Posts Tagged ‘racing’
Foggy Mountain, No Breakdown: Bill Howell’s Run Through the Hills
Monday, September 26th, 2011Bonneville 2011: In Shock from “Torque Shock”
Friday, August 19th, 2011While the crew packed up, Amir explained how much we’ve learned during the week, and how we’ll be back and ready for records next time.
Bonneville 2011: What’s in a Run
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011Bonneville is a pretty mysterious place. It seems like another planet, the weather is harsh and strange but when a car makes a run down the course it looks effortless and ethereal.
In reality, there’s a lot of work which goes in to every run, those that break records and those that simply break parts.
We’ve been breaking more parts than records this week, but it’s not for lack of trying. The crew had the new AA Gas engine in the car, but it looks like we’ll have to switch to the A Gas instead.
Somebody burn some sage or something and chase the bad luck away!
Anyway, while we’re moving motors around, here’s a step by step list of exactly what it takes just to make a single run.
This isn’t just something we have to do for the Speedliner. Almost every team out here has some version of the same checklist. This is a dedicated group of racers.
1.Raise the car on jacks ( These things are heavy!)
2.Test fire. This is when we check all the fluids, the computer, run through the gears, check the tire pressure, etc.
2. Put on the body panels: It takes over 300 Dzus fasteners to button up the liner.
3. Pack the Parachutes.
4. Top off the fuel.
5. Lay out the ramps.
6. Load the car
7. Load the chase car with safety gear, helmets, tools and coolers.
8. Head down to the staging lanes (about 4 miles from our pits)
9. Choose a lane: There’s a special lane for 300+ mph cars. The officials have graciously let us use it all weekend. It’s not easy to get a 38.5 ft streamliner to make tight turns, so after we unload the car, we push it up by hand.
10. Keep the cockpit cool. Unlike a modern Caddy, this car doesn’t have climate controlled seats and it can be really hot in the staging lanes. (This is actually a problem for the crew members pushing the car too, it gets warm enough to burn your hands!)
11. Put the car back on stands and warm the engine. Racing is funny, it can be 110 degrees and while the car and crew are melting, the engine oil is cold. Engine oil needs to be warm to lubricate properly.
12. Fill the intercooler with ice and water. Unlike the engine, turbos need to be kept cool.
13. Suit up the driver. Drivers wait until the last minute to get in the car, because all that fire gear is hot, and the fumes from race cars ahead in the lanes can be unbearable in the tight confines of the cockpit.
14. Strap in the driver
15. Start the car
16. Bleed the intercooler. Like a radiator, an intercooler won’t cool properly if it has air in the system. Once the water pumps are on, the crew cracks two small bleeders at the top of the intercooler and that allows the air out and the cold water in.
17. Stage the car. Staging is a bit informal, cars pull up in their lanes and officials talk to the driver, advise of wind conditions and ruts or bumps in the salt and just generally check the readiness of the team for the run.
18. Turn on the data system. Modern racers are lucky to be able to review details of rpm and tune after a run. In the old days, everything depended on a good ear and an astute driver.
19. Turn on the cameras. The RePlay HD cameras that we run at various points on the car are another helpful tuning tool. Even before reviewing the data, Steve and Courtney can hear the engine, see when the boost comes on and check on the parachute deployment.
20. Wait for the signal. This is the big moment. The starter waves us in and it’s go time.
21 Push start!
Once Kenny is enroute, the rest of the team makes a mad dash to their vehicles and races (uh, within SCTA speedlimits of course) down the return road to meet the car at the finish.
Once Kenny comes off the return road, the ramps have to come out again and the car gets loaded up on the trailer and brought back to the pits (or better yet, the impound).
Wash and Repeat.
Bonneville 2011: What’s the Combination?
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011It’s hard to explain racing to people who have never done it. There’s this mysterious energy, and when it’s on, a team feels unstoppable. Everything just falls in to place.
The downside to this voodoo magic is that when things go wrong, it can feel like the whole world is against you.
We’ve had a rough week this year. Little things keeps popping up and, in the case of yesterday’s run, causing some pretty big problems.
We’re getting very fast at changing motors. Stay tuned for a run this afternoon.
Bonneville 2011: The Basics of Record Breaking
Thursday, August 11th, 2011We are in Wendover, Utah and it is time again for Bonneville SpeedWeek.
We have big plans this year, but we realized that the many different cars and classes of SCTA and FIA land speed racing might be confusing, so here’s the basics of our plans (best laid of mice and men) for the coming week.
You can follow along here for updates, or check in on our Facebook page. We’ll also be meeting up with some great photographers and writers on the Salt Flats, so check in on coverage on Bangshift, Speedhunters, My Ride is Me, Wired and Hot Rod magazine to get the full SpeedWeek experience.
