July 14 at the Dog Track - Post Event

[Loren]

Results are up!

What a great day all around! Thanks to everyone for coming out!

[JasonS]

This course was a blast, and I heard a ton of others that had the same opinion. Gotta love the different format that the dog track allows. SOOO HOT! Had to bounce before lunch which was a bummer, it looked and smelled so good. Seemed like there was less gravel out there this time. Wonder if the owners cleaned it up or if it was just all the rain we have had lately.

Philip took a spin in my car today (where i beat him by over a second ) Hope you enjoyed it even if you didn't get the time you wanted. It's a very different car than what you are use to.

[Loren]

The lot was cleaned and paint striped for Cirque de Soleil parking. That plus recent rains helped. The one sandy part was swept up by a couple of kind volunteers. (who happen to drive high-powered RWD cars)

[mymomswagon]

I agree that was a great course design. The elevation / banking plus the tight spaces at the end was fun. My best run was a smooth run.

[aw614]

I had a fun time with the course, though I did cord my tire on my 4th run, and my fastest run was my third. I guess I may have finished them off after that run.

Thanks again to Jeff for letting me codrive his s2000 to finish off my runs, it was fun, and I enjoyed watching you get faster in your car.

Video of my run
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNvhjgstvUY

[CaptainSquirts]

My quickest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1zVuqHNV10

29.0ish something run, didn't count. I guess I did 9 runs so this was my 9th non counting run. And I just was getting everything figured out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z38haF8mZoc

[BrilloHeadBen]

I need to remember to actually record all of my runs. I think I only recorded 2 bad ones. Oh well, I still had a good time regardless!

[JasonS]

I need to remember to actually record all of my runs. I think I only recorded 2 bad ones. Oh well, I still had a good time regardless!
Ben W.

I did the same today. Think i got my fastest but I havent checked yet. Also, you want to trade oil tomorrow? you can text me at 8139248051.

[Loren]

I was too lazy to record anything today.

But, the course was full of challenges. As the course designer, some of them were expected, and some of them weren't... and some of them drove quite differently than expected, at least for me.

The start sequency was easy, the S-turn was really fun. I know from past experience not to go into the big loop too hot. Slow in, fast out. Though, I'm pretty sure I was going in TOO slow... maybe not, I did get tire noise in the first 1/3 of it.

The slalom was easy... but, I don't think anyone was able to do what you instinctively wanted to do. That is: Stay in it all the way through the slalom, THEN brake for the hairpin. If you didn't give it up before the last slalom cone, you pretty much didn't make the hairpin.

The hairpin was specifically designed to allow a wide entry so that those folks with wide cars and poor turning radii could get around it without issue, but also so that slow-ass cars like mine could maybe maintain some momentum around it. I did take it in 2nd on my first run, but it didn't feel right, and I grabbed first on every other run. What I eventually learned was that since I was killing most of my momentum, anyway... "tight was right". I got faster by taking that hairpin as tight as possible. It was only a tenth or two faster, but it was there.

The last left was easy, but I saw a small group of people have throttle-management issues there. On-off-on could get you into trouble in the straight going between the curbs! Deliberate throttle application in the right place with strong focus on going STRAIGHT through that chute was required. Committing to being "straight" even while mowing over 3 or 6 cones was the right thing to do.

The final right-hander was quick and EXTREMELY on-camber... right up until it wasn't. You could enter that turn VERY fast, but I think several of us found that you couldn't EXIT that turn flat-out because as it flattened out, it felt like the bottom fell out from under the back of the car. A little throttle lift (and or brake tap) to manage that transition, and then right back onto the gas would get you through the finish... without hitting anything.

But, what do I know? I could only muster a 31.001, and I coned it. (near as I can tell, I hit the final right apex cone)

[Native]

It's pretty interesting how so many folks basically hit a "wall" time-wise - after relatively few runs, too. Like Bill wrote, and Loren mentioned during the event, it was a matter of smoothness and speed maintenance. Fun challenge!

Loren and Bill and I were all within 2/10ths today - see above about that "wall." Bill's most recent suspension tweaks worked great! And, he's got more in mind...
Loren - you got me by a hair by raw time, but that cone...

The thermometer in Bill's car said 83 degrees around 11:45 or so, but, srsly, it felt much hotter than that... "this gauge must be wrong." But, Alex R. had one too, and it said: 83 degrees. Wow, something to be said for even a light breeze and lower humidity.

Event ran smoothly for sure, and thanks to all who had a hand in that. And, great lunch, Sally!

OH, and sorry for the late portolet. Hope no one was suffering too much.

[Cool Rod]

8 runs on a a fun course plus a great lunch, what more could you ask?!?!

[mymomswagon]

STRAIGHT through that chute was required. Committing to being "straight" even while mowing over 3 or 6 cones was the right thing to do.

Dunno if Steve or I committed in our mow- downs :} but yeah I found it awful to correct going through the chute downhill. Sorry course workers.

Both turnarounds had a "blind" feeling for me..as in ..."where is that center pointer???". Kind of felt around the wall until I could see it...or too close to the wall to take my eyes off of it. It was fun though.

I was able to downshift into 1 on both turnarounds (Steve too I believe) and I think that helped us alot, especially on the first turnaround. Auto trans are good for something

[CaptainSquirts]

We need more dog track in the future! Always nice to have something different from brooksville and not having grip for days.

