With SEMA over, it was time to change my focus back to racing, for the final race of the 2017 Season!
With the motor and transmission back in the car and ready to go, I looked forward to the opportunity to shake the car down before retiring it for the winter. So off to West Virginia we went, to face the freezing temperatures on the freshly paved Summit Point race track. It was only 18 degreed when we unloaded the trailer on Friday, with the high for Saturday showing a mere 30 degrees. I decided to skip the first morning session, since getting heat into the tires in such cold temps would be such a challenge.
The afternoon sessions weren't much warmer, and it proved to be difficult to get heat into the tires all day. The forecast for Sunday however, was much more promising.
On Sunday, with weather and track conditions a bit more ideal, I was able to take over 2.5 seconds off my previous personal best, throwing down a handful of low 1:21's. After reviewing data, we knew a 1:20 was there, however, I only had one session left to do it. Unfortunately while I waited on grid for the last session of the year, the track was oiled down by a Miata's blown motor and Corvette's blown diff. I attempted to turn a few laps, but the track was too slick, so I brought the car in and called it a day. We finished up the weekend 3rd in TTU and secured the 2017 NASA Mid Atlantic TTU Championship!
Overall very pleased with the progress!
Now that the car is not fighting us every step of the way, we have been able to make great progress every session, and feel much more confident in the car heading into the 2018 season!