Last year, I had been intimidated by the thought of going to a championship race, but after doing the Western States Championships last year, and then six major races with SCCA, I was very much looking forward to going to WSC this year. Well, except maybe the location. Because I had run Spec Miata a couple of times recently, and felt more comfortable there, I decided to run Spec Miata and PTE, the latter being the class I was "chasing points" in. Also, the Spec Miata race was going to be all Spec Miatas, no cars from other classes. PTE would, of course, be a mixed group as usual.
For some strange reason (which I never found out), they were running two different configurations. Friday's qualifying race was course #1 counter-clockwise (CCW) and Saturday's qualifying race and Sunday's championship race were course #25, also CCW. I had run #25 before in the SCCA Major, but since I had never run #1, I decided to go early and do two test days. Wednesday was #1 CCW, and Thursday was #25 CCW. I figured that would give me some good practice before the racing started on Friday.
For whatever reason, I just never hit my stride on the test days. I spun a couple of times in Off Ramp. the turn at the very bottom (on the map) on the left side. It's a nasty, slow, hooked turn and I just never seemed to get it right. The two spins were as a result of trying different ways of taking it, neither of which worked. I also had some issues with Star Mazda turn - another hooked turn at the lower right side of the map. I also spun there (front video - rear video), and I just never felt like I got it right consistently. And, I spun in Grapevine (top left on the map) (front video - rear video)
Friday's Spec Miata qualifying race went well. I didn't finish anywhere near the front, but I was only lapped by a couple of the leaders and for me that was an accomplishment. The PTE race was a different story. It was the usual mixed bag of cars, almost all with more power (read: faster) than me. During one of the laps, I was approaching the S turns with an orange Spec Racer Ford coming up fast from behind. He caught me in the S's, and going into Star Mazda turn, I figured he was going to go deep and inside to take me in that turn, rather than waiting for a better passing area just after the turn. So, I went wide in the turn, leaving him room to take an inside line. Instead, he took a fairly traditional driving school line - in this case, start driver's right, apex and then track out on exit. Only problem was, I was at his track out point. Not sure why, but he ended up punting me, which lifted my rear wheels off the ground momentarily and caused me to spin right at eh exit of the turn. Unfortunately, behind him were a pack of cars, and one of the E46s in that pack couldn't avoid me, and hit my back end.
Here's the perspective from my forward facing camera.
Here's the cockpit perspective of the crash. Note the impact of my helmet on the center net. We have safety gear for a reason.
Here's the perspective from the Lotus that was behind the Spec Racer Ford that punted me.
Here's the perspective from one of the E46's that was following me.
Here's the perspective form another E46 that was following me.
And, here's the perspective from the E46 that actually hit me.
The car seemed OK, so I continued the race, and finished. When I got into impound (all cars are impounded after a championship race), I saw the extent of the damage.
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I wasn't the only one that fared badly. The E46 that hit me also took a good bit of damage.
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I figured I was done for the weekend, since there was no way that I could pass the 50-50 rule (50 ft away, at 50 mph, the car has to look OK). Fortunately, I had video, and other cars around me also had video, so I wasn't penalized (in a racing sense) for the collision. The driver who punted me was DQ'ed and also suspended from Friday's race.
The good news was that the race director also told me that since the accident wasn't my fault, that I could continue racing for the weekend, if the car was safe. We jacked up the back end, ran the tires, and everything seemed fine. All the damage was aft of the rear suspension. So, I put a little tape on it, bent the rear fender out, and I was back in business - sort of.
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Saturday's Spec Miata qualifying race also went without a hitch. Then, in the PTE race, coming into the S turns again, I noticed a Spec Z coming up fast. I went a little wide and gave him room to pass me in the first S turn. A couple more Spec Z's came up on me in the S's, and I thought that they might try to pass in Star Mazda, but they didn't. Both waited until after that turn (a good choice) and passed me then. Then, a fourth Spec Z (obviously chasing his buddies) started a pass approaching Phil Hill. I gave him room driver's left, but before completing the pass, he moved across the track (trying to set up for entry to the turn on Phil Hill) and smashed into my front left fender.
Here's the rear view of the Spec Z that hit me.
