"Harris Lue" (luecreative)
03/23/2014 at 16:16 • Filed to: Skip Barber, Jalopnik, Blipshift, Road Atlanta, Mazda, Porsche, Lexus, Graphic Design, T Shirt, CarArt, Car Art, Rx-8, rx8, ISF, Lexus Isf, Mazda rx8, porsche 911, 911, carrera, 911 carrera, hyundai genesis, genesis, genesis coupe, skid pad, skidpad, dorifto, drift, autocross, auto cross, auto-x |  28
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As you may know. Last year I won the Jalopnik and Blipshift !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! thanks to my "Smoking Permitted" design and the grand prize was a one day, High Performance, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . I Registered for the course at Road Atlanta on March 18th, and hit the road!
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Working through the Process from winning to claiming my prize was a breeze thanks to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , here at Jalopnik and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , from Blipshift. They helped me finalize the design and register for my course setting me on the path to the absolute best day of my life.
START YOUR ENGINES
After a six hour drive, from Oxford, NC to Braselton, GA, we arrived at our hotel to get a good night's rest. I brought along my awesome parents to experience this day with me and they helped take the photos and videos I'm sharing with you now! To start the day sign in was at 8:30 in the classroom at Road Atlanta with my head instructor, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , who was just one of the amazing individuals that helped us sling around expensive cars in the safest way possible. After a short morning lecture, about braking and steering, our small class (only 9 people) packed into the Skip Barber E-Series Van and headed out to test what we had learned.
SKIDPAD
The Skidpad was the first driving experience of the day and I must say that it was amazing! They had a large circular patch of asphalt with an irrigator placed in the middle to create a radius of slippery wet hoonage. I soon found out that my Skid Pad instructor, Gray Upchurch, was an East Carolina University graduate and from that point on we had a heck of a time on and off of the driving surface. Upon the start of this exercise I was having slight difficulty with slide recovery and spun the car around a few times, but as the day progressed my slides became more controlled and I quickly tamed the RX-8. Thanks to Gray's input the skidpad quickly became my favorite event and by our third trip to the slippery circle drifting with the tiny rear tires was a breeze.
BRAKING
Next on the agenda was the Braking exercise, where I was put behind the wheel of the powerful Lexus ISF. This car was a monster in a straight line and I was tasked with flooring it towards a lane of cones and standing on the brake to a complete stop. The weight of the car coupled with the amazing sound of the Lexus V8 under the hood allowed for a great illustration of weight transfer. The second half of this tasked you with making a turn at the end of your braking line further testing your ability to handle the swift changes in weight distribution to successfully use your full braking power.
The next exercise was where we put it all to the test as we strapped on helmets and hit the track for some paced laps in the cars of our choice!
TRACK TIME
Of course, I chose the bright red Porsche Carrera 911(Porsche 991) with the 7-speed manual and hit the track! My parents were lucky enough to be invited for a ride in the, Mazda Speed 3, pace car with Grey and was allowed to get the awesome shots of me chasing them around the beautiful curves of Road Atlanta.
With it being my favorite track to drive on Forza, I was extremely excited to sling the car through the esses and get to turn 7 just to give it all she's got out of the turn and onto the straight. However, the pace car kept us from going over 105 and had us follow the controlled line and take every intricacy of the racing surface into account. Having played the video game, I knew generally where the line was, but coming under the bridge and down onto the front stretch while breaching that blind hill is a lot more comfortable when you're in the video game and don't have to worry about swinging it too wide off of the hill. Other than the slight fear of that blind spot on the track every other corner was a blast and It was everything I could've ever dreamed of. I also was able to drive the ISF around the track too because, thanks to our small class size, we were able to swap cars for a second round on the circuit.
After the track we piled back into the van and headed down the street to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , where we were treated to a delicious lunch and got to converse with our classmates and instructors over lunch. This restaurant was excellent and gave us a nice break between events to recharge and get ready for the afternoon.
U-TURN
We then split up for a second round of Skid Pad with a U-turn exercise that involved entering through a gate on one side and sliding thru to exit on the other. This was my favorite trip to the Skid Pad, because we got to test our hand at a little Dorifto!
Car control was key here as you threw the Mazda Rx-8 sideways and held it at full lock. Driving out of the side windows and keeping your eyes on the target cones allowed your hands to follow and gracefully pull it back straight to accelerate through to the finish. Finding that happy medium between understeer and excessive oversteer was extremely fun and really allowed you to tune into that connection between your butt and the seat. Once those feelings were recognized a consistent routine was created and slides became a breeze.
AUTO-X
Our final event of the day was the autocross course where we put the full variety of cars to the test and determined who was the fastest of the group. Switching between the Porsche and the Lexus on this small course really allowed you to feel the differences in weight distribution and torque. The 911 was a breeze to sling around the corners and precisely hit every apex, but the controlled nature of it almost made it boring to drive, however the torque of the big bodied Lexus allowed for a little oversteer off of the corners and that seat of the pants feel when you floored it into the straights. Faster times were turned in the 911, but on the overall fun meter the Lexus got an 8 and the Porsche got a 6.
After it was all said and done on the Autocross course I came out second overall by an extremely small margin. My time of 27.12 lost to a 27.08 which happened to be another driver in my half of the class. This meant that I was split off into the smaller group to make the field even for the final competition, The Autocross Relay.
The Hyundai Genesis Coupe was lined up in a starting box at the entrance to the course and the groups four competitors lined up 10 feet away to begin the relay. We placed ourselves in order from slowest to fastest, with me being the anchor to tie up the loose ends and finish the race strong. Luckily my group was all roughly the same height and the first one to the car was able to adjust the seat to fit all of us comfortably. Once you got to the car you had to buckle your belt put it in gear and take off for a single lap coming to a complete stop in the starting box. Once you made the stop you had to hop out and tag the next driver to do the same. My three teammates had nice clean runs and had me setup for what should've been an easy run to finish it out, but in my excitement I overdrove the big swooping turn and then stopped outside of the starting box which accrued a 5 second penalty.
CHECKERED FLAG
Once both groups finished we drove all of the vehicles back to the paddock and headed back to the classroom to wrap up the day. By the time we made it back the suspense was killing us and had us on the edge of our seats, waiting to see who's group had won. Casey began writing the numbers on the board as we sat there holding our breath.
Before the penalties we had won by a considerable margin with the time of 3:10.6, but because of my rough finish we had to add an extra 5 seconds and left us with a 3:15.6. However Group 2 had come up just a little short with a 3:16.0 giving us the win despite my mistake!
It was an awesome day with a comfortably small class which allowed everyone of us to receive plenty of time behind the wheel while giving us the best day of our lives.
Once again I want to thank Jalopnik and Blipshift for this amazing opportunity and I can't wait to take another class from Skip Barber in the future! And if these pictures weren't enough action for you then be sure to scroll back to the top and check out the video!
All photos and video captured with my iPhone 5 in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! case and my Canon 60D. Special thanks to Rick and Amy Lue for (being amazing parents and helping me pursue my dreams and) the photography.
EL_ULY
> Harris Lue
03/23/2014 at 16:44 |
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Mass amounts of jealousy!!!
Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
> Harris Lue
03/23/2014 at 16:47 |
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Looks like an absolute blast!
I'm still waiting on my free t-shirt... or even a response email from jalopnik saying that the got my email in the first place.
Collin
> Harris Lue
03/23/2014 at 17:09 |
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Sorry to hear you didn't get to go any faster on that straight.
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Harris Lue
> Collin
03/23/2014 at 17:11 |
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I really wanted to put my foot in it! Fortunately they didn't let me because i don't even think i could've afforded the door handle if I broke it.
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Harris Lue
> Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
03/23/2014 at 17:12 |
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I hope they get that straightened out!
My X-type is too a real Jaguar
> Collin
03/23/2014 at 17:16 |
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As someone who has had to pay for repairs to his personal car after an offroad excursion in 10a it was probably a prudent move.
sounbwoy
> Harris Lue
03/23/2014 at 17:18 |
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Glad you got a chance to experience an awesome track. If you had driven it before the current configuration, I can almost guarantee you'd still be shaking... basically where the left/right is at the bottom of the hill in the back straight was "The Dip". From that point you're climbing up to the bridge to make essentially a blind right to go down the hill to Start/Finish.. and Pit In was on the LEFT back then..
Coty
> Harris Lue
03/23/2014 at 17:19 |
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My T Shirt rotted off because I never took it off or showered when I got it. I put it on and wore it til it rotted. Boooooo.....
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Harris Lue
> Coty
03/23/2014 at 17:21 |
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Glad you liked it!! I got myself a hoodie too so I could alternate every now and then.
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Harris Lue
> sounbwoy
03/23/2014 at 17:22 |
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That sounds intense!! Wish I could've experienced it with that configuration. That blind hill was bad enough the way it is now.
Nate Gnau
> Harris Lue
03/23/2014 at 17:25 |
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Reading this at work, wearing my long-sleeve Harris Lue-designed JalopShift t-shirt. Hell yes.
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sounbwoy
> Harris Lue
03/23/2014 at 17:33 |
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Here you go.. ;-)
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Harris Lue
> Nate Gnau
03/23/2014 at 17:41 |
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Sounds like I posted this with good timing! Thanks for the support man. It really is an amazing feeling to have such a wide audience appreciate my work.
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Coty
> Harris Lue
03/23/2014 at 17:42 |
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I do like it. I wore it to work once, it got all covered in coolant, and I decided not to wear it very often for its own protection. In my new job I have to wear a collared shirt, so I don't get to wear it much now, either.
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Harris Lue
> sounbwoy
03/23/2014 at 17:44 |
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Holy Crap that's fast!! I love those old Mustangs too!
pirates-ecu
> Harris Lue
03/23/2014 at 17:52 |
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hell yeah, nice ECU sweatshirt too ;)
mazdaspeed2
> Harris Lue
03/23/2014 at 18:22 |
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Awesome write up! How does driving in forza compare to real life? Do you think you had an advantage playing the game first?
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Harris Lue
> mazdaspeed2
03/23/2014 at 19:19 |
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Forza 5 gives you the feedback from braking and wheel response much like a real car does only in your fingers and not your hands and feet so those points of the track could be related to the feel in real life. Knowing the line and exactly what turn was coming next helped me greatly as well since we weren't presented with a track map or anything, so the people who had never seen or driven the track were following for the first two laps when I already knew where to go and what to prepare for. The thing you don't get the grasp of in the video game is the extreme elevation change and that feeling in your stomach when the weight shifts through the esses with the rise and drop. The esses were exhilarating even at the lower speeds we were traveling at and that's something you cant get through a screen and controller.
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Harris Lue
> pirates-ecu
03/23/2014 at 19:20 |
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Thanks! Gotta rep Pirate Nation!
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mazdaspeed2
> Harris Lue
03/23/2014 at 19:31 |
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I hope I will get to experience that one day!
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Nate Gnau
> Harris Lue
03/23/2014 at 19:55 |
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Hey, no problem, man. You designed a hellaciously cool shirt. The Old Crow tie-in sealed the deal for me. The Wagon was bonus bacon.
jdavis94305
> Harris Lue
03/23/2014 at 21:32 |
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The author wrote: "... I chose the bright red Porsche Carrera 911 with the 6-speed transmission..." . To correct the record, he actually drove a Porsche 991 with a 7-speed manual.
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Harris Lue
> jdavis94305
03/23/2014 at 22:10 |
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Man I guess you're right! I didnt make it past 4th gear anyway.
Steven Phillips Photography
> Harris Lue
03/23/2014 at 23:07 |
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Skippy classes are the best!
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Harris Lue
> Steven Phillips Photography
03/23/2014 at 23:09 |
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I had no idea that this much fun could be packed into only a few hours!
maowc
> Harris Lue
03/24/2014 at 03:30 |
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Congratz and glad you had fun! Any day for autocross is a good day!
Ascend_via_MTB
> sounbwoy
03/24/2014 at 08:12 |
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Oh wow, I never knew about the previous configuration. I just watched your video too; the current pit lane and vendor area looked odd in the video since it was just a field of dirt. I've been to Road Atlanta at least once to twice per year over the past ten years and it never fully dawned on me that there were essentially two pit lanes at the track. I've always seen the older pit lane used on track days; I just assumed that was the original intention of it... (HA!)
Is there a reason why "The Dip" was removed, other than for general safety concerns? Did something major happen that required them to slow the cars down coming over the hill?
bhkjunk
> Harris Lue
03/24/2014 at 11:05 |
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Thanks for this write-up Harris. I live pretty close to Road Atlanta, and have been wanting to get into some events there. This convinced me, I'm definitely going to check out an event like this.
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Harris Lue
> bhkjunk
03/24/2014 at 11:18 |
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Do it man!! Skip Barber's website has plenty of options to choose from and I know while I was there a 3-day racing school was on the track as well.
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Harris Lue
> maowc
03/24/2014 at 11:19 |
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Amen! That's one of the Car Commandments for sure.
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sounbwoy
> Ascend_via_MTB
03/24/2014 at 15:46 |
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When Panoz took over the track a redesign was deemed necessary for safety and to court other racing series to come take a look. Memory's fuzzy but IIRC, FI and IndyCar were briefly courted before Petit LeMans came and I think that's when the changes were made. That old configuration was my very first track experience and I was able to drive it several times. I haven't been back on that track since the changes were made.
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sounbwoy
> Ascend_via_MTB
03/24/2014 at 15:47 |
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At one point, the hill and where the current pit lane is now used to be a natural motor-cross course!
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slapin
> Harris Lue
03/24/2014 at 15:55 |
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Was Keith Watts one of the instructors?
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Harris Lue
> slapin
03/24/2014 at 17:04 |
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No, not for my course. He may have been on the team for the three day racing course that was also going on.
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Ascend_via_MTB
> sounbwoy
03/25/2014 at 08:33 |
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Awesome! Thank you so much for the information.
schock
> Harris Lue
03/27/2014 at 00:41 |
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What's with all the red haze in the photos? Zyklon B?
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Harris Lue
> schock
03/27/2014 at 09:43 |
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Just an editing choice! Because Photoshop.
MacShuber
> Harris Lue
03/27/2014 at 22:59 |
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First, go Pirates! (ECU '04 alum)
I did a one-day class at Road A back in '00 — a high-school graduation gift from my parents — when then Panoz Racing School was still a thing. Sounds like it was exactly the format Skip Barber put you through, except we used an older 300zx on the skidpad and spec Esperantes (basically, re-bodied Mustang Cobras) everywhere else. The Panoz were fairly quick at the bottom end, but the school put in super-tall gearing in fourth and fifth gears to keep students from getting much speed on the long straight. Even laying way back from the pack to get a long full-throttle run out of turn 7, I only hit 112. ... But it was still outrageously fun. I loved elevation change in turns 2 through 5. And that first time I turned-in for turn 12 — such a sublime moment of oh-shit-I-hope-find-the-apex fear.