Monnar Motorsports

Final Race Before Nationals

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 00:07:00 +0000

In grid, ready for action!

Final race before Nationals at Devens with NER! I got to test out quite a few new goodies this event, such as my new Series 2 RX-8 transmission, new matching lightweight flywheel and clutch kit, custom intake, and tune. I really was hoping to have the new brake pads in by this race, but unfortunately didn't get the chance to and fought with any sections I had to brake hard into.

Thanks to Wankel Works for the awesome clutch/flywheel kit!

The car felt fast off the line, and shifting was reliable and smooth. The intake robbed me a little bit of low-end power, but the midrange picked up quite a bit I noticed. Will Koscielny's Miata had broke, so he hopped in for the day and drove in Pro Class. He did great and even managed a '60.875 clean for his fastest run, putting him 4th in the Pro Class and 5th in PAX!

My fastest clean run was a '61.003, as I was still fighting the brakes when I went in deep into certain elements. My fastest dirty run was a '60.911 +2 cones (two really stupid cones that I barely ran over the base... Ah well). That was good enough for 1st in class, and 6th in PAX. The rest of the results are located here on NER's website. Below is a video of my fastest clean run, followed by my fastest dirty run.

I'd say overall, the car is more ready than it was last year for Nationals. Now it's just up to me to put everything together and give 100%... Which is what I'm planning to do. Can't wait to see everyone out there on the concrete beach! Stay tuned...

NER @ Loudon

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 02:49:00 +0000

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

Another co-drive with Brian, only this time at NER! With Serenity still under the knife at Flatout Motorsports getting the new intake, followed by going to Wankel Works for the new transmission and clutch/flywheel kit, I asked Brian if I could drive his C Street RX-8 again.

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

With the alignment problem now fixed, (frozen alignment bolts last time I co-drove with him) I was hoping I could do even better in the car. Unfortunately I was dealing with a ton of understeer, as the car just wanted to push everywhere. The best I could manage was to hit the brakes before a turn to load up the front and get the rear to rotate, but even that only worked so much.

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

Never the less, I still had a great time and got to see some friends that were running the track day. Thanks again to Brian for letting me drive his RX-8 again! I finished 2nd in DSP for the day with a '30.951 clean. The rest of the results are on NER's website. Below is a video of my fastest run of the day.

Concrete Practice @ Brunswick

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 14:59:00 +0000

MM and Hazard, ready for action

Couldn't make it into the Wilmington Tour's list? No problem. About two and a half hours north of Devens Airfield is a great Naval air station in East Brunswick, Maine. The main reason I wanted to go to Wilmington in the first place was to get practice on concrete. Considering I can now get that practice closer, cheaper, more runs, and more of a relaxed event... I'm there like swimwear.

Fellow racer and instructor Steve Hazard had informed me of the event, so he and I met up that morning to cruise there together. Cumberland Motor Club was very kind and welcoming to us, and I got to meet a lot of really great people! Very laid back and easy going people. They do however have an interesting quirk. Cones that are to be on your left are bright green, and cones on the right are orange.... And yes, they use the gigantic cones for slaloms. Apparently most of the founding members were sea ship people and it has something to do with telling left from right. Definitely made things interesting!

The concrete was dusty and dirty at first, especially in the morning. As the day went on however, it cleared up and the grip level increased. Even though my Hoosiers were being shredded down to nothing, the grip level continued to increase more and more. It was definitely great practice for me as it reminded me of what it was like to race on concrete and how differently you have to drive it; Flat out, and brake earlier for sweepers.

I managed to hit cones just about every run as I was trying to figure out concrete, but once it clicked, I landed a fast and clean '55.195, which was good for 1st in PAX overall! Scruffy, Steve and I were neck and neck in the '55.1xx range, so we all had pretty much set FTD for cars (there was a shifter kart there that took actual FTD...Those things are monsters!). Unfortunately their results are not posted online, but if they do in the future, I'll be glad to link to them.

Thanks again Cumberland Motor Club for the great time! Next set of Hoosiers I'm looking to kill, you bet I'll be back! Below is a video of my fastest run.

Recent Racing Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 16:24:00 +0000

She really has come a long way, even with just this year already!

This year has certainly tested me as a driver so far. Running into various problems at the start of the year in which the car hasn't been able to preform at 100%, which in turn forced me to have to drive as fast as I could. Now with all of my issues taken care of, the RX-8 is back in action and I can focus on driving fast, and fine tuning the car as much as possible for Nationals this year. Because I've spent most of my free time working towards fixing the car, working, or racing, I haven't really had time to post about each individual event. Below is a short and sweet condensed version of the changes I made, followed by links to all the new (also VERY condensed) posts related to each all the races I attended in June, complete with results and video.

Fixes & Changes
Before getting into the races, I just wanted to point out everything that needed to be replaced for the various problems I was experiencing and trying to troubleshoot for a while:

Fuel Pump and Housing, replaced
Fixed minor exhaust leak on my exhaust system
Fuel Injectors, replaced all six with cleaned & flow tested injectors
Ignition Coils, Wires, Spark plugs, replaced and upgraded to BHR's latest kit
Eccentric Shaft Position Sensor, replaced
Throttle Body, replaced due to faulty Throttle Position Sensor
Retune of the car due to all the changes made

Once all that was solved and taken care of, I was able to add on the following parts:

BHR Long Tube Header
75mm Ported Throttle Body
8k - 10k Swift Rear Springs (448 lbs. to 560 lbs.)
Retune for the above parts

I've got my header! Whoohoo!

The header finally came my way and it was everything I wanted it to be and more. The car certainly had more low-end and mid-range it felt like, and will be getting a comparison dyno of the header in the near future. The rear springs were added so that I could fight the push I was getting at low-speed elements and put my rear swaybar back to full soft. It helped immensely and the car feels a lot more neutral again, with a nice push at high speed for fast slaloms and sweepers, allowing me to stay on the throttle for those elements.

