August 1, 2006
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Miller Motorsports Park Round 5 of the Speed World Challenge TC
Miller Motorsports Round 5 of the SPEED World Challenge
TC Race Report Through the Windshield of the Woodhouse/Kicker/Viosport/Alex’s Lemonade Dodge SRT-4
by Brian Smith
First, forgive me for being late with the report. Frustration, SRT Nationals (where were all the Viper owners??) and a test session account for the lateness. Am I allowed to cuss? Talk about highs and lows of racing. I think we experienced it all this weekend.
It was around 100 degrees every day. Combine this with high altitude and you have the ingredients for a large portion of our frustration. NO POWER. It was obvious early on that we only had full power for two laps at the most. Coolant and charge temperatures were probably higher then you would want to know. Also, we had a failed speed sensor which kept us from full boost on the promoter’s test day.
Everyone spent a lot of time working and thinking about our cooling issues. We moved coolers, modified the fascia slightly, etc. We would find out in the race if all this work solved the problem. Fingers were crossed.
Before we discuss the race we should probably quickly cover qualifying. With Miller being a long track (4.8 miles) we opted to do one flying lap. We had a good qualifying lap going until about 4 turns (there were about 24 turns) from the end. The driver made an error that cost about 0.6 seconds. So, instead of qualifying 6th we were 12th. However, optimism was high for the race as long as the power hung in there.
After watching the GT race my plan was to go to the outside. The standing start was on a 3500 foot straightway before turn 1. As we pulled into position for the start I scouted the cars around me. I was confident the Woodhouse/Kicker/Viosport/Alex’s Lemonade Dodge SRT-4 could get a good start compared to everyone except for the all wheel drive Audi behind me. When the starting lights came on I was ready for them to go out quickly. I was positive they would not hold us in this heat for long, but they did. It seemed like a minute before the lights went out. I had a decent start. I started to the outside when a large hole on the inside opened up. It was so enticing I had to go for it. The only problem was that hole closed as I arrived. So I quickly popped back out to the outside although I lost some momentum. By the first turn I had picked up a couple of positions. So far so good.
Next was a great example of being lucky instead of good. Coming into turn 5 (or was it called 4) which is about a 50 mph corner after about a 110 mph straight everyone broke much earlier then I anticipated. In our tight racing quarters I was in big trouble because I was not going to stop in time. A quick move to the outside under braking almost caused me to spin, but I missed everyone. And I passed three or four cars in the process. We were now up to 7th halfway through the first lap with only one bump on the nose, one bump on the rear fascia and tire mark on the right side of the car. This was going to be good.
It was for about a lap and half. Then the temperatures went up and the power went down. I found this out as I went to pass a Tri-Point Mazda and Bimmer World BMW out of a corner. They had tangled with each other in the corner which allowed me to get inside them and have a great run onto the straight. As I was beside them pulling away I started to lose power. Now they were starting to pull me. On the previous lap I had a car on the outside of me going into the upcoming corner. He did not make the corner on the pavement. Now I was on the outside with an extra car inside. Unfortunately everyone else had a run on them also and were tucked in behind them. I was in no man’s land. So I worked myself to the inside in the corner but I was back to 11th with no power.
So I proceed to run around in 11th for most of the race. At the end we were pushing for 10th. However, with a couple of laps left we had some type of bolt failure (a critical one since it held the tie rod to the knuckle). So we ended up parked on the track with a tire pointed in the wrong direction.
Since then another test session has improved our handling and we are working on the cooling issues. I will go out on a limb and guarantee a top five qualifying or finish in each of the last four races of the year so stay tune.
A big THANKS to Dave, Joel, Larry, Rick, Nancy and Dave for all the work in some conditions that was not ideal for working outside.
Remember to go online at www.woodhouse.com to purchase your next vehicle no matter where you live, upgrade your car stereo system or purchase your SRT with Kicker products (www.kicker.com), utilize Viosport (www.viosport.com) for your affordable rugged wearable video needs, visit www.turnonetrackevents.com for corporate and track day events and consider supporting www.alexslemonade.com in their fight against children’s cancer.
