Ultimate Track Car Challenge Getting Close And Things In The Works

This is the big event of the year. 48 states, thousands of racers to pick from....but only 100 drivers get the invitation. A chance to compete in one of four classes to find out where a driver and his/her car ranks.

...and we are one of them.






Tales of angry snails and evil vaccum cleaners have been buzzed around the internets. But TDMS has chosen to keep things in perspective as far as keeping the car close to a Showroom Spec Miata for the future. Though we will say we have ventured into gray areas and have done a few things that are not Spec compliant until such time comes. But we have plenty of time to reverse those things when the time comes.

The TDMS crew has been working with some great friends to get the miata in one piece again. A couple years of problem free events has caught up with us. The oil pump went out and sped up the failure of what was already an engine on the way out. Ronald "Stringer" Roderick was quoted at Summit Point while getting out of the car..."...hey, the engine has been trouble free for three years. I knew this was coming because I could feel the loss of power over the last few events. But she held together long enough to beat my personal best time by 2 1/2 seconds. That was awesome! I have to thank Michael D. for some pointers on reviewing my video with me to help me out."

Now into several weeks of tear down and rebuild...things are coming together. The block and head are at the machine shop and they have been advised on class spec rules to stay within when machining the parts. Murt has spent a lot of time going over the engine rules to keep the engine Spec legal for future use in the series.
Ronald states..."these guys are awesome. I cant wait to give this new engine a try. Basically the only thing left on it that is from the old engine is the oil pan and the valve cover. I am just amazed at how much stuff there is to know about an engine."
On top of everything...TDMS will be visited trackside this event by sponsors and long time online racing friends for a fun and festive weekend. Three years running sponsor Glaze Communications of the TDMS miata will be there as well as Tony Resha from Tailgaiting Internet Talk Show and also the owner of Tailgating Trackside.
See everyone at the track!

June at Summit Point, my first ever Hyperfest. I heard stories of ignoring the fact that the stands are full and the fence line is loaded with people watching. Concentrate on what your doing is what they told me. To be honest...I only got one session as a driver. Well, most of one anyway. But that’s another story down the tale of the Hyperfest weekend.
It all started out normal as my family and crew arrived at the track. A little behind schedule but it worked out perfect. It was the first time I had ever seen a line of trailers on the road to enter into Summit Point. Cell phone rings and mom is asking where I am. I'm at the gate I say...just then spotting her coming in on the other side. She says I don’t see you...I say I coming up to the gate. This is our first event as a one car show. Kim of King Ratt is holding a spot for us to paddock with them up near the grid. The feeling of such honor was incredible. We pulled in and took up as little room as possible and started to set up. After all was set up, Alex came over and inspected the work done on the miata. Although we are dwelling outside the realm of Spec Miata, he offered great words to us on the changes made. He seemed quite interested in the craftsmanship of everything and the layout of the design. But after all the informal introduction were made...and the fun and festivities of paddock life were over...it became a mission. A mission on my part. I would not let a parting of ways on my part end great friendships with a team I have spent so much time with. I made my way to Team FJR and walked in and shook hands with all that were willing and even grabbed a hug out of Evelyn. I knew I was no longer welcome with them...but I also know things happen for a reason. Changes are made to better everyone. Some not so nice...but that’s how they end up. It definitely was a topic of the weekend among many. But I look at it this way; I traded a good thing with tension for a good thing with fun. To me the smart choice was made. I am the one that has to live with it.


