+1 Way to go!
2010 Season Opener NJMP April 17-18
ddavidv
#22
What a crash fest (the day, as well as the race). :dry: Leave it to those 944 drivers…
Regardless, I had a good day. Completed the race, nothing broke, nothing bent. This stuff is fun. 
I may choose to do this quite a bit.
ddavidv
#23
The entire drive home I just wanted to keep saying out loud “Holy bleeping sh*t!”.
:woohoo:
Sunday’s race was what it really must be what it’s all about. I qualified a hair quicker than Justin Styles but was on the outside, fully expecting a sneak attack from the rear. Well, T1 was absolute insanity…the kind of controlled insanity that you veterans know well but was sensory overload to a noob…surrounded by a sea of cars, no such thing as a ‘line’, just get through the turn without starting a catastrophe of Ridley Scott proportions. We got through, and that annoying Styles guy was ‘somewhere’ behind me. So with Curran hopelessly in the lead, time to unleash my evil plan of 2nd place domination. 
For several laps I made some pretty clean drives, managing to keep a 944 between the two of us to further frustrate the younger, annoyingly handsomer Styles and hopefully get me some breathing space. Not happening. And then ultimately, other traffic and my inborn talent at over driving the car allowed the E30 behind me to get on my ass (having dispatched what may be called the ugliest 944 ever seen on a race track). Justin is filling my mirrors, apparently trying to see just how many dust specks are in the paint of my trunk lid. I’m not afraid. I’m driving the vastly superior 4 door version. Ain’t no way this youngster is getting by me.
Cue ROOKIE MISTAKE theme music.
If I remember right (lots going on around me, so my memory isn’t too vivid), I think someone if front of me was holding me up through the 2-3-4 sequence into 5. For whatever reason, I did not exit 5 all that well and knew that Justin guy was gonna try for a pass going under the bridge. I knew it. Let me repeat…I knew it. But being the nice guy that I am, I kept right on driving my HPDE line figuring I could out brake him into the turn with my vastly superior bottle cap wheels. And then I saw the waving yellow. “HA HA!” I says to myself (probably out loud; such is the size of my ego). Justin dives beside me into the turn and completes the pass. Passed me under a yellow, thinks I. He’s going to give me that position back, thinks I. But he does not. He continues to stay in front of me, which I find a bit irritating. I chuckle to myself, thinking he’s just going to get bumped back a position in the results so I don’t have to kill myself trying to get him back. Yet, a nagging voice begins to echo inside the depths of the helmet…
…and eventually the voice is heard. And the phrase it keeps repeating ever louder is Idiot. Have you ever heard the term “race to the yellow?”
Uh-oh.
CrapCrapCrapCrap. So I begin my completely vain drive to catch back up to the rapidly disappearing Boy Wonder only to turn my Obviously Superior Unshaved 14" tires into Jello and finish the race having a fun little duel with a Miata. Only after the race, with the car on the trailer, does Curran (who got punted and spun, allowing the two of us to motor past) innocently point out that had I kept my shiny, freshly built car in front of Justin I would have won.
DOH!
Reality check: the lap times indicate that the Race Win scenario wouldn’t have happened regardless because Justin was simply faster than I. My Old Geezer Mad Tyte Skillz Yo would have ruined the tires no matter where he was, so the results were appropriate. Still…
Is racing fun? Hells yes! :silly: Additionally, if the SE30 guys I’ve met so far are any indication, what a great bunch of drivers. Thanks to everyone for being so helpful and not laughing too loud at my tires, alignment, suit, window net, 150 lb overweight car and my so-called driving prowess.
secu
#24
Congratulations again Dwight on passing Comp School and getting through your first weekend. I think you’re in the points lead, not bad for your debut :laugh:
Unfortunately, my weekend didn’t go as smooth. Long story short, missed Saturday’s race because my van didn’t want anything to do with towing when I left early that morning. Went back home Saturday night and got a friend to tow me and the car back down on Sunday morning. Sunday was going smooth until the previously mentioned yellow flag. Got taken out by a 944 who couldn’t make up his mind on what excuse to give why he hit me. First it was that I was sliding sideways, then something about no room on the inside which is where he wanted to go (still not sure how he thought that was an excuse). There were a couple other attempts at avoiding admission to a mistake. Good thing is, it’s looking like the side of my trunk pushed in 6", a cracked bumper and a cut up brand new tire is the only damage.
Other than the last bit, it was still a fun weekend and I’m already counting down the days til next month.
mxstyles
#25
Ahh, I remember my first race like it was yesterday (or just last season). Congrats on yours, it is great to see another Spec E30. Stellar write up, you will find that with every race you will learn a great deal and progress. You will also find that the Spec E30 racers are a very helpful group of people, welcome to the club. When will you be racing next? we have some bumpers to rub…your car looks way too nice :lol:
ddavidv
#26
There’s a reason I got a car with diving boards…:lol:
I’m thinking about the May event. I have to check the finances, calendar and so forth and there’s a lot of corrective work I need to do to the car. Those issues probably aren’t insurmountable, but I’ve got some crap going on with my elderly parents that may intrude though I think that’s mostly over.
Creative writing and fluent sarcasm are non-income producing gifts, so the RR’s will only get worse from this point onward. 
mxstyles
#27
finances be damned, now that you have been bitten hard by the racing bug and showed some skill the class needs you out there. I am comfortable filling up your mirrors knowing you arent going to do something silly. So keep coming out and we can have a good race with more than 3 cars in the best class in NASA
Truth be told I am more comfortable with you behind me :woohoo:
your sarcasm fits right in with the spec e30 guys, it is a big part of what we do!
Z3SpdDmn
#28
It was nice meeting you guys this weekend. Sorry for your luck, Sean. Watching that video, it was clear who was at fault. While it was surprising that it wasn’t a Miata, it most certainly wasn’t you.
I found the Lightning track to be very easy and was running hard after my first session. While the track won’t be well suited to our 500+hp E30 in the One Lap of America, hopefully knowing my way over the blind turns and through Lightbulb will really pay off! I hope you’ll keep up with us at www.DTROneLap.com.
Catch you all another time!
Oh, and some entertainment from the DE side… I was in the MINI ahead (continually missing the apex in the left hander after the bridge cause I was trying too hard to trailbrake / pitch the rear, lol). Scott and I were talking by radios during this session, which mostly amounted to him yelling at me for putting HIS new-to-him MINI in the dirt and spraying dirt and rocks all over HIS 911. I mean, HE invited ME to come drive his cars… What did he expect? LOL :laugh:
ddavidv
#31
http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=1456806&perclass=1
See if that works. I don’t know if you can access that link without being logged in.
Just found this…early in the race before Justin ruined my entire race weekend experience. :laugh:
http://www.tracktimephotos.com/largeView.php?imgName=2010/20100418_NJM_NAL_0870