Global Time Attack Road Atlanta 2014

The journey to Road Atlanta from SoCal for a small Time Attack team is one that is constantly undergoing challenges from budget to logistics to overall stress. I was lucky to find myself in a position where going was even an option, although I must say teaming up with my friends from Renner Motorsport made it much easier. We were able to split costs on travel and get both our cars to the event even though that in itself was not an easy task. To give you an idea the guys on the road had a flat tire on the trailer, 2 cracked injectors on the tow rig, some bad seals on the injectors and the overall fun of driving from SoCal to Atlanta.

The fun seemed to never end for the guys on the drive having to work on the truck in the rain, wind and the dark with little to no sleep. Even having to pull out a race car in order to get the new injector from the ford dealership.

They were able to pull into the event at 5am the morning of which was astonishing giving the adversity which they faced.
http://youtu.be/rk4AIdOOv1Y On the other hand myself and a few others flew and we all know what flying is like… Cramped, crappy but quick in comparison to driving.

Once we landed in Atlanta the excitement started to really grow for the event, although being jet lagged helped my ability to get some much needed sleep.
Once we arrived at the track the first thing you see is the elevation of the first and final turns of Road Atlanta and I must say they are much more impressive in person than in pictures and video.

After tech inspection and driver meeting were completed it was finally time to get on this amazing track! In the first session out we became instantly aware of how much of a learning curve we would have at this track. With a few issues sprouting up with the car including it running unusually rich and the oil once again not wanting to separate from the air we began the process of getting it ready for the next session. Paul Leung of Yimi Sport Tuning and Gil Martin began the process of cleaning out the oil from the intake tract while Ken Kasitz of Koherent Chassis Workz went over the tire data to ensure that the cars suspension was set up properly for the track. With the new parts (rear diff brace and trunk cage) from GTSPEC the car has a more stable feel in the rear end which was very important when going at the speed we are.

Our next session I was still getting the feel of the track and we were constantly monitoring the weather as there was a chance of rain at any moment. Overall our first day left us in good spirits and with some ideas for the next day. We knew we had to evaluate data that night as well as get a good hearty BBQ meal!

With the morning of the final day of Road Atlanta came the final fix of our oiling issues, Paul came up with the solution draining it back into the Killer B oil pan, he also now had the car running perfect so that I could get he car moving down that long straight topping out at 154 MPH! Which shows the top end punch that the Borg Warner EFR7163 has especially when it is combined with the Full-Race Manifold and SoCal Porting work with Supertech valvetrain allowing the heads to breath. I cannot say enough great things about our rotating assembly from Scat Crankshafts being able to take the abuses that we are applying to them and coming back for more and more!

I was able to hit my stride and ran a 1:33.407 clinching 1st Place in Street AWD and the Overall Street Class win.

Which means I got to take home this badass watch! The event was fun and full of awesome people from all over the US and more, I just wanted to spend more time on the track so that I could learn all those little things that the local only know.

I cannot thank everyone who came and helped out enough Mike Jager, Paul Yim and Paul Leung of Yimi Sport Tuning, Ken Kasitz of Koherent Chassis Workz, Gil Martin, Alex Goss, Rob Campbell, Aaron Gillis, and Chris Hain. Additionally I could not have even thought about making the trip if it wasn’t for Rachel Jager’s amazing support.