Race Report 2002 - Round 2

Date: June 9, 2002
Venue: Civic Center - Amarillo, TX
Results: 2nd in Class (2 total), 6th in Street Tire (17 total), 11th Overall (23 total)

This event was... well... UNeventful.   The Amarillo Civic Center is a small venue, but it has a lot of exposure potential for our club/sport since it's right in the middle of downtown.  We always have a lot of spectators when we race there, even though the courses are usually tight and slow.

Speaking of which... this event's course was REALLY tight and slow!  I didn't get the car out of first gear the whole time, and even in first gear, the car's revs weren't too high.  Certain spots on the course were so tight that I didn't think I'd be able to manuver my car through at all even at idle speeds!!!  Again, I only ran 3 runs just to get my racing "fix" and to save my street tread, so I wasn't able to put in a competitive time compared to almost everyone else that ran 9 runs each.  There was only one other car in my class: a turbocharged Toyota MR2 on racing tires.  So, I came in 2nd out of 2 in class and 11th out of 23 overall.

The good news is that after adding an additional half a quart of oil (that makes it 8.5 quarts total), I did not hear any ticking noises from the motor at all.

The next race isn't until August, so I'm hoping to have my Bilstein Sport struts and shocks installed before then with a little more negative camber up front (using Stock class legal "crash bolts") to reduce understeer.  Maybe with those changes I'll be a little more competitive even though I'll still be on street tires?  Who knows... it's all for fun anyways, right?