SpeedWeek Records:
Although Amir went 415mph during the Mike Cook Shootout last year, that event, regulated by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) – the international sanctioning organization for motorsport and world speed records, runs a different course and has different rules than the SCTA monitored SpeedWeek.
At SpeedWeek, a team makes a run and if it’s record-worthy, goes in to impound until the next day when they try to back it up.
Spectre currently hold two SpeedWeek records:
Blown Gas Streamliner (BGS) A Speed by Spectre A. Rosenbaum 08/10 356.645
Blown Gas Streamliner (BGS) AA Speed by Spectre A. Rosenbaum 08/10 348.342
Our goal at Bonneville this year is to do the following:
Better the records in AA BGS and A BGS
Set records in AA BFS and A BFS (currently held by Burkland and Teague)
Set record in B BGS
Go faster than 427.83 and become the fastest wheel driven car at Bonneville.
The class “BGS/BFS” refers to the engine, fuel and type of car.
A, AA and B refer to the engine size, so yes, we are taking numerous engines and will be taking them in and out of the car during the week.
B (blown, as in not naturally aspirated, so, turbocharged or supercharged.) F/G (what the engine runs on, “Fuel” which can be methanol or other fuels or “gasoline” which is, well gasoline) S (streamliner, the shape of the vehicle. in this case, the long submarine type shape as opposed to a stock car shape or an open roadster hot rod, etc…)
Can we beat our run from last year? Follow along and let us know you’re rooting for us!
SPECTRE PERFORMANCE WINS GOODGUYS NATS
Monday, July 11th, 2011Spectre Performance won twice at the Goodgduys Rod & Custom Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, on July 9th. The first victory came when Spectre marketing team member and company hot shoe Brandy Morrow drove the 1970 Carbon Camaro to a 1st place finish in the Street Challenge Autocross Vendor class, her second event win and first victory at the nationals.
The large black Speed by Spectre big rig with an x-ray image of the 400+mph Spectre SpeedLiner is a common site at Goodguys shows around the country, where team members show off the latest in high-performance air filters and cold air intake systems, as well as testing new products in a variety of Spectre project cars. The latest is the Carbon Camaro, a 1970 model with IMSA-style fender flares and massive Forgeline wheels. The car made its debut at the 2010 SEMA Show and has since been flogged mercilessly at autocross and road race events around the country. Morrow’s first victory in the car came at the Goodguys Colorado Nationals in early June.
Competition in the Vendor class at the Nationals was fierce, as drivers readied themselves for the sponsor shootout the following day. Morrow competed against Detroit Speed & Engineering’s brutally fast 1970 Camaro, the Optima 1967 “One Lap” Camaro, Ride Tech’s “48 Hour” 1st Gen Camaro and Mary Pozzi’s freshly rebuilt 1972 RS Camaro – all of which also run Spectre cold air intakes.
Wet weather on Friday cut in to practice time and many competitors were struggling on the big rough-asphalt course, but Brandy took the wide-body Camaro on a flawless run, netting a 32.622 and cinching 1st place in Saturday’s eliminations. This was a big win for Morrow and for the Spectre intake-equipped “Carbon Camaro” as the competition was close all weekend long.
Speed by Spectre’s winning weekend didn’t end with Brandy’s Autocross victory. The company was also honored to receive the coveted Good Guys “New Product of the Year” award for their new aluminum Cowl Air Box setup. Spectre would like to congratulate Brandy and all of the Good Guys awards winners in Columbus and the whole team is looking forward to the rest of the show season and additional competition.
Speed by Spectre 341 Challenge
Thursday, June 16th, 2011A friend recently made a comment that too many fast cars in one place might change the rotation of the earth.
We must have done a few too many group burnouts during Power Tour, because it’s already time for the 341 Challenge in Virginia City, Nevada.
Just in case a few of you are new to the blog, the Speed by Spectre 341 Challenge is a 5.2 mile dash up a mountain road in Virginia City. Think mini Pikes Peak meets mini Nürburgring, but with full size thrills. It’s a serious race.
Participants and journalists are rolling in. Friday will be all tech and sighting laps, safety meetings and Q&A.
Thursday night? Well, that’s mostly western saloons and admiring the cars in the moonlight.
Stay tuned for updates.
Spectre 341 Challenge Interview: Jeremy Kappus
Monday, April 4th, 2011There are many aspects of the Spectre 341 Challenge which make it an unusual race. Everything from the surrounding town (which seems straight out of a spaghetti western) to the race course itself (which seems to have been cut right out of Germany’s Nürburgring) makes a run at 341 different from the normal track event.
The most amazing thing about 341 though isn’t the wooden sidewalks or the off-camber turns, but rather the fact that every participant has an equal chance at glory, because this isn’t a racetrack you can memorize, it’s a real road, and the landmarks and surface change every year.
