One Lap of America 2018 (Team Panda Express, One Lap Puppies)

On Thursday, we drove an outstandingly fun track at NOLA Motorsports Park: the north course (long). Neither Doug nor I have been here before. It's a flat but very fast and open track layout, 2.75 miles long, with some challenging higher-speed "S" bends in the back section. The layout is fairly simple and easy to remember. This is a fairly new track facility, built in 2011. Oddly, it is closer to residential neighborhoods than any other racetracks that I have been to—I'd estimate less than a third of a mile (there is an intervening thick forest of trees and undergrowth as a noise absorber of sorts). It's also the first track I've been to with palm trees on the property. Unwritten bucket list item, checked off! We drove well enough to hold on to our 7th place overall position. It will be impossible for Team Panda Express/Caution Asian Driver to move up in the rankings without a team above us not finishing one of the four final events (2 track sessions + an a...

Today's One Lap challenge was held at Motorsport Ranch Cresson, which offered One Lappers three configurations: a 1.3-mile loop, a 1.7-mile loop with some bigger corners and longer straights, and a 3.1-mile circuit which combines the 1.3 and 1.7 segments. Because we'd agreed to share the on-track driving responsibilities, to give both of us a taste of these new-to-us tracks, we decided to split it up by having me drive the 1.3-mile and 1.7-mile events (which came first, during the morning) and having Doug drive the 3.1-mile combined circuit—that way, both of get to experience nearly the same amount and sections of track. Most of the serious One Lap of America teams opt to have only one driver running at each track venue, in the interest of allowing that driver maximum seat time and providing that individual the opportunity to apply what he or she learned in the morning to the afternoon session, obviously with the objective of going faster in the second session. Doug and I g...

Today we ran at our "home track," High Plains Raceway (HPR) near Deer Trail, CO. Doug and I had high hopes of moving back up in the standings by dint of our "home field advantage." I knew when I signed up for One Lap that it would be hard to try to go fast on cold tires on a track I've never driven before, but I didn't grasp HOW hard this challenge would be until I tried it (and failed pretty miserably) at Autobahn South course on day one. HPR has very recently been mostly repaved, and the darker-colored, smoother-texture asphalt is substantially grippier than the previous surface. Our 315/30-18 Falken Azenis RT615K+ work well on this surface, and once we got used to their howling around the corners and their loud roaring/growling noises under hard braking (very disconcerting until we realized it was normal/okay), Doug and I pushed hard—this is what comes from knowing exactly where the track goes, and having done hundreds and hundreds of laps on it previ...

This will be a short blog post. I'll stick to the essential bits of info (and share some pictures, always more pictures!) We got to the track early enough in the morning to do a walk of the track... more essential for Doug, as he'd never driven Hallett before, whereas I had, back in 2016, but it's instructive regardless of whether you've driven the track before. It's amazing how much detail and perspective you DON'T get from a few laps at speed in the car. Getting to the track early (for One Lap, anyway) also means scoring the limited covered parking area before everyone else shows up. This means getting shade to hang out in for the entire day, and for Hallett, it also meant being closest to the staging lane/track entry and the restaurant. It may seem like a minor detail, but it improves the experience for sure. Today was the first time both Doug and I drive the same track, on the same day. We both had issues driving to our potential today. I was frustra...

Today was the second road course event, but the first with two sessions (morning and afternoon), so both Doug and I got to drive the same course. There was some concern about the 2nd track session getting canceled if things got way behind schedule, so I drove first with the idea that I might be faster of the two of us. More about that later. This track was the first that we were able to walk and check out up close, and I'm really glad we got up early enough to do the course walk... it really helped to see it directly, as opposed to just via watching other people's driving videos on YouTube. Side benefit: I had the opportunity to introduce myself to Travis Pastrana during the course walking... I didn't want to bug him while he was trying to familiarize himself with the track layout, so I just very quickly said I was a big fan, glad he was here racing with us, and if he had time some other time, I'd love to get a picture with him. He was super cool and friendly. ...

And so it begins. We got plenty of sleep last night (a luxury we're not expecting to continue) at the Waterford Estates hotel in South Bend as the wet skid pad didn't start until 10 am. This event isn't very exciting, for the drivers or spectators, but it does count as much as any other event. Unfortunately, we didn't fare very well, placing 51st overall (out of 71 teams), despite inflating our tires to 42 psi to try to get a convex shape to the tread to minimize hydroplaning, and being on tires that we choose specifically because we thought they'd do much better than the tires that are faster in dry conditions (i.e., BFG Rival S, Bridgestone RE71R). This result was very disappointing. Oh well... it is what it is. Onward to the next event! We soon had other things to worry about, as a TPMS stopped reading on the highway shortly after leaving Tire Rack on the way to Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL, for the first on-track driving event of One Lap. ...

Today we arrived at Waterford Estates hotel in South Bend, where the registration and tech is headquartered. I met Brock Yates Jr. in person for the first time (we'd spoken a few times on the phone previously) and after the cars were successfully unloaded from the trailer, I got through one of the first trials of One Lap relatively well: stickering up the car while working outdoors, in the wind, and for a while, in the rain. I'm pretty OCD about stuff that doesn't really matter (like how straight and bubble-free decals on my car are) so having to rush through the process of putting the stickers on the cat actually stressed me out. Doug helped a lot by verifying whether stickers were straight before applying them to the car, and made most of the decisions on their layout (with only a modicum of micromanagement from me). And also by speaking to me in a calm, controlled voice, like a you might handle a cornered, scared animal. My main concern was leaving enough white space...