Back to reality. Hyperfest weekend. Saturday starts off with rain. An unknown student on a wet track is always a challenge. They want to go fast and I want to keep us in one piece. So the speech comes out...lets take it easy and build into it. So much can be learned on a wet track...good and bad. We actually were able to get in one wet session, one semi wet session and a good dry session on a green track. Both student did well in the rain and kept it dialed back for the most part. Once we hit dry track I worked with them on a few things and found myself loving the ride along. I almost hated the fact that I needed to give them my pep talk about being solo and how the car is going to feel different to let them go. But watching them go around the track and downloading the information they experienced and working with that is so fun.
I on the other hand waited till the track dried up to make my first run. With the new intake system I did not want to take the chance of sucking in some water on the first test. The first test proved to be the only test of the weekend. I gained about 7 mph in the straight and the Miata handled very well. The Miata seemed fairly balanced with the loss of the extra weight. Twenty Five minutes of fun until the engine called it quits. We discovered the engine was running very lean and first thoughts of the oil pump giving out or at least enough to starve the engine of oil. But hey the engine has been in the car for 3 years of track time, so it was not unexpected. The good side is that everything stayed in one piece and I was able to get back to the paddock under my own power without dropping any fluids on the track. One of my students offered me his Civic SI to take out to get some track time. Such a great offer…but I had to turn it down. I don’t like taking the risk of something going wrong and hurting someone else’s car.
The rest of the evening was spent watching the drifters, eating fried chicken and terrorizing the rest of the paddock on the mini RV complete with a down pour that lasted long enough for all of us to get soaking wet.
Sunday turned out to be decent weather and dry. My students had a lot of fun and started really getting a good feel of the track and testing new limits little by little so I turned them loose for there last two sessions. Before each of there session I was on grid to give them my pep talk. Stay focused and take each thing little by little. Keep it on the track. Be aware of what’s going on around you. These are the turns that are going to feel a little different without the 155 lbs on the other side. I kept my eye on them and each of them talked to me after each session about the differences they felt and what they were working on. Being an instructor is an incredible thing. Each weekend out you make two new friends. All of my students I see at the track come over and say hi and tell me how things are going that weekend and still ask questions. I think that is awesome. It just cant possibly get any better then that.

I have been working on something a bit different. Instead of adding to the car...I have been taking away from it. For two years I have held on tight to the interior of the car and have even been joked a few times for having a stereo in the car. After a self induced rally of fellow drivers to just do it...It became time. Time to let go of the street car and finally make the crossover in the mind set of full time track car. Though with each toss of a part to the pile of stuff that came out the car you could see a grin on my face as well as the pains of letting it go.

From this



To this



I have nearly completed the removal of the interior. All that is left is the clean up of the passenger door and the evil black goo removal. Probably one of the best upgrades on the interior is doing away with the stereo and installing the blank plate to mount switches to. In all the odd gears..each switch is just a finger flick away. Plenty of room to add fan switches or the like in the future. The other notable change has been the change in the actual seat mounting. Now instead of steel plates being used to mount the seat, its bolted directly through the floor. Probably a lot of over kill on the safety side of this...but I don't think so. 1/2 threaded rod, hardened washers, stainless nuts and 2 inch washers on the exterior and lots of lock tight. Eventually the passenger seat will get this upgrade as well to allow for a 5 minute in and out when needed for students. But for now...the passenger seat stays in the car as is.

This is the gallery of pictures

North Carolina May Double SARRC/ Double MARRS at VIR

May 9th 2009 I wake up unsure of what to expect at my normal 5:30-6:00am time. Nothing....not a sound. 7am...not a sound. Man, I need some coffee. I walk over to the concession stand and they are closed. What? Man, what a way to start a morning at the track. No singing or time announcements from Chris and no first morning buzz through out the paddock. OK, first note to self. Next time I go to an SCCA event...sleep in. The other thing I found as I walked through the paddock the night before is that I knew absolutely no one. The one person I knew was at his hotel and the only other name I knew was Mike Collins who I had met one time before. But any way...

At 7:30am VIR came to life. First call for Group 1 to line up for Qualifying. OK, first difference. Instead of the false grid lineup, it was over at the covered grid line up place. Something that is seldom used at a NASA event. I wandered over and was very unsure as to where I could go so I stayed on the grass and took some pictures. First thing that came to my mind was that I didn't know what half of these cars were. As the different groups came to grid for qualifying I noticed much of the same. Other then the Miata's, RX7's and a few 280Z's...I didn't recognize many of the race crafts that lined up.

Now what I found different. This was a combined event between MARRS and SARRC with SCCA. Something I have never seen done with NASA. Another difference is the cars themselves. General newer production cars seen at this event were considerably low numbers other then Miata's. I did see one E36 and one 90's generation Mustang. But other then that I only saw Stock Cars, Older Z cars, A couple of Nissan, cars I did not recognize, a Spitfire I believe and older generation RX7's. I did not see a single Porsche, Ferrari or anything in the 2000 era of makes. Another difference I saw was that there was no "All Hands" meeting first thing. The only meeting that I was aware of was a drivers meeting after all the qualifying rounds where done. Another thing I noticed different is that with SCCA, you get a 15 minute Qual and a 30 minute or 12 lap race per day. With NASA, you get a 25 minute warm up, a 15 minute qualify round and a 25 minute race. So that amounts to at least 20 minutes more track time per day with NASA. I would have to say I like the warm up with NASA a lot more as a chance to warm up the car and the brain before your day and to shake down any problems that might arise. SCCA runs 14 session in a day and NASA runs 23 sessions in a day. Granted...there are only 3 race groups, 3 student groups and a TT and Instructor group but not including the HyperDrive Session.

