I would greatly appreciate any high quality photos of my car on the track at Waterford, even the crash photos! Please pm me if you have something you can send.
Or post them here , Tom how fast do you think you were going? or did you not get to glance down at the Speedo? and What was the top speed you achieved out there?
Thanks Adam
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02:16 PM
California Kid Member
Posts: 9541 From: Metro Detroit Area, Michigan Registered: Jul 2001
Or post them here , Tom how fast do you think you were going? or did you not get to glance down at the Speedo? and What was the top speed you achieved out there?
Thanks Adam
As I came out of the last 'sweeper' before the 'Grandstand' short straight I nailed it to get around one, possibly two slower cars in front of me (I was cornering better in turns then they were, so I wanted to get in front of them). I only took a milli-second glance at the speedo near the end of the straight, it was one of those blurred visuals, but the needle was near 100mph (which at that time I knew I had made a serious mistake for the turn coming up). Even though the brakes brought me down quick, I had to keep them on through the dip in the racetrack, which sealed my fate. The rest of the time on the track, I never looked at the speedo or tach, as I was too busy watching other cars, reading the course, or watching for signals from the course corner personnel all over the track.
<edit> Found this photo that someone had posted which I believe is the point where I setup to get in passing position (passing cones were coming up). Special Thanks to the person who took this shot!
[This message has been edited by California Kid (edited 07-20-2003).]
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02:37 PM
fiero go fast Member
Posts: 1728 From: Royersford, PA Registered: Apr 2002
Cali Kid, I heard about your mishap. I guess people were giving you crap and it saying that its BS that your car does this or that in the slalom if you cant make the corner... If you ask me I heard about that corner on the track and anyone could over shoot it for speed with a nice straight away like that. Your accident has stuck that fact in my head so when i start racing SCCA ITA im gonna remember to watch nice straight away acceleration like that. Hope everything is ok, and I saw your car at the show its super nice. I only ask if you drive it like its built? Kinda sad when people baby there super high performance cars ya know? Whats the use in having it if you dont use it eh?
------------------ "Raced That, Wrecked Better"~In Memory Of Jesse Cesek~ 1980-2000
[This message has been edited by The Fieromaster (edited 07-20-2003).]
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02:46 PM
California Kid Member
Posts: 9541 From: Metro Detroit Area, Michigan Registered: Jul 2001
Note to "The Fieromaster": With the exception of one person (who wasn't even present in Michigan, or at the track), no one has given me any crap about my car.
I drive it hard, that's what it was built for, I did over-step my bounds at Waterford though. Not knowing a track, or being a weekend warrior on a road course does have it's disadvantages.
Hind site being 20/20, I wish I had turned my keys over to one of the Instructors at the track, and let him take the car out. I believe his commments would have put to rest any doubt that this car does perform very well. If I hadn't had to leave the track to get my right side tires dis-mounted to get the gravel cleaned out (which only left me the last session to run it at the track), I may have done just that.
One of the things I found out quickly at Waterford is that it's hard to forget street habits where your punching the throttle all the time. Road Course racing is like ballet, all actions must be very smooth transitions and planned in advance. With my second and last session on the track I was able to learn some of what it takes to set up a turn to pull some high g turns with the 'Kid'. It can be accomplished with practice, but I'll be the first to tell you that a short curvey course like Waterford is tough to handle with a high horsepower car until you can manage these deciplines.
I met Kameo Kid for the first time at the show, we hit it off pretty good, so I gave him a ride down the curvey Centerpoint Blvd (I pushed it pretty good so he could see the capabilities of the car). If anyone whats verification, shoot him a pm.
[This message has been edited by California Kid (edited 07-20-2003).]
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03:17 PM
California Kid Member
Posts: 9541 From: Metro Detroit Area, Michigan Registered: Jul 2001
Cali ~ Your car is beautiful! I must say my boyfriend was drooling over it quite a bit and he is a tough one to please as far as thinking a car is truly to be drooled over. He mentioned it as one of his favorite cars at the show!
