I normally don't do these in sections, but there is a lot to cover with the trip, etc. So, I am going to try and cover NSXpo in different parts.
Everyone that has been to VIR has told me how good it is. Sander and Steve were the two who "pushed" the effort the most. Fortunately, they were lying, it was even better than they described. But, enough of that, lets get on with the build up and the trip.
Adam Jabaay and I started getting to know each other at ITR Expo '11 at CMP. It was my first big road trip for an event and it started my second full year of tracking the hatchback. The relationship has grown quickly which leads us to this trip. In 2011, Adam went out to VIR to run a TrackDaze event with the Penn brothers. Since that time, he has said that we needed to get out there, along with the others that I mentioned previously. There was never really "a reason" to head out there, until this year when Steve LaClair helped organize the HPDE portion of NSXpo. As soon as it was announced, Adam and I had the same idea. We both took our time paying, at this point, I don't know why. I should have signed up day 1. haha.
The trip from my house is about 11 hours, so for Adam, it is almost 14. He left his house at midnight, Chicago time, and got to my house are 4am EST. We were on the road at 4:30am and had a pretty smooth cruise. Once we got into West Virginia, it was awesome. What a view out there this time of year, wow is all I have for it. We weren't using GPS or anything, just going off of our map app on our phones. It wasn't bad, but they didn't have our exit road labelled properly. So, we missed 58 and ended up descending down the mountain and had to make up a detour on our own.
The detour was wild to say the least. We took 103 through North Carolina and this road took us out in the "sticks". To sum up the detour, we saw a headstone in front of a house, right next to the driveway. Pretty twisty road, but a nice scenic detour to say the least. The detour took us about 45 minutes out of our way, so we were cutting it close on making it to the karting portion of NSXpo.
We barely made it in time to kart. We literally hopped out of the truck, grabbed our helmets, and walked quickly to the karts. Luckily, it was some of the ITR guys, so we hopped right in. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to grab my GoPro, but what an awesome track and session. I started second to last and the other guys, beside Jabaay and I, had ran several sessions. So, the first couple laps were to figure out and watch out for the Mario Kartness. It was wild, one time going into the downhill right hand sweeper, the guys in front of me were three wide, banging the crap out of each other. I passed one at the exit, then I got the track figured out, so the pace picked up. I got around Jeff and Luke, then my pedal extender folded up, so I couldn't touch the gas. I pulled over to flip it back down and got underway. I was out in the open and it was super boring compared to what we had been doing before. So, I pulled over again and I knew Conley had on a red shirt. I timed the gap perfectly, he passed me as we went into the slow hairpin in the back. I got back underneath him, but due to the massive weight difference, he pulled away. Into the downhill right hander, I got underneath him, but he played it right and over/undered me. The next section was tight, so trying to make a pass meant contact. I played back and tried to get a run going onto the front straight to keep the gap close. But, by the time we got to the tight hairpin, he had a big gap. At that point, I was just trying to maintain the gap. That went on for a few laps, then the checkered came out. What a great time and I was ready to do it again, but guess what, that was the last session.
We left and got the keys to our room above the garages. Adam said that was the place we needed to stay even though there were nicer facilities on the grounds. Man was he right, the rooms were decent enough, but the location was perfect. After we got settled in, it was time for dinner at Oak Tree Tavern which is on the grounds as well.
It was some sort of "official dinner" or something of the sort. The building that it is in was pretty awesome, old, assuming it was a house prior to become a restaurant. We didn't know what to expect, but I expected to order my own food. That was a negative, it was a predetermined meal. I am picky, so I was hoping for something decent. Of course, I passed my salad over to Adam. The dinner meal was a chicken linguine or something of the sort which was ok. Then, the dessert came out. Holy smokes, a brownie with vanilla ice cream. I looked over and seen Jeff and Luke feeding each other. If I remember right, Bernie was taking pictures. One of the best parts of the night was driving to and from the tavern in Adam's ITA car. Look, mom, no headlights. We followed some van over and then followed Bernie back. If it wasn't for them, it could have gotten bad. haha.
I think we hung out in the paddock for a bit, but after that long of a day, it was bed time. The beds were small, but Adam and I went with the butt to butt method and shared the bed. Kevin fell asleep in the other bed, then Luke crashed next to him once he got back. Luke said that he didn't even know who he was sleeping next to until he woke up in the morning. haha.
Saturday morning started out cold and foggy. I had a few things to do to the car after the trip down. I got those dealt with and we headed down to the drivers' meeting. The drivers' meeting was different to say the least. Some of the basics weren't covered, yet some of the way over the top stuff was covered. I asked about flag stations since I had never been there, I was told they would all be manned. That didn't do me too much, I looked for all of them, but apparently, I missed one(but, I'll get to that later). There were some other odd ball topics that were brought up while Jabaay went and got breakfast. Then, it was asked that since he was in advanced and never had been there before, if he could turn on the hazards for the first session. #DukesOfHazards
That will lead us into the beginning of day one for part two!
#BrapCity
No comments:
Post a Comment