No one better demonstrates the egalitarian nature of racing 341 than 2010 driver, Jeremy Kappus. A Reno native in a self-tuned ‘06 Mitsubishi EvoIX RS, Jeremy shocked everyone on the first day of racing by turning a faster time than any other racers on the grid, including big names like Millen, Gigliotti and Gillies. While the high horsepower cars eventually claimed the top three spots, Kappus stayed close by and finished with amazingly consistent results in the mid 3:25 range. Pretty impressive!
Jeremy is coming back for 2011, and we caught up with him to get his thoughts on race cars vs. street cars, why driving is the best way to tune a car and what new 341 drivers should expect from the Virginia City hill.
What do you do (day job)? For the last 3-4 years, I’ve been working on cars, specializing in mainly Evos, doing everything from regular maintenance to track prepping and performance part installs (clutchs,cams,turbos etc). Along with mechanical work, I also tune Evos, Subarus, Nissans and the occasional unusual project. I’m currently helping (fellow 341 participant) Adam Auerbach tune his GMC Syclone to run on E85. I specialize in tuning stock ECUs.
Have you always liked cars? I’ve been working on cars since I was a teenager. I originally was in to stereo systems and lowriders, but it wasn’t terribly fulfilling, and the first time I saw Rally racing on Speed TV, I knew that was a direction I wanted to go in. Seeing those 4-wheel drive 4-cylinder Turbo cars was exciting, those cars are insane!
How long have you had the Evo? I bought the Evo new in 06 after getting frustrated with my previous project. I had learned a lot about tuning on a pretty extreme Subaru build, which, like many projects, had gotten way out of hand. It had a full turbo kit and a programmable ECU and at that time in Reno, you couldn’t just throw it on the dyno at a local shop and get a good tune. I had to teach myself, and mostly by ear. Try something, drive it, if it rattles, back it down…it wasn’t the best way to build a car and it was especially difficult to get all those aftermarket parts to work together properly. I got tired of blowing it up and rebuilding it, and I had read that the 2006 Evo offered a fully programmable stock ECU, which I found intriguing.
What are some of the modifications from stock? The Evo is such a good, solid platform that you can do great things just by refining and blueprinting the stock package. I felt like people rarely drove or tuned these cars to their potential. The motor has never even been out of my car. It has upgraded Alcon brakes and KW coilover suspension and I did change the cams and springs but the turbo is stock, and on these cars, the turbo is really the powerplant. I wanted to see how far I could take it with the stock turbo. It’s actually pretty amazing, even in mostly stock trim, the car is fast enough to scare me.
I did change the seats to racing seats, trying to stay in the seat during a turn by holding on to the steering wheel isn’t how you want to race!
What was the first competitive driving you ever did? I’ve only been driving on a track for maybe four or five years. I started out by going to the drag strip with guys to help tune their cars, and then a friend took me to Reno Fernley Raceway. There I was, on the track in the Evo, hanging with trailered Porsches and I knew that I wanted to keep doing that kind of driving.
Driving on a track is so different from driving on the street. Even the most aggressive street driving is only maybe 75% of what you can do on a track. On the street, in the back of your mind, there’s always the concern of cross traffic, of speed limits…on the street you always have to think, “How am I going to save it?” And the thing is, you can’t.
Racing a closed course allows you to clear your head of normal thoughts and 341 is even more fun than a racetrack.
Why did you run the 341 Challenge in 2010? I believe that it’s really important for people in the car community to support racetracks and race events, so when I saw on the forums that someone was doing another race on Hwy 341, I wanted to make sure I did my part to support it. Also, the entry fee is incredibly cheap for that much track time.
What did you think about the event last year? I ran the Ferrari club hill climb early in 2010 and it was really fun. Racing the Spectre 341 was interesting because it was a first time race and because of the other participants. Racing with Lou (Gigliotti) and Steve Millen was cool. You can’t bench race it. You can’t practice. Driving up at 45 mph in one lane is totally different than driving the same road at speed. I genuinely had no idea how I’d do against those guys, and really, neither did they. It was the first time for them too.
Why do you want to return to 341 this year? This kind of racing is the best ever. After a few runs, you blank out the cliffs and it’s all about the actual road and corners. Each corner flows, compared to the race tracks I’ve been on. There’s no slow corners, no bumps.
From what I’ve heard, racing Hwy 341 was almost a cult in the old days and that makes sense, it’s really really fun, it lets you test your memory, your driving skill, your tuning skills. It’s just a perfect test of driver and machinery.
Do you have any recommendations for the new entrants this year? Make sure your car is fully functional and reliable before you get to the hill. It could ruin your day if you waste your runs due to mechanical problems. If it isn’t mechanically sound, you can’t tune it, and if it isn’t tuned, you can’t drive it.
Go to have fun, let go of all your expectations and just see what it’s all about. Don’t go to compete with anyone else. It’s all about you and your car. Look at yourself, see how you can better your own driving. The cars are all too different to compete with. Don’t let someone else push you off the cliff!