Another thing I found very different was the commentary of the races. Times, names, car numbers, car places being announced during the run was very neat. Unlike NASA where all announcements are sponsor related or calls for the next group. Running the amount of groups that NASA does...I can see where this would not work. But it was fun the hear your friends name several times during the race and what they thought was a great move on his part.

All in all it was a fun day. I found it a little more intimidating from the administration side of it, but found it more relaxed as far as the racer was concerned. I don't consider either group a bad choice from a drivers point. Both have their advantages for sure.


Full Photo Album

Post Summit Cleanup

Cleanup has begun on the me-otter. One thing comes to mind to ask.

...I wonder if Summit Point wants the parts of T6 and T7 that I brought home with me on the inside of my rims and in every nook and cranny of the me-otter back?

Melted rubber and my white rims get along pretty well...but melted asphalt and my white rims make for a long clean up process for sure.



Four hours have been logged so far on post inspection and initial clean up. Now comes a complete waxing to remove all the melted rubber from the paint and a deep clean on the rims to remove all the tar stains.




One thing I have found in post inspection is that its time to have some exhaust work done to cure a leak that I think has become a problem. The seals on either side of the cat are now shot. After a full run on the track everything is so hot she wont idle. The temp gauge shows a normal reading, engine bay is at normal temp...but trans tunnel is very hot, which is where the leak is. When I remove the fuel cap after a run, I have to crack it and let it vent for a couple of minutes to release the pressure. If I try to take it off too fast I notice the gas bubbling up. I am wondering if the exhaust leak is heating up the gas in the tank.

The other good news is that Glaze Communications has signed on for year 3. I cant thank them enough for the support over the last couple of years.

Summit Point Spring Showdown with NASA MA

ITS NOT RAINING!!!!

This was the general buzz around the line of RV's, trailers loaded with race cars and drive up HPDE'ers that formed a long winding trail of participants waiting for FATT to get done so we could swarm the paddock and set up for the weekends event. It's time to go in at last. I looked like a wagon train from the days of the old westerns. We all drove in and made our way to our favorite spots and set up our areas. We as a team always make our way to the overflow to set up as we tend to take up a fair amount of land with our various vehicles, trailers, tents and the new addition of the RV. Friday Techistration for the Miata went smooth and was uneventful. The rest of the night the group spent relaxing over a Steak and Potato dinner on the grill and some fun times with friends.

Saturday morning arrives and the favorite sounds of engines being started, Chris singing on the intercom system and giving general announcements of the morning. As all of us made our way up to the All Hands Meeting, we knew it was going to be a hot one today. After a brief All Hands, I headed off to the Instructor meeting for the days briefing of what we should keep our eyes on. I ended up with one student, an E30 318 in group 2 and back up for group 1. Things were looking good. I make my way back to the compound and remember my new number. 29 was where I was going to start my tire test pressure at that Phils Tire Service was going to help me out with over the weekend. On the track for the first session and the car felt terrible. Very unresponsive and the tires were squishy. I just felt so not in control and as the rest of the incredibly fast field was passing me over and over again I was getting very frustrated. But I knew it was just a test run. After I came in and got a tire pressure check and some questions from Phil about how the session went, new pressure levels to start with were given to me. Add a lb to each except for this one...put two lbs in this one. Take the right side tires and put them on the left. Run them backwards. The next run was a LOT different. Felt like I was more in control of the car and noticed a few things. The first thing I noticed, other then having more responsiveness was the tires were not kicking up as much noise. Still had some under steer, but I was noticing that I was able to keep my foot in the throttle a lot more with the new setup over last year. The session comes to an end and I am feeling a lot better with myself. By this time is was hot out and I was nice and cool with the new cool shirt I had finished installation on a few days before the event. Ice water flowing over my upper body was incredible and kept me fresh and alert. Definitely money well spent. As I came in and headed over to Phil for another pressure check...41,41,41,43. Another round of questions and a new suggestion. Stiffen up the rear sway and try it. Ten minutes and it was switched one notch. Final session of the day and I head out for another test session. Finally, the car felt good and would steer when I told it to. For the first time since I had R Compound on...the car would turn. I pushed a little harder and had a fun session. 1:39.2 I ended up with I believe and even though still slow in my class in TT, if felt good. I came off for another pressure test and came up with the same numbers. Phil said leave it like it is and make your goal for tomorrow to run a 1:38. "You can't leave here without making a 1:38" Feeling good about the day, I park the miata for the night and head over to the OG Racing sponsored awards party. Great food and interesting beer and fun times. I had a chance to talk to a couple of other miata drivers that I call friends and tell them how the day went and the times I am running. A 1:39 on a stock suspension turns out to be a decent time for the car. As Joe tells me, most of the SSM times are in the 1:36 to 1:37 times so I am not that far off pace at all with what I am working with. Actually he and his daughter were very encouraging telling me those are good times for my car. I spent the rest of the evening talking over the fun of the day with friends, family and students. Yes, I said students. My E30 student had done very well and just needed some seat time to build up his confidence and such. I was a back up for group 1 and the second session jumped into an M3 without an instructor so that he would not loose any track time. After the session he told me he didn't want his other instructor back and wanted me in the car with him. Hey, the customer is always right and it was a fun ride. I am a talker in the passenger seat and he liked that I talked him through the course and guided him as he learned the track. We spend a fair amount of time exploring just how well the brakes would work and finding the turn in points on the turns. My personal favorite again was to get him to coast through T4 so that he would realize you really could go through the turn faster. I was pretty impressed with this first time on a track student. He was so eager to learn and listened to what I was telling him.

Sunday morning. Same routine. Time to get out and go after my goal. After Saturday's track time I come up with a little bit of a plan for this first session. I want a 1:38. I go out with an added lb in the rears and run as hard as I could....or at least as hard as my brain would let me. Each lap building experience and realizing that the car is still sticking no problem. Now the problem comes in. I get eager to grab my goal and start running harder...which puts me wanting to turn in a little too early or not tracking out enough or not setting up the next turn just right. I ended up driving as hard as I thought I could, which by the way...still is not hard enough for the car and ended up with a 1:37.5 for the best lap. I had no idea I even turned that time until later in the day. That time was only .4 seconds slower then a King Ratt driver in Qualifying for the weekend. I was pumped to say the least and knew that I could have been better with some help. My next two sessions I opted out of TT to give a couple of rides. The first was the Pit Out Guy, which was a long time friend and a fellow indoor karting bud. He has been working events to start doing HPDE's with his brother that was also flagging this weekend and working to get into HPDE events as well. I took Jake out for a session and showed him just what he was getting into. I think he had a blast. I think about lap 4 he gave is brother a love gesture as we exited T6. The very next lap is brother returned the love gesture. Was a fun time for sure and I just had to laugh. After that I took my group 1 student out for a ride. I told him point blank...do not try to do what I am about to do. I often wonder if that makes a student nervous riding along. The warm up lap went fine and we take the green. As we come to T1 I notice him gripping the door handle with a death grip, bracing himself with his feet and notice his head against the seat. We work our self though the track and after a couple of laps I start to notice he is relaxing a little and enjoying the ride. When we come off track I ask him what he thought. LOL. That was awesome he said. Another satisfied customer that I hope will come back and play with NASA. Thats what its all about....this is why I do what I do. A weekend of friends and happy students that go home with big grins and tall tales of what they just did...that's what makes my track time incredible and rewarding.

I often wonder why I have not posted this sooner.

I have to give the credit to the weather for this one. Sean T. would have knocked me out of the place if he had not made his run in the rain. Sean made up for it on Sunday with a second place and me in third place in TTE. Congrats to him for sure. Next stop for me is Summit Point in West Virginia to try it all over again. Looks as though Sean and I will be going at it again. I will be doing tire tests this weekend so I am hoping my last run on Saturday will be good enough to stay close.

2009 March Sunday TT Session 2 from Ronald Roderick on Vimeo.