Quote:
Originally Posted by Msquared
That would definitely sum up my first-ever Nationals experience. I really liked both course and had no trouble seeing then...which doesn't mean they were easy to drive fast. I really blew what would have been a much-improved third run Tuesday by over-cooking one spot and hitting cones. I drove a little better on Wednesday, but national-level competition is just in a whole different league. John and Clyde, sorry I didn't get to come over and say hi. There was a lot going on the past couple of days!
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No worries, Matt! Next time! For as much time as we're out there, you only spend so much time in proximity to people you aren't paddocked with.
After the Pro, I got my head back on straight on the test and tune course Monday. My best scratch times were first runs both Tuesday and Wednesday, but they were also both dirty. Made some bonehead errors on all subsequent runs and turned slower scratches, but even so, I was pretty happy with results and how they came about.
Like you said, nationals competition makes it different than just another autocross. I had what was probably my best mental attitude towards the whole event as I've ever had and turned in the best two-day driving I've ever done there (or in Topeka). I thought both courses were way too much fun and neither one really favored or worked against any of the BS cars.
As a bonus, I made it to the second elimination round in the CAM Challenge after nearly leaving grid after round one when it initially sounded like John had edged me out for the final spot by 0.006 seconds.
Kevin had a harder time, especially on Wednesday. Run two, he must have turned on cruise control, because TC/ESC re-enabled itself between the entry to the slalom and the end of it. On run 3, he ran it in Snow/Ice mode. He did well in the CAM Challenge other than coning out in the first elimination round and was happy enough that our drive home wasn't awkward.
FWIW, I drove out to Lincoln towing a Leroy Engineering tire trailer caravaning with John Vitamvas who was towing his RX-8 with a decent sized wing. I stayed close, but wasn't really drafting like I've done before. Consistent speed about 78 MPH and saw 24.5 MPG (hand calculated and adjusted for tire size). Same speeds on the way home without JV, 21.0 MPG. For the 400 mile trips to Bristol and Toledo in July, we saw just under 23 MPG at 74 MPH on our own.