Quick update from Day One LS Fest TX
Sitting 1st in both course 1 & 2. 4th overall on TrackX and 5th overall on the small course
Course 1 was a great departure from courses in previous years. It took a minute to find a rhythm but the truck made that easier. I sat out for 2 laps after drag racing just so I could have lunch and just regroup in the chaos. Probably a dumb idea since looking at Live Timing almost everybody ran their quickest laps at that time.
Course 2 is and always will be my favorite. This dang truck just loves the faster stuff. There was no course walk so we went in blind. Scary considering the highly anticipated 90+ mph finish line. 1st lap out I kicked an unimportant cone, missed 3rd gear and coasted the finish. That lap would have been fast enough for the win. Knowing we were only getting 3 laps I had to get a clean lap on the board. Played it cool on lap 2 and went even faster. For lap 3 I sent it a little too hard and went slower.
Drag strip, no times are shown or provided. We are in the dark until awards. The truck felt really good so I'm hopeful we did well. It will remain a mystery until tomorrow night.
#LSFestTX #TheGripPeoject
@tthegripproject@barrys_speedshop@animalauto@borowski@bowlertransmissions@currieenterprises@feslerusa@haltech@jongbloed_racing_wheels@knfilters@level7motorsports@mcleod_racing@millerbuiltusa@motecusa@ridetechsuspension@tci_engineering@tiltoneng@wilwooddiscbrakes
Absolutely unbelievable that Wyatt is graduating HS in a few weeks. His Mom and I couldn't be more proud of his work ethic and dedication. This kid can accomplish anything he sets his mind to.
What a crazy weekend in Vegas for LS Fest West. Unfortunately, the Camaro continued to fight us after my other post. I made 2 attempts at each of the autocross courses but was not able to successfully complete a lap under power. I came close on my first lap at the small course. I made it all the way around to the "Donut Box" and then it went into limp mode (throttle body errors). We exhausted as many avenues as possible trying to correct the issue but decided to just pack it up and let Barry and his crew diagnose it.
There are a million little side stories that I could write but I'll keep this simple. I was bummed of course but it really allowed me to just take in and enjoy every moment with my parents and racing family. I appreciate all of you guys for coming out.
The real hero through all of this was and is Wally. This crazy dude was prepared to sacrifice his own weekend in the C10 (which was going extremely well) so that I could continue in the Camaro. Both of his vehicles use as many of the same parts as possible. So he was fully willing to give up whatever parts the C10 may have to keep my hopes alive.
After the disappointment of not being able to continue, the highlight of the weekend was putting two laps in Wally's C10 on course #1. You all know how comfortable I am in it so I won't rehash that. I heard a lot of complaints about Robby's Cobra this weekend. Basically, it is a cheater car due to its size, weight, power, aero etc. For those people, just know that a C10 can and did outrun it. 😎
#TeamTCI #TCIequipped
@barrys_speedshop@tthegripproject@tci_engineering
Man, I definitely let myself and the team down tonight at LS Fest. I was so excited to run against Wally on the first lap. Unfortunately, a mechanical issue had other ideas. Thanks to @myredlinelife@that66nova@murillofabworks@frankietru@goosseperformance@revscfrank@hunkedout_racing for getting me everything I needed to get it running again. With only 2 laps left and a surface that was going away I got back in the lanes.
Pretty much everyone I spoke with said the surface was bad. So I just planned to baby it out of the hole and just try to get down Broadway. Even that didn't go as planned. I tried minimal RPM, maybe 2000 and feathered the clutch. The tires spun immediately. I lifted and tried to reapply throttle and it spun again. So I tried to short shift 2nd and got denied, twice. Once in 2nd it spun the tires again with maybe 20% throttle. I successfully shifted to 3rd and the car just grew wings. It was on a mission. The short time & ET were of course terrible but the dang thing ran 126 mph.
I only had one more chance to make it happen and failed miserably again. 2nd lap was even worse with traction and shifting. This was not how I envisioned the weekend starting off. I am now way behind the class leaders and likely down a bunch of points. I have a steep uphill battle now moving into day two. Tomorrow is a new day and a new opportunity.
@tthegripproject@barrys_speedshop@tci_engineering@ninelivesracing@jongbloed_racing_wheels@haltech@ron.sutton.148@mastmotorsports@mcleod_racing@wilwoodracing
Wally and I had a successful weekend in Vegas at @c10nationals in #TheGripProject
It didn't take long for us to get reacquainted with this awesome truck. The @lvrscca course layout was a great test of the changes that were made in the off-season. The front to rear weight bias is the best it has ever been and there were two areas where the ABS kept us out of the marbles. Wally was able to come within a .049 of David. This was a huge confidence booster leading into LS Fest.
While I may have kicked a few too many cones on Friday, I was able to lay down what could have been Top Time of the Weekend on just my 2nd lap. I eventually found my groove, cleaned up the cones and dropped another 8 tenths. All this with a total of 11 laps on Friday and 3 on Saturday. This truck never ceases to amaze with how easy it is to drive at the limit. We didn't make one adjustment to the #TCIchassis all weekend.
Going into the shootout I was very nervous. It was mine to lose and I was feeling the pressure. I have a track record of taking myself out of shootouts. On the flip side, David is absolutely rock solid under pressure. Wally made it to the semis where he faced off against David. He pushed a little bit too hard and DNF'd in the slalom. It would be David and I in the final where I finally redeemed myself winning best two out of three. Wally would end up 3rd having to do a runoff against fellow #TeamTCI member Austin aka @tallboyraceing
Can't thank Wally, Barry, all of Barry's guys, and especially Wally's Wife Kristie, for supporting his/our shenanigans at this level, enough. I'm over here living the dream driving these awesome vehicles.
#c10Nationals
@tthegripproject@barrys_speedshop@animalauto@borowski@bowlertransmissions@currieenterprises@feslerusa@haltech@jongbloed_racing_wheels@knfilters@level7motorsports@mcleod_racing@millerbuiltusa@motecusa@performancedesign@ridetechsuspension@tci_engineering@tiltoneng@wilwooddiscbrakes