Good job!
Jen
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01:54 PM
California Kid Member
Posts: 9541 From: Metro Detroit Area, Michigan Registered: Jul 2001
It was a real mess after my 'off road' crash excursion at Waterford Hills Racetrack, and I was just too worn out to fully detail it for the show. I choose not to have the car judged, just make it presentable to display, hoping people wouldn't think too badly of me.
Tom
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04:40 PM
Fierochic88 Member
Posts: 4982 From: Staunton, VA Registered: May 2001
As I came out of the last 'sweeper' before the 'Grandstand' short straight I nailed it to get around one, possibly two slower cars in front of me (I was cornering better in turns then they were, so I wanted to get in front of them).
For the record, I was the black car in front of you (number 32) and would like to argue your statement that you were cornering better in the corners than I was! My car has similar mods to yours and I am confident it could stick with it in the corners...the straightaways are a whole different story.
The biggest reason I argue that you were cornering better is because you *quickly* found the gravel while I did not. I was following the instructor car to get the lines figured out RATHER THAN finding the gravel pit myself. After a few laps I got a better feel for the car and could push it a little harder....figuring out the exact limits of the tires and brakes without going off the track.
Of course I'm just joking around, but really, I wasn't pushing my car very hard in either session. I was following the instructor car (a stock GT) and was constantly wanting to pass. I thought we would get three sessions, so I was learning the first two and going to go all out the third session...but we never got a third session, partially because we had to have a driver's meeting about people wiping out.
I was just happy nothing horrible happened to my car, as I was driving it from Alabama, went to both track days, and didn't have any issues! Although I've gone through the whole car, that still impresses me on a car with 190k miles on it.
My hat's off to you, Tom. You were a really good sport about the crash afterwards, kept your head about you and got it fixed so you could get back out there, and haven't even got pissed about the cut springs/SBC handling comments made (which are retarded). You also have an awesome car, my favorite SBC Fiero.
Bryce 88 GT
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07:38 PM
California Kid Member
Posts: 9541 From: Metro Detroit Area, Michigan Registered: Jul 2001
One of the things I found out about my car setup is that it likes to have a little push (gas) through the entire turn with the front tires talking to you just a little bit. That's where it felt the best through the twisties. When you had to slow due to the car in front of you, it compounded back into me (because I wasn't lying back) which made my car feel pretty squirrely. Made the pass to try to improve this situation, my car was just faster than my brain when we hit the straight, lots of information to process in a short run. I should have laid back and learned more about 'the line' and stepped it up later, like I did when I returned to run the last session. It sure was a lot of fun!!! Would love to have that track to myself for an entire day!
[This message has been edited by California Kid (edited 07-22-2003).]
Me and Cali. Kid made the about the same mistake on the first turn,trying to push it too hard too early on the front straight. Also it is much eaiser to get your self in trouble with a faster car,no offese to you stock engine guys but you almost didnt have enough power to get your self in trouble. My car makes about twice the power of a stock 2.8 and Cali Kid is probably making about twice what I am so I know going into that corner at near 100mph was an OH **** ride. The majority if not all the people that ended up in the gravel trap or looping 360s were all in modified cars.
Thanks "Old Lar"!! Now I know where all that dirt came from! The shot with the 3 cars in the corner looks pretty sharp, if you have got that in hi-resolution let me know if you can e-mail it to me.
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09:19 PM
Jul 25th, 2003
California Kid Member
Posts: 9541 From: Metro Detroit Area, Michigan Registered: Jul 2001
I don't really mind, but you should post those photos in the "Waterford Hills Pics and Stories Thread" to make it more complete.
Satisfies the minds curiosity to see the crash photos though, because you're always wondering how the guys car made out!!! One of the guys that took pictures of mine in the 'pit' had his camera over-write the pictures he had taken when he filled the digital chip up.
Please pm me if you have something you can send.
, Tom how fast do you think you were going? or did you not get to glance down at the Speedo? and What was the top speed you achieved out there?
