SCCA SoPac Championship Series Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, February 14-15
I know what you’re thinking, it Valentine’s Day weekend, he must have a very understanding wife, and the answer is a resounding YES!
As I was driving across the desert towards my first shot at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, I thought to myself; when was the last time I visited a race track for the first time? I was surprised that it had been well over 5 years (or exactly 2,085 days), and the track was Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. I remember three things about that weekend. Wrecking the Radical SR3 at moderate speed during the initial practice (early in the morning I put a wheel off on the wet grass and I was along for the ride after that) , praying the team would get the car fixed for qualifying, and putting the car on pole and winning Saturday’s race. What are the chances things would play out as they did at Barber? Need I forget that it was Friday the 13th?
We had a simple game plan going into the weekend, run this weekend’s regional race to learn the track, sort out the new upgrades on the Stohr WF1, figure out the optimal set up for this track, and have some fun. I wanted the seat time to prepare for the SCCA Major (national race) at Chuckwalla in March.
Learning the Track
I quickly realized that Chuckwalla Valley Raceway is a real handful. To begin with the track is relatively flat, with the lack of elevation changes the visual cues are few and far between, especially considering how low you sit in the Stohr WF1. Now factor in that several of the turns are blind corners,so it’s hard to get a sense of where your going. Additionally, the corners are pair up in sequences; there are four sets of 2 turns, and two sets of 3 turns, so you’re not learning many single turns, are you confused yet? I was! So the track flows in these tricky sequences. With a length of only 2.7 miles this is a smaller track, yet with 17 corners it gets very very busy in the Stohr. The take away; learning a new track is not an easy thing and this particular circuit is both mentally and physically very demanding.
Practice Session 1
Long story short, I am not as prepared as I thought I was, and learning this track is difficult. After the session all the drivers compare notes and the consensus is; we’re all just trying to figure out where to go. The complex of turns 9, 10, & 12, are interesting. Whilst most the turns have +1 degree of banking, 11 & 12 have +3 degrees and lead downhill in turn 13 which is actually a bowl with +11 degrees banking (think front straight @ Fontana). This is one section where you have all the visual reference points you need, what is usually lacking is the cojones to flat it through the bowl knowing if you over-shoot it you could get launched off the back side at over 90 mph. But it’s doable because the corner opens up at the exit. Because the bowl is so tight (see video) the g forces are intense. The only other take away from this initial time on the track is that 18 year old Parker Nicklin is already got speed and he has quickly deciphered “the racing line”.
Practice Session 2
I started off with a little more confidence and that leads to a little more speed. Unfortunate Friday the 13th caught up with me, I completely misjudged the turn in point for turn 15 and ran out of track on the exit at 75 mph. That’s when I realized they must be very fond of the indigenous plants at Chuckwalla because they sure haven’t clear shit 15 ft off the track. So after seeing some of local 2 ft bushes up close, I hobbled my poor car back to the pits. Damage report: right side front diffuser end-plate is toast, and cracked right fender……bust out the spare. We don’t have a replacement for the end plate, so we’re forced to remove the left side and that will completely compromise the aerodynamic-effect of the Stohr’s tunnel. Shit Happens & my day is finished.
Day 2: Practice/Qualifying/Race 1
We start off the day with a much thorough debrief of the track map followed by Parker walking us through his onboard video. This is extremely helpful listening to him explain how he is giving up some corners and attacking others.
Keep in mind that Parker is in the process of moving up the steps on the “Mazda road to Indy Series”, he was accepted as an IndyCar development driver with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, receiving a letter last year on his birthday welcoming him to the team. Parker is slated to run the full Pro Mazda series in 2015, and we wish him great success!! http://nicklinmotorsports.com/
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2014/oct/11/parker-nicklin-sam-schmidt-racing-vegas/
Back to Chuckwalla: I can now start to visualize much of the track in my head. However, during the first practice I am still a little fuzzy on some of the turn in points and how to gauge exit speed. After practice, Jeff Shafer and I reviewed my onboard video, he does a great job of coaching me through all the sequences of corners.
Qualifying plays out as expected based on everybody’s lap times in practice. I am chasing Parker’s time, he clearly going to be the fastest guy all weekend. And I am trying to keep myself outside the grasp of Jeff Shafer in his Radical SR3. Mission accomplished; we are P2 with a lap of 1:43:6. The Team decides to removing the top smaller element on the rear wing, as the car has a little too much under-steer (push) through the corners.
