Here's the old NASA TT track records on both the 3.1 mile and 1.7 mile courses (NASA TT hasn't been run the 1.7 since 2010):
Code:
Motorsports Ranch Cresson (3.1 CCW)
Class Driver Car
TTU John Page Chevy Corvette 02:19.489 Mar-11
TT1 Troy Messer Chevy Corvette 02:16.519 Mar-13
TT2 Mike Perkins Chevy Corvette 02:18.353 Mar-13
TT3 Terry Fair Ford Mustang 02:22.753 Mar-13
TTA Josh Dunn Mistubishi Evo 02:23.043 Mar-12
TTB Dysen Pham Honda S2000 02:24.302 Mar-13
TTC Eric Foss Mazdaspeed 3 02:28.562 Mar-12
TTD Eric Foss Mazdaspeed 3 02:30.047 Mar-11
TTE Steven Farrell Mazda Miata 02:37.153 Mar-11
TTF Ken Brewer Toyota MR2 02:37.955 Mar-13
Motorsports Ranch Cresson (1.7 CCW)
Class Driver Car
TTU - - -
TT1 Troy Messer Corvette C6 01:17.113 Mar-10
TT2 Sean Farrah Nissan 350Z 01:20.283 Mar-10
TT3
TTA Ken Orgeron BMW E46 M3 01:22.755 Mar-10
TTB John Zepeda Mazda Miata 01:27.682 Mar-10
TTC Josh Konkle Chevy Cobalt 01:27.006 Mar-09
TTD Terry Fair BMW 328 01:29.811 Mar-10
TTE Josh Price Acura Integra 01:26.583 Mar-10
TTF Ken Brewer Toyota MR2 01:29.804 Mar-10
My 2:22 record for TT3 set last year on the 3.1 is probably a little soft, so I could have worked on improving that if we were to run the 3.1 mile course, assuming I could get a clear and unobstructed lap (which never happens on the 3.1). But it seems we're running the 1.7, and my 1:18.6 from January slots in there quite nicely in the old lap records. Of course nobody has set a TT record on the 1.7 in 4 years, so I suspect all of those old 1.7 TT records will fall. Hopefully, maybe, fingers crossed we can set the TT3 record on the 1.7 this weekend? That's assuming everything goes according to plan, which it almost never does.
This is the 1.7 mile course everyone will be running this weekend with NASA
Weather could play a major factor, and rain is in the forecast this weekend (but it changes by the hour). We've seen days as recently as this week where it was 80 degrees and sunny in the afternoon one day and then 16 degrees and sleeting
the very next morning. Totally psychotic temperature swings, with 4 freak ice storms this winter season - unheard of in Dallas. So it is anyone's guess how this weekend will go.
The Car Guy Show
So in my last update I mentioned that we went to Cars & Coffee in the red T3 Mustang in February. Amy drove out on the 315 A6 tires and I drove out in the 2013 GT. The weather was COLD but the crowds were HUGE, and out of the 1000+ cars there that day a film crew for a new TV show was on site and interviewed about 6 car owners. One of those was our red car, with my goofy ass standing in front of it - wired up for sound, talking to the host and answering questions on camera.
The first show of this new series aired March 1st in the Dallas TV market only (so far), and somehow they used about 2 minutes of my interview in the pilot episode, spread across 3 different segments. This wasn't scripted; it was just some questions they asked and my answers given off the cuff. Pretty cool that this made it on the show. The on-track segments we filmed with this crew December 28th might get re-shot soon, once they get their filming schedule opened up, and they might even shoot a bit at our shop. We'll see.
You can watch the pilot episode of The Car Guy Show at the link above
This show airs on KTXD Channel 47 Saturday's @ 11:30am with encore presentations Sundays @ 6pm and Fridays @ 1:30am. This is a Dallas CBS affiliate network, but the show is supposed to make it to more TV markets in the coming months. So its not a nationwide show, and not a huge deal, but was a nice surprise to see that I made this show's first episode. The promo video they made for 30 second commercials for the show has in-car footage from our TT3 Mustang, shot at the December 28th film shoot.
Cars and Coffee Dallas, March 1st
While the pilot episode of The Car Guy Show was airing we were at Cars & Coffee Dallas
once again, bright and VERY early Saturday morning, parking with the SCCA Solo folks to promote their events. We drove out on the Hoosiers, this time the 335/345 scrubs that I will test with on Friday. The crowds flocked to the car even more this time, as the rear fenders were fairly obnoxious looking. The Car Guy Show crew also brought out a couple of cool cars, including this Viper and this Mosler MT900, which parked next to our Mustang.
Picture Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/Cars-Coff030114/
They filmed some B-roll out there and a few brief "we'll be right back" segments with some folks. Vorshlag's Ops Manager Sofi rode her Cafe themed Honda motorcycle (that she hand built) and also parked with us. The weather was PERFECT and the lot was jammed with 1200+ cars and thousands of people.
At about 10:30 who walks up? None other than Aaron and 5 of his guys from Gas Monkey Garage. Even though he hates Mustangs, Aaron stopped and talked to me about the car for 20 minutes, and we realized that one of his crew was someone I knew that used to work at a shop we dealt with a lot. Then the subject of his '63 Falcon came up and the Pikes Peak 2014 race, which Aaron is entered in. We've supported racers at this event in the past, and Vorshlag's head engineer Jason has crew chiefed there 4 or 5 times, and will again this year.
Left: Me chatting with the GMG crew. Right: Aaron's recently purchased 63 Falcon is sweet!
We talked a bit about the tricky nature of this treacherous hill climb event, the altitude and prep you need to tackle. Aaron is going to be getting more seat time in the Falcon at NASA events, a Bondurant school, the upcoming Goodguys autocross, and the Ultimate Street Car Association's event at TMS this month as well. Our own beared wonder Jason spoke with Aaron at the PPIHC event last year, and I suspect they will trade some more Pikes Peak stories at one of the events we will see the GMG guys at in the coming months.
Left: In Texas we have everything from Exotics to Bubba Trucks. Right: Yep, that's wood grain on an Audi R8
Continued below