Race Posts & Results
5-18 / SCCA NER 3rd Points Event

Class Results: 2nd in Pro Class
PAX Results: 2nd out of 162

5-24 / Renegade Miata 2nd Points Event

Class Results: 2nd in DSP, 2nd in Other Mazda's Category
PAX Results: 2nd out of 65

6-7, 6-8 / TireRack SCCA Northeast Match Tour

Saturday's Class Results: 1st in DSP
Saturday's PAX Results: 10th out of 148
Sunday's Bracket Results: Knocked Out in 1st Round
Sunday's PAX Results: 9th out of 139
Average PAX Results: 8th out of 139

6-21 / Renegade Miata 4th Points Event

Class Results: 1st in CS, 1st in Other Mazda's Category (Co-drove Brian's stock RX-8)
PAX Results: 12th out of 57

6-22 / SCCA NER 5th Points Event

Class Results: 1st in DSP
PAX Results: 11th out of 132

7-6 / BMW CCA 4th Points Event

Class Results: 1st in DSP, 1st in J (J is a combined class for BMW CCA)
PAX Results: 1st out of 92

Shakedown @ BMW with Amy

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 18:04:00 +0000

Photo credit to Jesus Mendez - Garage 15

Nationals is getting closer and closer, and I'm getting more and more ready for it this time around. I was fortunate enough to have Amy Dilks of Stripes Racing and EFI Logics come out and test drive the car. Amy is a phenomenal NASA TT and Autocrosser from New York, and I'm trying to convince her to come on out to Nationals with me this year and compete in DSPL.

Not only did Amy do very well in my car for the first time, she had an absolute blast. Ontop of that, our teamwork inbetween runs was pretty solid, and we were always ready to go when it was our turn to run. Hopefully her and I can make a showing this year together at Nationals and show them what we can do!

Photo credit to Jesus Mendez - Garage 15

My fastest run was a '68.269 clean, with my fastest dirty run being only a '68.192 +1 silly cone that I ran over the base on. My time either way was good enough for 1st in J Class (J is a combined class for BMW CCA), and 1st in PAX for the event! The rest of the results are located on BMW CCA's website, located here. Below is a video of my fastest clean run, followed by my fastest dirty run.

Not So Well @ NER

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:40:00 +0000

Photo credit to Chang Ho Kim - FunPhotos

This was not a very good event for me unfortunately. Ironic because now that I have finally sorted out all o my problems and the car is at 100%, I drive as hard as I need to. That didn't seem to be the case during this event...

Double turning, hitting cones everywhere, late on key elements.. It wasn't good. I had to slow down a bit just to make sure I at least got a clean run in. Not sure what had gotten into me this event, but as my favorite racer once said,
"Even monkeys fall out of trees." - Keiichi Tsuchiya

My fastest run was a '55.034 +4 cones that I just barely nicked each time. My fastest clean time was a '55.409. Good enough for 11th in PAX overall. The rest of the results are located here on NER's website. Below is a video of my fastest clean run, followed by my fastest dirty run.

Renegade Miata Co-Drive

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 14:38:00 +0000

Red isn't my color, but I will admit this is a gorgeous car...

Brian was kind enough to let me co-drive his 2009 RX-8 R3 for this event, as I wanted to drive something a little different. Even though his alignment was very out of whack due to seized camber bolts, I still had a blast and it was great practice! Thanks Brian!

I LOVE the series 2 taillights

Even though I had to fight the car's awkward alignment, I was still able to put down a fast time of '77.537 clean. My fastest was a '76.291 +2 cones, that I would always hit if I didn't give up speed due to the bad alignment. It would start to push in the middle of a sweeper, causing me to wash out right when I didn't want it to. I took 1st for the day in Other Mazdas category, with 12th overall in PAX out of 57.

It also didn't body roll as much as I expected it to

The rest of the results are located here on Renegade Miata's website. Below is a video of my fastest clean run and fastest dirty run. Thanks again to Brian for the awesome co-drive and can't wait to try it out with a fixed alignment!

Devens Match Tour 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sun, 08 Jun 2014 18:46:00 +0000

Photo credit to Chang Ho Kim - FunPhotos

Match Tours are seemingly losing their popularity due more and more as the 2014 season goes on. I can understand why, especially due to the format, but they are still fun to some respect in their own right.

Day 1 - I was not against anyone unfortunately. That being said however, I was able to focus on pushing the car and testing out the new rear springs I put in. I set the rear swaybar back to soft, and replaced my old 448 lb. springs with new 560 lb. springs! I was pleased to find out that my idea worked and the car behaved exactly as I needed it to; able to rotate well on low-speed elements and still push at high-speed elements and transitions. By the end of Saturday, I was 10th out of 148 in PAX with a '55.962 clean. Because of my placement in PAX, I made it into the elimination bracket for Sunday.

Photo credit to Chang Ho Kim - FunPhotos

Day 2 - Unfortunately I was knocked out the first round. I was able to beat my dial-in time of '55.962 with a '55.851, but with transmission problems and basically dead Hoosiers, it was a losing battle. I'm still glad to see I moved up in PAX on Sunday to 9th, with an average of 8th between the two days. Overall I was still happy with my performance given how bad the tires were, and having to adjust to the suspension changes I made. The rest of the results are located on SCCA forums, here.

Below is a video of my back to back run on Sunday. You'll see where I couldn't shift into 2nd, followed by starting to slide on my second run as well.

Practice Before Match Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sat, 24 May 2014 17:58:00 +0000

Photo credit to Chang Ho Kim - FunPhotos

Ben and I were originally aiming to try out the new rear springs I had picked up for the car for the upcoming Match Tour, but unfortunately I did not get them installed in time. Instead we just had fun and battled it out for top PAX for the day.

I was aiming to get into the '62's but I couldn't milk it out of the car. That, matched with doing a lot of double (and even triple) steering inputs for some reason, I wasn't doing as hot as I was hoping. My fastest run was a '63.631 clean, which was good enough for 2nd in PAX and 2nd in Other Mazdas, behind Ben who was co-driving with me for the day. The rest of the results are located here on Renegade Miata's website. Below is a video of my fastest run.

2nd Place in Pro @ NER

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sun, 18 May 2014 20:35:00 +0000

Photo credit to Chang Ho Kim - FunPhotos

My first race back with SCCA NER for this season, and it's a blast! A great course, paired with most of my problems finally sorted out, I was feeling pretty confident about the car.