Any last thoughts for readers? This is what I like doing. I just want to see what my car can do. Racing shows you where you’ve cut corners in the build, and I want to do things right. Road racing makes you a consistent driver, and it reminds you to keep all the fasteners tight. My advice to new racers: Use a torque wrench.
The Spectre Why: Amir Explains Why We Run Highway 341 in Virginia City
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011Spectre founder Amir Rosenbaum explains the importance of the Spectre 341 Challenge:
THE NÜRBURGRING of NÜVADA
by Amir Rosenbaum
What’s the best way to tell which street car is the fastest?
You can subject it to the very basic metrics of 0 – 60, 1/4 mile and drive it in a big circle. But all that gets you is a car that goes 0 – 60 quickly, runs the 1/4 mile swiftly and goes fast in a circle. Who drives their car like that every day? On the street?
The next step is to put it on a track and get a lap time. Maybe compare it to other cars and see which gets the fastest lap time. The thing is, a track is designed to be a safe place to drive fast. There are drive-off areas, specially designed guardrails, track camber angled to help the car through the turn and it’s usually level. Some tracks have a little hill and boy does that feature make them special.
Inevitably, when you see or read these tests they always include a road section – if it’s a magazine test, the editors usually find some nice twisty back road near the track, and they drive the cars there.
Then, when the results come out, the “winner” is often times not the car with the fastest 0 – 60, 1/4 mile, lateral -g or even lap time. Then angry letters from readers ensue. They all want to know one thing:
Why?
Why didn’t the fastest car win? Usually the editors not so diplomatically reply along the lines of: “Because it’s a piece of crap. It didn’t make us feel good when driving it – there was a lack of confidence….” and so on. And so far, that hasn’t satisfied anyone.
So then, how can you determine a way to find out what the fastest street car is?
The Europeans have a solution. It’s called The Nürburgring.
It’s where car companies test their cars. It’s a road with a timing system. It involves sections where the driver has to feel fully confident in the capabilities of the car, and how it communicates with the driver, how it responds to driver input, because………. well……………there’s no other way to say it – you could die. They lose about one a week at the ‘Ring.
And that is why the car companies test there, even the manufacturers from the USA and Japan. That’s a long way to go to drive a car – but, it’s been the only place where you could test for the intangibles. Until now!
Introdücing The Nürburgring of Nüvada: The Spectre 341 Challenge. This is the place you find out how fast your street car really is. Not how fast it does 0 – 60 or the 1/4 mile – for that you could go to a Wednesday night test and tune session at you local drag strip, or you could sign up for one of many lapping sessions at the road course nearest you but all that will tell you is how fast your car is at a track, not on the street.
The Spectre 341 Challenge is for all intents and purposes, legal street racing with a timing system.
This is where you test your car for things there are no metrics for: The intangibles. Those ethereal and spectral flavors and traits of a car that can make it special……. or a piece of crap.
Hey, given enough time and money anyone can build a car to go fast on a track. So what? Real roads don’t look or drive like race tracks. This is a real road. This place has real consequences. The Spectre 341 Challenge answers the question: What is the fastest street car? Is it yours?
Sign up for the Spectre 341 Challenge HERE
Listen to Amir talk about 341 on AutoWorld Radio (Go to March 20, third hour)
Spring in the Desert: Good Guys Spring Nationals in Scottsdale
Monday, March 14th, 2011Although the folks in the East might disagree, for us on the west coast, winter has flown by, and we couldn’t believe it when we realized it was time for the Good Guys Season opener in Scottsdale, AZ.
Scottsdale always brings some unique cars that we don’t see anywhere else. Some of our favorites this year were Volkswagens and included a custom VW Bug made to look like a toy car, and a group of VW buses that all park together every year. Is it 1968?
The weather for the show was perfect all weekend long, and Friday was busy, with hot rods, street rods, muscle cars and classics all lined outside the entrance eager to claim their spot before heading to the vendor midway and check out the autocross. It was great to see such a big car count at what is a relatively new show on the Good Guys circuit.
We were set up in our usual spot near the back of the vendor midway next to PPG, Baer Brakes and Peak. We had a very special booth car for our demo install, Tim Kelly’s ‘67 El 442. No, that’s not a typo, it really is an El Camino/442. Definitely a one of one set up! Needless to say, the El 442 saw a lot of attention.
We love all the Good Guys events, but Brandy especially likes the stops which involve autocross, and the Arizona show started the autocross bright and early on Friday morning. Spectre’s Carbon Camaro was one of three official vendor cars, but there were lots of good friends running Spectre parts in other classes.
Despite vendor “competition” we’ve actually found the autocross to be a great place to work closely with other manufacturers. In Scottsdale, John Hotchkis, head of pro-touring suspension company, Hotchkis Performance teamed up with Brandy to work out the suspension tuning on the black Camaro.
