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Still Racing After All These
Years (Part IX) by Butch Kummer
Those of you that have been paying
attention may remember that I had been waiting on my new racecar to be finished for over a
month now. As with any major project, however, unforeseen delays have caused deadlines to
slip. Pieces had to be revised after we found they interfered with other components and,
since this was the first car Miller Racing had ever built from the ground up, there were
some things that just simply took longer than originally estimated. On Monday, Sept. 11,
2000, however, we conducted the first test Carolina Motorsports Park (Kershaw).
Although the car was loaded in the
trailer on Sunday morning, the test day almost didn’t happen anyway. Johnny (Miller)
& his crew of five left Johnson City, TN, with their "old" truck and trailer
on Sunday evening and got to Hendersonville, NC, before the (Ford) truck just stopped.
After a short diagnosis session, half the crew returned to Johnson City in Johnny's
(Chevy) pickup to get their semi while Johnny & others attended to getting the Ford
towed. The guys returned with the big rig around 2:00 AM, off loaded the car and
equipment, then proceeded to the track, arriving around 6:00 AM. When I got to the track
at 8:05, they already had the car unloaded and warmed up, and Johnny was getting ready to
do a shake-down run to make sure the wheels weren't gonna fall off. They didn’t, so
then it was my turn.
After thinking about it most of the
way back Monday night, I'm still struggling to find an analogy that helps capture the
experience. I'm tempted to tell you it's like going from an Etch-a-Sketch to a Pentium
III, but Godzilla (my current car) ain't no toy. Instead, it's more like upgrading from a
386 (which was a pretty hot piece in it's day - more computer power than they took to the
moon) to a Pentium III. In short, it was an awesome, awesome ride! A mind numbing, body
fatigueing (we ran almost 200 miles), adrenaline pumping, pedal-to-the-metal blast!!
Although Johnny "warned"
me, I was surprised by the lightness of the controls. I'd never driven a race car with
power steering so I was somewhat prepared for that to be different, but the clutch and
throttle pedals were amazingly light as well. Since they didn’t really know if
I’m a driver or a wanker, they had backed the engine off about 150 horses, but I was
still astounded by how fast 8000 RPM comes up. And although we were on used tires (another
safeguard), the grip and deceleration far exceeded anything I've ever experienced before.
I learned how to upshift the Hewland tranmission pretty quickly, but had problems adapting
to the left foot braking and clutchless downshifts that the technology allows. After I
reverted to my familiar technique of using the clutch things went much better. Even after
70+ laps however, downshifting smoothly while threshold braking is still my biggest area
for gain.
I don't remember the exact times,
but about six laps into my first session (after I abandoned the left-foot braking
attempts) Johnny called over the radio that I had turned a 1:43 (I think). As I got more
comfortable with the car I experimented with alternate lines (filling the grille with
grass from an agricultural expedition at the exit of the 'kink') and worked with Tom (the
team engineer) & Johnny on tuning the suspension. Just before lunch I got under the
GT-1 track record and backed it up twice just for good measure. The crew that went to
downtown Kershaw for lunch was tired and hot, but we (the car & I) had already
exceeded their expectations.
We installed another set of (used,
but better) tires after lunch and I got to experience warming the car up properly (three
laps of gradually increasing speed, making sure not to flat spot the tires), then went
after a hot lap with what Johnny said were the best tires I was gonna have all day.
Responding to the pressure, I left my braking for Turn 1 just a tick longer than before
and did a half spin (but never left the pavement). Oops!
Even though I missed my opportunity
with "optimal" tires, I went faster as the afternoon wore on, eventually ending
up almost three seconds under the record at a 1:37.5. Johnny (who races for a living in
the Trans-Am series) made a couple of laps in the car and, even though he had problems
getting all the gas pedal, went about 1.5 seconds faster than I did. I know I need to work
on braking and getting on the gas sooner (and believing the car will stick), but at least
I know I'm in the neighborhood and not five seconds off the pace.
Next on the agenda is a regional
event at Mid-Ohio the weekend of Sept 23 & 24. This will give me some additional time
in the car AND on the track that will be used to determine the National Champion(s) the
first week of October. We’ll then leave the car at the track before returning the
next weekend (Oct. 1) to conclude this year’s quest for fame & glory. If you get
Speedvision, our race will be televised live on Sunday, Oct. 8, starting around 3:30.
Right now I need to get back to
running "practice laps" in my head.
See you at the track…
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