I left the setup the same way it was back in New Jersey to see how it would handle at Devens, and it was exactly what I needed. Felt great around the low-speed elements, minus the negatives of having such a stiff rear swaybar (such as excessive wheel hop when launching, and others). I've been on the fence about staying in Pro Class this year and think after this event I will stick to just running DSP... We all compete via PAX anyways, regardless of class, so why not?

My fastest run was a '49.574 clean, aiming to try and get into the '48's at least but with no dice. That still landed me 2nd in PAX and 2nd in Pro Class. The rest of the results are located here on NER's website. Below is a video of my fastest run.

New Jersey Champ Tour 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Mon, 05 May 2014 02:45:00 +0000

Photo by Perry Aidelbaum - AutoX4U Photography

This was absolutely an amazing weekend at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey! I couldn't have asked for a better time. Great competition, amazing course, good company, and the car running at 100%. This was definitely my favorite National level event I have competed in. Because of this, I'm seriously debating heading out to Wilmington to see how I do there.

Day 1 was great. I guided Lui at his first autocross ever (go big or go home, right?) and he was on course all his runs. I managed to come in 4th out of 8, with a 12th overall standing in PAX. My fastest run was my second run, coming in with a '62.617 clean. I got slower on my third run as I tried to push the car too much, but it wasn't rotating as I needed it to. I wasn't going to settle for 4th though, especially when I was only a few tenths out of first.

Photo by Perry Aidelbaum - AutoX4U Photography

Day 2 was D Day for me. I needed to step it up, and after making the setup changes I was feeling more confident in the car. I did the following to setup the car:

Full soft to full stiff in the rear swaybar
13 clicks from full stiff front shocks instead of usual 8 clicks from full stiff
Full soft in rear as opposed to 15 clicks from full stiff
Made sure tire pressures were at or above 36 PSI, where as on day 1 I let them get lower

The end results? I took the last podium spot, coming in 3rd for the day and 3rd for both days combined. That brought me to 17th in PAX for Sunday, but 14th in PAX for both days combined. My fastest clean run was my third run, bringing home a '63.172. I had a lot more time out there but because I was dirty my fist two runs, I played conservative on my last run. Next time, I know to just go for it and not worry about it for next time.

Photo by Perry Aidelbaum - AutoX4U Photography

I was only 7th tenths out of 2nd with my clean run, between the two days. I knew I could've taken it, but my overall goal was to be able to hang with the top guys. I had an absolute blast catching up with John Vitamvas, Mike Kuhn, Chris Dressler, and finally getting to meet Sam Strano. Real great group of people in my class, and hopefully we can all go out for drinks next event!

Photo by Perry Aidelbaum - AutoX4U Photography

I just want to extend another thanks to some key players in my success here, as I really couldn't have had made it to this event and do as well as I did without their support. Black Halo Racing for their unwavering support, sponsorship for the past four years, and amazingly reliable performance parts. Kane for his amazing tune onto the car, and I can't wait to see the full potential unlocked when we do a dyno tune. WankelWorks for their time and patience during the long winded fuel issues I was having and helping me every step of the way. Lastly, the support from my friends and family back at home. The motivational texts at the end of Day 1 was a huge help, and the messages I got after my last run on Day 2 felt great, and I can't thank you all enough.

Be sure to check out my two fastest runs below, starting with Day 1 and then Day 2, followed by my fastest dirty run on Day 2. A nice weekend break ahead before the next local race at Devens come May 18th, so stay tuned!

Fuel Problems Resolved & New Tune

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sat, 03 May 2014 03:41:00 +0000

PP02 Performance - Tuned by Kane

After countless hours of trying everything under the sun, I was at a complete loss. I reached out to Mazdaspeed Development, SpeedSource, various other race teams, other autocrossers, sent datalogs, and everything else you can think of. That's when after talking it over with Charles from Black Halo Racing, he offered a suggestion I hadn't even thought of before.

Low and behold, it was the problem. What you ask? Why the Throttle Position Sensor within the throttle body of course! After everything we had done, and even checking the datalogs on this, this was the last piece we had not replaced. Who would've thought? The throttle body I did receive from WankelWorks however was ported from 70mm to 90mm. Given that it has been time for a new tune anyways, it was time to turn to someone I had been keeping my eye on for awhile... Kane.

Kane was kind enough to spend time with me during my drive to New Jersey for the Championship Tour to review datalogs, and get a tune ready in time for the race. If that's not amazing customer service, I don't know what is. Once I got settled at the hotel, he remoted into my laptop and did all the magic infront of me before having me go out and test each tune. Within a few hours, we had a solid tune that gave me more power overall, A LOT more mid-range power and torque, while sacrificing just a tiny bit of low-end.

I couldn't be happier with not only having the car back to normal, (with basically an entirely new fuel system) but also having the car tuned for everything. Huge thanks to my sponsor, Charles from Black Halo Racing for the suggestion and looking over the data with me, Lui from WankelWorks for helping me the past few weeks with swapping parts out and trying to diagnose everything, and Kane for the amazing tune and being flexible enough to help me out with such a tight time constraint. I would also like to add an even bigger thanks to all my friends for their help, advice, support, patience, motivation, and pizza and chicken wings during the tough and frustrating times I had dealing with the fuel issues... You know who you are. Thank you. I could not have pushed through this without the support and motivation from you all.

Stay tuned for the overview of the New Jersey Championship Tour, and just how well the car holds up!

Fuel Problems Part 2 & DC ProSolo

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 06:24:00 +0000

Photo by Perry Bennett - AutoXPix.com

Remember that time when I said I had fixed the fuel issues? Unfortunately, they were not fixed. They certainly got better after the more work WankelWorks and I did.. But at full throttle, and especially holding the throttle steady, the car was becoming VERY rich. The symptoms were almost identical to that of a vacuum leak, yet after a smoke test, everything came back fine. From there, we then started replacing everything that has any part of the fuel system.

We did all of the following, in no specific order (Because we redid some things a few times as well):

Replaced the entire fuel pump assembly with an OEM assembly and pump
Replaced all six fuel injectors with cleaned and flow tested injectors
Replaced entire ignition system and plugs
Tested a different MAF sensor
Tested a different 02 sensor
Replaced the E-Shaft Position sensor

And a few other things that I honestly don't remember because of how much was done. By the time for DC Pro came around, we thought we nailed it with the fuel injectors, but driving to the event proved otherwise. 400 mile trip was almost 3 tanks of gas... Yep, still running rich.

