Taking on Track Night in America

Last year the SCCA started a new program called Track Night in America.  It focuses on fun, non-competitive events at racetracks across the country and week nights.  The idea is you get off work a little early, get to the track, have some fun and then get home at a decent hour to get back to work the next day.

This month I decided to check out the event at Carolina Motorsports Park on a Thursday night. Several of the local SCR folks were out and we had a great time playing on track for three 20 minute sessions.  Generally it was much more relaxed than other track events, but for those of us just wanting to come out for a little bit of cheap track time, it was a great deal.

Just about any car that's safe to drive on the road is allowed and it's a cool way to get a sense of what all this performance driving stuff is all about.  You can check out all of the Track Night events in your area here:

https://www.tracknightinamerica.com/


I had so much fun I forgot to take pictures, but Lemons/Coronet teammate, John had his camera rolling and got a few laps on track behind me in the red Miata:

The first weekend in May will see both the NMS North and South cars AND the Lemons Coronet out at CMP again with NASA. More on-track action to come!

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Lemons Coronet Update

The team was back at it today in Augusta, Georgia where the car currently resides.  The checklist to be ready for shakedown testing in early May at Carolina Motorsports Park is looming large.

Always more fun when there's more than 1 racecar around.

Big thanks to one of our newer teammates, Landon who is storing the car for now and let us use his shop space to work on the car alongside his own racecar. Up first we needed to service the rear axles and brakes, so I got to work removing the drum brakes and axles. 

With a bit of muscle and a ratchet, the rear axles pop right out.

We uncovered a little wear on the rear driver axle, so we'll investigate further next weekend but suspect a failed wheel bearing was allowing it to shift inboard too much and contacted the inside of the differential.  

On the left, you can see metal material that's been transferred onto the axle.  On the right, this one is like new. 

Up front, we refreshed the slightly larger calipers we sourced and got to work tearing down the front suspension.  Several bushings were completely torn up and the ball joints were looking questionable. We all voted to make the car safer to drive, so we'll be servicing all of those components. 

This pretty much sums up the overall state of a lot of suspension components.

While I was going through latex gloves at an unrivaled pace with the mix of axle grease, gear oil, and brake fluid, Landon was tackling the slick new hood pins up front.  While the factory hood latch was okay, the Coronet has one heavy duty hunk of steel covering the motor, so we wanted to really keep it in place.  We'll chalk that up to a safety improvement as well. 

New hood pin installed. Nice and flush mount unit to preserve that awesome 70s aerodynamic body.

Luke, our electrical guru was busy inside the car buried in copper, relays, and switches.  The car is getting very close to having full road-worthy lighting.  On Friday I transferred the title to myself from the previous owner in Texas, so we will have the option to street drive the car for testing or transportation to events or just bringing it out to cars and coffee if we want. 

Luke making spaghetti.

Today we also test fit a new routing for the brake ducts (because hauling down a heavy old car with drums in the back is going to need some serious cooling). We also managed to fix some failed valve spring retainers thanks to a good find at a local junkyard by Kyle.  

Old calipers get new gaskets and pistons.

Next weekend the full team will be back at it, possibly for a 2 day weekend to finalize the car for track time.  Everything is going to start coming together really quick and we're excited as ever. 

Shortly after this photo it exploded into a hundred pieces and a cloud of dust. More abused suspension components.

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Williamsburg British and European Show Highlights

MORGAN

Up near Williamsburg Virginia this morning, we visited the 18th annual British and European Car Show. I think there was some rain later in the morning, but for the time we were there it was nice weather. We last visited this show two years ago, and I remember seeing some French cars at that one, but this year, the focus was on British cars. Here's the British highlights from today, and we'll follow up with some nice Italian cars later this week too.

MG GT

MG GT

MORGAN PLUS 8

MODIFIED MG

MG SPOILER ALERT!

MORGAN WITH QUILT

TRIUMPH TR7

TRIUMPH TR6

AUSTIN HEALEY

LEYLAND MINI

LEYLAND BADGE

LEYLAND MINI

AUSTIN

AUSTIN

SUNBEAM ALPINE

SUNBEAM TIGER

TIGER

TRIUMPH

LOTUS ESPRIT

LOTUS ELAN

ASTON MARTIN DB7

MARCOS

MARCOS COSWORTH ENGINE

BENTLEY

BENTLEY

1949 DAIMLER DB18

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SCCA's FIRST RallyCross School: South Carolina Region!

