October 10, 2006
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Rd. Atlanta Round 9 of the Speed World Challenge TC
Road Atlanta Round 9 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
WE WON!!!! Okay it was only the practice session, but it sure felt good to the team to be on top of the charts.
Obviously the practice sessions went well for us. We made many significant changes during practice to get the car to accommodate the high speed corners and the somewhat user friendly curbs.
We made a change for qualifying that we thought would help us gain a few tenths. Instead it cost us a few tenths and we qualified a disappointing 10th. However, we knew the car would be strong for the race so optimism was high that we could get the top three finish that slipped through our hands at Road America.
Race day was a perfect day for racing … pleasantly warm and sunshine. With a significant amount of friends and family around it was an enjoyable day.
On to the race. With the normal pre-race activities completed (which we had our favorite flag girl Danielle back) we lined up for the standing start in the outside line in the 10th position. After Road America and Mosport this front stretch looked like it was an eight lane highway with plenty of room to maneuver. The only catch at Road Atlanta is turn 1. You can enter four or so wide but you probably will not exit the corner with everyone still on the pavement (if you were the driver you should probably have made a note of this). Also, when something goes wrong the outside car tends to be the loser. Oh, and it is a fast corner … minimum speed of 90 mph. I figured everyone would head to the inside which is the conventional thinking at Rd. Atl. So, as usual I planned on going were everyone would not be going … the outside. I had another great start pulling several cars. Either I need to switch to drag racing or a lot of people were sleeping. I did head for the outside because nobody was there. As we entered turn 1 it appeared we were up to 5th or 6th (hard to count exactly when you are driving at the same time). I was about to pull beside the Tindol Mazda and Acura running side by side and thought about tucking in behind them for the remainder of turn 1. However, greed obtained the best of me and I decided I wanted those two extra positions to be up to 3rd or 4th. Remember that comment about not being on the outside too long? Well half way up the hill I hit the loose stuff on the outside and the rear of the car stepped out into a slide. This slide became larger when the rear tires went over the curb and into the dirt. Luckily I did not spin. I just slid for a long time watching out the windshield as all the cars that I had passed and a few others passed me.
I settled down and by lap 10 was back up to 8th place with the 4th fastest race lap. I felt confident that we could still obtain our top 3 finish as we were running a comfortable pace and catching the cars in front. However, luck struck us again. On lap 11 of 27 the engine temp started to climb and I could smell some coolant. For the remainder of the race the engine temperature continued to climb and the power steadily decreased (7 seconds a lap slower by the end of the race). In addition the fluid we were losing was going under the car making the car a touch too loose. We soldiered on to finish 11th.
We head to Laguna in California in a couple of weeks for the final race of the season and hopefully a win. We are also in the process of obtaining partners for next year so if you know of companies that would be interested in an affordable marketing tool let us know.
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.