Photo by Perry Bennett - AutoXPix.com

Problems aside, I tried to have as much fun as possible, even though I could see even the Miata's in my combined class of SPB (it contained CSP, DSP, SMF, and FSP) out accelerating me on the straight. When you look at the videos below, it will also seem like I'm lifting at certain spots where I should be full throttle, but that was actually the car bogging down. With no ideas in mind at this point, I just tried to focus on my driving line as much as possible and enjoy myself.

Photo by Perry Bennett - AutoXPix.com

I managed to end up in 11th out of 14, while also ending up 137th out of 234 in PAX. It was upsetting to drive almost 7 hours and not be able to compete at 100%, I'll say that. But I made the best of it that I could, and enjoyed the event for what it was. New Jersey next weekend was the big race I really needed to be ready for, so I will be spending all week working on this fuel issue. Be sure to check out below my two fastest runs of the day, starting with my run on the right side, then followed by my Red-Light left side. Stay tuned!

Fuel Problems - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 14:26:00 +0000

Almost ready for the season to start!

After a lot of headaches and tail chasing, I finally got to the bottom of this phantom menace. For those that are wondering, this is what had my season come to a sudden stop right after Nationals last year. This problem came out of the blue unfortunately and caused some stressful times trying to figure out what the cause of this was. To recap in short, it started with a sputter at around 8,000 rpm. After changing a few things (like the fuel pump), it started to behave in a way like it was hitting a wall above 6,000 rpm, with the Air/Fuel Ratios spiking to 20 (lean) at Wide Open Throttle (WOT).

Keep in mind, this was at random in the beginning, but now it was happening all the time. A couple of things were done to troubleshoot this issue. For starters, the grounds were tested, followed by the MAF (because a failing MAF has the same behavior, as seen back in 2011 for me), and then tested ignition coils. After that all checked out okay, we noticed the spark plugs were overheated with a green-like color at the tip (literally looked like moss growing on the plug), which was probably the cause of the sputtering at the last Renegade Miata event. Those got replaced, but we changed the leading plugs to stock RX-7 (FD3S) NGK spark plugs because they are colder.

Looks like moss, doesn't it?

By this point, Shane had finished his install of the fuel pressure gauge so we could see what exactly is going on with the fuel. That is when we noticed at WOT, the fuel pressure went from 57PSI (which was a touch low in the first place), down to 32PSI, and then 18PSI! Then the voltage going to the fuel pump was tested, and it checked out at 14 volts. Submerged the fuel pump housing and put power to it, and it worked out okay, with no leaks. So the last step was simply to just replace the DeatschWerks DW200 pump with a new Walbro 255lph pump...And then like magic, everything was fine. I had heard nothing but good things about DeatschWerks fuel pumps, but clearly I managed to get a bad one.

Shane did a great job with this install of the DynoTune Fuel Pressure Gauge!

It is funny how sometimes the parts you replace, can sometimes be just as faulty or even worse than the part you're replacing. I'm just glad that the fuel issues are finally over, and I can finish focusing on getting ready for the season starting next week. Huge thanks for those that helped me troubleshoot this issue, and thanks to BHR for providing me with the new fuel pressure gauge setup to be able to troubleshoot this problem. Be sure to stay tuned for the upcoming races!

New Season - New Name

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Thu, 06 Mar 2014 07:14:00 +0000

I had reached a point in early 2012 that I had started to become tired with my blog. As time passed, it was not just my blog and it's layout I grew tired of, but the name of it as well. It took me awhile to really figure out what I wanted to accomplish with my blog, what my needs were, and my own goals in racing going forth. After some serious soul searching, planning and designing, I came up with a full redesign, rebranding, whole new approach to not just my blog, but Motorsports as a whole. I am proud to announce that I have changed the old RE-Zelse to Monnar Motorsports!

The focus of the blog is now geared towards my own experiences in Motorsports entirely and not JUST the RX-8 platform. Before, I had pressured myself to try and get new content out, when at times, there was no new RX-8 related content to discuss. My thought this time around was simply, "wouldn't it be cool to read about the growth and experiences of a race car driver, starting at the grassroots level and going up from there?". My victories, my defeats, my challenges, my thoughts and opinions, what I've learned, and all of my experiences both on and off the track.

I hope you enjoy the new blog, as well as the new Facebook page. Thanks for reading, and thanks for all the support over the years!

New Web Address?: Yes! Please update your bookmarks to point to http://www.monnarmotorsports.com ! The old re-zelse.com, and rezelse.blogspot.com redirect to the new address anyways, but its still good to have the latest address.

What's the Difference?: Not a whole hell of a lot. The focus has been geared more towards my own personal experiences in the world of Motorsports and not just all about my RX-8. You will still get great race coverage, YouTube videos, images, and more.

Facebook?: Yes, I have a Facebook page now so that my friends don't have to only see racing updates on my own personal page. Check it out at http://facebook.com/monnarmotorsports

Stirling Moss Finale

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 16:03:00 +0000

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

This was it, the finale for the New England Region. Same as every year, it is also the Stirling Moss run offs. Now, as much as I wanted to compete for the Moss trophy, as mentioned in my previous post, my fuel pump was having issues. That being said, I unfortunately was not able to run my car in the Moss. I was willing to even risk the replacement pump as well and see if I could even manage a run or two, but the fuel pump ring wouldn't even stay on oddly enough. I still had a seat for the Moss though, as Mickle Motorsports came to the rescue and let me run in their ASP Subaru STi.

It wasn't the way I wanted to spend the Moss, but I still appreciate having the opportunity to compete with Matt in his car. It was my first time racing an AWD car, and it definitely was very different than what I was used to. On my first run I didn't even do that great, as I spun twice in a row! The mentality of "point-and-shoot" was very different than trying to find areas where I could focus on carrying speed into elements. Anytime I tried to carry speed, I would just understeer. After the morning runs though, I started to get the hang of the car and what to feel for. I've been trying to convince him to remove his rear wing to maybe help with getting the rear to rotate nicely but he still wont! Maybe someday.

