Finally had a moment to give the event a bit more context.
The event was primarily Friday and Saturday however there was a walk the track with Sam Strano/Brian Finch at 5PM on Thursday. I was happy I came in the day prior and basically relaxed around the hotel for the most part until the show was started.
The walk was helpful as coming in cold would have been pretty interesting. UMI provided a solid dinner Thursday evening which was very tasty (beers too!).
A little bit of rain came through Thursday night but not much. The Z got unloaded and we all headed back to the hotel for a bit of drinking.
Beers were consumed that evening before heading to bed for the start of the event the following day. The group headed out in the AM and headed to the track which was only about 15 mins away from the hotel.
Putting it lightly, there were just so many nice and well put together cars. It was pretty amazing watching the old metal hustle around the auto x way better than I thought they could. There was a ton of driver talent in the group as well. It was a pretty humbling experience after I compared my times with others. The driving style is very different than anything I've done before. You need to be aggressive at all times, find the optimum line and position your car in just the right spot to give you the opportunity to use the throttle.
Brian Finch told us yesterday to go hard and find the limit on the first run vs walking up to it as the day goes on. I took that advise but perhaps a bit too well as my first run was a total mess. Normally the Z does OK with low speed traction but I was pretty heavy with the throttle and each time I tried to accelerate hard, the back end would step out. I overcooked a few corners as well and towards the end of the run, I got the back end very loose and did some panic steering (See wiper blades going a mile a minute). I kept it all together but the time clearly reflected my deficits.
Brian Finch and Sam Strano (along with other UMI guys) were giving ride alongs throughout the day. I took the opportunity to jump into Brian's 71 Camaro to "learn something". Suffice to say, I don't think I learned a damn thing haha. I was in a 5 pt harness but the seat was pretty stock so there was no bolstering to be found. My concern was that I would be flopping into Brian causing him to make a mistake, get frustrated, or stab me with his shift lever. I held on to the door pull with my other arm on the roll bar. The ride was absolutely wild. Brian is extremely talented and the best way I can describe the run is controlled chaos. Brian slid the car around to get the right positioning for the next turn, hit the throttle in just the right spot and simply made the car dance. After the run, I was giggling like I was on some good drugs.
My next runs would continue to improve but I seemed to nab a cone here or there which was frustrating. I was beginning to use the throttle more progressively as the torque from the LT4 is nothing to sneeze at in the lower rpms. My best run from the day was a 47.1 which wasn't too bad considering I started with a 52.x my first time out. For reference though, Finch and Strano were running low 43's/42's haha.
UMI served lunch which was a nice break. By the end of the day, I was heavily dehydrated and my arm muscles were locking up a little bit which made driving more interesting. Although it was very warm/humid, the rain never came and it was a great first day.
We headed back to the hotel, got a nice shower and prepared for the cruise to the UMI facility for a tour and dinner. When I popped outside, this really cool Caddy Limo greeted us.
We arrived at UMI and quickly filled the parking lot with all of the nice cars.
The shop tour was cool but I was not impressed that I would have to wait until Monday to order parts.....
UMI served us dinner as we got to view all of their projects in their workshop. Finch and Strano were swapping their worn out tires for a fresh set in preparation for the next day.
Saturday came went pretty quickly. Folks got another 4 runs with the first three counting towards potential trophy positions. I had high aspirations that mayyyyybe I could get to 4th place but I couldn't put together the magical clean run. I did improve my time by about a half second from the prior day.
Many other racers continued to improve their times as well however one driver did manage to hit the wall on the oval. The car was a 4th gen SS and as he hit the "kink" coming to the finish, he lost control and the back end came around hitting the wall with the back passenger rear bumper. He also managed to side swipe the metal stairs that allowed people to get from the track into the grand stands. It was quite a sight but the car wasn't too bad and driver was OK.
I believe the C6Z below was the quickest car around the track sans Strano and Finch whose times didn't count.
I have over 120 images in the photobucket link below if you want to go through them. There were just so many nice cars.
After the day of racing was done, I loaded the Z back on the trailer in prep for an early departure the next day. UMI opened the track to the public so they could bring their cars out to hold a mini car show. It wasn't so mini....
I then jumped into Bonzo's Camaro where we headed back to the hotel. Worth noting, Scott's Camaro rides really well and it was good insight into what I can expect from my Dad's TA when it gets its new suspension goodies.
All showered up once again, we headed to dinner at a local place called Denny's (no not the grand slam place). This joint had 40+ burger selections and was just damn delicious. Saw this on the wall. Reminded me of the movie "The Great Outdoors" with John Candy.
The group then headed back to the hotel for you guessed it, more beverages. I held on until about 1AM before I called myself a bitch and headed in for some rest. Another successful and fun day. Even the car and myself were intact too!!
The following day we all got a late start. We grabbed breakfast and headed to get the cars/trailers. The travel back was pretty uneventful and the Dmax averaged 16.6 mpg with a 70+ mph cruise speed up and down the long hills. I'm very happy I went with the diesel as it was just effortless.
I'm sure I'm missing a number of funny/interesting details but in short, the UMI folks did a fantastic job organizing the event and I would def go back next year. I asked myself why I would drive 8+ hrs round trip to do some autox and this event answered the question.
Next year I should bring the bird and really embarrass myself.
Here is a link to all of the images:
http://s176.photobucket.com/user/bmd...uto%20X%202018