The 14 Car track pics from Sebring 6/20/09

[NOT A TA]

I couldn't make the long haul to Gingerman to play with everyone last weekend so I stayed local and went to a NASA HPDE at Sebring. We ran the full 3.7 mile course they use for the 12 hour race. Temps were around 100 with 100% humidity. It was my first track event with all the new safety stuff so it was good to get some seat time.
John Hendrick was taking pics on saturday and took these of my car. http://hendricksportsphoto.smugmug.com/gallery/8674154_vLFpm#575204277_6KrPB

I took some pics in the pits http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/NOTATA/Sebring%2009/

[Yelcamino]

Cool! How did the car run? Did you have any issues with the new safety equipment?

[Topless69]

John I love those cars. My friend has a 73 white/blue stripe with the 455HO. He got it just after high school what a beast, great memories.He still has it.

[NOT A TA]

Herb: The car ran well. Alignment was off a bit but I knew that before I went and couldn't get it fixed in time.

Only problem was a bulge in a front tire from shifted belts. It occured right at the end of the 3rd session Saturday. I'd hit a square edge in a repaving construction zone a while back and while it didn't present a problem on the street once the tires got some track heat in them the belts shifted and a bulge formed. Pick up a new set of front tires (temporary) Sunday morning at a local tire shop and ran the rest of Sun. without any problems.

All the new safety stuff takes some getting accustomed to. Everything functioned fine and worked properly. The seat is a little too far back and a little too low for me. The tech inspection guys were impressed with all the things I've done. The car was well recieved by all the racers who as a group had one question when they saw the car, "can it turn?".

I ran without the shaker scoop on Sunday and it was easier to hit the apexes. Since all the road tracks I've been to run clockwise there's more right turns which are hard to see through the shaker. I had the same problem with my tall shaker before and we thought we'd raised the sitting position to compensate. I'm going to get some very dense padding to put under the seat upholstery and see if I can get my sitting position better. At this stage of my life I'm more likely to shrink than grow! LOL I've been wondering if thats why Jerry Titus didn't have a shaker on his racecar back in the day.

[ProMav71]

Nice bird, would like to it in person one day. I can vouch for the heat and humidity that weekend it was killer. You think you will bring it over for the Historic Fall Classic?

[70camaro406]

Awesome pics! I'm looking forward to getting my '70 finished and out on a course like that. Looks like you had a blast.

[Yelcamino]

Herb: The car ran well. Alignment was off a bit but I knew that before I went and couldn't get it fixed in time.

Only problem was a bulge in a front tire from shifted belts. It occured right at the end of the 3rd session Saturday. I'd hit a square edge in a repaving construction zone a while back and while it didn't present a problem on the street once the tires got some track heat in them the belts shifted and a bulge formed. Pick up a new set of front tires (temporary) Sunday morning at a local tire shop and ran the rest of Sun. without any problems.

All the new safety stuff takes some getting accustomed to. Everything functioned fine and worked properly. The seat is a little too far back and a little too low for me. The tech inspection guys were impressed with all the things I've done. The car was well recieved by all the racers who as a group had one question when they saw the car, "can it turn?".

I ran without the shaker scoop on Sunday and it was easier to hit the apexes. Since all the road tracks I've been to run clockwise there's more right turns which are hard to see through the shaker. I had the same problem with my tall shaker before and we thought we'd raised the sitting position to compensate. I'm going to get some very dense padding to put under the seat upholstery and see if I can get my sitting position better. At this stage of my life I'm more likely to shrink than grow! LOL I've been wondering if thats why Jerry Titus didn't have a shaker on his racecar back in the day.

That's good to hear. Once the couple little bugs are figured out, you should be a force to be reckoned with on the track!

[stealth71]

Looks like you had a good time. I want to get my car out there sometime, but don't have a cage. Can you run without one there?

What kind of tires were you running?

[NOT A TA]

Promav71: I will probably go to the NASA weekend Oct 3-4 at Sebring. Other plans include NASA at Road Atlanta Aug 7-8, NASA at Palm Beach International Sept 12 and the ECTA top speed event at Maxton Sept 19-20

Herb: I'd need a lot more power to be considered any kind of "force" !! LOL But I just go by the old saying. "Run whatcha brung". I have a lot of fun and it's easier to learn "the line" without lots of power anyway. It had been a couple years since my last road track event so it was just really nice to run laps, getting smoother each time around. If I can figure out how to edit the Go Pro video and post it up on you tube I'll stick a link in this thread.

Stealth71: Yes you can without a cage or bar. You do however need a racing helmet. (not a motorcycle one) I actually ran a 4 dr. Cobalt rental car one weekend at Road Atlanta because I couldn't get my car ready in time! At my first SCDA track event at Lime Rock Park with my Firebird all I had was the 1970 lap belts!!! There's a basic tech inspection checkoff you need to do to your car before you go. Here's a link about the HPDE program they run at NASA http://www.nasaproracing.com/hpde/index.html and a link to the HPDE tech form http://www.nasaproracing.com/images/rules-forms/form_hpde_tech.pdf

I was running Yokohama AO 32s 275 40 17s in front and 315 35 17s out back. When I had the front tire problem (not the tires fault but a square 6" asphalt edge in a construction zone earlier) I bought a pair of 275 40s for the front at a local shop in town which are a harder compound than the AO 32s (320 treadwear vs. 60) so I'll swap them for stickier tires before the next track day. Yokohama doesn't make the 32s anymore so I'll probably get the AO48s that replaced them since they match the rears pretty well but I'm going to look around. It might be worthwhile to just buy a set of slicks for track days.

[stealth71]

Thanks for the info. I do have a helmet and will look over the tech sheet. I'm planning on hitting the local MSCC autox to start getting the suspension tuned and the driver mod. I'll keep in touch.