We've talked a little bit about taking your average auto-cross and driving it on dirt instead of pavement, and the increasing popularity of the sport has led the Sports Car Club of America to start a new program this year. Just like they have offered instructional schools for autocross, the SCCA is now bringing The Starting Line School program to Rally Cross, starting with our friends in the South Carolina SCCA Region! This school will be held May 6th in South Carolina, and you can "read all about it" and sign up at this link on the SCCA website: StartingLine RX SC

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The Ballad of 400,000 Volkswagens

Remember that big scandal where Volkswagen was found to be cheating on diesel engine MPG and pollution? Well, apparently they've now started buying back some of the offending cars, and from the couple of people I know with TDI VWs, it's working out pretty well for them since they're getting a good price on their used cars. If I owned one of them, I'd probably be happy selling it for more than it's book value too, but what is going to happen to those cars?

Glad you asked! We found this article Autoweek that talks about those cars. According to Autoweek, it looks like  about 482,000 cars are affected. Some of them can be fixed and then re-sold, but not all of them. As in MOST of them are likely to end up being recycled into soda cans or new VWs. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a lot of cars!

Another bit of good news, is that the 2015 year model TDI models just might still be sitting on VW sales lots, and with the appropriate fixes, can still be sold! So if you're looking for a possible bargain on a turbo-diesel VW, check your local dealer now. From what I could find on line, you have to ask your local dealer for this deal, since they don't seem to be advertising it much. This article from Cars Direct says to ask at your dealer before the end of May, and you should see something like zero percent financing and $8,000 off the price of a newly repaired 2015 TDI Cars Direct

For more information on the legal settlement, check out this page with tons of info direct from VW: VW Court Settlement

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Sinko de Mayo!

CMP 

 The 5th of May is coming, and the popularity of Cinco de Mayo is increasing every year, as people love to salute Mexican independence with tacos, tequila, etc. Down at the Carolina Motorsports Park (CMP) on May 6-7, the NMS team will be driving at the jokingly named "Sinko de Mayo" event. "What in the world is that" you're surely asking. Glad you asked! SINKO

Brian at CMP

The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) has two days chock full of racing, time trials, and their High Performance Driver Education (HPDE). The HPDE program is a great way to get out on track and learn the fastest way around the course. Starting with beginners in HPDE 1 (like me in the NMS FIAT), I'll be driving with an instructor in the car and working to learn as much as possible about driving the CMP course. As drivers gain more experience, they can move up through the HPDE levels 2-4.

Brian hits the finish line at CMP

NASA splits up all the HPDE classes and the races into different 20 minute sessions, so there will be constant action on track, but for each individual driver you'll have four different times out on track during each day, with time in between to make car adjustments, re-fuel, etc. The HPDE drivers also have classroom sessions to learn the basics of going out on track, such as the track layout, the meaning of flags and other safety topics for driving on course, and driving techniques. In other words, the weekend should consist of 20 minutes of really fun driving, followed by a break for a drink and check the car (tire pressures and etc), then another really fun 20 minutes on track, break, 20 minutes on track, break, 20 really fun minutes on track, lunch, FUN, break, FUN, break, FUN, break, FUN, then tacos! And that's just day number one! Repeat on Sunday, plus a heaping helping of hanging out with all these car folks below in the evening, and sleeping at the track.

Brian and the Dodge Coronet LeMons team will be using their HPDE sessions to shake down the car and test for reliability, fuel consumption, and getting more comfortable behind the wheel at speed.
In addition to the NMS and friends, there are a lot of drivers that will be headed to CMP for this event. All these drivers won't be on track at once!

