Laguna Seca Spec Miata Challenge 10/17/04

Being my first time at Laguna in a Spec Miata, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I found that, while the track is still fun on a low powered car, it really magnifies any mess ups in the corners, since nearly every turn leads onto a long straight of some sort. My best lap was a 1:50.3, which would have been a decent time any other weekend, but the track was *fast* and there were a ton of drivers in the 48s and 49s. I qualified 23rd, which was fairly disappointing to me, and ended up finishing 17th in the first race and, due to first corner contact, DNF'ed the second race with bent control arms and a flat tire.

The entire first SMC race, from start to end. The start of the race took out 3 or 4 drivers before the first turn, which was a scary display from my vantage point. I managed to get around all of that, working my way up to 13th or so. Unfortunately, the rain started about two thirds of the way through the race. Never having raced in the rain before, I went two/four wheels off a few times due to brake lockup and dropped back to 17th as a result. Not horrible, but not what I was hoping for either. Sorry for the slightly off-center camera mounting! - WMV (162MB) -

The entire second SMC race, from start to end. Yet another crazy start, this time unfortunately resulting in a turn 2 contact incident for me. After passing a few cars through turn 1 and the braking zone for 2, I stuck my nose in under a car when I probably shouldn't have, got turned in on, and made contact with him twice. The first time resulted in him starting to spin, the second was front wheel to front wheel contact, sending me up onto his hood. The result for me was bent control arms and a flat tire. He kept on going to finish the race. Lesson learned about being too optimistic/aggressive on the starts, especially with this many cars... - WMV (11.3MB) -

The start of the first SMC race. The first seconds of the race, showing the mayhem between the start and turn 2! - WMV (2.8MB) -

Dave Leong's awesome ALMS photo gallery. No photos of my car, but some great shots of the rest of the action, including some SM stuff.

 

Thunderhill Double Points Regional 10/3/04

My first race in the "new" car, lovingly dubbed "Kevin's Sweet Ride II." It didn't have the old car's limited slip differential in it yet, so putting down the power through T2 and out of T5, 11, adn 14 was particularly difficult. Despite that, I qualified a respectable 11th place, passed two spots on the start (which I accidentally jumped by a little), and then threw it all away with a driver-error induced spin in T9. That spin jacked my front alignment up and cracked a wheel, so the car was never 100% thereafter, but passing back through the pack was sure fun!

The entire race, from start to end. Note the spin at the start, putting me back to 35th. Fought my way back up to 19th, spinning twice more along the way. Fun stuff ;) - WMV (160MB) -
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Infineon SMC and Regional 08/29/04

A great weekend and a horrible weekend all in one. Great because I qualified in the top 10 for the first time in my racing carrer, managing 7th place on the grid. That was particularly joy-inspiring since this marked the first Spec Miata Challenge race for the year, which attracted quite a few Speed World Challenge drivers (some of which, for whatever reason, I managed to qualify in front of). I ran as high as 7th in the SMC race before getting punted *twice* on the last lap and ending up in 23rd. In the SM race I was in heaven, passing up to 3rd place during the first two laps. Then *BANG!* I lost it exiting T8a and ended up in the T9 outside wall. Not a fun experience. I was uninjured, but the car was toast.
The entire SMC race, from start to end. Things went pretty well until the safety car came out, bunching the grid back up. Following a slight bobble in T4 on the very last lap, Terry McCarthy got close enough to me in T7 to nail my rear end, sending me spinning. Bummer... - WMV (102MB) -
The entire SM race, from start to end. Granted, it's not very long because if my...em..."incident," but it's exciting to watch none the less! I had a couple of good passes before the crash at least... - WMV (20MB) -
My fastest lap of the day. This, a 1:56.4, is my PB at Infineon and not too horribly far off of the race lap record (.7 seconds, I think). The interesting thing is that I passed someone off line in T7 on this lap, meaning it probably shouldn't have been as fast as my other laps. Go figure! - WMV (6.5MB) -
The crash. I put a wheel off at the exit of the esses, and the rest is history. I really should have driven straight off of the track when I'd realized I messed up, but I was so elated at running in 3rd place that I ignored my instincts. I won't make that mistake again. - WMV (2.5MB) - QT (6.2MB) -
Thunderhill Double Regional 7/10-11/04
My first SCCA race ever! It was a total blast and, while the first day wasn't so sucessful due to a severe off in T10 on the last lap that destryed a tire, the second day went very well, with an 11th place finish to show for it!
The entire race, from start to end. Coming soon - BIG -
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