Back From Peru

MARKP · Post by **MARKP** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:48 am

Congrats to Carpenter for his first National Tour victory in the Miata. McCrary "competed" and came in 2nd. Looked like a tough class. I think they are both a little more excited about the car these days.

John Brown came in a very close 2nd with everyone that should be fast in Topeka making a showing in Peru. Seems that Spridget might have a little life left, still.

Ted V had a fun time driving a Scirocco with more than twice the horsepower of what he is used to. So, Ted, when are you going to build something comparable???

I had a fun time trying to learn how to hustle a 3000+ lb Camaro around an autocross course. I about pissed my pants when I realized how much distance it takes to slow down that much weight coming into a 180 after flat-footing a maneuver before it. I was a little bummed I didn't get to finish my runs in it after the left front wheel came off on my co-driver's first run on Sunday. Note to other Camaro owners, don't buy the cheap Chineese hubs for an autocross car. They are good for about 2.5 days.

400 entrants is a lot of people for an autocross. We spent over 12 hours at the event site on Saturday. The concrete up there is the grippiest stuff around and it a whole lot of fun.

I also got to see an incredibly fast Lotus Europa. It had a normally aspirated V6 engine and took off like a rocket out of the corners.

steverife · Post by **steverife** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 11:00 am

Doug trophied in STS.

MARKP · Post by **MARKP** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 11:21 am

not cbring wrote:Doug trophied in STS.

&*(#, I knew I was forgetting someone!

Post by **disneyd** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 11:25 am

Wow, congrats to the C-Stock guys... top two out of a class of 24! Wish you WOULD COME BACK TO A LOCAL EVENT so I can see how far off the pace I am

tscott · Post by **tscott** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 11:54 am

Congrats fellers. Way to represent the ETR.

CABoegemann · Post by **CABoegemann** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 12:00 pm

Congrats to everybody!

McMark, You're going to Topeka, right?

I wasn't going to be able to go, but I may ride out there just to watch C stock. Remember the Wednesday night banquet last year? Get your ass up on that stage!

Too bad about your ride Mark. Kind of an expensive three runs. Did you start drinking earlier on Sunday?

MARKP · Post by **MARKP** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 12:31 pm

CABoegemann wrote:Too bad about your ride Mark. Kind of an expensive three runs. Did you start drinking earlier on Sunday?

Technically, it was 11 runs. 7 on the crappy practice course on Friday, 3 on Saturday, and 1 on Sunday before the other driver had the failure.

I finished the runs on Sunday in a '01 (I think) Camaro. Even more horsepower in the '01 but different handling. After seeing that generation Camaro get wheel hop from hell under braking at previous events, I decided not to push it and finished the day with the first run being my fastest. The last thing I wanted to do was contribute to another broken car.

John Brown · Post by **John Brown** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 12:31 pm

Yea..seems like I remember the announcer calling trophy positions...and refered to me as John (brides maid) Brown.....for every Nat this year I'v come in 2nd .....

I totally beat myself.My car is fast again,(thanks LNS motorsports!),it handles better that ever(thanks Steve H.and Karl P.) but I guess after spending 6 mo. in a bad running/bad handling car....I couldnt get confident that the car will stick when pushed.

Folks,this course on Sun. was fastfastfast!!!!!!! with bumpy turns that could be taken at full speed if ya had the b@lls to do it. Most fun of the year so far.

Getting beat by Steve Bolinger is quite OK though,multi-time DP national champ. Ya know ..... his car is for sale..hmm I might jest have to buy the damn thing....maybe part it out. 1 more DP competitor gone......

MARKP · Post by **MARKP** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 2:28 pm

Various pictures here:http://www.cashmo.org/2005/05peru.html

Broken Camaro hub here: http://www.xecu.net/kiirenza/picture/brokenhub2.JPG

JAY · Post by **JAY** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 4:09 pm

Congrats to all who went. I happened to pass Robert on 75S in Kentucky yesterday on my way back from Put-In-Bay. I honked and waved, but I am sure he thought I was some crazy driver.

Mark P in FS...No wonder I did not see his name.

John Brown · Post by **John Brown** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 1:44 pm

Pax results are up on SCCA forums.....
not to bad......lots of fast names low on the list .

dfoulk · Post by **dfoulk** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:39 pm

What's left of the Camaro spindle looks like counterfeit junk. You can see a dark ring around a bright spot in the center as if it had been cracked for a while before the center let go. I don't know what type of steel GM's specs call for but that spindle is not alloy steel which would bend before breaking like that.

I broke a pitman arm on a fork truck running over a railroad track once. On it, the crack had obviously been there a long time before it let go and it was cast iron. When looked at close, the crystaline grain structure was visible. On forged steel that should not be so obvious.

I wonder if that spindle was a casting instead of a forging.

I hope the owner of that Camaro gets new hubs and spindles from a Chevy dealer.

Dewey

01badz28 · Post by **01badz28** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 3:45 pm

Mark,
I assume it was the second gen Camaro that broke the hub? If it was one of the 4th gens, I would like to know the brand name for the hub so I'll stay away from them. As for the wheel hop on the later cars, its caused by the braking system. It has something to do with the ABS system controlling the proportioning. You can improve the situation with a better torque arm, but its pretty much something you have to drive around. Thanks for the info!

MARKP · Post by **MARKP** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 5:29 pm

It was a '97 that broke (the one I was driving). He had replaced the hubs 3 days earilier with ones he bought at a local parts store. After seeing that, I would suggest Genuine GM Parts for new hubs. I'll bet they aren't cheap, though.

This is the first Camaro failure I have seen or heard of but I don't follow them closely. I have heard that if you autocross a Corvette, you should replace the front hubs every year. I guess they use the same parts.