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

In the end, I wasn't doing all that well in terms of the Moss, but my overall times were improving. My fastest time was a '65.504 clean, which wasn't far off of Matt's fastest dirty time of '64.315, and just '.9 off his clean time of '64.618. For my first time racing a well prepped AWD car, I'll take those results! The rest of the results are located on NER's website here. Looks like I was 12th in the Moss out of 33, so about mid-pack as well.

Congrats to Nick Barbato for winning the Stirling Moss again this year and showing everyone how it's done! In the meantime, check out Matt and I's fastest runs below. I'll be trying to solve these fuel issues, so stay tuned.

Aero Testing @ Renegade

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 14:45:00 +0000

Can't help but feel like the car looks more aggressive with the aero

It was one of those days that I could have lived without the other half of it. Yep. John and I had planned out to use this event to test out the new aero from Joefis Racing and to see how everything turned out. In return, we got to do that, as well as deal with a failing fuel pump. I was pretty upset when this happened, as I really wanted to focus on feeling out and learning the overall new characteristics of the car, but John and I only got a limited number of runs. Enough ranting about the broken fuel pump though, onto the data points!

Transporting: For starters, because I already have no room in my car for anything due to everything I have to bring to autocross, it looks like I'll have to wear at least the front lip on the way to the event. I'm starting to find out that real Street Prepared cars really are on that fine line of what should and shouldn't be driven on the street. I am just afraid of damaging it going up a hill or something, but I think I should be okay. To test this time, I had the front splitter hanging out my passenger window with a towel on it, but it was pretty sketchy the way it was. Either way, if you're planning to get the front splitter, be prepared to come up with transportation ideas for it if you're not okay with driving to events with it on!

John back from his first run, big grin from cheek to cheek... He likes it I think

Feeling: I don't know if Rob had read my mind and setup a course just for me to test out the aero, but it really was an excellent course that would allow me to do so! My first few runs were absolutely awful as I was not expecting to feel what I did. I even managed to hit 7 cones on one of my runs! What's funny is that even though I was doing terrible, I was still putting down insanely fast times. The only way to describe what I'm feeling is that the car has understeer now, but it's not a sensation that is coming from the suspension or tires... Sort of like understeering but not feeling like it at the same time? You could however feel how much more grip the rear tires had due to the rear spoiler, as if the tires had claws and dug into the pavement (best way to describe it, honest!).

Driving: As I got used to it more, and I figured out that I had to brake and turn earlier for certain elements, which in turn allowed me to carry A LOT more speed than usual into various elements. I still can't place why I had to change my driving for those specific elements and not do the changes throughout the entire course just yet... Perhaps because of the speed approaching the element? I will say that it is nice to be able to stay full throttle into a slalom again like when I had my old differential! Another plus is that I can really get on the gas early...And I mean REALLY early. I think even on my fastest run, I still could've gotten on the gas in a few spots sooner, because the car felt that much more stable... But again, that is if I braked early enough so I don't push everywhere.

Lining up at the start, ready to go!

Other Notes: Two other observations I had was that for one, I never counter steered. Ever. I never felt like I had to either. The other thing was that I noticed the tires heat up faster than they usually do. It wasn't particularly a very hot day out (low 70's), with a lot of clouds, and I was spraying the tires more than I usually have to. These were the only observations I was able to make in only the 6 runs I was able to take.

In the afternoon when the fuel pump was cutting out, Lui came by quickly to replace the fuel pump with a spare Walbro 255 pump he had (that was brand new might I add), which allowed me to get in one run in the afternoon. Huge thanks to Lui for that, but unfortunately that pump failed as well after a few runs (which the Walbro's are now known for apparently). That single run I got to take however was the fastest time of the day (clean at least!), both in raw and in PAX! Not quite sure how I managed that, and there was still plenty of time I left on the table too after watching the video. My fastest run was a '65.752 clean, and John's fastest dirty time was a '65.743 +1 cone.

John coming back in from his fast run, but that was when fuel problems got worse!

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the results of the aero. Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to change in terms of alignment settings to compliment the aero more and allow me to really push the car! Big thanks again to the guys at Joefis Racing for the amazing work! Also thanks to Ben for spending some time with me to help me out with trying to figure out how to explain what exactly it was I was feeling with the aero, and big thanks to Lui for saving the day so I could at least get one run in and put down a fast time.

Below is John and I's fastest runs. I'm hoping to have the car all set for tomorrow but something tells me the car won't be ready for the Moss. Stay tuned.

New Aero From Joefis Racing

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Ever heard of Joefis Racing? I hadn't until about a year ago when I saw his fabrication work on a few Street Prepared cars at the Ayer National Tour, and even more of his work this year at the New Jersey ProSolo. I'll tell ya, pictures on the internet do NOT give justice to his amazing work I've seen in person.

Front Splitter Mockup

Joefis Racing is a company out of Pennsylvania that focuses on fabricating parts for race cars. Most of his work that gets heavily noticed is his amazing Street Prepared front and rear aero pieces. These pieces are 100% by the book, and totally class legal, as he measures everything very closely to ensure that there is no way it goes against the rules. Heck, when he saw my polyurethane front spoiler I had on the car, he threw the book at me to remind me how it cannot stick out farther than that actual bumper!

Rear Spoiler Mockup

Since front and rear aero are the last large items on my list for my build, I decided to reach out to Joe over at Joefis Racing to see if we could collaborate on something. We decided that on the way home from Nationals, I would drop off my car for two weeks so it could get these pieces designed and created for it. A two week turnaround time to fabricate from scratch a full aero kit is pretty impressive, wouldn't you say? That, matched with great customer service (he's a really nice guy and willing to work with you on anything), and a killer price, I can't see any other reason why NOT to give Joe a try!

I haven't picked up the car just yet, so I can't wait to see how everything will look on the car and painted! The pictures above are pictures taking during the mockup phase, while the pictures below are what the final product is going to look like made in aluminum, unpainted.

Front Splitter Final Piece

Rear Spoiler Final Piece

From what I can tell, it looks like everything went smoothly and came out excellent. What's even cooler about these pieces is that they're removable, allowing you to still be able to street drive your car, or at least get it up driveways and ramps easier! I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the body holes in the front just yet, as those are there from the previous spoiler, but Joe assured me he came up with something to make it look clean. Either way, it's been a pleasure collaborating with Joe on this project and maybe I'll work on something with him in the future again. It will be interesting to see if any other upcoming DSP RX-8's will run this aero setup, or come up with something on their own to rival this.

