Saturday, August 24, 2024

Corvette Museum

There is a car from the USA called the Corvette. Perhaps you've heard of it? They have a museum near the factory in Bowling Green. We visited the factory and it looked like this. 


The museum has cars and everything Corvette related from Barbie dolls to guitars. 
1954 Les Paul Corvette guitar? You've got my attention!

Curvy body? Check!
Fiberglass body? Check!

Cool grille and wire mesh covered headlights? Check and check!

In the lobby these cars are waiting for their new owners to pick them. Yeah, you order a Corvette, they build it in Kentucky, and you can pick it up at the museum if you want!

I'll guess Albert and Sara picked up their new car later that afternoon!

Once upon a time, a sinkhole swallowed up some of the Corvettes in the museum. Some they fixed, but these two appear like they did at the bottom of the sinkhole. 

As car designers make clay models, they start adding actual parts to check how it's going to all work out, so here's a part clay and part parts model!

This concept car was partially influenced by the Alien movies. Spooky. 

Maybe everyone's favorite Corvette, the one year only 1963 split window. 

This was a cool display of an old gas station with some classic Corvettes. 

Some owner sealed his Corvette up in the basement of his store, and it was opened many years later, looking like this. I think I'd rather drive it. 

If you know Corvettes, you should know Zora Arkus-Duntov. If you have a ZO6 model Corvette, the Z comes from his first name, a Zora Option #6 with a larger motor. 

Spotted this hand dryer in the men's room. 

1953 (first year) Corvette chassis showing the construction. I'll bet this thing is worth a few dollars. 


Corvette from the Disneyland Autopia ride!

This was the coolest thing, a 1973 Concept Corvette, with a mid-engine rotary engine! Whoa!




Thursday, August 22, 2024

August Autocross Report


Nice summer day, driver meeting. 

In Greensboro NC last Sunday it was 86 degrees, sunny, and in 10 autocross runs I managed to win my class and have a lot of fun. Yes, there really were other drivers in my class too! I had several runs in a row where I plateaued on the 50 second mark and wasn't improving, but after thinking about how I was driving the big sweepers, I managed to hit a 49.8 on my next to last run. That time was good for 6th place overall on the day out of 25 drivers, and 4th fastest Porsche from 20 P cars. That felt pretty good and reminds me that there's ALWAYS somebody faster than you. 



Reminder: check that brake fluid.


That's why autocross is fun, not that you're competing head-to-head against other drivers, but that you are trying to beat your own best lap of the day, just maybe by using your brain a bit to figure out HOW to do that. In my case, I knew that on these two sweeping corners I was throwing the car in and then it was sliding a bit, and I was waiting for the car to slow enough to get back on the gas. Basically, your tires aren't made to be their fastest when they are going SIDEWAYS. Sure, it sounds cool, and kind of makes you think you're going fast, but dang it, those round tires are made to just roll forward and not sideways. So, I braked more into these corners and cut down on the sliding just a bit in an effort to get back on the gas sooner, and then keep that faster speed going until the next slower spot. 

Here's how it played out: 

Run 1: without knowing how fast the course would be I drove a 52.1 and hit a cone, so officially that's a 54.1 on the books. With that as my starting point it was time to speed up.  Some drivers like to take that first run nice and easy, but I think I do better by just hitting the gas pedal to go fast right away. After that you have a better idea of where to go faster, or go slower as needed.

Run 2: this one was a bit faster, at 51.521, so I was on the right track. Ha-ha, "right track," LOL!

Run 3: at the finish line the timing board said 49.786 and so I was feeling great, which lasted right up until one of the workers let me know that I totally missed one of the cones, shortened the course, and so my time didn't count. Go figure, no wonder my time was quicker! I knew exactly what I'd done wrong, so I fixed it on the next run. 

Run 4: Yep, fixed it, and did a 50.483 and still had one more run to go before the break between two run groups. 