This isn’t to say there was no competitive feeling in the crowd, Brandy was pretty thrilled to be just 8/10 of a second behind Brett Voelkel in the Ride Tech entry for a second place finish!
On Saturday, Brandy gave rides to lots of show goers, including Nicole Shumate, whose father Bill was running one of the most unusual entries in the autocross!
Nicole and her dad are building a Camaro, and she was really interested in learning about autocross. Nicole hopes to have her car done by next year so she can come out and start running the autocross. We certainly support that, and can’t wait to see Nicole and her friends on the track.
Sunday came quick and it was time to pack up. Brandy helped hand out awards and then it was off to Fort Worth, Texas. Will it be a TEXAS sized show?
Adventures in Pro-Touring: Run to the Coast – Sunday
Sunday, February 27th, 2011The last day of RTTC was everything California is famous for: warm, sunny and super fast!
Our morning started at the Speed Stop Challenge. If you are new to our blog, and unfamiliar with a Speed Stop, it’s basically a test of braking and car control. The driver accelerates from a dead stop and then hits the brakes with the goal of bringing the car to a halt within the coned-off box. The goal is to have the quickest time without flat-spotting tires or sliding through the stop zone.
Although the Spectre team had often helped out at Speed Stop challenges during other events, Brandy had never actually competed in one! It was a little confusing at first, but after the first couple of runs everyone was starting to get the hang of it.
Autocross followed the Speed Stop and everyone was grateful for Saturday’s practice . The weather was perfect, the ground was dry and the Carbon Camaro was just excellent.
The track portion ended up being the most fun part of the day. Brandy lined up right behind Camaro Performers’ Nick Licata, and was able to check out his racing line during the warm up.
We’ll let Brandy describe the experience:
“The first lap was warm-up as usual, but I started to gain more speed through the straight aways and developed a good line to follow through the turns. Second lap was feeling good, third was even better carrying more speed through the corners and then came the fourth lap…. Towards the back end of the course the car started to get lose in the back and drifted a little to the left. I tried to correct it, but couldn’t catch it in time and around the car went… yeah I know, I spun a car on rear 345 tires! Seriously though it was fantastic because it meant I was pushing it. Though I had spun, it was good to see that I was finding the limits of the car. Let’s just say I took the pink hat with pride that time!”
After Brandy’s adventure, Mike took the car out in the afternoon session. The car was looking great and handling really well. With a little bit of tweaking, this car should do great things this season.
The day came to an end too quickly. The top speed challenge was a great success and very competitive. Brian Finch, Kyle Tucker, Ryan Matthews and Steve Rupp were some of the top contestants in the Spectre top speed challenge, and the final top speeds surprised us at the end of the day. Kyle Tucker finished with a top speed of 97mph and Steve Rupp followed closely with 96 mph.
For those of you who want the numbers, overall results are below.
Overall Road Course
1. Ryan Matthews 1:02.8 (Sun)
2. Blake Foster 1:03.0 (Sun)
3. Brian Hobough 1:04.0 (Sat)
4. Kyle Tucker 1:04.9 (Sun)
5. Brian Finch 1:06.2 (Sun)
6. David Pozzi 1.07.0 (Sun)
7. Kyle Newman 1:07.0 (Sun)
8. Todd Akes 1:08.1 (Sun)
9. Mark Gearhart 1:08.2 (Sun)
10. Sal Solorzano 1:08.3 (Sun)
11. Rick Klein 1:08.6 (Sat)
12. David Gordon 1:08.8 (Sun)
13. Tom Foglesong 1.09.0 (Sat)
14. Carl Cassanova 1:09.3 (Sun)
15. Chris McCrae 1:09.4 (Sun)
16. Mary Pozzi 1:09.5 (Sun)
17. Bruce Cambern 1.09.7 (Sat)
18. Brett Campbell 1:09.7 (Sun)
19. Brandy Morrow 1:10.3 (Sun)
20. James Shipka 1:10.6 (Sun)
21. Nick Licata 1:12.0 (Sun)
22. Doug Renner 1:12.4 (Sun)
23. Gerald Lum 1:12.4 (Sun)
24. John Barkley 1:12.8 (Sun)
25. Tom Ciancitto 1:13.3 (Sun)
26. Jon Rasmussen 1:13.4 (Sat)
27. Rob McGregor 1:13.5 (Sun)
28. Jeff Manka 1:13.7 (Sun)
29. Steven Rupp 1:13.8 (Sat)
30. Cory Condit 1:13.8 (Sun)
31. Casey Aldridge 1:13.9 (Sun)
32. Henry De Los Santos 1:14.1 (Sun)
33. Rob Chandler 1:14.2 (Sun)
34. Brett Habegger 1:14.2 (Sun)
35. Deanna Marengo 1:14.3 (Sun)
36. Ron Wheeler 1:14.5 (Sun)
37. Karl Stuber 1:14.7 (Sat)
38. Rob Philips 1:14.7 (Sun)
39. Deacon Markey 1:15.3 (Sun)
40. Michael Provencher 1:15.4 (Sun)
41. Chris Robinson 1:15.7 (Sun)
42. Chad Ryker 1:15.8 (Sun)
43. Don Chemello 1:15.9 (Sun)
44. Matt Alcala 1:16.2 (Sun)
45. Mike Wright 1:16.5 (Sun)
46. Don Swertfeger 1:17.6 (Sat)
47. Jon Upton 1:19.5 (Sun)
48. Steven Martinez 1:19.7 (Sat)
49. Dan Weishaar 1:20.5 (Sat) (ran 1:24.7 in Mustang on Sunday)
50. Erich Monteith 11:20.6 (Sat)
51. Jack Fields 1:20.6 (Sat)
52. Valerie Pichette 1:21.1 (Sun)
53. Paul Setter 1:21.2 (Sat)
54. Matthew Briggs 1:21.5 (Sat)
55. Christian Melchior 1:21.5 (Sat)
56. Jay Reynolds 1:21.7 (Sat)
57. Rodney Prouty 1:22.1 (Sun)
58. Bruce Steward 1:22.3 (Sun)
59. Bill Fowler 1:22.5 (Sat)
60. James Fields 1:23.1 (Sat)
61. Larry Callahan 1:23.8 (Sat)
62. Evan Daly 1:24.4 (Sat)
63. Chris Gonzalez 1:24.5 (Sun)
64. Nicholas Ruffley 1:25.8 (Sat)
65. Joe Huerta 1:33.2 (Sun)
66. Cris Gonzalez 1:33.9 (Sat)
Overall Autocross Results from both days:
1. Brian Hobaugh 37.000
2. Kyle Tucker 37.206
3. Mary Pozzi 37.679
4. Ryan Matthews 38.139
5. Blake Foster 38.210
6. Brian Finch 38.215
7. David Pozzi 38.313
8. Bruce Cambern 38.423
9. Kyle Newman 38.778
10. David Gordon 38.834
11. Brett Campbell 39.108
12. Chris McCrea 39.159
13. Deanna Marengo 39.283
14. Sal Solorzano 39.299
15. Nick Licata 39.366
16. Carl Cassanova 39.546
17. Gerald Lum 39.631
18. Steven Rupp 39.811
19. Rob McGregor 39.892
20. Todd Akes 39.954
21. Rob Chandler 40.115
22. Steven Rupp 40.187
23. James Shipka 40.232
24. Mark Gearhart 40.282
25. Jon Rasmussen 40.303
26. Mike Morrow 40.538
27. Jay Reynolds 40.568
28. Larry Callahan 40.732
29. Henry De Los Santos 40.83
30. Brett Habegger 41.326
31. Cory Condit 41.498
32. Casey Aldridge 41.534
33. Steven Martinez 41.599
34. Doug Renner 41.636
35. John Barkley 41.748
36. Tom Foglesong 41.752
37. Matt Alcala 41.873
38. Sean Haggai 41.907
39. Evan Daly 42.035
40. Michael Provencher 42.138
41. Don Chemello 42.223
42. Jeff Smith 42.414 (also ran 41.647 +1)
43. Chris Robinson 42.377
44. Chad Ryker 42.583
45. Mike Wright 42.721
46. Rick Klein 42.792
47. Valerie Pichette 42.928
48. James Fields 43.164
49. Michael Cavanah 43.269
50. Matthew Briggs 43.391
51. Deacon Markey 43.542
52. Jeff Manka 43.565
53. Rob Phillips 43.575
54. Tom Ciancitto 43.626
55. Al Melchior 43.774
56. Karl Stuber 43.789
57. Erich Monteith 43.906
58. Bruce Steward 43.932
59. Jon Upton 44.010
60. Paul Setter 44.027
61. Valerie Pichette 44.309
62. Ron Wheeler 44.457
63. Rodney Prouty 44.571
64. Joe Huerta 44.688
65. Nicholas Ruffley 45.173
66. Don Swertfeger 45.749
67. Sam Ashteokenyan 45.765
68. Dan Weishaar 46.282
69. Bill Fowler 46.411
70. Tom Cronkright 46.707
71. Cris Gonzalez 49.534
72. Joe Huerta – no time?
73. Christian Melchior – no time?
74. Jack Fields – no time?
Adventures in Pro-Touring: Run to the Coast – Saturday
Saturday, February 26th, 2011The Spectre crew was on the road early Saturday morning, heading towards Irvine for the first day of RTTC competition. Bill Howell had promised the event would go on rain or shine, but as we watched the windshield wipers on the truck window, we wondered how the forecasted heavy rain would affect the event.
El Toro is a former Marine Base and is still dotted with airplane hangers and “Keep Out” signs. Registration for RTTC was in an empty airplane hanger, and we parked the Spectre rig just outside.
While Mike and Steve set up the awning, Brandy filled up the gas can, then took the Carbon Camaro through tech. A funny thing happened on her way back in to the base, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
The Driver meeting started around 9am. The organizers divided everyone into three groups based on car number. The Camaro was part of the second group which was scheduled to hit the road course first.
The other two groups would go to the autocross and the brake stop challenge respectively, and switch stations throughout the weekend.
Bill warned everyone about the wet track, the restricted areas of the base and the dreaded “Pink Hat”, a bedazzled cowboy hat the color of Pepto Bismol, which would be the punishment for spinning out or other poor track behavior.
Sadly the pink hat already had found a home before the race even started and it was on the head of our very own Brandy Morrow. Apparently Brandy had taken out a cone on her way in from the fuel run and RTTC organizer Yancy Johns happened to see her do it…and well…rules are rules.
Brandy was a good sport about her new accessory, and she didn’t have to wear it long. The rain had stopped but the road course was very wet and cold and there were soon multiple competitors with muddy fenders vying for the sequined hat.
Steve and Mike had adjusted the Camaro to the track settings that Brandy liked best after the Willow Springs track test and sent her out on the track with a warning to watch out for puddles and not to push the car past her comfort point.
The Carbon Camaro set-up is quite different than the rest of the Spectre cars, especially the Mustang and the El Camino, which Brandy campaigned in 2010. The black Camaro not only has power steering, but also power brakes, something which takes a little getting used to.
There was enough time in the first session for three laps on the track and one cool down lap. Using the first lap as a warm-up, Brandy carefully worked her way through the puddles until she was nearly lapping the other car on the track!
After a quick break for lunch came the autocross section. Participants were meant to alternate with the Speed Stop Challenge, but there was a timer issue so they let everyone run on the autocross or the track for the remainder of the day. After running her three laps of autocross, Brandy handed the keys to Mike and so he could get in some track time as well.
Late that afternoon, Spectre customer, Brian Finch, let Yancy Johns drive his silver second gen Camaro. Yancy took out the huge orange water barrel at the hairpin turn on the very first lap! Luckily the car and Yancy were unharmed, but during the closing meeting Brandy gleefully presented the pink hat to Yancy. Revenge was sweet indeed.
As the sun went down, we packed up and grabbed some dinner with a few of the other drivers before heading home to prepare for more racing on Sunday.
Winter Warm-up: Spectre’s 1st 2011 Track Test
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011Good performance on the track is almost as much about driver seat time as it is about car prep. On Jan 31st we headed out to Willow Springs Raceway in Rosemond, Ca to work on both cars and drivers.
Our new track cars for the 2011 season include the Two JZ-GTE powered ’70 Maverick and the long awaited Carbon Camaro. Both cars are high horsepower pro-touring style builds and have been up north most of this year, the Camaro at Campbell Auto Restoration and the Maverick in the capable hands of Steve Schmalz and the Performance Fabrication crew.
The guys from both Campbell and Performance Fabrication came down with the cars to get some track time and test some of the recent upgrades. Steve from Performance Fab. started the morning in the Maverick on the Streets of Willow roadcourse, while Brandy, Mike and Mark set up a mini autocross on the skid pad and practiced running the Camaro through the cones.
The black Camaro looked pretty menacing carving around the practice course, with its one-off wheel flares and beefy 345/30ZR19 rear Kumhos. That vicious stance isn’t all show either; our newest 2nd gen has more horsepower, lots of traction, and a full modern suspension with customized adjustable rear sway bar. It’s also the first Spectre car in a long time to have power steering and power brakes, two additions which make a BIG difference on the tight turns of an autocross. Brandy finished up the practice session with a lot of enthusiasm about driving the car in upcoming events.
Steve came in off the road course a little less thrilled with the Maverick. Apparently the little blue Ford was acting up with twitchy steering and unpredictable handling. It looked very cool on the autocross though, even picking up a front wheel around the corners!
Everyone had better reviews once the Camaro hit the road course. There were a few clearance issues with the wide rear tires when the car was driven hard, but some minor adjustments in the pits soon cleared up any chafing. It was funny to see so many people under the cars, discussing possible solutions to both the Maverick’s handling tendencies and the Camaro’s tire rub problem. We really have an amazing group of people working with us.
Not only are there great people wrenching on the cars, but we are lucky enough to be working with some fantastic photographers too. Larry Chen and Linhbergh Nguyen from Speedhunters joined us at the track to take some photos and make a few laps of their own.
Larry brought his roommate, Yu-Chen in an Acura RSX, and they spent almost as much time on the track as we did. Larry rode with Yu-Chen and gave him some quick tips while the Spectre team was working on the cars. Yu-Chen picked up the racing line quickly and was noticeably faster by the time lunch arrived.