2017 Sinko De Mayo

Name	Hometown	Car Info	Class / Group	Car#	TX #
Adrian, Michael	Spring, TX	2011 BMW Gray	HPDE1	25
Araya, Walter	Canton, GA	1991 BMW Blue/Silver	Course Official		9945502
Bailey, Victoria	Spartanburg, SC	1997 Ford Black	HPDE1	21
Bailey, David	Spartanburg, SC	1997 Ford Black	Instructor in HPDE4	21
Baum, Kristi	Indian Trail, NC	1988 BMW Black	TTD	119	8200690
Baum, Bryan	Indian Trail, NC	1991 Ford White	TT2	13	8361213
Baumeister, H.	Roxboro, NC	1977 Volkswagen yellow	Course Official
bethea, power	chatworth, GA	2015 ford red	HPDE2	004
Bezjian, Joyce	Orlando, FL	2009 BMW Back	HPDE1	13
Bickerstaff, Richard	Charleston, SC	1999 Ford Red	HPDE3	54
Bird, Edward	Gainesville, GA	1991 Toyota Black	HPDE3	18	-
brewer, Dan	Mooresville, NC	2002 Chevrolet Black	TTB	106	7068176
Brown, Ethan	Waxhaw, NC	1987 BMW red	HPDE1	11
Buchanan, Jacob	Sylva, NC	1971 Porsche Red	HPDE4	107
Calhoun, Frank	Carrollton, GA	2005 Ford Red	TTU	44	3510181
Casselbury, Jerry	Wendell, NC	2006 Pontiac Black	HPDE2	83
Clark, Jamey	Liberty, SC	1993 Nissan blue	Course Official
Cooper, Kristopher	Spartanburg, SC	1997 Honda Midnight	Instructor in TTF	930
DeSalvo, Chris	Waxhaw, NC	2014 Ford White	Super Unlimited in Thunder	50	2501541
DeSalvo, Chris	Waxhaw, NC	2014 Ford White	TTU	50	2501541
DeYoung, Ken	Simpsonville, SC	1990 mazda smurf	HPDE4	41
Dia, Bayani	Columbia , SC	2001 Mazda Blue	Spec Miata in Lightning	97	2110002
Digges, Jerry	Lexington, SC	2005 Chevrolet Red	TT1	32	5746094
Dunlap, Nicholas	Rockledge, FL	2000 chevrolet black	HPDE1	154
Fabeny, Colin	Charlotte, NC	1990 BMW Blue	SpecE30 in Lightning	540	4626659
Fatcheric, John	Columbia, SC	2011 bmw red	HPDE3	71
Fenton, Luke	Charlotte, NC	2000 Ford Black	HPDE2	191
Florea, Florin	Cary, NC	2016 Volkswagen White	HPDE2	777
Franz, Philip	Weaverville, NC	1992 BMW Black	GTS3 in Thunder	43	7407418
Gabler, Andreas	Atlanta, GA	1999 mazda burgundy/black	Spec Miata in Lightning	33	1420783
gasparre, mark	jacksonville, FL	2005 ford black	Instructor in HPDE4	35
Gerber, John	RALEIGH, NC	1987 Porsche Black	HPDE1	11
Gilbert, Stephen	Charlotte, NC	2013 BMW Grey	HPDE2	715
Goldbach, Jared	Seven Valleys, PA	2000 Mazda Green	HPDE1	117
Goldsmith, Jeffrey	Alexandria, VA	1991 Mazda Blue	HPDE1	17
Haff, John	Augusta, GA	1991 Mazda Red	Group Leader		3458262
Hampton, Tommy	Boone, NC	1999 Mazda Green	HPDE3	83
Harrell, Tyler	Hartsville, SC	2001 Mazda Green	PTE in Lightning	78	5189901
Hennig, Tom	Concord, NC	1998 Ford Blue	Group Leader
Herrera, Jorge	Asheville, NC	2007 Porsche Navy Blue	HPDE1	17
Hillard III, George	Whispering Pines, NC	2002 Birkin Red	HPDE2	6	-
jOHNSON, jEROME	West end, NC	1990 mazda white	HPDE3	77
Johnston, Scott	Irmo, SC	1999 Mazda Blue	Volunteer
Lapine, Klaus	Mount Pleasant, SC	2003 mazdaspeed red/yellow	TTD	77	6641369
Lattstrom, Lars	Rock Hill, SC	2002 Factory Five Yellow	FFR in Thunder	17	0540255
Lawrence, Kirk	Gastonia, NC	2006 CHEVROLET YELLOW	Instructor in HPDE4	6	8693975
Lizak, Mark	Wilmington, NC	2014 Subaru White	HPDE3	11
Lookabill, Allen	Granite Falls, NC	2011 Ford Blue	HPDE1	30
Loveday, Jeffrey	KNOXVILLE, TN	2007 Honda Silverstone Metallic	HPDE1	27
Luter, Bret	Clayton, NC	1971 BMW Orange/Grey	HPDE3	73
Luttrell, Marcus	Knoxville, TN	1999 Mazda White	Instructor in TTE	92	1114167
Magruder, Tom	Columbia, SC	2006 Ford Burgundy Metallic	HPDE2	33
Manker, Bob	Jasper, GA	1995 Mazda Red	Course Official
McCarty, Gene	Mooresville, NC	1995 Porsche Black	HPDE3	258
McCarty, Trotty	Sumter, SC	1995 Porsche Black	HPDE1	58
McWhorter, Brett	Clayton, NC	2002 Honda Silver	HPDE3	24
Middleton, Kevin	Cameron, NC	2013 Scion White	HPDE2	726
miller, dwight	Matthews, NC	2007 Ford Orange	TT4	10	3471074
Miller, Robert	monroe, NC	2010 Ford White	Spec Iron in Thunder	20	0113183
Miller, Gregory	Henderson, NC	2000 Porsche Burgundy	HPDE3	371
Mitchell, Claude	Matthews, NC	1989 BMW White	SpecE30 in Lightning	033	5177436
Mitchell, Jutta	Matthews, NC	2010 BMW Black	HPDE3	27
Moon, Christopher	Concord, VA	1994 Honda Black	HPDE3	63
Moore, Michael	Asheboro, NC	2010 Ford Black	Spec Iron in Thunder	25	7482439
Morey, Ann	Dunwoody, GA	1999 Mazda Black	HPDE4	80
Nixon, Robert A.	Virginia Beach, VA	2013 Fiat Rosso	HPDE1	77
Nixon, Brian	Columbia, SC	1999 Mazda Red	HPDE2	86
Norris, Corey	Swansea, SC	2001 Ford Black/Green	HPDE2	44
Norris, Paul	Raleigh, NC	2000 Ford Black	Instructor in TT4	44	5193515
ostrander, dale	Elon, NC	2000 Mazda Maroon	HPDE3	87
OToole, Terry	boiling springs, SC	1974 Porsche Green	HPDE3	771
Owen, Dexter	Snellville, GA	1987 BMW Black	Corner Flagger		-
Oxford, Rob	Hendersonville, TN	2001 Honda Red	Group Leader		4831412
Parker, Ronnie	Surfside Beach, SC	2014 Chevrolet Silver	HPDE1	931
Parkhurst, Laura	Concord, NC	1989 BMW E30 silver	Group Leader		0464478
Parsons, Roy	Kodak, TN	1991 VW Red	HPDE3	18
Patrick, James	Charlotte, NC	1988 Bmw Red	HPDE2	40
Pryor, Cliff	Charlotte, NC	1990 Mazda Red	HPDE4	61	-
Ratani, Kareem	Decatur, GA	2013 Ford White	HPDE1	5
RaySmith, Kyle	Greenville, SC	2001 Mazda Blue	HPDE2	89
Rea, Mike	Catawba, SC	2009 600 Racing white	ThunderRoadster in Thunder	369	8282996
Reid, David	Cary, NC	2003 Honda White	HPDE2	6	-
Roache, Chris	Charlotte , NC	2007 Chevy Orange	HPDE2	129
Rogers, Taylor	Lexington, NC	1998 BMW silver	HPDE1	43
Rountree, Adam	Jacksonville, FL	1992 Ford white	HPDE3	111
Schattman, Glenn	Westport, CT	2015 Thunder roadster White	ThunderRoadster in Thunder	340
Shattles, Brendan	Huntersville, NC	2013 Ford bluish	Instructor in TT3	43	109001
Siemon, Samuel	Cumming, GA	2003 BMW Red	HPDE1	14
Sisler, Trish	Mt Pleasant, NC	1975 Chevy Blue/white	HPDE1	38
Smith, David	Rock Hill, SC	1965 Ford yellow	Instructor in HPDE4	19
Spittle, Timothy	Charlotte, NC	2013 Chevy black	Super Unlimited in Thunder	2	8326715
Spittle, Roger	Charlotte, NC	2013 Chevy black	Super Unlimited in Thunder	2	8326715
Spittle, Timothy	Weaverville, NC	2004 Mazda Burgandy	Instructor in HPDE4	35
Springer, Philip	Fairhope, AL	1987 BMW Gray/red/white/black	HPDE2	65
Stroman, Zachary	Florence , SC	1995 Mazda Black	HPDE1	42
Stukas, Kaylee	Concord, NC	1993 Chevrolet Black	HPDE4	93	0109733
Sullivan, Joey	greenville, SC	1990 Porsche Bronze metallic	GTS1 in Lightning	14	705097
Sullivan, Joey	greenville, SC	1990 Porsche Bronze metallic	GTS2 in Lightning	14	705097
Swords, Matthew	Charlotte , NC	1988 bmw white	HPDE3	317
Tempel, Mike	Marietta, GA	1987 BMW gray	SpecE30 in Lightning	344	5514490
Thebert, Matthew	Lawrenceville, GA	1983 porsche white	HPDE1	52
Tillotson, David	Columbia, SC	2011 Mazda Red	HPDE1	77
Turner, Shannon	Oak Ridge, TN	2016 Dodge Red	HPDE2	156
Villella, Paulo	Snellville, GA	2014 Acura Modern Metallic	Corner Flagger
Walker, Rodriques	Conley, GA	1999 Mazda White	Spec Miata in Lightning	93
Watson, Paul	Fort Mill, SC	1995 Ford black	HPDE2	54
Wells, Wyatt	Boone, NC	1995 Mazda White	HPDE3	68	-
Whyte, Robert	Burlington, NC	2005 Ford Yellow	TT3	93	4903315
Whyte, Robert	Burlington, NC	2005 Ford Yellow	HPDE3	93	4903315
Williams, Jeff	Liberty, NC	2005 Thunder black	Super Touring 3 in Thunder	110	7553553
Williamson, Keith	Milton, GA	2001 Mazda black	Group Leader		8300664
Wilson, Garry	Lexington, NC	1970 Porsche white	HPDE3	17
Young, Ty	Atlanta, GA	1989 BMW Grey	SpecE30 in Lightning	31	6591774
zehl, daniel	Lowgap, NC	1993 BMW Green	HPDE1	191
Zurbuchen, Barry	atlanta, GA	1987 BMW Black	SpecE30 in Lightning	34	3629518