Race 1 (15 Laps): Parker got the jump at the green flag and proceeded to slowly pull away, no big surprise. I give it my all in hot pursuit and for a few laps kept him honest, this gives me a front row seat to observe his racing line. Unfortunately, at the end of the 3rd lap the wheels came of the cart! I drive into turn 15 too hot, and just plain ran out of track. I tried to off-road it back on as if nothing happened, but the Stohr pirouettes 180 degrees, evidently she doesn’t like the dirt and gravel. I now had a front row seat facing the track as the entire field of Group 5 cars races by. The Team had just installed a full on paddle shift system and it was giving me fits. At first in my panic I couldn’t tell if the wheels where spinning in the dirt or I was stuck in neutral. The only thing that I was certain of, I wasn’t moving. OK, the car went into safety mode, I get it in “a gear” and I am back on track. As soon as I get halfway down the front straight I realize no matter what I try, the car is stuck in 4th gear. Great! What else could possible go wrong, argh! I am pissed and completely unsettled as I can’t even attempt to get back into my driving rhythm. In difficult situations like this it’s easy to say this just isn’t my day, pack it in and head back to the pits. But that’s not really my style, so I figure there are 12 laps left, let’s see what we got. It takes me about 1.5 laps to get into any sort of a rhythm. With 4th gear I have plenty of speed in the corners where the Stohr is fast, and I just have to modulate the throttle at the end of three of the straightaways to stay off the rev-limiter. Amazingly, with in the next three laps I’ve over-taken half the field and I am picking up the pace by braking latter and rolling through the corners. At first none of this seemed possible, now James Barwell is on the radio giving me updates, Parker aside, I am the second fastest car on track. By lap 8 there are only 4 cars in front of me: Ehud Nahir in his Elan DP-02, Steve Nicklin in his Stohr WF1, Jeff Shafer in his Radical SR3, and Parker Nicklin rocketing his Pro Mazda. It take two more laps to reel in the Elan DP-02, I overtake him without missing a beat. I believe the track wore out Ehud and Steve as both had slowly diminished their pace. Two laps later I have a visual on Steve in his Stohr, half a lap later I get a big run on him, and he proceeds to brake check me ……and that was a big WTF moment. No harm no foul. With 3 laps to go to the paddle shifter somehow becomes fully functional, so now I am flying and as the race winds down I can see Jeff in the Radical. Not a bad result, 3rd overall (1st in Class).
Day 3: Qualifying/Race 2
I am informed that Parker has put on a new set of scrubbed in tires for qualie, I have my Team put on a set of slicks that have one race/heat cycle on them. Game On! I go out and put down a 1:40.5 lap, knocking 3.1 seconds of my lap time. With the smaller rear wing element removed, the car is faster and more balanced. However, the rear is stepping out a little. Things are heating up as Parker hasn’t put down a sub 1:41:00 lap yet. As expected he puts his Pro Mazda on pole with the new tires, but our lap times are much closer now. Perhaps this race will be of a contest. We decided to add back the smaller rear wing element in a lower position to attempt to balance the car.
Race 2 (15 Laps): Parker got the jump in the first race so I am determined to repay the favor in Race 2. I successfully get him at the start, and make a good fight out of it for the first 3 laps (see video below). Reality: the kid is fast, far more consistent than me, and on brand new rubber LOL!
At the end of lap 2, some drama unfolds; evidently I hit a piece of asphalt on the front straight the size of a large fist. After the race Parker said he was right behind me and got sprayed with asphalt debris. At the time I was unsure of what happen, there was a loud clunk right as I shifted and the car made a weird hop, so I momentarily thought the transmission let go. For safety reasons I lifted a little, but the car felt fine, so I continue to race. The front end is pushing again, in hindsight adding the smaller rear wing element has brought back the under-steer….so the Team’s hasn’t quite dialed in the balance. Parker gets by me on the 3rd lap, and proceeds to drive away. The rest of the race is a bit of a procession, so enjoy the first 3 laps. Still a good result, 2nd overall (1st in Class).
Note: After the race James Barwell removed a fist size chunk of asphalt that had smashed through the carbon fiber floor panel into the battery compartment……not good!
Note 2: We continue to have technical issues with on board video system. After the first lap of this race we lose the GPS signal, and subsequently the speedometer and track map. Apparently it continues to be a work in progress: