Am I the only ZR1 at the BBORR this year?

[threestar40]

I am posting from my hotel room in Ft. Stockton, TX.

We had an exciting day today with the race. I felt like I almost killed myself and my instructor going through a sweeper a little too fast, I was able to drive through it, as I was taught, but, I take full credit for the screw up, the car would have stuck if I would have turned a little sharper.

The straights are a piece of cake at 140...I have to let off to avoid exceeding my tech speed...my car performs so well at speed...this is what it was built to do. Mary and I got in two 9 mile practice runs and I did four with the instructor as I basically failed the second return run. The lesson is if your in 5th and you let off, the car slows down a lot faster than when your in 6th...I like the control of 5th but the instructor advised me to watch my temps if I run the race in that gear. If there is an excuse, the first run was done in fifth and I had a feel for the car and didn't screw up, on the return run I put it in 6th on his advise and I had a lot less control and it showed... I think my mechanical stuff will be fine, so 5th is the gear I am choosing to run in. I know my motor can handle the RPM, 6th is fine for gas mileage and taking it easy, but it didn't feel right to me with less control. Also the car will stick a lot harder than I think it can or, in other words, the car can handle better than I think it will. For all those interested, I have the Rippie coil-overs, that I installed myself, and they felt awesome.

The road between Ft. Stockton and Sanderson is very challenging and beautiful. I'm eating at all the dive mexican restaurants in Ft. Stockton and Sanderson just like home...today I had the Mexican Plate at the No Name Cafe in Sanderson...it was better than Flores
Only because it was different. Mary didn't like the the salsa, she said it tasted like all it had in it was tomatoes and black pepper...but that was fine with me of course, I loved it. All my prep on my trailer worked out well for us as we had no mishaps. One guy that came from Dallas told us a story that his caravan high centered a 'vette on the back of his trailer during loading and had two flats on the way here. I bought new tires and practiced a lot before taking my car on and off the trailer to avoid that very situation, but I still gotta Race and get home, I felt for the guy, he seemed nice.

Just finishing this race will be a pretty big accomplishment for me...I'll try to keep ya'll updated.

This was a paste from an e-mail to some of my "other friends"

You could achieve the potential of your car at this race in the straights, but 140 with 4:10's and my experience level is about all I can handle.

The ZR1 feels awesome in everyway doing what it was built to do...even at 16 years of age.
It's not every day you get to do something like this. I highly recommend it if you have the means.

Curtis is always right on this one and I am still learning. I always appreciate his words and I hope I can help you all in the future with the experience I gain here should you decide to embark on this seriously dangerous and exhilarating form of racing.

Full Report to come.

Rick =)

[yellowz]

kevin
hope you payed better attebtion in college than ya do here or you aint never
going to grad e ate









peter

[Peaven]

Sounds like things went pretty well for you Rick, looking forward to your next report....good luck, keep the shiny side up.

[Z Factor]

Sounds like fun

[cward]

Hi Rick,
Glad you are having fun. I always enjoyed my time at BB very much. You should be able to run in 5th gear with no worries about temps. You are not running that many rpms at 140. Are they holding practice on Hwy 285 or on Hwy 90 this year? I was interested in your description of your corner you attempted a little too fast. There is another pedal just to the left of the gas pedal called the brake pedal. It is not illegal to use it every once in a while. Just set your car up tight and it works just fine, even part way thru a corner. I am just teasing you. If it felt like the rearend of the car wanted to come around when you let off in the corner, either raise the air pressure in your front tires or lower the pressure in your rear tires to tighten up your Z. You could have as much as 2 lbs difference front to rear. On the other hand, if you were turning and the car wanted to go straight, then the car is too tight and you do just the opposite on the tire pressures. That is what the practice is for, to adjust your car to get it where it feels good. Don't go too far though. You should be close to the recommended pressure for your tires. If recommended pressure is 33 lbs, then 31 to 35 is OK, depending on what you need. By the way, your instructor did you no good service telling you to run in 6th gear. You were way too low in rpm and had no power to make the car do what you needed. You can change the tightness of the car thru the gas pedal. Applying power in a corner tightens up the the car by putting more weight in the rearend and conversely, letting off applies weight to the front end and loosens the car up. I am sure you know all this, I am just reminding you. Remember to relax. Tell your navigator to remind you every few miles to relax. At those speeds, BB is a blast. Remember to have fun. If you are trying to win a trophy, remember to save a few seconds so you can get the car up to tech speed in the last 7 mile straight going north back to Ft. Stockton. If you are too far ahead on the clock, you can't do that. The last left hand corner at the end of the 7 mile straight is a fast corner and then a .9 mile straight to the finish. I have taken that last corner over 160 so you should be OK at any speed up to your tech. If you are not interested in winning a trophy, then it becomes much easier to just go out and have fun.

