emfNet Racing

So, it's been slightly more than forever and a day since I've gotten an update in -- So, for the first of October a visit to ButtonWillow was required with Speedventures. It was a bit warm, but all in all, it was a great weekend -- good to see old friends, and made a few new ones along the way. This is part 1 of 2, since I'm feeling lazy right now.

Actually, it's literally been forever since the last event. Long enough, that the car was regularly seeing a commute to the office. <Shock!> <Horror!>

  Speedventures put on a great 3 day event, starting Friday with track config 1, then moving along to track config 13 and track config 25. Unfortunately, forecast says that it's going to jump from 96 degrees to 92, to 80something . . . . meaning it's going to be insanely hot in the car until Sunday, at which it'll just be moderately warm. Thankfully, the track had garages available, so there was some regular shade, and a good spot to wrench on the car that wasn't nearly as dusty, dirty, or generally crappy. Garage == no generator and no need to run the compressor -- as an added benefit, the garages are fairly wide and easily fit two cars.

 The car was still in pretty good shape since the last time it was out on the track -- pads had plenty of life left, oil was changed a few weeks ago, and everything was tightened down in an effort to figure out what was screwy with the ABS / AH / TC. All that was really needed was new rubber for the track wheels, and a general cleaning of the trailer. It probably would have been smarter if I loaded the car onto the trailer before Friday morning, but I've never been known for advanced prep. Truck got loaded Thursday night, trailer got packed up Thursday night, but the car didn't get onto the trailer until Friday. Like I always say -- if it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done. In hindsight, maybe it was better to pack late since there was far less crap in the trailer than usual.

 I initially figured that heading out of the office around noontime would help avoid traffic . . . . I guess I was partially right, since I only ran into an hour worth coming through LAX up through the valley. A 4 hour trip isn't too bad all things considered on a Friday afternoon. It's at least better than a 6 hour "perfectly clear" trip out towards Vegas. The trip could have been quite a bit longer too, if I hadn't dropped out of mental-cruise-control, and remembered to take the 5 instead of the 14 . . . I'm sure there would have been some group out at Willow Springs for the weekend, but it's a 50/50 shot if they'd be happy to see me or not. I'm sure the tractor-trailer driver that I confused by moving back-and-forth between I5 and I14 exit lanes will get over whatever trauma I created, nonetheless.

 Landed at the track a little after 4PM, which left plenty of time to open up the garage, unload the trailer, and generally get ready for the weekend. My garage was right next to the garage that Ryan and Joe -- a couple of regular 'Vette racers -- were in, although Joe had already headed out for the day. Ryan hung out for a bit while I dumped everything off the trailer, then ran through the entertainment that happened during the day . . . evidently it was a pretty quiet day. Of note however, was a CTS-V that was out on the track burning through tires at an astounding rate -- Running in just about every session he could, the driver ended up posting some 70-80 laps for the day. Now, 70 or 80 laps may not sound like that much, but when you consider that the config used on Friday ended up being 2.5+ miles, and that an average lap is just over 2 minutes . . . . that adds up to a decent amount of time.

 The day ended with the normal routine at the Super-8, then damn-good BBQ down the street. All things considered, an uneventful travel day -- thankfully it turned out to be an early night, since the weekend is going to add up to a few early mornings.