Anatomy of an Autocross

Let's just take a look at our last autocross results from May 10th at Darlington. Here's the run times from all six runs in the E Street, F Street, and G Street categories.  All drivers get the same number of runs, but only the fastest one counts.  Kind of like how I golf: it takes me over 100 strokes to play a round, but as long as ONE of them is good, then I'm a happy camper and want to go back and do it all again!

ES – ‘E Street’ Entries: 7 Trophies: 3									Times 1	2	3	4	5	6	Total	Diff.
1T			Tyson Bevirt			1995 Mazda Miata			38.185 +1	38.517	37.311	39.532 +dnf	38.771 +2	38.860	37.311	-0.389
2T			Kyle Ray-Smith			2001 Mazda Miata			38.465	37.841	38.218 +2	37.093 +1	37.273 +dnf	37.700	37.700	+0.389
3T			Brian Nixon			2004 Mazda MS Miata			46.034 +dnf	39.694	39.108 +2	38.901 +1	39.735	39.408	39.408	+1.708
4			Kyle DeGennaro			2002 Mazda Miata LS			41.025 +1	41.267	41.417 +2	52.410 +2	40.046 +1	40.438	40.438	+1.030
5			Andrea Harris			95 miata			43.604 +dnf	42.279	44.187	42.919 +1	41.017	40.840 +1	41.017	+0.579
6			Zachary Smith			1988 Mazda RX7			48.739	43.329	43.388	42.455	42.118	42.115	42.115	+1.098
7			Josh Cooper			1997 Mazda Miata			51.213	47.520	44.479	43.725	44.113	43.573	43.573	+1.458
FS – ‘F Street’ – Total Entries: 1									Times 1	2	3	4	5	6	Total	Diff.
1		13		Derrike Black			2007 Ford Mustang GT		39.529+dnf	42.799	54.084+dnf	41.487	42.445	41.087+1	41.487	-
GS – ‘G Street’ – Total Entries: 4 Trophies: 2									Times 1	2	3	4	5	6	Total	Diff.
1T			Michael Arnold		2014 Ford Focus ST				40.546 +1	40.032 +1	39.698 +1	40.287	38.698	38.621	38.621	-2.122
2T			Robert Nixon		2013 Fiat  Abarth				40.575 +dnf	41.689 +2	42.513	42.363	40.809	40.743	40.743	+2.122
3			Jonathan Clark		1999 Lexus GS300				45.733 +dnf	44.221 +1	42.868	43.446 +2	43.117 +2	43.903	42.868	+2.125
4			Robbie Solesbee		2004 Ford Mustang				43.138 +3	45.087 +dnf	42.957 +1	45.103 +2	43.966	44.259 +1	43.966	+1.098

Brian started with a DNF (did not finish), then on run 2 posted a 39.694, and by the final drive on run 6 nailed his fastest time of the day at 39.408.  He ended up 1.7 out of 2nd place, and over a second ahead of 4th place.

Getting faster thru progressive drives always makes my day, since besides the times getting faster it shows that the driver is maintaining or increasing the concentration needed to keep going fast. In other words, I think if I learn from each run on where I can pick up speed, and pay attention, then I'm way more likely to keep going faster the more I drive the same course. 

One other note on Brian's 3rd place is that since his class had 7 drivers, then the top three take a trophy, so it's always good to be up there near the top, whether it's in Victory Lane at the Indy500 or on the podium at Monaco in Formula 1.  Or in this case, in the top three!

I included the one driver in F Street, just so you could see his best time compared to the faster ES cars and the slower GS cars.  

