Well, I guess I am ready..........

[Tom Donnelly]

First
Was it a dry weekend? Because if it was then you can't compare the times fairly running on toyo's versus a set of hoosiers. Plus, I bet you aren't really sure how many heat cycles those toyos have on them. I have heard they get quite greasy when they're on their last legs.

Second
If it was raining I think you might have been pushing the toyo's near their limits if you were turning a 1:34 in the wet. Just my opinion but that's that. It takes seat time to get used to a car at speed, and the double driving school at roebling isn't really the best place to get that seat time. Its not a bad idea to do another school. If you were expecting to do in the 1:24's right out of the box you shot yourself in the foot before you started. Roebling has the longest straight in the southeast and that makes that last turn a really important corner. And turn one you can double apex or go really deep and single apex. But on the latter, you really have to maintain speed or you'll get passed by the next 2 turns.

It sounds to me like you were being too hard on yourself. I can remember going into turn 12 at Road Atlanta for the first time, putting my foot to the floor and then backing off thinking, "Home Equity loan, oh shit, home equity loan!".

Besides, an early z car can be an unforgiving (expletive deleted) when its not set up properly and you're not used to it.

What diff ratio were you running?

[Tom Donnelly]

I want to add to the above. You probably did better than you thought you were doing. If driving school wasn't just a little humiliating in some way, you weren't learning anything.

And you and your car are still in one piece!!

Don't give it up. Just do it.

Tom

[abreakey]

First
Was it a dry weekend?
[/b]

It was a dry weekend. One session (morning Sat) had some leftover water from the overnight rain for our session. Other than that, it was dry.

I was wondering why I didn't see you later on in the weekend. I figured it was a broken car. You were not alone... there were several people that packed up early. It was a bit intimidating, no doubt. Turn 8/9 at full throttle in my ITA car was crazy, I can't imagine it in a faster car.

adamb

[JeffYoung]

Pb, hang in there. If you didn't feel right being there, and didn't want to be there, you made the right decision to leave.

But, if you were turning 1:34s by Saturday a.m., well, that's fine in my book. I went down there in an old ITS car (a TR8) that was a handful with the torque and the old BFG R1s I was running. I turned a best of 1:36 the whole weekend, but I finished up. And now, a couple of years later, I'm running 24s down there.

Putting times aside, let me say this about Roebling. I actually love the track, a great driver's track in my view. I also thought the instructors and instruction at Roebling were high quality and if you had Chris Newberry, you were extremely lucky.

That said, I DO NOT THINK ROEBLING IS A GOOD PLACE TO DO YOUR SCHOOL. There are TOO many cars. TOO much carnage and honestly, Roebling has at least 3 places were you can get in big trouble if you haven't been there before.

CCR ran a double school at CMP in 2004 (just one year) and had about 40 cars. This was good and bad -- bad in that it meant no more schools but great in that there was NO carnage and everyone got lots of one on one time with their instructor.

If I were you, I would consider doing the single at Summit, or maybe a single out your way. Take our time with it.

HOpe to see you on the track sometime.

[x-ring]

Plus, I bet you aren't really sure how many heat cycles those toyos have on them. I have heard they get quite greasy when they're on their last legs.
[/b]

My experience with the RA-1s is that they get faster and faster until they quit, rather than gradually deteriorating. Yours could have been gone, but you didn't know it.

It takes seat time to get used to a car at speed, and the double driving school at roebling isn't really the best place to get that seat time. [/b]

Never been to Robeling, but I'll second that. You're too busy at a school to even figure out what's going on, even more so if you didn't bring any crew (like I didn't).

I can remember going into turn 12 at Road Atlanta for the first time, putting my foot to the floor and then backing off thinking, "Home Equity loan, oh shit, home equity loan!".
[/b]

ROFL!

Besides, an early z car can be an unforgiving (expletive deleted) when its not set up properly and you're not used to it.
[/b]

I guess mine's still not set up right, then, because she's an unforgiving (expletive deleted) and I am used to her.

Do you know another word for a stable race car? Slow.

