As I posted last week I was racing a double race at Daytona International Speedway this weekend. west horseshoe, made the cardinal sin: back end got loose and instead of gassing it (proper for front wheel drive) I lifted a bit and that was a bad idea. The car hooked and whipped to the left into the grass that was wet and sent me into the tire wall. Just at the last second I snapped the wheel to avoid hitting it head on and instead took the shot on the driver side. I immediately pulled away from the wall and radioed to my crew that I wrecked and that was coming in for a quick check. Car seemed ok drove through the pits to a thumbs up and finished the race in 4th place in my class. Surveyed the damage in the garage after: Front bumper fucked, front fender fucked (can't open door), door dented, gas door dented in until I took a screw driver to it. Rear quarter worst of all (took initial hit here) and my back bumper now says eeperImage.com as the D got knocked right off the car. Also rear wheel has a little more camber in it now from the hit. Got the rubber mallet and went to town to knock some of it out. Sunday: I qualified 4th in class and 33rd overall out of 70 cars in our race. At the start thank god I had a good guy on the radio, 8 car wreck at the green. Radio man called low, shot low, radioed high shot high. I missed hitting anyone through the smoke, pieces and even a hood flying and moved up from 33 to 17th overall and 3rd in class. Unfortunately they black flagged our race (3 drivers to the medical care center) and we had to start in our original positions. Restart was great, took 4 cars right away, and then in the west horse-shoe where I had wrecked Sat. I got hit passenger front corner by an RX-7 (imagine that). No harm continued on and took 3rd place in class (almost got to 2nd before I made an error in the bus stop chicane) and I think 18th overall. All in all a good weekend, but the car is a mess. I am going to re- survey the damage this week and get it to the body shop for the stuff that I can't fix. I was happy though that I had turned times that were 5 seconds faster than when I finished 2nd at Daytona in May. Better cars and drivers this time since it was a double but it shows I am getting faster in the car and getting a better handle on setups for repeat visits to tracks.
good deal... I thought you said you had never raced at Daytona before??? Damn taht sounds like a fun weekend.... I am assuming that your sponsors will cover damage and body shop expenses? Do you have plans of getting into another RX7 for racing, and moving back to FR race cars???
That is exactly why I'm afraid to autocross/road race in my car. I unfortunately don't have sponsors or a pit crew in case I slam into a wall.
I had been to Daytona twice before actually. Balzz had thought I hadn't been there before. I do have plans to get back into another car for next year. There are some discussions underway about backing for a NEW model car that is coming out. You will hear about it here first We will put some elbow grease into fixing as much of the damage as we can, and Precision Automotive Collision (sponsor) will do the harder body stuff and respray it.
Damn man! Congrats!! Sounds like even with the wreck, you came out alright- 18th out of 70 cars in a Civic, no less is pretty damn impressive! Who's covering your bodywork expenses and such? I hope that's not out of pocket... //Edit- n/m, I just read your post!
I guess one should always seek out a bodyshop as a sponsor huh? Congrats on the good placing despite the crash.
Thanks guys. And to the smart ass.. I have a backup Civic in case this one gets completely wacked I should have some pics of some of the cool ass cars that were there this weekend as well as some in car video of my wreck and then the big wreck happening in front of me that I dodged through later in the week.
sounds like fnu regardless of cars condition When Afyit.com becoming a civic page ?? Im looking forward to the videos..... Good luck with the body panels... If you need springs i have a set in my basement.. Ill hook u up on a killer deal whens the next race and whens Road Atlanta ? *Jonathan
tI am racing again in 2 weeks at Roebling Road in Savannah and then off to the runoffs. I missed the event at Road Atlanta a couple of weeks ago (family in town) but I did make the one at Atlanta Motor Speedway 3 weeks ago. I may take you up on the springs, I will let you know. ~TT