Heck no I don't wanna die young!
If anyone misunderstands me please allow me to explain. I wasn't thinking about taking on the King (or anyone else) since if you notice in my post I was admitting that I would receive "The SoCal Spanking that I deserve". Are you kidding? I got the chance to ride with Paul at TWS and simply because of that ride I took 2 full seconds off of my lap times. If I could go back today I'm sure I could find 2 more. Pauls great on and off the track and I would like to hang with them and hopefully learn some more (even if I have to wash their cars).
The real reason that I'm so excited about turning decent times (in any car, anywhere) is that I've been a speed bump for sooooo long and now (fingers crossed) I kind of getting the hang of this road racing stuff. I started out with a car that had _HUGE_ horsepower and torque and crappy brakes and setup that I felt near death everytime I drove it. Probably was. It made learning how to drive a nightmare and really kicked the he&& out of my confidence. This year when I finally got rid of the old car (Thanks for your help Bill) and replaced it with a stock GTS now with brakes and shocks. So, in a way, I've only really been driving one year and am excited to have hopefully graduated from "Speed Bump" status and be a guy on the track the everyone else feels safe driving with.
As far as the Corvette goes, it seems to me that while both the Viper and Corvette are _GREAT_ cars in their own respects, the Corvette is handicapped by less power, less rubber, and less room for performance mods. For example, a stock Corvette _WILL NOT_ accept more than -1.5 camber in the front where the Viper has sport shims to add that much at the track. To compound matters more, the stock Corvette has so much body roll that it needs _WAY_ more negative camber to be effective. So the tire handicap is exaggerated even more with, HMMM, _FEATURES_, like this. Many people will say the the Corvette has Traction Control and ABS therefore giving it advantage over the Viper. Not so! I've mistakenly forgotten to turn the traction contol _OFF_ only to have it activate while drifting through Big Bend and nearly cause me to spin. It's the same with ABS. Imagine going into turn E at TWS and trail braking to set the right front tire. About the time that your transitioning your right foot from the brakes to the gas the ABS kicks on due to the left rear tire lifting. Then, because your soooo ******* the brakes, the ABS instantly drops the brake pedal an inch or more causing you to almost acutally floor the gas like a light switch in mid-turn. Once again, nearly causing a spin. Really nice! Bottom line the Corvette has _ONLY ONE ADVANTAGE_ over the Viper and that's a weight difference of 200 lbs. (Stock) and even more I'm adding a toggle to _TURN ABS OFF_ for road racing.
Consequently, I must be an idiot because I enjoy a little friendly controversy. And I guess I feel a little _MORE_ personal satisfaction learning to drive better with a handicap like the Corvette has compared to Viper. Hopefully, that will pay off even more when I get back into the Viper!
Like I've said before, I _REALLY LOVE_ both of my cars and drive them both on and off of the track. In the end it's all in fun and I get to hang out with good people.
Regard from the Most Humble Speed Bump, Tittle
P.S. My kids loved the race on Sunday. Can't quit asking to go see the "Wacecars". LOL.
P.S.S. I have aspirations of 1:23's in the Corvette at Motorsports Ranch and Dave Held informed me that I must beat 1:57's at TWS.
I'm also looking for 1:21's and 1:51's respectively for the Viper.