Please do me a favor, tell Don Preston (Red 90 ZR-1), Ted Zeleski (Black 90 ZR-1), Dabney Crump, and Mike Powers I said Hello.

Curtis Ward

[threestar40]

Thanks for the advice and encouragement Curtis,

I've already met Mike Powers and I'll try to catchup with the other guys tomorrow.

Survived another day in the beautiful Big Bend, Did the McDonald Observatory today and it was pretty awesome. If you don't do the tour there, it would suck. I saw the third largest telescope in the world today!

Unbelievable...80 tons steel on an air bearing with only 25 psi to lift it.
It's an amazing place.

Rick =)

Thanks for the updates Rick. This is one of the events I've been meaning to do. I may not do it in the Z, but the race car. It's more prepared for the higher speeds.

[threestar40]

Well, I just got back from the car show.

All I have to say is, man alive, the c6 Z06's seemed like a dime a dozen here. A couple of snakes keeping a low profile and I was the only ZR1.

1 ferrari (sp. ?)
I crack myself up.

There were a few 911's One very cool saturn sky (turbo ecotec) a couple of very cool blown cobras and enough vettes to drown in.

This c5 and c6 vette central here. I saw 2 c3's, a chartreus superbird, a corvair, a few z28's, and a v10 powered late model dodge truck.

I didn't bring candy for the parade, because I didn't know...I felt really bad...I could have at least helped out my fellow dentists in town. A lot of little kids and I mean a lot yelling for candy.

Back to these c6 Z06's.

Man these dudes were just sticking stickers all over them and one already had nitrous hooked up!!!!! One already had a hacked up exhaust, one dude was a plastic surgeon...They were just abusing these babies and I loved it. I respect the guys for buying such a fine machine like that and using it and enjoying the heck out of it. It was, to say the least, refreshing and impressive. They already had roll bars welded in, harnesses, the whole nine yards...all kinds of aftermarket gauges and GPS stuff on the dash. Now, we all know what these guys paid for these things...I wish I had that kind of money and could live life with such a zest. Very cool.

That's all for now, gotta go and check tire pressures and try out my sfi 3-2A/5 flame suit not because I'm gonna get flamed by this post, but for real this time.

It's gonna probably be quite a day for waiting tomorrow. We will show up at 6 a.m. probably not be done racing until 5 p.m. and during that 11 hours we will only be on the road for 57 minutes and 4 seconds if we are perfect. We are just going to attempt to finish this time.

Rick =)

[Kevin]

great post Rick. Now where are the pics?

[cward]

I remember my first ORR. I could not sleep the night before the race. Might have dozed a couple of hours. At the course at 6 am and then waited until after 10 am to finally start the 1st leg. And it was really cold. I was sure glad I had that hot fire suit. Still would go start up the Z and turn on the heater. Then proceeded to go out and get DQ for running 179 on a 160 tech. I learned in later races. I would show up about 7:15 or so. That worked OK because I was running in Super Sport so was sent to the starting line with the Unlimited cars as we went off first. Big Bend is a really fun course with lots of turns. It is a blast. I think I did the 118 miles in around 45 minutes in 2001. The ZR-1 is made for this type of racing.

Good luck, Rick. Drive safe.

Curtis