Why was he so quick?
“Video games,” he told us with a grin.
After lunch, Brandy and Mike took turns on track in the Camaro while Steve and Mark discussed options for improving the Maverick’s touchy handling characteristics.
By sunset, the team had a full eight hours of driving under their belts, and a solid plan for modifications and additions to both cars. We’ll find out the results soon, as our first competitive event, Run to the Coast is coming up this weekend!
“Kustom Capital of the World” : The Sacramento Autorama
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011Now in its 61st year, the Sacramento Autorama is “The Kustom Capital of the World” and boasts the title of one of longest running indoor car shows in the world. The Autorama is recognized as the custom car show on the West Coast. With over 450 of the finest custom cars, hot rods, classics, motorcycles, and specialty vehicles from around the county, there’s a good reason why people have been attending this show for over 60 years.
Of course, at Spectre, everything we do is an adventure, and as we packed up for the Autorama, the process of getting out of the Spectre parking lot and on our way to Sacramento was an adventure all by itself. It was like a reality TV Show; one thing after another just kept going wrong. How hard can it be to drive to a car show?
The plan was for the Toterhome to represent us in Sacramento. It had just been wrapped with our new logos, but was only partially finished. It looked good though, so we started to pack Wednesday with hopes to get out Thursday morning. When the toter pulled into the Spectre lot Wednesday morning, we had our first hurdle. Not only was the Jake brake not working, a taillight was out and then something went wrong with the alternator!
The toter went in to the shop to get repaired late Wednesday afternoon, but it would never be done in time for a 400 mile drive! Knowing that the show started Friday at noon, we reloaded our new truck as quickly as possible and got Steve out on the road.
Steve arrived in Sacramento around 8:30 on Thursday night and parked the truck, but our troubles weren’t over, because the space for the truck was just slightly smaller than our display. After some creative maneuvering, Steve was able to park the truck although we had to move the Churro stand. Seriously, do these things happen to anyone else?
Despite the slow start, once the show started we had a blast. The attendance was great and the truck was filled with people.
Since the show is all indoors, it attracts a lot of amazing customs and builders. Trailer queens get a bad name, but some of these cars are really pieces of art!
Each section of building had a different display. We saw bicycles and children’s push cars, muscle cars, and even a boat hall. There were also tons of vintage racers, a Bonneville car, and rows of motorcycles. Outside the race car display was a tent that featured a whole rockabilly scene with cars of the 50’s and people dressed to match.
On Saturday Spectators lined the entrances waiting for 10am to come and the gates to open. The truck and trailer were consistently crowded throughout the day. People were even coming in at 7 and 8pm, just to have an hour of viewing time. There were about 100-150 participant cars outside in the car corral. There were several cars with Spectre intakes on them, which always makes us happy!
The show stayed busy all weekend and by Sunday afternoon, we were ready to pack up and head home. Even though we had a rough ride up, we think this show was a great sign for the coming months. People know who we are, they are interested in our products and it seems like the car hobby is going to have a good year.
The first Good Guys shows are in March. We can’t wait!
Media Kick-off: The 2011 MPMC Conference
Sunday, February 6th, 2011At Spectre, we work closely with the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) as well as with the automotive media. We were able to catch up with both industry and editors at the 2011 MPMC Conference in El Segundo.
MPMC stands for Motorsports Parts Manufacturers Council, and they are an amazing group of people who work tirelessly to arrange time for manufacturers and journalists to meet and talk about project cars and new products without the distracting background of the SEMA show. We’ve attended the conference since 2007 and find it extremely valuable.
As always, our marketing genius, Brandy, transformed our hotel room into a complete showroom experience. The display featured some of the new 2011 Spectre parts, the Streamliner at Bonneville and photos from the Spectre 341 Challenge. Did you know an upside-down hotel couch makes an excellent product display when covered with black cloth?
During the conference, we sat in our decorated hotel suite and had meetings with automotive magazine editors, filmmakers, freelancers, TV shows, and websites. It’s fun to hear all about people’s project cars and trucks, and to tell them about our upcoming events and products.
The Spectre 341 Challenge was a popular topic during all of our meetings. Most people we spoke to either wanted to come out to the event themselves, or knew of someone they planned to invite. It’s going to be an amazing race this year.
Every year there is an afterparty mid-week. Last year we hosted at the Spectre facility but this year Source Interlink Publishing (SORC) held an open house at their new offices and workspace in El Segundo. It was a great night. Their workshop is very cool, and they had many of the legends of publishing and motorsports signing the latest SORC book, HOT ROD Magazine: All the Covers, with the profits going to charity.
SORC also invited us to display the SpeedLiner in the massive white photo bay. Amir came out and had such a good time he didn’t leave until early the next morning!
Overall, it was a very worthwhile week, and we are looking forward to getting all our magazine subscriptions this year. We know there are going to be some great stories.