I ended up just throwing it in first gear on that last turn around and kept it there. Didn't think it was worth putting it in 2nd since it hit the limiter a split second before the finish. AWD seems pretty good at the dog track since the surface is slippery and it being easier to put the power down rather than fwd/rwd cars, maybe, i dunno.

[Rawkkrawler]

What a great day, I forget that I miss this site. The course had me in 1st gear more than I expected, it’s usually way too low for my car but it seemed to work. My carburetor definitely did not like the hair pin, stab the bakes and it struggles to stay running, time for an adjustment there I guess. As Steve mentioned earlier, a lot of consistent times on this course, I know mine were similar with almost every run despite making large adjustments each time.

I absolutely loved the finish, good speed into the right hand turn then all gas. I believe I consistently went through the finish a bit sideways, safely of course.

And Daniel, you couldn’t find 7 thousandths to catch me? Slacker.

As always, great people, great food, and great fun. How else would you want to spend a Saturday.

Oh, missed the rain by a minute or so!





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[Carracer]

I just couldn't seem to dig for time yesterday. Still, despite a throw out bearing and a flat tire I still got to race so I can't complain really. Had a blast trying different cars. The course was a tiny bit of a power course but still fun. Maybe not my favorite Dog Track course but it will be in my the top 3. I'm beginning to wonder if my approach to pin turns is wrong. Drew and Mike make it look so easy. Hopefully someone can tell me what I was doing wrong based on my videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s8gR7Nyp9Q

Roberts Mustang was up first, very different from what I expected. Power was good but not overwhelming. The car had way better turn-in that I expected, that threw me off for both runs. It also had more lift off oversteer than I expected. It was really fun to drive and really makes you want just slide it around like hoon.
The next car was Andrew's Miata. It's a 1.6 but feels really healthy. The "shocks" or lack of them didn't seem to be a problem here. The tires did OK but I'm still not feeling the RS4s. Not sure what I was doing wrong but I couldn't improve from my first run in this car. Felt like everything I did just set the same time. In the 5 runs I did, the differance between my best and worst time was less than a quarter of a second.
Last was Jason's Subaru, can't really say anything about the car because I drove it so badly. It felt fast and with Jason behind the wheel it was. I just got terribly late and was slow to figure out what I was doing wrong.

Lunch was great 10/10. People 11/10. Cars 3/3 would drive again! Picture will be coming later today.

[JasonS]

Last was Jason's Subaru, can't really say anything about the car because I drove it so badly. It felt fast and with Jason behind the wheel it was. I just got terribly late and was slow to figure out what I was doing wrong.

I noticed your mis-shift into 2nd. I did the same thing today in the same spot. Never happened before. Makes me wonder if something is amiss. I am going to pick up one of those shifter blocks for it and see if it helps. Internet says its more then worth the 35 bucks for it.

[JasonS]

Last was Jason's Subaru, can't really say anything about the car because I drove it so badly. It felt fast and with Jason behind the wheel it was. I just got terribly late and was slow to figure out what I was doing wrong.

I noticed your mis-shift into 2nd. I did the same thing today in the same spot. Never happened before. Makes me wonder if something is amiss. I am going to pick up one of those shifter blocks for it and see if it helps. Internet says its more then worth the 35 bucks for it.

edit: not the same spot. i did it after the pin turn

[aw614]

What a great day, I forget that I miss this site. The course had me in 1st gear more than I expected, it’s usually way too low for my car but it seemed to work. My carburetor definitely did not like the hair pin, stab the bakes and it struggles to stay running, time for an adjustment there I guess. As Steve mentioned earlier, a lot of consistent times on this course, I know mine were similar with almost every run despite making large adjustments each time.

I absolutely loved the finish, good speed into the right hand turn then all gas. I believe I consistently went through the finish a bit sideways, safely of course.

And Daniel, you couldn’t find 7 thousandths to catch me? Slacker.

As always, great people, great food, and great fun. How else would you want to spend a Saturday.

Oh, missed the rain by a minute or so!


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that storm looked like it was coming while I was working timing, then it passed the dog track. I did get rain at 3:45 pm on the way home up in the lutz area, but at least it was after the event

[CaptainSquirts]

And Daniel, you couldn’t find 7 thousandths to catch me? Slacker.

Man, I had mechanical issues which cost me run. If you count my 9th non counting run then I got plenty of thousandths over you . Oh well, you're too beast for me.

[dbeng]

I really enjoyed this event, it makes a nice change from airport courses and the low grip surface, elevation changes and tight nature of the course make it a challenge.
As always, the event ran smoothly and it was great meeting a few new(er) folks. Thanks Sally for the great lunch - although I don't remember seeing you all day, so special thanks if you only made it to bring us lunch!

Driving wise, I could never improve on my second run time of 31.409. Even my fastest raw time coned away was only 31.122, not enough to make a difference in my 4th place finishing position if it was clean. I hit way too many cones too, two runs off-course only two clean runs all day

Here's my quickest.
https://youtu.be/Acun-dL4-aY

And here's (as Joe V put it) where I went looking for ice-cream half way through the course at the pin-turn
https://youtu.be/PU2IPjwU6fg