Big thanks to Joe for the time, patience, and effort into these pieces, as I really appreciate it and can't wait to test them out. For now, be sure to check out his Facebook page to see what he's been up to lately and some of his other great work! During the next race I'll be focusing on just how much the aero has changed the car's characteristics and what I'll have to do to tune the car's setup for the aero. Until then, stay tuned.

S2000 Codrive @ NER

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 16:51:00 +0000

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

Back from Nationals, and feeling better than ever! This is the last points event of the year for NER SCCA before the finale, and I wanted to have some fun this time around. It would be good for me, as I needed to clear my head of some negativity I still had from Nationals, and my car is still in Pennsylvania getting aero anyways. Nick Barbato was kind enough to offer me a seat in his B Stock Honda S2000 CR, so a huge thanks to Nick for the opportunity!

I was surprised at the level of performance this car output in stock form and didn't expect it at first honestly. It was then that I realized I haven't ever raced a stock class car on Hoosiers, let alone one that was prepared for the class! It took me a few runs to get used to the sensation of body roll and working it into my attack plan for the elements. I will say that I didn't like the brakes, as I couldn't go deep into corners as much as I would've liked to. It wasn't just the stock pads either, but it was also a functionality of the ABS in where it can exhibit an "icing" effect. To counter it, you have to load up the front first by braking about 40-50% for a split second, and then fully apply the brakes. It definitely took me a few runs to adjust to that, but it costed me a lot of time at the first turn around unfortunately.

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

Also, the VTEC kicking in was almost like a small turbo kicking on. It was a smooth enough change in power in where it wouldn't make the car skate however, unlike when all the torque and power would come on when you hit boost in a turbo powered vehicle. Overall though, Nick's S2000 was a lot of fun and I was happy to learn how to handle a stock car at the limit.

Today's course was a perfect mix of the East and West course from Nationals. A lot of the fast sections were in the technical spots of the course, and in order to succeed you needed to drive the right line or you wouldn't have anywhere to apply the power. I ran a '62.338 clean for my fastest time of the day, putting me in 8th out of 13 in Pro Class, while Nick ran a '61.228 clean for his fastest time, securing 5th place for him. The rest of the results are located on NER's website, here.

I can't thank Nick enough again for the chance to not only race his car, but to also see what it's like to co-drive and collaborate with him during an event. It was definitely what I needed, a ton of fun, and I hope to have the opportunity to do it again in the future. For now, be sure to check out the videos below of our fastest runs. Stay tuned.

My First Solo Nationals

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 02:34:00 +0000

Photo by Rupert Berrington - Rupert Berrington Action Photography

I survived my first SCCA Solo Nationals, and it was almost as good as when I went to Tokyo Auto Salon in Japan! People talk about Nationals and give you all sorts of stories or ideas of what it would be like, but none of them really capture what it is all about. I'll start with the non racing related stuff first, just to get it out of the way.

For starters, the drive was pretty rough, not just in terms of distance either. The van was having a lot of problems staying in one piece both on the way to Nationals and home. Big thanks to Brian for taking care of what he could quickly so that we could even make it there! Be prepared for a lot of driving though, as it was a 1,450 mile trip for us.

Photo by Rupert Berrington - Rupert Berrington Action Photography

Once we arrived and got to our paddock spot, it was like walking into a candy store for racers. The paddock was full of amazing cars, all prepped for different classes. After racing was over, people would walk one of the the courses, and then hang out and do all sorts of fun activities at night as if it were a big, week-long college party. I saw all of the following, in no particular order...

A truck with a trailer, and a swimming pool with people in it on the trailer, being towed around the paddock
Hopped up golf carts being autocrossed at night
Big wheel autocross battles
A little spot where you can get smoothies, breakfast, grilled food, and all sorts of other snacks
Hoosier and BF Goodrich offering to mount and balance tires on-site, along with other little stores
Tons of amazing cars (Can't emphasize that enough...)
Competitive Four-Square
Massive grills with tons of different foods at each region section
A massive Margarita blending machine

All that and more are just some of the things you should expect to find in the paddock. Be sure to check out my photo album on my Google+ for some of the pictures I took while there. Now with that fun stuff aside, on to the racing!

Brian, Charles and I before the first race

Charles and Jennifer Hill from Black Halo Racing showed up to check out what Nationals is all about and give me some support, as well as some great shirts to wear! On Monday, I was ready to take a few practice runs so I could feel the difference of concrete and see how I felt about the car setup. I ran a '29.3 as my fastest time, which was right inbetween where a few other DSP guys had ran, so I felt pretty good about that. This was while running the Hoosiers that I have been since the Match Tour back in July, and with the rear swaybar set to full stiff. Below is the video of me running the practice course. After I finished my runs, I was off to Hoosier to get my new fresh set of A6's mounted for Tuesday and Wednesday.

West Course

Tuesday was our first race day. Brian and I were running in the last heat, Heat 5, so we had some time to see what everyone else was doing in terms of lines, and how they prepared things in grid. The West Course was the first course for us, and from what we saw, it definitely was a momentum course. Brian did great, coming in with a '54.652, securing 9th for the day while I came in 14th with a '55.908, out of 20 in the class. I'll admit it, I was very nervous and excited at the same time, and getting that out of my head was tough. Once we were done our runs, Brian and I discussed some ideas a bit on how the setup was and decided to go back to my usual setting of having the rear swaybar at full soft. We also talked to Hoosier a bit and found out that on concrete, you'll want to run lower tire pressures than normal. That made it so we went from 37 PSI front and rear to 32 PSI front and rear. Videos below of our West Course runs (apologies for the blurriness, I think one of us touched the lens when placing it back in the holder).

