, Pirelli, etc, didn't make the same slicks in both sized.  And you can't mix different brands of slicks, because the sidewall flexing will be different, and it will be hell trying to make the car's suspension work correctly with different brand slicks on the front and back

Test day went very well for us.  The NSX, S2000, and 944 Turbo are all set for tomorrow, the first official day of competition!  And it looks like all the Cheating Bastards have assembled in Pahrump, to see who will be king of their class, and King of the OTC!


Another view of Mosler with front hood off.

Below are the links for the interviews:
1.  1992 Acura NSX entered in Unlimited 1

2.  1989 Porsche 944 Turbo entered in Unlimited 2

3.  2001 Honda S2000 entered in Touring 3

Here is the link for the modifications to the NSX and the S2000.


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