Tomcat
Enthusiast
The V-TEN Racing Chronicles
Viper Days at Putnam Park April 30 through May 1
This is the first installment covering Viper Days events and the exploits of three guys who formed a team called V-TEN Racing. The only purpose for writing this is to provide the reader with entertainment. I hope you are amused by what you read. Disclaimer, I sometime get the facts a little askew but my heart is in the right place and the overall results are correct, I think. Last disclaimer, my writing is a little dry due to the nature of my job, sorry.
The V-TEN Team:
+ The “T” is Tom Wilson the writer. I live in Woodstock, GA (Hotlanta) and drive a red 2001 GTS with little or no mods. Safety equipment includes a roll bar, racing seat, six point belts, and TeamTech helmet restraint.
+ The “E” is Eyal Yarden. Eyal lives on the other side of Atlanta from me. He drives a Blue 1997 GTS with the only substantial mod being a StopTech Big Brake System with Breakman 3 pads.
+ Last but not least is the “N” for Newt. Newt lives in Mineola, TX, which is the quintessential small town. Newt took the initiative and made numbers for our cars, designed the team logo, had hats, shirts, and banners made, all of which came out great. Newt drives a nicely moded (engine, suspension, etc.) silver 1999 GTS, which has about 480 rwhp and 525 rwtq. Newt is also the test mule for the VEC2 for normally aspirated cars. We will keep you posted regarding the VEC2’s benefits.
Travel:
+ From Atlanta it is 570 miles in 9 hours; and
+ From Mineola it is 800 plus miles in 13 hours.
+ Eyal and I ride together and take my Ram 2500 4x2 with a Hemi and pull a 36 foot open goose neck trailer. This was the first event we used this setup. I was concerned that the Hemi would not be able to go the speed limit in the hills of TN, but was pleasantly surprised when we could go as fast as we wanted up a 6% grade. The Hemi got 10 mpg if you are interested, if your not interested, please skip to the next paragraph, sorry.
The Track:
+ Located 45 minutes west of Indianapolis, IN;
+ 1.7 mile 10 turn track with only one place you can get in trouble. This is a great track for those who are participating in a track event for the first time. We are back at PP in August. The layout is such that it does not beat the heck out of you or the car since there is only one place where I used threshold braking. Maybe if I used TB more, I would have been in the 19’s.
Car Prep (Team Secrets, don’t tell other Viper Days Participants):
Alignment, Aggressive Street, Track
Front:
Camber - 1.9, Caster + 6.0 (+- 0.50), Toe 0 each side
Rear:
Camber - 1.5, Caster 0, Toe - 1/16 (in) each side
This set up works great for turn in. This set up comes from Woodhouse/Pemberton/Cone.
This year’s addition of in-car video and hot lap timer was a great help in determining if changes we made (different turn in, different line, shifting into 4th vs. staying in 3rd, etc.) during sessions were effective. Note to self, take the trackside transmitter out of the rain, turn it off over night, and do not leave it behind at the track. All of which happened.
The Weekend:
Friday was test and tune. A little cool with temps in the high 50s, but dry. The forecast was calling for rain on Saturday and Sunday. Times on Friday were within a ½ second of our best times from last year. Newt was new to the track and out of the box ran a 1.20 something and was fastest. My teammates have talent, I have perseverance. Just wait until the last run on Sunday.
This year we remembered to turn back our clocks one hour and avoided getting up, showering, and arriving at the track at 6:00 am (the track opens at 7:00am). John Archer is glad for that. You see, last year we woke John up in our confusion. Somehow, we got the room next to John again this year, Not sure how that happened, grin.
Saturday. Rain and more rain. The morning was a wash out. Lots of time to bleed brakes and inspect the cars. The afternoon was damp with a number of cars going out to practice car control, with one exception. This yellow Viper (yes I know yellow is faster) was running low 1:20 in the wet. Man, whose group is he in. Sorry Eyal, at best you are running for 2nd in class. On Sunday that guy passed me and dropped me so fast I thought I was in the race group by mistake. I believe he won prepared with a 1:17 flat.
