Winning! Story of the Free Track Day

"Jake Stumph Racing" (jakestumphracing) 10/13/2015 at 08:41 • Filed to: None

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It had been a pretty quiet week, heading towards a quiet weekend. And like that, Friday was upon us. Whilst mindlessly trolling through Facebook, during a quick break at work, I stumbled upon a post by local racer !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! In conjunction with track day organizers at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , Will was hosting a photo contest, wherein the five most popular track day cars posted would win a free track day at Willow Springs Raceway. The catch? The event was the very next day, and the winners would be announced at 10:00pm that night. It was short notice, and a few good looking cars had already been posted up, but I threw the Bimmer into the gauntlet.

I shared the contest on my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , hoping to garner some extra votes. Things got interesting around 6:00pm as my car picked up a few votes. I left work around 6:30. The question now was this: Do I anticipate on winning, and start prepping the car?

Things got really interesting around 8:00 once a few friends latched on to the idea and up-voted me into the running. I figured that I had a shot, so I began wrenching on the car immediately.

Tires swapped over, oil changed, a general check up and track-day supplies packed, things were starting to come together.

It was after 10:00, what had happened on the Internet during my absence?

My Facebook queue was filled with messages from people, among which was a message from one Will Wattanawongkiri. I was in.

I was also giddy. I couldn’t sleep. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! danced around the back of my mind like heathen teenage Puritans dancing around a fire.

A few hours later, it was 5:00AM and I was wide-eyed and ready. As the car roared to life and ambled through the neighborhood, I noticed something else. The car was going to crest 40,000 miles today. A while later, I was driving up the abnormally quiet 405 freeway when I had to pull over.

I had to pull over, it was a proud moment. This car has been so good to me over the course of nearly three years. It seemed very fitting that we celebrate whilst heading to a the track that this car has seen the most.

Thank you for everything, Baby Bimmer, let’s keep the good times rolling.

The drive was quiet, and uneventful. It was a drive to the middle of nowhere, you know? The only hitch came right at the journey’s end where, in my sleep deprived state, I missed the exit for Willow Springs off the highway. No problem, I’ll hit the next exit and turn around.

Registration opened up at 8:00AM and I wanted to be there by then.

7:40: No exit in sight

7:45: “Welcome to the Mojave Desert” sign. Shit.

7:48: I see an exit up in the distance!

7:49: Off ramp to on ramp.

7:49-7:50: Full throttle

7:52: Hit a very stiff/rough expansion joint at some miles per hour. Hear a large bang, and scrape noise.

8:00: Made it.

Attendance was low, with about 25 cars, which is a bummer for the event organizers, but great for the entrants! Going sub-1:30 was definitely happening today, despite the heat. More on that later, in the mean time, I unpacked the car, went through registration and got things ready for the first session.

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I hadn’t run Streets in the counter-clockwise direction in over a year, so I was taking it easy. Session one was short, just a warm up and one flying lap. After the cut, I was acutely aware of a scraping, or dragging sound coming from my car. I wasn’t the only one who noticed either, as it was loud enough to get blackflagged and sent off course. Skipping the hot pits, I headed straight towards the paddock, it was time for some investigation.

Approximately 12 seconds later, the investigation had concluded.

Apparently when I hit that expansion joint on the way to the track, it punched a big hole through the under-chassis tray which had broken free to the point of dragging on the ground and the against the right front tire.

Here is a small chunk of what fell off:

The checker was waving as I was wrapping everything up, so much for the first heat. Oh well, I had an idea of what was going on. The car ran a 1:33 on the first hot lap, with some conservative driving, obviously, there was a lot more left in in.

While waiting around the paddock for round two, I ended up chatting up one of the other drivers near my spot. He mentioned that he was watching my laps, and gave me a tip on attacking the bowl more aggressively. By treating it like a double apex and hitting the inside of the bank you can use the banking as additional braking ability, and stop later. Hmm, something new to play with.

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From the 0:30 mark onward, I was chasing my new paddock buddy, and trying his tip through the bowl. If a well sorted Miata can’t shake the heavy Bimmer through the tight center section of S.O.W., then I’m doing something right.

Lap times dropped as temps spiked. Air temperatures were already cresting 100*, engine oil temp was north of 280 and water hit 215, which is a touch warm for an N54. As the car skirted with oil temps consistently over 270*, it was pulling boost throughout the session. Despite that, I clocked in a 1:30.3 fastest lap.

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A few quick tire pressure adjustments seemed to really help the car. By upping the rear tire pressure, it got rid of the some of the push that a tight circuit like Streets inherently brings out. Beyond the on/off power loss issues, the car felt great.

Also, I was close to my goal, and the day was still young. I was going sub-1:30 today, no matter what.

The lap times were all over the place due to the car pulling boost randomly throughout the session. If I could keep the car below thermonuclear, it would stand a good chance of setting a great lap time.