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Quick Visit to FIAT and Alfa Romeo

Abarth = Big Scorpion!

Maybe next time we'll visit those other Italian auto makers Ferrari, Maserati, or Lamborghini that sell cars in the US, but today I stopped by my local Pomoco FIAT-Alfa Romeo dealer here in VA. With the recent release of the FIAT 124 Spider that would be perfect for me, and the Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan that my wife would love, I think I'm coming down with a double dose of that new car disease!

124 Abarth Spider

 Just to cover the basics, the FIAT Spider is a joint effort with Mazda, the folks that brought us the awesome Miata way back in 1990. The Spider has an Italian engine, Italian design body, and the Abarth beefs up the suspension and adds a couple horsepower to the basic 124 Spider.

Alfa Romeo 4C hiding under the red cover!

 If you are shopping for me, I'll take the Abarth version with the added Brembo brakes and Recaro seats please! If you can't find one of those, you can save some bucks and just get the regular Spider, priced similar to a  Miata.

Alfa Romeo Giulia

 I sat in this Giulia, and it was awesome! The steering wheel has a flat bottom like my FIAT, but the wheel is a bit thinner and felt very comfortable. Size wise, I can compare it to our Toyota Camry and say that it's a little bit smaller, but would be plenty comfy up front. The video display is built right into the dash, and with the car turned off you couldn't even tell it was there.

Alfa Romeo Giulia

 Inside the show room they had 3 red Giulias, with three different engine packages. The high powered beast is the cloverleaf Quadrifoglio, just in case you need over 500hp in your every day sedan! I believe it's a 6 cylinder with twin turbos.

That badge on the left means 4 wheel drive

 This car is available with all wheel drive, so that would certainly come in handy on an autocross course. I mean, in the snow, for my wife.

Giulia 4 cylinder version

 In the photo above, the engine bay shows off the bracing, and the built in struts to keep the hood  up when you're in there checking out the Italian awesomeness.

Giulia in Red Blue and Black

 Besides red, yes, Italian cars do come in other colors! Blue and black above in this case.

Blue Giulia

Awesome Alfa Badge

Alfa Romeo FIAT in the springtime

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