Run 5: a hair slower at 51.007 but of course that only meant that after lunch I wanted to be in the 49 second range. Oh, one more thing. Apparently, you get ZERO extra bonus cool points for hitting a time that ends with 007. Shaken, not stirred you might say. 

For the next hour I worked on course picking up just a few cones that drivers knocked over, and enjoyed plenty of vitamin D while watching the other half of the drivers get their first five runs in. Oh and I drank more water, put on more sunscreen, and had about as much fun as you can standing out in the heat in North Carolina in the summertime. Then we had a lunch break, (this club provides pizza at lunch!) and then it was time to drive five more times and get into the 49s. 

Run 6: 50.086 well shoot, right where I ended the morning, so really not bad, and certainly I could go faster, right? Maybe just 0.087 faster? Pretty please?

Run 7: Nope! Not yet, with a 50.379 so kind of good news and bad news. Good to be consistent on 50 seconds but going slower is NOT what I'm trying to do. Three more runs to go, so as Chuck Norris might say, "It's GO time!"

Run 8: Double-Nope, with a 50.925, so I was still stuck in the 50s but going the wrong way. This really hacked me off and I sat in the car and thought about the course and what I was doing wrong, so I decided to brake harder into those two sweepers to cut down on sliding. It sounded like a good idea anyway!

Run 9: Finally, into the 49s with a 49.802 and while it's just kind of a mental thing that this was only 0.2 seconds faster than my previous best, seeing that lower number just made my day! Hey, one more run, let's go for 48s now!

Run 10: WRONG! Over-cooked it in two spots and actually went the slowest of the afternoon session, 51.121. After being in that 50.X second range on 4 runs, at least I'd dropped one into the 49s. I'm sure the good drivers are more consistent than that, but hopefully I'm getting better. 

Bottom line, it was a smooth-running event, and I had a ton of fun. With two more events this year, I'm leading my class for the season, so I'll be working to add more points in October and November. Thanks for reading. 

Saturday, August 17, 2024

NMS Gears up for Return to Watkins Glen


To be more specific, we will be returning to the racetrack in Watkins Glen NY, which is titled Watkins Glen International. Either way, we'll be driving there for another High Performance Driver Education (HPDE) weekend with the fine folks at NASA. The country is divided into several NASA regions, and this particular event is being sponsored by our two favorites: NASA Northeast and NASA Southeast.  We both are members that live in the Southeast Region and one of us used to belong to (and live in) the Northeast Region, so we're looking forward to seeing some friends at the track. I could say "old" friends, but hey, they're probably younger than me!

Track walk at the top of the Esses. Should be going over 100mph by this point. In the car that is!

This annual NASA-NE event is titled THUNDER AT THE GLEN, and that's a pretty cool name if you ask me. Or even if you don't ask me, it's still a cool name! Friday thru Sunday October 4-6, it will be a blast! The staff at this track always produces a first-class event and do a great job of herding the cats and keeping a LOT of driving events running on time. When you think about how many different driving groups take their turn on track, with the next group lining up before the previous one finishes, and how they coordinate and communicate what's going on among all the workers and drivers, it's a big deal. 

Brian in the NMS #86 Miata on track at Watkins Glen

The first weekend in October should be great weather in New York. By "great weather" I mean "cooler than South Carolina in the summer!" We've driven this track before, so we know it should be a great time of year to be up north, and driving such a historic track is fun whenever you do it. We both drove with NASA NE one weekend, and I managed to do two other events, one other with NASA NE and one three-day weekend with the Porsche Club. 

Downtown Watkins Glen NY with checkered flag crosswalks. You might know that the original races in Watkins Glen were on public roads, like this one!

We will be taking turns driving the NMS Nissan 350Z, so while it MIGHT be tempting to see which of us manages a faster lap time, it's not a competition, and we'll be in different driving groups too, just a couple guys out to have fun... Heck, never mind all that stuff, my plan is to drive way faster than NMS-South, and then remind him of it for a very long time, starting with the drive back to South Carolina!

