ntmatter
Enthusiast
Due to some size restrictions on posts, I'm doing the write-up in 2 parts. You can see the second part here.
So, I just returned late last night from the Button Willow Viper Days event, and figured I'd post a quick write-up of how it went:
I started out, again, on a Thursday morning driving down from Seattle to Southern California. The total distance is nearly 1100 miles, and I managed about 600 on the first day by getting through Washington and Oregon to Redding, CA. After speeding (and I do mean "speeding") through central California on Friday, I finally located the Bakersfield Sheraton 4-points hotel and checked in. After checking in and swapping some lies with many of the drivers that I'd met last month in Willow Springs, I got an early night and set the alarm for 5:30 AM.
figure 1: Foggy morning on Saturday - spent the first few hours trying to figure out where all that smoke in the cabin was coming from.
figure 2: Race cars at the track getting ready to run in the Red group
Saturday morning was extremely foggy, and I set out early to get to the track in time for the 7:00 drivers meeting. Even though I'd never driven at Button Willow before, Courtney was gracious enough to let me run in the Blue group - where I was running just about in the middle of the pack. Button Willow is a very flat track and much more complex that Willow Springs was. The track configuration we used took out both of the long straightaways and added some curves to both slow us down and give us something to do - I started out not liking the track at all but ended up having alot of fun on it. Each of the 4 run groups (Red, White, Blue, and Green) got 4 hours of on-track time over the weekend - which doesn't seem like much but turned out to be more than plenty.
figure 3: White (advanced) cars line up in the hot pits before heading out for their first run session.
After the driver meeting and track introduction, I got ready for my first driving session in the blue (Intermediate) run group. However, after 2 laps, I was finding that my car was running very poorly under hard gas and white smoke was filling the cabin. After checking my shorts, I pulled in and worked with the Archer Racing guys to figure out what the problem was without much luck. During my second driving session with my instruction (Chris Barone, from NJ), we figured out that the problem was due to overfilling the oil (which was being puked into the cylinders), and a really, really bad tank of gas. After Archer Racing drained my oil and after getting some very high octane gas into the car, both problems went away and my Viper ran like a top for the rest of the weekend and the drive back.
figure 4: Turns out the car does funny things when there's 11.5 quarts of oil in a 10 quart pan. Draining out a quart or so did wonders.
By the end of the first day I'd shaved my time from 2:32 to 2:13 - due largely to Chris helping me to learn about throttle steering and the counter-intuitive need to keep my foot on the gas when I started to get loose. After swapping out my brake pads on Saturday evening, I was ready for an even faster day on Sunday. I ended up pushing myself a bit more on this weekend, and finally went off-course and got my first woodchuck. Although I of course was deeply chastened at getting the sticker on my windshield, flatspotting a brand new pair of $700 Pilots was an even better way to learn not to go into the Cotton Corners too quickly. The good news, however, is that it looks like the can be s(h)aved, and so my only part costs were for brake pads and some brake fluid.
figure 5: I ended up burning through a set of Brakeman #3 pads in 2 and a half track days, but fortunately was able to get a new set from Archer Racing accessories
figure 6: Although I felt bad at flat-spotting a new pair of Michelin Pilot fronts, at least they weren't as bad as this Hoosier.
PART 2
So, I just returned late last night from the Button Willow Viper Days event, and figured I'd post a quick write-up of how it went:
I started out, again, on a Thursday morning driving down from Seattle to Southern California. The total distance is nearly 1100 miles, and I managed about 600 on the first day by getting through Washington and Oregon to Redding, CA. After speeding (and I do mean "speeding") through central California on Friday, I finally located the Bakersfield Sheraton 4-points hotel and checked in. After checking in and swapping some lies with many of the drivers that I'd met last month in Willow Springs, I got an early night and set the alarm for 5:30 AM.
You must be registered for see images
figure 1: Foggy morning on Saturday - spent the first few hours trying to figure out where all that smoke in the cabin was coming from.
You must be registered for see images
figure 2: Race cars at the track getting ready to run in the Red group
Saturday morning was extremely foggy, and I set out early to get to the track in time for the 7:00 drivers meeting. Even though I'd never driven at Button Willow before, Courtney was gracious enough to let me run in the Blue group - where I was running just about in the middle of the pack. Button Willow is a very flat track and much more complex that Willow Springs was. The track configuration we used took out both of the long straightaways and added some curves to both slow us down and give us something to do - I started out not liking the track at all but ended up having alot of fun on it. Each of the 4 run groups (Red, White, Blue, and Green) got 4 hours of on-track time over the weekend - which doesn't seem like much but turned out to be more than plenty.
You must be registered for see images
figure 3: White (advanced) cars line up in the hot pits before heading out for their first run session.
After the driver meeting and track introduction, I got ready for my first driving session in the blue (Intermediate) run group. However, after 2 laps, I was finding that my car was running very poorly under hard gas and white smoke was filling the cabin. After checking my shorts, I pulled in and worked with the Archer Racing guys to figure out what the problem was without much luck. During my second driving session with my instruction (Chris Barone, from NJ), we figured out that the problem was due to overfilling the oil (which was being puked into the cylinders), and a really, really bad tank of gas. After Archer Racing drained my oil and after getting some very high octane gas into the car, both problems went away and my Viper ran like a top for the rest of the weekend and the drive back.
You must be registered for see images
figure 4: Turns out the car does funny things when there's 11.5 quarts of oil in a 10 quart pan. Draining out a quart or so did wonders.
By the end of the first day I'd shaved my time from 2:32 to 2:13 - due largely to Chris helping me to learn about throttle steering and the counter-intuitive need to keep my foot on the gas when I started to get loose. After swapping out my brake pads on Saturday evening, I was ready for an even faster day on Sunday. I ended up pushing myself a bit more on this weekend, and finally went off-course and got my first woodchuck. Although I of course was deeply chastened at getting the sticker on my windshield, flatspotting a brand new pair of $700 Pilots was an even better way to learn not to go into the Cotton Corners too quickly. The good news, however, is that it looks like the can be s(h)aved, and so my only part costs were for brake pads and some brake fluid.
You must be registered for see images
figure 5: I ended up burning through a set of Brakeman #3 pads in 2 and a half track days, but fortunately was able to get a new set from Archer Racing accessories
You must be registered for see images
figure 6: Although I felt bad at flat-spotting a new pair of Michelin Pilot fronts, at least they weren't as bad as this Hoosier.
PART 2