East Course

Come Wednesday, Brian and I were ready to step it up some more on the East Course... At least, I thought I was. The car felt a lot better and was much easier to drive, allowing you to get on the throttle very early. My issue is that this course was a lot harder to read, to the point that I got lost...Twice. It's embarrassing to say the least, but it happened. Luckily I was able to put in a run on my last run and come in with a '78.034, securing me in 18th. Even though this course was more of a power course, Brian was able to keep up with the BMW's, coming in with a '74.062 and securing 4th place. BIG congrats to Brian for getting his 4th place trophy and showing everyone that the RX-8 can hang with the BMW's, even if it is still not fully prepared! The rest of the results are located here, with videos below of our East Course runs.

In the end, it was an amazing time. I really can't explain just how much fun it was meeting some great racers that I've heard about many times, or helping out other friends that were running when I wasn't, and other great things. I'm already looking forward to next year and what I can do better, such as not getting nervous before my runs!

The 2013 trophy winners of D Street Prepared!

Huge thanks to Black Halo Racing for being not only an amazing sponsor, but for being a great friend and supporting me out there for my first time. Thanks to Bob Lang for allowing Brian and I to use his van instead of having to rent a Uhaul pickup truck! Also a big thanks to Brian for ensuring we got there in the first place because of the van problems, and for some of the good times we had. A last shout out to Mike Casino for cheering me up when I was down in the dumps about how I did for my first Nationals, and showing me what Nationals is really about. It's about the racers. Everyone getting together, talking, meeting, collaborating, networking, and just having fun. That's what Nationals is about... A place that everyone gets together for week to hang out and share what they love the most; Racing.

The Road To Lincoln

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 23:46:00 +0000

Loaded up and on the road!

Here we are, on the way to Lincoln, Nebraska for the Solo National Championships! So far we've hit a lot of rain, minor tow vehicle trouble, but nothing has stopped us yet. Thanks to everyone for the support and good luck to us on our journey! As I post this, we're about 13 hours away. We'll be meeting up with Charles and Jennifer from Black Halo Racing at the site, unload the trailer, and then rest up at the hotel for Monday. I wanted to give a quick post about what you can do if you would like to follow along during race time.

Live Results: http://sololive.scca.com/
East Course Live Video/Announcer Coverage: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/solo-nationals-east
West Course Live Video/Announcer Coverage: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/solo-nationals-west
Who To Listen For?: Marc Monnar #42 and Brian Levesque #142
What Class?: D Street Prepared
What Days Are You Racing?: Tuesday and Wednesday, September 3rd and 4th
What Time?: I'm guessing around 2-3pm EST our Heat will start to get ready to go
What Day/Course?: Tuesday - West Course, Wednesday - East Course
What Heat?: Heat 5 out of 5

Showing my BHR pride!

The deal is that per the schedule, DSP is running in Heat 5, the last heat of the day. No idea what that means in terms when we will start running however, so it may be later than what I am guessing. The above information is pretty much all the information you need to be able to see live results, and tune in to watch all the action. In the meantime, don't hesitate to check out the action in the ProSolo Finale during Saturday and Sunday, and cheer for the other New England Region members, located on UStream.

In the meantime, stay tuned everyone, as I'll be posting up my experience and video from Monday's practice, and then giving updates on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ where things stand, before doing a full post to the blog.

Too bad she didn't stay this clean during the ride!

Prepping For National Championships

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 14:25:00 +0000

Only a few more days before I saddle up and am off to the "Mother Land"... The "Holy Grail" for autocrossers. The great, week-long "Summer Camp"; The 41st TireRack Solo National Championship in Lincoln, Nebraska! The car and I have both come a long way, and I can't wait to see how far we can take it at Nationals. Thanks to Charles at Black Halo Racing that I'm able to even go to Nationals this year, and I can't thank him enough for his efforts and support this year. John unfortunately will not be able to make it out there with me, but I will be going with long-time racer Brian Levesque; the good friend that taught me how to autocross long ago. I think it will be fitting so that the teacher can see the student come around full circle, don't you?

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

Meanwhile, while I'm trying not to let the excitement overcome me, I've been very focused over the past two weeks trying to finish prepping before the long road to Lincoln. I thought it might be interesting to share with everyone what exactly that whole prep list entails! I hope it may help anyone else that will be going out for their first time, and I am definitely welcome to hearing other ideas and feedback in case I may have missed something. Stay tuned for more updates before the long trip!

Solo Nationals Prep List

Personal Items/Toiletries

Clothing for 7 days - Including rain gear, shorts, hats, jackets, sneakers and driving sneakers, sandals, jeans, 1 nice shirt at least
Swimming Trunks
1 set of exercise clothing
Wallet, with $100 Cash - For quick food, quick things, Nationals swag
Deodorant
Cologne
Tooth Brush + Tooth Paste + Floss
Razor, shaving cream and after shave
Medicine and vitamins for 7 days
Laptop bag with laptop, headphones, tablet, necessary plugs and cables
Umbrella
Pillow for the car ride
Phone with car charger and GPS mount
Sunglasses
Sleeping Bags
Protein bars & other snacks
Cards Against Humanity - For AFTER racing fun...
Cassette adapter for music

Car Related

Race Wheels with Hoosiers
Fresh set of Hoosier Tires - Unmounted, will be at Nebraska waiting for us
Torque wrench
Breaker bar
Tool box - Wrenches, sockets, extensions, gloves, pliers, etc.
1 gal of Coolant
1 gal of distilled water
Redline Grease
Extra hose clamps
4 Jack stands
1 Jack
Spanner wrenches
Lug Nut Key Lock
Torch - Using Brian's
MAF Cleaner
5 Quarts of oil and oil filter
Impact gun, batteries and charger
Brake fluid
Brake bleeder kit with hose
Brake cleaner

Event Related

Autocross gear bag - Has helmet, gloves, air compressor, tow hooks, sun block, race lug nuts, Go Pro, tire pressure gauge, extra body clips
Water Sprayer - Using Brian's since mine is broken
5 Gallon Gas Tank
Gunnar Sunglasses
Tire Scraper
Map Torch
Reciprocating Saw
Microfiber towels and detail spray, window cleaner, and bug & tar remover
Ice Cooler
2 Camping Chairs
Magnetic Numbers - Already in the detail box in the car