It sounds to me like you were being too hard on yourself.
[/b]

Seriously, Pb, Tom may be right. Knock down some more cones, do a couple of HPDEs, then try again.

[Tristan Smith]

Paul,
Don't be too hard on yourself. You ARE SUPPOSE to be un-nerved at times in a racecar. Your confidence will grow with seat time. If everyone was fast right out of the box, we wouldn't need schools, and rookies would win races. Something that rarely happens.
As far as your confidence in the car itself; if your have done your maintenance, "nut and bolted" the car, and gone over all the systems, then you have to let go of that fear that that the car may fall apart on you. The truth is if you have done all those things, there isn't much you can do to prevent something from failing in the course of a race or session. The old saying is "if you can't afford to write off a racecar, you can't afford to race". Now I 'm not saying that everyone should go out there and trash their car, and those around them. But racing is still a hazardous endeavor and you as a driver can't control all the variables around you. Part of the knowledge gained by seat time, is that understanding. Hell, the first season or two I was so scared each race, that I could barely breath. But these days, sitting in the car before a session is the calmest part of a race weekend for me, and the most enjoyable. So do some more HPDE and Solo 1's, and try the school again. You will not regret it.

[JeffYoung]

Hell, the first season or two I was so scared each race, that I could barely breath. [/quote]

LOL...I remember the thought that went through my mind the first time I came down to the green flag for the "school race" -- "WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING STRAPPED INTO THIS THING?"

Tristan is right. The feeling of uneasiness will -- gradually -- subside. I also strongly believe, per teh above, that the Roebling school does nothing to reduce it.

Hang in there, and shoot me an e-mail or PM if you want to talk more. I'm just a few years out of school, and I still remember that school feeling VERY well.

[pballance]

Thanks guys, I will be back, I just need to build my confidence in the car and my prep.

FWIW, I really have no idea on the diff ratio. The spare locker is a 3.54 IIRC, and it is a guess that I have a 3.70 or 3.90 installed. The tires were brand new, full depth Toyo's and they felt pretty good even with the tread squirm I started feeling. The bottom line was I was just didn't trust myself or the car as much as I needed to last weekend. With some more seat time and better car prep I think that will change.

I have written a fairly long story about my experiences for the regions newsletter. I will post it here in the near future and you can better understand what happened to me. I am sure that I am not alone with what I went through. I didn't expect to be fast but I also didn't expect to wind up feeling the way I did. I was surprised when It happened to me.

I really do appreciate the kind words and like I said before, I plan on going back but when I do I will be both mentally prepared as well as having a better prepped car. And as much as I hate to say it, and I sure wouldn't like it, the real reason I bought this car was to have something to play with that I actually could afford to write off and not have to think like Tom going through 12 at RA (too funny about second mortage).


p

[gran racing]

Paul, I agree with others and believe you were being too hard on yourself about the flag, lap times, among other things. Things will break on your racecar. It's just a part of racing. At my school the darn window wouldn't go up and I came very close to just smashing the darn thing. At the same point if you don't feel comfortable in driving your car, it would be nerve wracking for anyone. Like you said, do a PDX / HPDE and gain trust in your car as well as yourself. I am also not sure it can just be attributed to not feeling comfortable with your racecar. Based on your story, it was really the combination of everything related to the school and challenges you faced with your car. I am also not saying that you didn't do what was right for you at that time. It was better for you to recognize that you just didn't have the necessary comfort level and save it for another day after working on it.

My biggest advice is not to give up now! It would also make things much easier on you if you already know the track prior to attending a school at it. Trying to learn a new track under a competition school would be very challenging as you found out. At your next school, try starting at the very back of the pack. That way you'll have no where to go but up. During this process you'll also build your confidence.

This offseason I've faced several hurdles in building my new racecar. There have been points where I just shake my head and wonder if this all is really worth it, but something keep me coming back. Jake Gulick reminded me that all of these obstacles are exactly what make racing even more special. You wrote a nice story. Send it in to the region and post it here when you're ready. After you complete the competition school, re-read what you wrote. It will make the accomplishment that much more meaningful and special.

(I'll shoot you an e-mail and we can talk more offine.)