They say a bad day at the racetrack is better than a good day at the office… That may be true, but, is a bad weekend at the track better than a relaxing weekend at home? Probably not. And that is what I am asking myself after round 2 of the 944 Spec season. All I can say is Ugh! A long, protracted, gutoral, sighing,’uuugghhhh!’
That ‘ugh’ is my expression of this weekend at the National Corvette Museum (NCM), where I encountered the trifecta of mechanical, weather, and safety issues. In short, my time would have been much better spent staying home. Here is how the weekend went, in no particular order.
944 Spec Mechanical Issues
I don’t know what I expected. I let the old 944 Spec racecar sit outside, under a tarp, for three years. Then I decided to start campaigning the car in what is shaping to be the most hotly contested field in years. I started the season with a Q1 in qualifying and a P1 in race one, in the rain (at Nashville Superspeedway). After that, I have been tracing issue after issue on the racecar.
In short, the 944 Spec needs an overhaul. I struggled the entire weekend with a slow car, which meant I spent the whole weekend searching for issues. The car sucks at the moment and I am committing right now to sort it properly for the next event. But that turned out to be the least of the issues.
Race 1 and Track Safety
Even with the ‘bad’ equipment, I qualified mid-pack for race 1. But the reality is that I was a couple seconds off the pace and would most likely finish where I started. I have no one to point the finger at but myself. However, we really didn’t get to race.
To preface, I have never felt unsafe driving a race car, so the incident I am about to describe is a bit of an eye-opener. On lap two of the race, four cars had an incident in the sinkhole. The sinkhole is a mid-speed, blind entry, off-camber, downward-sloping turn that bottoms out before drivers run uphill through a series of blind esses to the front straight. The whole series is wonky, and I would guess it’s where most of the accidents and totaled cars happen. (I have a theory that the National Corvette Museum racetrack is designed to send inexperienced Corvette drivers into walls.)
However, the incident resulted in one particular racecar, obviously totalled, resting perpendicular on the racing surface. An automatic red flag, right? Well, not at NCM. Before halting the race, we drove through the mess twice. At least it was under double yellow the second time through.
Now, a red flag is an all-stop in racing. Drivers must stop their vehicles immediately and safely while the dangerous situation is handled. The lack of a red flag in this situation concerned me for the stranded driver’s well-being and my own. For if a corner worker cannot distinguish between a racing accident and a ‘holy shit someone is about to die’ moment then what is the point of having them there.
In this vein, I spoke to a few race officials to find out what happened. As a result of those conversations, I have a few safety suggestions. Hopefully, they will prevent a major incident in the future.
- The sinkhole is unviewable to race control. Track management needs to get a camera in there now. Hell, get cameras anywhere race control can’t see.
- The sinkhole is a high incident zone, and the severity of the situation was not communicated. Train flaggers better.
- Flaggers should be able to quickly distinguish between a ‘that sucks’ moment, and an ‘oh shit’ moment.
- Run the alternate configuration without the sinkhole. Most incidents at NCM happen at the entry and exit from the sinkhole complex. On a side note, the track races and flows much better without the sinkhole.
I will finish the rant here. Fortunately, no injuries occurred. Small and inexpensive changes will go a long way to improving safety. And I would love to see the track take a proactive approach.
Race 2
Race 2 would be way less eventful than race 1. In fact, it would be the only full sprint race we would run the entire weekend. I was able to make up a couple of places after the start.
Race 3 and Hope and Disappointment
Before race 3, I had a lightbulb moment. I raced the TREC endurance race Friday in a 944 Spec on 200tw tires and was faster. Coming to this realization, I went ahead and took the Toyo’s off and swapped them for the 200tw Continental Extreme Contact (rains). This was an easy decision as not only was there a chance of rain during the race, but these tires would definitely outperform the old Toyo’s.
The car immediately transformed. I finally felt like I wasn’t fighting the car and that the front pack wasn’t dropping me. Then the rain came, and I knew this was my race to lose. The cars behind me disappeared in the distance as I closed in on those ahead. I was about to run the field when the black flag came out, ending the race. Lightning had struck within 15 miles of the track, initiating a mandatory 30-minute track stop. A little disappointing, yes, but I can’t expect the corner workers to look out for our safety if we aren’t looking out for theirs.
Note: I was told the strike was 12 miles away; maybe that’s too far. A strike radius of less than 8 miles seems reasonable, but that’s how things seem to go at NCM.
Conclusion
There’s always something at this track, and this year was no exception. Massive safety lapses and only 30 minutes of total race time left many disappointed. At least I know I 100 percent must get the car ready for Ozarks in two weeks, where I get to preview the competition for the National Championship. It’s time to get back to work.
