Friday, September 11, 2015

ITR Expo15 at Gingerman Raceway.

Finally a DE weekend to just relax!


I didn't get to attend Expo '14 because Brandy was due at anytime with Bryson, so I was pumped for '15. We had just gotten back from the Bahamas, so we didn't want to take Bailynn out of school. That put us on the road a bit later than when we'd like and it sure kicked us in the butts. Our normal 3.5 hour drive took almost 5 hours!! We unloaded then headed to the campgrounds.

I got to the track early on Saturday to get the car ready for the morning session. The weather was weird with off and on rain, even though it wasn't in the forecast before we left. The radar showed a storm rolling in before the first session. I wasn't going to put the rain tires on for one session, but I just wanted a few laps to "wake up". It started raining as I got out on track. Andy Meek was behind me, so I figured that I'd do the nice thing and show him around. I ran the two laps, then came in to not risk anything. The rest of the day was good, yet a bit busy. I decided, somewhat last minute, to officially help Steve Thomsen get up to pace around Gingerman. That is what kept me "on my toes" and not be lazy all day. I did get a bit of lazy in with Christian Shipp while eating his wife's glorious peanut butter cookies.


Saturday night, I stayed after the banquet and did the podcast with Austin and Adam from SlipAngleShow. Holy cow, long night, a three hour podcast!! I didn't get back to the campground until a bit after 1am!


Sunday came quick and I planned on taking it easy during the first session. But, Adam Jabaay followed me out and he'd just been out the session before. So, I "took it easy" until T3 which gave me one straight of relax time. haha. His tires were hot and I knew that he'd be ready to play right off the bat. It actually worked out really well, I had a fun time running from him. I played around later in the day, but nothing to thrilling. ha!


Video from the Sunday morning warm up.

Some South Haven ice cream tore my stomach up, so Monday morning was pretty sketchy. I let the track earlier on Sunday night, so when I got back, it was sad to see that Christian had left. I mean, who else was going to throw amazing pick up lines at me?! Monday mornings warm up was a time to hammer down, go a bit past 9/10s and see if I could sniff out a 1:44. The second hot lap, I pushed so bad into T2, the state of Michigan sent me an informal contract to plow for them this winter. Even with the plow, I ran a 45.09. The next lap was faster, I knew that I just had to keep it clean. I come out of T7 and about to shift into 4th gear. The keyword is about, with all the load in that transition, a lot of B series guys have the issue of getting the car into 4th back there. Needless to say, I didn't get a 44, but I learned a ton in the minimal laps that I turned over the weekend. I ran a session later, again, 3 hot laps, and each lap was within .11 of each other. In two of those laps, I passed a car into T10 and out of T10, those two laps were .02 apart. I was really happy with the consistency!!


After the session, I picked the family up at the campground and got the loading process started. On the way home, I see a Miata off on the shoulder. It was Alex, I was hoping that he was just out of gas because I had 5 gallons on the trailer. I get the van slowed down, but about a quarter mile ahead of him. I start walking back there and he's running to me. "What's up." "HEY, can you give me a ride back to Indy?!" Bummer, but "Yeah, let's roll!" Apparently he broke something, big time, in the rear of the car. Luckily, Ian Crawford was still in the Indy area, so he waited at Erik's until we got into town. 

To top off the hassles of the commutes, when we got home, we had to break it to Bailynn that Ace, our dog, passed away while we were gone. :(






Thanks to Expo staff, attendees, and sponsors. I can't wait for next year!!