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Session Three

Session number three picked up where the last had dropped off. After refueling the car, this time with a few gallons of E85, the boost levels were much more stable, not the full bore wave of power that normally spoils me, but much better than the wishy-washy power delivery from the last session. The car was actually running even warmer now, as air temps had risen further, and I was pushing harder, ever more determined to crack the 1:30 barrier. Oil hit 295 after a few laps, and the heatsoak was very apparent. The stock cooling system could only do so much in these conditions, and the car was obviously down on power.

Things smoothed out to where I was turning consistent 1:30 laps, back to back, which is pretty cool. The fastest of those was a 1:30.099. One tenth of one second was separating my from the goal.

As I hopped out of the car, I noticed that my knee was hurting. I looked at my knee, and I looked at my door, and then I looked at my knee again. I had been bracing myself against the door so hard that the door handle seared itself into my knee.

Friends don’t let friends use stock seats for track days.

Time for a lunch break. With almost an hour of free time, and the car seemingly running strong, I took the opportunity to drive “down the street” (read: still about five miles from the track) to the only other place in this part of the desert that would accommodate people. Subway.

Yes, call it poor judgement, but Subway has long been my comfort food of choice when eating out. I’m a weird person. Any who, one $5 sub later, I was feeling recharged.

A funny thing happened as I was walking back to the car. A truck had parked next to me as a Dad and his two sons clamored out from their obvious road trip. The elder son looked at my car and shouted “DAD, LOOK A RACE CAR!”

The kid peered inside and pointed at my helmet sitting in the passenger seat. I walked up to them and asked if they were fans. After chatting to the Dad for a minute, it sounded like he was raising some little car enthusiasts. I asked the kid if he wanted to hear it rip. His jaw hit the floor. Just like that, I fired the car up and it gave a typical straight-6 grumble. I piped it, letting the 3-liter-heater bark and burble. I swept the rev limiter and car popped and banged as if we were kickstarting the third industrial revolution. They were stoked. It was nice seeing the next generation getting excited about sports cars, it gives us some hope for the future.

And like that, it was back to the track, this fight wasn’t over, and we still had two rounds to go.

Session Four

A signs pointed towards problems. Temperatures all spiked, with oil closing in on 300*, and water temps skyrocketing at 230*. Cool down laps were done to keep the car happy. This is the hottest that the car had ever gotten, and the first time really experiencing abnormally high water temperatures. I’m lucky nothing blew up. Good call on that using that strong iron block, BMW.

I was driving dirty too, overworking the front tires, which needed as much cooling down as the motor. I did manage to find a decent lap in there somewhere.

1:30.05. Now you’re just screwing with me, aren’t you? I picked up four hundreths. Just sixth hundredths of one second separated me from my target.

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This is it, the last heat of the day. There was a fire inside. It had to happen now. I would find the difference in time no matter what. Even in 110* heat, this was happening so help me God.

Hal-le-frickin’-lujah, that felt good!

But, had I done it? I was conscious of my blunders in the previous session, and was trying to be more patient with the front tires. It felt like I was going too slow into some of the corners, but corner exit was a different story. The car was willing, it wanted this as much as I did. The last session was frenetic and the car felt alive, dancing madly on the edge of the tire’s grip. There was an increase in the level of syncopation that I felt with the car. We were connected, and as cliche as it is, the car was acting as an extension of myself. There was no fighting with the car, this was dancing, Havana Nights style.

We crushed it, 1:29.5.

There were three 1:29 laps with the fastest being a 1:29.564. I would have taken a 1:29.99 if it came down to it, being this deep in the 1:29s was a great way to the end day.

The Baby Bimmer had done it, and despite the heat, we cracked the 1:30 barrier. Dehydrated, sleep deprived, and overheated in the endless Desert Summer heat I was ecstatic. A rolling cascade of expletives followed, as I cheered for the car. Due to my good mood, the car was seemingly packed up in no time, filled with spares, tools and the cooler, I was ready to go.

The drive home was as effortless as could be. I was still riding in Cloud Nine and the high wouldn’t wear off, not that I was complaining. 24 hours ago, I was thinking about how boring my weekend was going to be, and now I was here. In a whirlwind of events, I ended up crushing my old record for Streets of Willow and knocking out one of my New Years Resolutions. It’s odd to think that life is comprised of a series of chance events, and that this is how mine panned out. Thank you to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for having me, it was due to your generosity that this was all possible.

I’m coming back, and next time, it’s 1:28 or bust.

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Jake Stumph is a weekend warrior track day bro and rabid car enthusiast (seriously, I hope you have your shots) who foams at the mouth for track day cars. He also writes every about his experiences. If you’re interested in learning about autocross, track days, modifications, or about his trusty 135i track toy, then you should !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , where he regularly smacks the keyboard around and posts whatever turns up as a result.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Jake Stumph Racing 10/13/2015 at 08:55

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Congrats on 40k miles. The day my car turned 18 years old, I treated her to a track day too. The clutch blew up.

Of course it happened on track, at Nelson Ledges no less. She’s 20 and a half now and getting upgraded brakes

Mmmmm > SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman 10/24/2015 at 01:08

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Gotta get em when they are young enough to still love you, or old enough to be past that rebellious stage...