The race on Saturday was cancelled. They planned to run two races on Sunday. The team goal in 2-3 years is to be running in the race group.
Sunday. The morning brought damp conditions. We did our best to dry the track by driving our tow vehicles around the driving line. It helped a little, but a light rain continued to fall. Times on Friday do not count so we were anxious to have at least a recorded time. Surely we did not come all this way just to sit around. What if it rained all day? We decided to go out and do our best although the conditions were less than ideal.
Damp track, a passenger (a brave sole), and around we went in turn 2. After that I decided to park the car and wait of a semi-dry track. Come to find out, my teammates also spun and went on an off track excursion during that session. Ok, sun poking out, smile in the pits. Where is that yellow car? We go out and get times slower than Friday. Track still damp but improving. The first race is cancelled. They decide to have a 30-lap race with the usual suspects dominating with one exception, Dave Blaney placed first in the Comp Coup class in the Viper Days rental thanks to Sonny Whelen. I guess Dave can turn right, or is it left.
First session in the afternoon was dry and resulted in times equal to our best last year. We needed more speed with several people faster than Newt and Eyal.
Note to self. Put more than 6 gallons in tank. The car burps on high G turns after 10 or so laps into session. I might be taking weight savings too far.
Last session on Sunday. Individual bests on warm dry track. But how would we finish?
Our Results:
Newt, first in Modified with a 1.19 something;
Tom, first in Super Stock with a 1.21 something; and
Eyal, fourth in Prepared with a 1.19 something, a blink of the eye faster than Newt (10 cars in prepared) with several times from the Prepared group being faster then four qualifying times for the race group. Eyal was out of a podium finish by 0.6 seconds.
Mid-America next, two weeks after PP. Need to replace pads, bleed brakes, and change oil. I can’t wait to get to the land of Woodhouse for the first time.
Thanks to PartsRack.com and Ringgold Dodge in Ringgold GA for their support.
Viper Days at Putnam Park April 30 through May 1
This is the first installment covering Viper Days events and the exploits of three guys who formed a team called V-TEN Racing. The only purpose for writing this is to provide the reader with entertainment. I hope you are amused by what you read. Disclaimer, I sometime get the facts a little askew but my heart is in the right place and the overall results are correct, I think. Last disclaimer, my writing is a little dry due to the nature of my job, sorry.
The V-TEN Team:
+ The “T” is Tom Wilson the writer. I live in Woodstock, GA (Hotlanta) and drive a red 2001 GTS with little or no mods. Safety equipment includes a roll bar, racing seat, six point belts, and TeamTech helmet restraint.
+ The “E” is Eyal Yarden. Eyal lives on the other side of Atlanta from me. He drives a Blue 1997 GTS with the only substantial mod being a StopTech Big Brake System with Breakman 3 pads.
+ Last but not least is the “N” for Newt. Newt lives in Mineola, TX, which is the quintessential small town. Newt took the initiative and made numbers for our cars, designed the team logo, had hats, shirts, and banners made, all of which came out great. Newt drives a nicely moded (engine, suspension, etc.) silver 1999 GTS, which has about 480 rwhp and 525 rwtq. Newt is also the test mule for the VEC2 for normally aspirated cars. We will keep you posted regarding the VEC2’s benefits.
Travel:
+ From Atlanta it is 570 miles in 9 hours; and
+ From Mineola it is 800 plus miles in 13 hours.
+ Eyal and I ride together and take my Ram 2500 4x2 with a Hemi and pull a 36 foot open goose neck trailer. This was the first event we used this setup. I was concerned that the Hemi would not be able to go the speed limit in the hills of TN, but was pleasantly surprised when we could go as fast as we wanted up a 6% grade. The Hemi got 10 mpg if you are interested, if your not interested, please skip to the next paragraph, sorry.