OK, down in G Street, Robert ends up in 2nd place, and without complaining I will point out that I was the very first driver on the course in the morning, so if I WAS going to use any excuses for a DNF right off the bat, I'd point out that the course was still a little slippery from sand and debris that would later get pushed out of the way by hundreds of runs.  Anyway...first two runs not so good with a DNF and hitting two cones (+2) on run two, so run three was clean at 42.513.  Well off of Brian's pace in the Miata, and about a second behind the Focus in my class. After that I kept dropping time and ended with a best time of 40.743, so depending on what you compare that with it's either slow, OK, or not bad!  For GS on this day it was good for 2nd out of 4 drivers, but two full seconds out of first, so not so good. On the other hand, two full seconds ahead of 3rd place, but also about 1.3 behind Brian, so he's beaten me again!  My time was faster than the one FS car, and a few of the ES cars also, so maybe overall not too bad. For me, mostly I felt good to improve even in the last run!

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Triple Header May 25th: Monaco F1, Indy500, Coca-Cola 600!

                                                                      
                                                                         Brian at Charlotte Motor Speedway


Memorial Day is coming up in another weekend, and the team at NMS would like to salute the military members and their families of the USA that have paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation. While many people see this holiday as the start of summer, end of school, or just time off of work, we know that there is more to Memorial Day than that.

Sunday May25th happens to be a massive triple header of auto racing, so if you're not driving or working on your car, you just might be tuning in and watching one or more of the big three races.

My crystal ball says that Sunday morning I'll be up early with NBC (regular NBC, not NBC Sports Network) to see the Formula 1 race from Monaco. If there is a great historical race course that defines F1 for the past decades it is the incredibly tight street course around part of the incredibly small principality of Monaco. Several highlights of Monaco include drivers leaving the track and landing in the harbor, six time winner Ayrton Senna, and last year's winner Nico Rosberg who joined his father Keke as a winner at this race. Look for a tight race, limited passing, and almost guaranteed collisions typically at the chicane after the tunnel.  I'll make an easy prediction of Rosberg winning it again, or his team mate Lewis Hamilton, as Mercedes continues their dominance of the season. Whichever one of them wins the poll in qualifying should win the race.

After the glitz and glamour of Monaco, head over the middle of Indiana on ABC for the Indy500, kicking it off just after noon Eastern time.  Indy remains an American classic, chock full of traditions such as the playing of "Taps" for Memorial Day, the singing of "Back Home Again in Indiana", and the immortal words of "Drivers, START YOUR ENGINES!".   Even though every car chassis is built the same by an Italian company (Dallara), it's about as American as it gets!  If you visit the suburb of Speedway Indiana, be sure to check out the Dallara "factory", which is really a small workshop facility, with great exhibits and a tour that gives a peek into how they use carbon fiber to build the cars. 

                                                                Robert at the Dallara Factory, Speedway Indiana


If those two races aren't enough, you've got to head up the road from NMS world HQ in SC or hit the Fox network for the 6PM Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte NC.  No predictions here, but we'll just say that Charlotte is our favorite NASCAR track to drive on, since it's so large and the banking is a blast to experience!  I'll be happy sitting at home by this time of the day, and once again, have a safe Memorial Day weekend.

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Run by Run, Fun by Fun!

Darlington South Carolina, points event #3, May 10th 2014. 

First Run:  OK, all those other knuckleheads took their sweet time getting to grid for our first run group, so here I am the first driver on the line, getting the "honor" of cleaning some of the sand and stuff off the pavement. Oh well, it won't be my fastest run right off the bat, so I'll take it easy and not hit any cones just to get a record time down and then speed up since we will be getting SIX RUNS today!

Launch, good, big straight. speed speed speed, gas gas, here comes the slalom and BAM into the 2nd cone on a really tight slalom, missed the 3rd slalom cone, so immediatly I know the run time won't count so I'm back on gas and finish the run. Time: 40.575 and DNF, will do better next time.

Second Run:  Remind myself to brake more before the slalom and get a clean run this time!
Launch, no problem, into the straight with gas gas gas but holding back for the slalom a bit, brake brake brake, and I'm thru the slalom this time!  Focus on the big 180 sweeper, squealing, too fast, straighten it out, and on to the second half of the run.  A few small turns, wow there's a lot of cones out here... gas, brake for the Chicago Box, into the last few maneuvers and BAM hit another cone. Crap, that end section was too fast that run, will have to slow down there.  Time: 41.689 +2 cones, so two seconds per cone means 45.689.