NMS Cayman at the Glen during a Friday "track walk" which is actually done by car because the track is 3.3 miles long. This location is heading downhill into the toe of the boot, which is the lower right of the track map down below. The NASCAR races don't use the boot part of the track. 


For more information on the track, visit THE GLEN:    
                                 
                            WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL

Here's the link for the NASA weekend:      

                            THUNDER AT THE GLEN!


Track Map PRO TIP: Don't get lost out there!




Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Autocross Second Half Preview

Ruby Red Metallic

For 2024 I've focused my driving on autocross events with the Carolinas Region Porsche Club of America. After the first half of the season, I'm leading my class, but there are still three events to go. Believe it or not, the club has taken some time off during the hot months of the year, so the remaining events are in August, October, and November. OK, it's not quite like NASCAR with 36 races all year, but then again, my budget is a couple million dollars less than their teams spend! On tires alone. Or gas. 

It won't be this chilly in August!

With the six-event season split in half, it is also split evenly across three locations! Since the region includes most of North Carolina and part of South Carolina, events are in Winston-Salem NC, Greensboro NC, and at Michelin Proving Grounds in SC. Each venue presents different driving configurations, with my favorite being the 14 acres of flat pavement at Michelin. The other two spots are smaller, but that's how things roll in autocross. 

NMS will return to Michelin. This time with Michelin tires!

Oh, there's no real prize money, big money contracts, or ten-foot-tall trophy at stake, but I do enjoy competing mostly against myself and trying to drive the best that I can. Finding ways to improve and go faster at each event keeps it interesting. On top of that, we've had both dry and wet days, cool and hot, so every event is different. Doing different things keeps life interesting. On the other hand, doing the same thing every day CAN be good (but boring,) and of course here I'm thinking of spending about 400 days in Iraq with the Army, but that's another example of boring being good, if boring means you're not getting shot at!

Trying to figure out where to go FASTER. 
(answer: EVERYWHERE!)

On the other hand, there are still a few driver openings in Formula 1 and NASCAR for next year, so just maybe if I drive really fast... Anyway, for the next three events I'll be on different tires, so we'll see how these new Michelins compare to my previous Yokohamas. Win, lose, or draw, my goal remains the same; to have fun and stay safe!

Thursday, August 8, 2024

Put the FUN in Fundraiser!

My two cents say it's a replica, but even a replica Ford GT is cool!


Last weekend I did NOT go to another Cars and Coffee, I went to a cars and coffee Fundraiser instead! Ha ha ha, I’ll be here all week. Try the veal. Tip your server!

In this case, the Rock Hill Northwest High School Cheerleaders sponsored this event as a fundraiser, and hey, the price of entry included a FREE cup of coffee. To repeat myself, "Free is my favorite flavor!"

Here's some of the coolest cars I spotted. 

Audi R8

The new Hummer all electric vehicle.


Lamborghini

This old Ford Ranger had lots of extras on it. 


Ford GT with Gulf livery.

A local Mustang club had a big turnout, here's 3 Shelby Cobra Mustangs.

A classic Ford in BRIGHT green. 

Hey, remember when Dodge made cars?


Camaro "By Chevrolet" in case anybody on the planet is not aware. 


Let's name this car Joe. Joe Six Pack. 

Lots of stuff going on with this car, if you notice the side hole and that the grille is a fake like a NASCAR racer.

Trucks are cool. 
Old trucks are cooler. 
Old, lowered trucks are the coolest. 
Your mileage may vary!

I've seen this car at other events here in Rock Hill, it's a Hudson Super Wasp Hollywood. No B pillar might get your attention. 

This classic VW Beetle parked next to me. They're still cool. 

Nothing like a big truck at Cars and Coffee! This has a hookup for goose neck towing.