The Track:
+ Located 45 minutes west of Indianapolis, IN;
+ 1.7 mile 10 turn track with only one place you can get in trouble. This is a great track for those who are participating in a track event for the first time. We are back at PP in August. The layout is such that it does not beat the heck out of you or the car since there is only one place where I used threshold braking. Maybe if I used TB more, I would have been in the 19’s.
Car Prep (Team Secrets, don’t tell other Viper Days Participants):
Alignment, Aggressive Street, Track
Front:
Camber - 1.9, Caster + 6.0 (+- 0.50), Toe 0 each side
Rear:
Camber - 1.5, Caster 0, Toe - 1/16 (in) each side
This set up works great for turn in. This set up comes from Woodhouse/Pemberton/Cone.
This year’s addition of in-car video and hot lap timer was a great help in determining if changes we made (different turn in, different line, shifting into 4th vs. staying in 3rd, etc.) during sessions were effective. Note to self, take the trackside transmitter out of the rain, turn it off over night, and do not leave it behind at the track. All of which happened.
The Weekend:
Friday was test and tune. A little cool with temps in the high 50s, but dry. The forecast was calling for rain on Saturday and Sunday. Times on Friday were within a ½ second of our best times from last year. Newt was new to the track and out of the box ran a 1.20 something and was fastest. My teammates have talent, I have perseverance. Just wait until the last run on Sunday.
This year we remembered to turn back our clocks one hour and avoided getting up, showering, and arriving at the track at 6:00 am (the track opens at 7:00am). John Archer is glad for that. You see, last year we woke John up in our confusion. Somehow, we got the room next to John again this year, Not sure how that happened, grin.
Saturday. Rain and more rain. The morning was a wash out. Lots of time to bleed brakes and inspect the cars. The afternoon was damp with a number of cars going out to practice car control, with one exception. This yellow Viper (yes I know yellow is faster) was running low 1:20 in the wet. Man, whose group is he in. Sorry Eyal, at best you are running for 2nd in class. On Sunday that guy passed me and dropped me so fast I thought I was in the race group by mistake. I believe he won prepared with a 1:17 flat.
The race on Saturday was cancelled. They planned to run two races on Sunday. The team goal in 2-3 years is to be running in the race group.
Sunday. The morning brought damp conditions. We did our best to dry the track by driving our tow vehicles around the driving line. It helped a little, but a light rain continued to fall. Times on Friday do not count so we were anxious to have at least a recorded time. Surely we did not come all this way just to sit around. What if it rained all day? We decided to go out and do our best although the conditions were less than ideal.
Damp track, a passenger (a brave sole), and around we went in turn 2. After that I decided to park the car and wait of a semi-dry track. Come to find out, my teammates also spun and went on an off track excursion during that session. Ok, sun poking out, smile in the pits. Where is that yellow car? We go out and get times slower than Friday. Track still damp but improving. The first race is cancelled. They decide to have a 30-lap race with the usual suspects dominating with one exception, Dave Blaney placed first in the Comp Coup class in the Viper Days rental thanks to Sonny Whelen. I guess Dave can turn right, or is it left.
First session in the afternoon was dry and resulted in times equal to our best last year. We needed more speed with several people faster than Newt and Eyal.
Note to self. Put more than 6 gallons in tank. The car burps on high G turns after 10 or so laps into session. I might be taking weight savings too far.
Last session on Sunday. Individual bests on warm dry track. But how would we finish?
Our Results:
Newt, first in Modified with a 1.19 something;
Tom, first in Super Stock with a 1.21 something; and
Eyal, fourth in Prepared with a 1.19 something, a blink of the eye faster than Newt (10 cars in prepared) with several times from the Prepared group being faster then four qualifying times for the race group. Eyal was out of a podium finish by 0.6 seconds.
Mid-America next, two weeks after PP. Need to replace pads, bleed brakes, and change oil. I can’t wait to get to the land of Woodhouse for the first time.
Thanks to PartsRack.com and Ringgold Dodge in Ringgold GA for their support.
