Project Update for May 17, 2013: I trying to keep this update "short and sweet" because the only thing to cover was the NASA @ NOLA weekend and some upcoming events. If you have been keeping track, we have run this 2011 Mustang in 3 NASA Texas race weekends in 2013, and so far had nailed 3 new TT3 track records and 5 of 6 class wins (each Saturday and Sunday is a new TT race). NOLA was another 2 day event on the NASA Texas calendar and we were hoping that the "heavy but powerful" TT3 Mustang would do well at this track, too. I knew it had one long straight (3360 feet) but it also had a lot of twisty bits, as you can see in the course map that we made, below. Could we "4-peat" with TT3 track records? Read below to find out...
Since I have complained publicly about the lack of track maps being available at many tracks and events before, and I feel that the lack of maps/corner numbers/pit lane routing has led to issues at some events, I put my money where my mouth is and we made the track map above. Brandon here at Vorshlag took an existing but very hard to read
color track map from NOLA and created a line graphic shown, added legible corner numbers, and marked where NASA TT race director Ken Brewer wanted the TT group to bunch up on the out lap. All of the various alternate configurations were removed as well, to only show the course we were to be driving that weekend. We printed 70 of these and handed them out at the TT meeting as well as to our HPDE students. This went over so well we are going to do this for all upcoming NASA Texas events we go to in 2013.
NASA @ NOLA Motorsports Park, May 3-5, 2013
We had been anticipating this event for some time, as I got to take 4 laps around this 2.75 mile course back in January and I couldn't
wait to go back and race my own car there. NASA Texas and NASA Mid-South teamed up to have this event on both of their schedules, but it was mostly run by Mid-South. NOLA Motorsports Park is a beautiful, even picturesque race track facility that I raved about in
my January Rival review. Amy wanted to go to race and to see New Orleans, and with it being the annual Jazzfest weekend, we knew it would be packed and crazy in the French Quarter.
Palm trees, manicured lawns, a flawless track and paddock surface, and beautiful buildinds abound at NOLA
After a bit of a thrash to get the trailer adjusted to the new F-350 diesel dually, that arrived just a couple of days before, we got the Mustang and all of our gear loaded for the 9 hour tow from Dallas,TX down to New Orleans, LA, on Thursday afternoon. We ended up leaving more of less mid afternoon, with Amy and I driving and Ryan and Brandon along for the 3 days of racing. We brought rain gear, cold weather gear, and clothes for hot weather too - never know what to expect down on the Delta!
Vorshlag Photo and Video Gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-E...-May-4-5-2013/
With 100 miles on the odometer the truck was sufficiently broken in and away we went! The truck performed ridiculously well, towing like a dream and stopping without any drama - it was as if the trailer wasn't even hooked up. These new adaptive/progressive/integrated trailer brake controllers that modern trucks come with are amazing. We arrived at our hotel at about 2 am and went to our rooms to crash Thursday night. It started raining on the way down and rained that night as well.
Friday May 3, NOLA Test-N-Tune
Left: Unloading Friday morning in the rain. Right: After we set up the trailer the car was switched to street tires for some rain dancing
We arrived at the track early on Friday morning and got set-up at the NE end of the paddock (nearest to the Events Center, Race Shop and Kart Lobby/Cafe buildings) and unloaded the car. It was pissing rain and didn't look to be letting up anytime soon, but the forecast for Saturday and Sunday was "70°F, sunny and clear". So the crew threw on the Bridgestone RE-11 street tires and D-Force wheels we had in the trailer and Amy and I started taking sessions on the very wet and still raining track.
Dark and gloomy skies in the morning, with rain finally diminishing...
Practice days on the Friday before a NASA weekend is common, but for us it was new - we used to just run a single NASA weekend day (2008-2011), and only in 2012 did we start running both Saturdays and Sundays. This track was so new to us, though, that we decided to pony up the $300 for the practice day and get in as many laps as we could - to learn this track layout. It is a tricky track, and with zero elevation change there are few reference markers to use to help you remember one corner from the next, and there are several that look identical. But with the rain it was tough to judge speeds and what our relative lap times in the dry might be. It rained for a couple of hours then finally... stopped.
Late morning Friday the rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the sun came out. It gets brighter and brighter...
Even with the rain no longer falling there were still significant puddles that covered the track at corners T8, T13, T16 and all down the front straight. I was short shifting 4th and 5th on the front straight to keep the tires from breaking loose at even the reduced speeds of 120+ mph we were seeing. The massive lake at T13 was DEEP and there was no way around it - you just had to slog through it. We named it the "sippy hole", and the lake at T16 wasn't abating much either. By the 3rd and 4th morning sessions we were the only ones brave (or fool) enough to be out on track and Amy and I pounded out dozens and dozens of laps each. Eventually we were just making laps to try to push water off the track, and each lap was making a difference - with water splashing 20' high at some "stream crossings". The interior of the car was pretty wet, but we cleaned it out during the lunch break. And that's when we noticed the NOLA crew go out in 3 track drying trucks, dragging massive air blowers, and they dried off the track! They did an awesome job for about a solid hour and it made a massive difference. Well, T16 was still wet and you had to tip-toe around that corner, but the rest of the track was completely dry. They again warned us after lunch "if you go off, you WILL get stuck", but we never dropped a single tire in the mud all morning during the rain, so we weren't too worried.
Off with the street tires ("poor man's wets") and on with the well abused A6 tires, late on Friday
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