Here's the forward view of the Spec Z that hit me.
I was able to continue, but he had broken a rim and screwed up his tire, so he had to be towed off the course. My car seemed OK, so I was able to continue.
It's hard to see, but the rim has major rash on it, and the fender is pushed in about 1/2 inch. The tire marks cleaned up in 5 minutes with R3.
Because the other car had pretty severe damage, it obviously got reported to the race director. Fortunately, I had full forward and rear facing video, because the other driver tried to say it was my fault. The discussion was priceless:
Race Director: "OK, do you see that his position (meaning my position) relative to the line at the side of the track never changed while you were passing? That means he held his line in order for you to complete the pass."
Other Driver: "Yeah, but I needed to get over to the other side of the track to take the next turn."
RD: "It's your responsibility to complete the pass before moving over."
OD: "Well, he could have hit the brakes so I could move over."
RD: "It's not his responsibility to hit the brakes, just so you can move over. It's your responsibility to complete the pass before moving."
OD: "Yeah, but if I'd waited longer, I wouldn't have been able to set up for the next turn."
RD: "That's your problem, not his. You elected to pass there, and if that meant you weren't set up right for the next turn, that's your problem because you elected to pass there. Do you understand?"
OD: "But then I would have had to over brake for the next turn and I'd have lost position."
RD: "OK, let's say you were on the freeway, him in his lane and you in yours. And, you passed him, but before being completely in front of him , you changed lanes and hit him. That's exactly what happened here."
OD: "Oh... yeah... I guess I see what you're saying now."
Ultimately, this one boils down to "red mist" - that overly competitive attitude that comes when you throw safety to the wind and have to win at all cost. He was 4th in the Spec Z parade and was trying to catch his 3 buddies. The lesson here is that sometimes when you do that, and you exceed your driving skill, you end up worse off. So do others.
The best part of it for me was when the race director asked for a copy of the video because he said it was the best example of cooperative passing he had seen.
That said, two contacts in one weekend - neither of which were my fault - definitely set a new low point. And the magnitude took it even lower. Little did I know.
So, Sunday morning, I take the course for the Spec Miata championship race. Everything seemed to be going fine for the first 4 or 5 laps. Then, on the back straight, I noticed a lack of power (no, I mean more than normal). The water temp gauge was varying between 180 and 210, something it had never done before, and then I noticed the cylinder head temp was 240-250 and rising. I was overheating the engine. I was 1/3 of a lap from the pit lane, so I chose to exit the race to save the engine.
When I got to the paddock, the reservoir bottle was leaking slightly. Everyone said that was the problem, but I wasn't convinced. The sun was bright, but as I looked deeper into the darker areas of the engine compartment, I found the problem laying at the bottom.
Unfortunately, I don't know how long I was running without a fan belt. The "charge" or "alternator" light would have been an indication, but it was hidden behind my Dash4Pro display. So, I never saw the charge light, and that likely caused me to run for a lap or two after I had the problem. And, that was enough to create "issues".
I found a new fan belt, and installed it, but I was missing a tightening bolt. After running around the paddock and finally finding one, I got the car back together with about 15 minutes to spare before the next race. Since paddock speed is 5 MPH, I took the car out to the entrance road and wound out 1st, 2nd and 3rd twice. Everything seemed to be looking good. Water temp was about 180 and holding. When I got back in the paddock, it dropped to about 150 before I could get back to my trailer. That seemed a bit odd that it should cool down so quickly, but it looked like I could race, so I left the car running (further test of cooling system) and changed into my racing suit. I arrived in the grid at the one minute point, backed into my spot and waited. I checked the gauges, and while the water temp was fine, the CHT was climbing through 220 to 230 to 240. By the time they let us out for the race, it was at 260. So, there was no way I was going to take the car on the track in that condition. I wasn't sure what was wrong, but I knew that if I continued, it would cost me a complete motor rebuild.
I was done. But fate was not.
As I was packing up, I was treated to a dust storm like this:
It came up without warning, and it put half of Buttonwillow in my trailer before I could shut the doors.
With that, I put my tail between my legs, finished packing up, and left.
On the trip back, I dropped the car off at my mechanic, and then headed home to wait for the bad news.