STU at LRP National

Hi Guys,

As I posted earlier in the thread about IT guys going to the runoffs in STU, I'm all for it. It's a great idea for everyone.

A bunch of you guys are signed up for STU in the small bore run group at the LRP National. This is great. Personally, I'm psyched to race with you IT guys. FWIW: I'm no F1 pilot at LRP. My personal best is in the 1:01s, which sucks for a GTL car. Hopefully I'll do better this year.

I've raced at lots regionals with many of you guys and have always enjoyed it. This is not a knock on anyone. I'm writing this because you guys get some prod and GT cars at regionals and may think the national cars are the same. Trust me when I tell you that the national guys in these classes are WAY faster than the regional guys. If you've never run in this group before, it will be an eye opener.

Just a few things to consider. The ITA lap record is a 1:01. EP, FP, GTL, etc lap records are in the 57-58 range. Even the HP (1 liter cars) record is a 59.

This means that the ITA cars are going to get lapped by the leaders in FP, EP, and GTL right near the end. We all know how late race lapped traffic can make things exciting. IMHO: if you're getting lapped, hold your line. Make the faster car pass you. Never pull out of line or move to make room ... ever.

Just a reminder to please keep your head up and consider the difference between how cars on slicks and cars on DOT R compound tires make their laps work.

Slicks are awful when they are cold. DOT R compound tires are WAY better when they are cold but they don't improve as much with temperature as slicks do. So the cars on slicks might seem to brake early for the first few laps and park it in the corners at first. Most of them will come alive in lap 2 or so. So keep that in mind. You may get by someone early on and then have a much faster car behind you on lap 3 who is racing for his divisional championship.

Looking forward to it!

Kyle
GTL #92