Final Car Checkup

Oil Change
Alignment check
Bushings greased
Body Clips all in place
Check/tighten coilover collars
Spark Plugs, wires, coils health check
Check/tighten exhaust bolts and 02 sensor
Check/clean MAF sensor - May purchase an extra one
Check Intake alignment and fitting
Check/clean air filter
Check brake pad life and grease brake pads
Check wheel bearings and ball joints - May purchase extras
Check/flush clutch and brake fluids as needed
Ensure car is at half tank - For practice runs, getting off trailer, etc. etc.
Car wash, wax, and vacuum
Clean race wheels
Charge race battery
Vinyls remaining onto car
Road Test of all work done

STX Battle: RX-8 vs. BRZ

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 14:23:00 +0000

Hurst RX-8

I got to catch up with a fellow RX-8 racer from New York, Jeff Hurst. I was checking in with him to see how his racing season has been going. He did a post recently that I wanted to share on the blog, as it's been a hot topic as of late. A Street Touring Xtreme (STX) built RX-8 vs. a STX built BRZ. Jeff and Eric Simmons got to compare their two cars back to back at an event. Jeff had this to say about the test.

Simmons BRZ

"Testing is in. The Simmons STX BRZ is fast. It feels lighter, more nimble, with a bit more power down low than the Hurst RX-8. Simmons and I did 2 runs in our own cars, 2 runs in each others, and then 1 run back in our own. 245/17 sized BFGoodrich Rivals on both cars. Simmons BRZ was at pump gas power levels. We knew the course well, as we had 4 runs earlier in the day in the wet. It was fully dry by the time we ran. The RX-8 was on the pushy side, but mostly fixed by the time he got into it. BRZ was on the looser side.

Eric Simmons dominating at the Ayer Match Tour

My first run in the BRZ turned into a drift show at the finish (a little over zealous on the throttle), and then the 2nd run never materialized with a shock adjustment that made the car worse. Simmons got the best of both of us with driving and setups, (well if you don't count his cone in my RX-8, but we'll give it to him anyways). With that, he went '41.599 in the RX-8 to a 41.101 in his BRZ. '0.4 quicker on a 40 second course. The BRZ matches everything the RX-8 does but carries an advantage out of slow corners with more thrust and at the initial turn in. The lower weight generates less slip angle from the tire, and the car just reacts quicker. Draw your own conclusions. The once deemed conjecture (you know who you are), is reality."

Video comparison below:

Definitely great feedback to hear, but too bad we don't have any data logs though! I had a little bit to say in terms of a Street Prepared (SP) BRZ and RX-8, but some others felt the BRZ would be the better car still. As a side note, E85 will NOT be allowed in ST classes in 2014 (unless it runs it from the factory!). E85 aside, I would beg to differ on what car would still be better. However, because you can run E85 in SP classes, with the benefit of a E85 tune the BRZ gains a lot more power and torque than a RX-8, even a BRZ in stock form! Guess we'll have to see who decides to take the leap and build one!

Jeff Hurst tearing it up!

In the meantime, check out Simmon's car build more closely on NASIOC, and it is actually for sale! Wish I got the chance to take a spin in it, as they definitely seem like great cars. Thanks again for the input Jeff, and am always welcome to putting other great information like this on my blog at anytime! Looking forward to see how these two do at Nationals this year, along with the other rotary warriors in STX.

Last Race Before Nats @ NER!

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 13:42:00 +0000

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

This is it. After this event, I have a weekend off, and then off to Lincoln Nebraska. John was unable to make it to the event, so I took this opportunity to really focus on getting more intuned with the car. Seeing how far I could push it through different elements, at what point I needed to dial it back, played with a few minor settings, etc.

I figured out that the car actually seems to feel better with equal tire pressures in the front and rear, and I don't know if that's now because we run full soft in the rear shocks and/or because of fixing the spring perches or what. Either way, it feels great!

I managed to make 4th in Pro Class, right behind the legendary Nick Barbato. I came in on my fastest run with a '60.852 clean, and I had been chasing that '60 all event. The course had some interesting elements that I had to figure out a bit, but once I got it, I felt pretty good with my runs. After watching my fastest run video, I still left some time on the table, and it looked as though there was easily a low '60 in the car.
Thanks to Nick and Ben for pointing out a few things I could change up to do a different approach to different elements. The rest of the results are located here on NER's website.

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

Big thanks to Nick and Ben for giving me a few pointers as to how to approach the different elements and what to improve upon . Even though I came only 4th in Pro, with a 5th place in PAX, I felt great! I left the event feeling very fulfilled, and very confident with both my driving and the car. Below, you'll see my fastest run of the day and just how pumped I was to reach the '60's. I'll be posting up my Nationals' Prep List for anyone who is interested in an upcoming post, and will be keeping everyone informed with what happens there. For now, stay tuned for the upcoming journey that I have been waiting for since I started racing.

John Takes Top PAX @ NHMS!

noreply@blogger.com (Marc Monnar) — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 15:48:00 +0000

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

Race Against Leukemia weekend over at New Hampshire Motor Speedway! We didn't have a lot of people this event, only having about 54 registered to run. If there was a time to shine and get that PAX glass, it was now. Fortunately for John, he had figured out the secret to the course where I had struggled, and went for the goal!

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

I say this every time and will say it again, but the main thing I love about coming to NHMS is seeing the cars racing at the track, and hanging out in the infield. The lot isn't super exciting, but the courses can be technical at times. Flatout Motorsports was awesome enough to offer 2 hot laps around the track for a $20 donation. I didn't get to take it, but will have to make it a point to take it next time they hold something like that.

Photo by Michael Siergiej - Michael Siergiej Photography

For whatever reason, I could NOT get the finish of this course down. I was either too hot, too slow, didn't brake in just the right spot, etc. etc. I just didn't have it in me for whatever reason. My fastest time was a '25.877 clean, good enough for 2nd in Pro Class. John came 1st in PAX and Pro, with a '25.336 clean. The rest of the results are located here on the NER website.

Top PAX for a top notch driver!

Congrats again to John for the win though! He was on point, and he's definitely been killing the competition this season, which has been pushing me to only work harder for my wins. After this, there is only one more event, and then, Nationals. As I get closer and closer to Nationals, I get more and more excited. The RX-8 has come a long way, and is setup perfect at the moment. Now it's just up to me to see how far I can take it! Below are John and I's fastest runs. Stay tuned for the next NER event!