It's not that I suck. It's that folks are faster

#1

This weekend I was irritated to be driving pretty hard but getting my ass kicked nonetheless. The reoccuring theme was “how the f**k can I be losing 4secs to the leaders”. It seemed to me like there was a time when I didn’t suck so bad at CMP so I figured that I must have just lost my CMP mojo and I was going to have to work to get it back.

I looked into “the old days” this morning. I looked thru all my old CMP data. And what I found is that relative to my old times, I don’t suck. In fact, I’m a little faster. Which led me to wonder, "well, if I’m faster, why the f**k am I getting my ass kicked? So I looked at old My Laps data and I think I have the answer. The reason I’m getting my ass kicked is that the competition is better now than it used to be. I crunched some numbers and the bottom line is that a 1:54 would have done pretty darn well in the 4 Saturday Quals between the track reconfiguration in Feb09 and May10. So if you’re not getting faster, you’re falling behind.

[file name=SpecE30_154Study.jpg size=59717]http://spece30.com/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/files/SpecE30_154Study.jpg[/file]

#2

The competition in the Southeast is no longer mediocre?

Used to be that the 6th place trophy was a fun thing, kinda joke.If we had Geiger’s trophys back for 2011, the 6th place would have merit.

Note to self: to run toward the front of the pack at CMP takes new tires (at least for this mediocre driver).

RP

#3

No joke about the new tires for CMP, and that has been changing as the track gets worse. A few years back I drove a car to the track and qualified on the pole, 2nd was Damion, 3rd Skeen, 4th Brandon Smith or Patton… I am sure I did not have new tires then, the track surface is gradually getting worse. Sure, the talent is a little deeper as the field is bigger…I say we run on Toyo T1R’s…

Al

#4

“Now Cole… Tires… are what wins a race.”

I learned my lesson, again. After taking pole both days at CMP last November on fresh rubber and then struggling to qualify 4th and 7th this weekend in the same damn car I’ve come to the conclusion that sticker tires are just that good. Is it reasonable to buy brand new tires for every weekend? Hell no. But maybe timing your new sets with CMP and Roebling would be wise. I know I will be.

#5

and let’s not forget:

  • johan driving luke’s “sure it’s a spec e30!” car
  • devinney in his shiny new veyron, complete with 1000hp motor
  • travis had three months to come up with new and creative ways to cheat

and i believe all of them were on new tires. the combination of fast car/good driver/fresh tires is not easy to beat. i know that evan and eric and i were all on leftover 2010 tires, and i think it showed a little bit.

ps - my bullet points above are entirely in jest, don’t break out the tar and feathers (besides, they’d clash with my wardrobe).

pps - i’m not blaming my finishing position on anything but craptacular driving. but tires do seem to make more of a difference at cmp than any other track i’ve driven.

ppps - ranger don’t forget we’re 50# lighter this year too, that’s gotta be worth a tenth or two.

#6

Evan, I think that tire strategy is correct, but i dislike CMP so much that it really isn’t worth the money. Roebling is an altogether different story.

Jason, Travis had new grip,not sure about DeVinney and (in hindsight)the Luke-mobile will be monitored closely if it is entered as a Spec car again. My mistake as it should have been foremost on the list to check.As a matter of new-learned policy, it will be good practise to check all new entrys as they come to race with us.I’ll bring this up at the next driver’s meeting.

RP

#7

jtower wrote:

[quote]- devinney in his shiny new veyron, complete with 1000hp motor
<>
and i believe all of them were on new tires.[/quote]Tower -

Don’t confuse “shiny new” with “newly shiny”. I figured after 2 1/2 years of tight racing it was time to ‘go Jones’ or make it presentable again.

I was on 2010 tires [color=#A7A7A7][size=1]for Saturday practice and new ones the rest of the weekend.[/size][/color] :wink:

Just be glad this isn’t a double SARRC Spec Miata race. A new set for each day is the hot ticket.:blink:

#8

travis could barely find the motivation to change his timing belt…just imagine what it would take for him to even get a valve job, he is still on the unopened ATSC supplied to the previous owner 6 years ago junkyard engine…

CMP is a place where new tires trump a new motor…also, it is getting to the point where the track is really tearing up tires, read some of the comments on the SE forum. RRR a few years ago, I had friends waste a set of Hoosiers in 1 day at a CCA race…