August Summer Summit With NASA

How many ways can I describe what took place when the gates were opened at Summit Point Raceway to go in? Flash flood? Monsoon? Torrential down pour? I think I will go with monsoon. Though it did not last all that long, it flooded half the paddock and actual rapids it looked like formed in the middle of the paddock. When the rain stopped, we had a beautiful light brown lake that was lightly stocked with a few vehicles and lots of wet people. Hey….flash flood, errr flashback to Hyperfest and the end of the Daisy Duke contest. I think that’s enough creative writing for now to get the picture. The picture below is from Sunday. I never did get any pictures of the monsoon.

Friday night turned out nice once all of our paddock was set up. Good friends, burgers and dogs on the grill, coolers stocked with cold adult soda’s and lots of cutting up and laughter. Saturday started out unlike any event for me yet. Fog delay. This was a first for me. It was so thick you could not see the start tower from the false grid. After about 30 minutes it broke up enough to turn us loose on the track. Cold tires, damp track, damp and cool air…yep you guessed it, lots of slipping and sliding Instructors and Time Trial drivers. The day improved weather wise for the first half of the day, but then at noon started to rain again. I went out and made some wet laps to get the experience and see the condition of the track to make sure I was prepared to keep my student on the track and having fun. Thankfully it was just an ordinary light rain that finally stopped at 6 pm in time for all the paddock festivities and games. Home made pulled pork BBQ and all kinds of fixins hit the spot after a long day at the track thanks to Bev and mom. Such fine food for the gang could not have been possible without them. After dinner Jake and I ventured over to the Over The Hill Gangs paddock and had a rematch game of Cornhole from VIR. This time it when a lot better for us young guys. A victory of 25-8 I believe set the stage for a face off at VIR in October since each of us has won one game. This is a picture of my Student Todd's car. I would have to say this was one nice looking Mazda.

Sunday turned out to be a nice sunny and warm day. The track was green, but dry and made for some real fun driving. One of the things I learned was that I am going to have to get used to this new engine. It has a little bit more power then the old engine. With that and working on some of my problem turns, I am now having problems with the next turn as I get better with the ones I am working on. I guess you can say that’s a good thing. All in all the weekend was a great success. I was able to drop times in testing and see areas for improvement. Be sure to check out the video in the video section. It is a fun run to watch.

Summit Point August 2009 from Ronald Roderick on Vimeo.

This is an awesome picture of the rainbow after the monsoon with Jeff's car at the end of the rainbow thanks to Jon at Get Fast Photography.

Ultimate Track Car Challenge Weekend and NASA Recap

This was a weekend to remember for sure. After three weeks of rebuild on the Miata and fixing everything that needed fixing, we have a running car again just a few days before the big event. We left Thursday morning and set up camp. It was a normal July day at VIR...hot! But we were prepared. Lots of water and lots of portable shade and of course every ones favorite...amazing food.

So many fantastic and diverse cars started showing up for the UTCC Event. From a DP car to my Miata...there was something there for everyone.

Murt and Dirty not only got me back together for the event, they were also an amazing pit crew. They did all the work and I only had to concentrate on driving. Over the course of the UTCC event we made a few adjustments and I drove as hard as I could. I ended up 51st out of 56. Considering the amazing machines I was up against...I think I did well. I didnt come in last, so I am happy. Video can be found in the video section on this website.

Results for the UTCC can be found here

The rest of the weekend was a blast. Lots of old friends as well as new ones too. It was so much fun seeing all my South East friends again. Keri, a new DE drive paddocked with us. She was paired up with a real good instructor and had a blast.

I had the honor of taking Tom Heath from GrassRoots Motorsports Magazine in Mike Morris's CMC Mustang for a Hyperdrive. Tom did real good. GRM might have a racer on there hands.

This is a picture of Tom and I on the track between T3 and T4 I believe.

I learned a lot this weekend. This weekend was a blast loaded with lots of fun and great people, friends and family. Not to mention having two great students. By far the most interesting student was Earle. Wow...instructing a student in a NASCAR Sprint Cup car was a blast.

This is a picture of the car and driver.

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.