Third Run: Mental review, brake for slalom, brake HARD for the 180 sweeper, brake straight going into  the Chicago Box like last time, then don't over do it on the end and get a clean run. Still 4 runs to go, piece of cake.

Launch, good, straight on the gas, brake hard for slalom, turn the steering wheel harder, back on the gas, HARD BRAKE BRAKE BRAKE for the sweeper to get tighter on the first cone, looking ahead to the right to see what's coming up and HOLY SMOKES ONE OF MY GLOVES IS FLOPPING AROUND ON THE SEAT BECAUSE I FORGOT TO PUT IT ON WHEN I STARTED THE CAMERA OH WELL get back on the gas thru the turn-around, thru the Chicago Box, and careful on the ending this time. Time: 42.513

Fourth Run:  (Still talking to myself)  You dummy, you should have gone that slow and got a clean run the first time like you planned, but that's OK, one clean run so far with THREE MORE TO GO. Now, go FASTER on the straight, keep pushing thru the slalom and sweeper, but get more gas SOONER in the sweeper, and more speed after the Chicago Box to improve the run time)   Time: 42.363

Fifth Run:  Geeze, all of that thinking and improving and I dropped only 2/10ths! Let's drop more time on this run.   Launch.... Come on.... go faster.... brake harder, early in-fast out on the sweeper, get on the gas SOONER....brake straight on the box and push it thru the end.....looking for the timer....Time: 40.809

Sixth and Final Run:  OK, dropped about 1.5 seconds last time, let's keep it up. Do all that stuff the same but faster!  Launch, ok, gas gas gas thru the straight, brake hard and thru the slalom, brake Brake BRAKE into the sweeper and gas it, easy thru the Chicago Box, and gas to the end....Time: 40.743.  Dropped another tenth, and so I feel pretty good that I was still improving on the last run.

Result:   Second place in G Street, 2 seconds out of first place and 2 seconds ahead of third.

Just in case I haven't said it lately, autocrossing is a TON of fun!  The real competition isn't just against the other drivers, but to improve your driving skills and keep learning.

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Darlington Preliminary Results

Over on our standings page we have updated the preliminary points from today's event held in Darlington SC.  It was a great day weather wise, and after about an hour and 15 minute drive, NMS arrived in Darlington this morning.  In a field of about 60 drivers, Brian placed a tough fought 3rd place out of 7 in E Street, and Robert grabbed 2nd place out of 4 drivers in G Street.  With the points earned today, this moves Brian up to 3rd place overall for the ES season, while Robert is now tied for 1st in GS.

We'll talk more about the driving later this week, so for now here are a few views of today's action.

Brian and his friend Ian discuss how to attack the course during the first run group.

After driving here twice in 2013,  Brian was back at Darlington for the first time this year.

Brian shows off his NMS logo design on his helmet.

Brian launches into another run at the start line.

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Hutchinson Island Recap and Looking Ahead

The official results are out, and out of 3 Mazdaspeed Miatas comprising all of E Street, Brian was able to bring the #86 car in for a 2nd place finish.

Actual run times:
69.909+1 (I'm pretty sure that's a +4 in real life)
55.199
54.896
55.212
55.177
55.540

The third run at a fastest time of just under 55 seconds was quick enough for a finish of 28th out of a nice round 100 entrants on Sunday.  Good to be in the top 1/3 of drivers at the event, though the first place Mazdaspeed Miata was over 2.6 seconds quicker finishing 4th overall, so the bar for improvement remains high.

Follow on board with Brian for 6 runs.  Run 1 was particularly fun when the back end broke loose on the first right-hander, destroying the crossover section.