Jesus H! We have really been busy lately with HPDE events, I myself have done 3 events in the last 5 weeks. Unfortunately, this one will most likely mark the end of our 2019 season, except for Scott (silver e36) who will be doing Bimmer challenge at Buttonwillow December 21st (hosted by speed ventures) The last time we were at this track (October 12th) we all struggled with traction (quite a bit), and for some of us it kind of ruined the day. You can read all about it by clicking the link below.
This time around it was freezing out. Still traumatized from the lack of traction at last event we did here, we were assuming this event was going to be even worse since it was much colder. Despite the freezing temps, the track was much more predictable and had much more grip than last time. I can only assume it’s because we had some heavy rains a few days prior. This not only cleaned dirt off the track, but also kept the dust to a minimum. The dust out here can coat the track and make things a little hairy.
I began my morning by meeting up with Patrick at 6:05am. We had planned for 6:00am but there was ice on my windows that I had to scrape off in the morning, plus I needed to stop off and get gas before meeting up with him. We met up and were immediately on our way out to LVMS, Scott and John were just going to meet us there. I’m so glad my car is still in factory street trim, has a heater, and full interior because, boy oh boy was it cold. Once we had arrived at the track, I still needed to rotate my tires from the last event I did, and we had to register. There wasn’t any other prep needed besides the ever-important tire pressure, and oil level check. (these should ALWAYS be checked before you go out, and then after each session)
After encountering so much traffic at the last PCA event I did, I decided to move up to the intermediate group. I have always been hesitant to move up, not because I’m worried about my skill, but rather worried about how slow my car is and getting in people’s way. After the last PCA event though I realized I was able to hold my own and that even though my car is slow, I’m able to hang with cars of much more power. The night before the event we had gotten the itinerary email, and it stated that because there was so many beginners and novices, there were going to combine the intermediate with the advanced group! HOLT SHIT, was I ready for this? Fortunately for me, my three buddies were in the advanced group, and I could at least bank on not pissing off three people.
We headed to the drivers meeting, which was painless. (unlike some other events)
After the drivers meeting it was time for the advanced group to go out, which was me! I wasn’t used to finishing the meeting then heading straight out on track. As we lined up in the hot pit awaiting to be released on to the track, I sat nervously in my SOHC civic eyeing up everyone in the group. Trying desperately to not be intimidated by anyone, but it was no use. My plan for the first session was to just stay out of people’s way, stay aware, and make sure I was giving point by’s. During the first session, it instantly became apparent that I was going to be the least of the advanced groups worry. There were at least three cars that had lots of horsepower, but not a lot of driver skill. One of them even went off track in front of Scott and Patrick, and then tried to say that Scott hit him. The car that went off was instantly banished to a lower group, while the other two slower drivers managed to stay in the advanced group.
This config was different than the previous one we ran here a little more than a month ago. This one was shorter and while the other guys had done this config last year, I hadn’t ever done it. Since I had no benchmark for times at this config, I really didn’t know what to expect, but during my first session I was able to click off a 1:55 pretty easily.
With the first session in the books, I was actually feeling much more confident. We now had an hour to kill until the next session, so I ran around and tried to snap some pictures.
It was now time for our second session, and after the first sessions shenanigans I was feeling much more confident. We headed back out and actually had an incident free session. I was beginning to like the more advanced session, because everyone is the advanced group acted very respectfully, and obviously it wasn’t there first time on a track. They drove very predictably and didn’t do any dangerous corner diving. Uneventfully the second session ended, and we all came back in. We now had almost three hours to kill till our third session. We headed down the street to del taco and filled our bellies.
Johns all… “I have so much horsepower, I dont know what to do with it all”
I was so cold; Scott was having a tough time getting his oil up to proper operating temp. Yes, he has thermostat, but I was literally 40 degrees out. He decided to block off the grill with blue tape since the oil cooler was right behind the grill.
My car was running pretty good, despite starting to consume more oil.
After the end of the second session Patrick started to smell something. A quick inspection left nothing to be found, and lead to assume that it was just another car on track that was making the smell.
During warmer track days Scott battles with higher temps, not actually over heating but temps high enough to start to be concerned. One way he decided to combat this was by installing these chassis specific Trackspec motorsports louvers. Not only do they look awesome but why are functional too.
I dont know why everyone else is cold except Patrick.
Now on to our third session of the day. The sun had now been beating on the track all day and if there was any possibility of it heating up now was the time. I was now familiar with the track and was able to start going pretty hard. I was consistently clicking off 1:51’s during the second session, and this time out I was going to be filming my laps. Everyone else (Patrick, Scott, John) were getting 44’s, 43’s, and John managed to get sub-40’s.
Below is a link to my video of the third session. I managed to consistently get 50’s, and I was knocking hard on the sub 50 door.
The third session out the other guys managed to get their PB’s as well.
Patrick (S2000) got a 1:41.43x
Scott (E36) a 1:42.5
John (Z06) got a 1:38.4
All things considered my EK wasn’t doing too bad, let’s be honest John has 5x the power I have and 315 BFG rivals all around.
This time around, I noticed that Scott had a carbon fiber sunroof delete. He said he’s had it for about 6 moths now.
More of those Trackspec motorsports louvers.
Johns car looking super delicious as per usual
Trevor’s car looking like the JDM gem that it is.
Scott’s car got a lot of love the time around. I love his car, it looks pretty plain when you first see it but then you look closer and start to notice all that’s going on.
Random people.
My lovely engine bay.
Gotta love Patrick’s Girodisc’s
When it was time for the fourth and final session, the clouds began to cover the sun and the track temps began to fall. It was now going to be harder for me to PB, but I still had the illustrious sub 50 in my sights. The other guys had already achieved the goal’s they were looking for, so this final session was just going to be a “fun one” for them. Lap after lap of that fourth session I was stuck in the 50’s, I started to get disappointed because I thought I wasn’t going to sub-50. Literally six straight laps of 50’s, only to finally break the 50 barriers on my final lap of the last session. I had done it, 1:49.59! unfortunately I didn’t get it on film because my camera died halfway thru the last session, But it was real. Below you can see how painfully close I was on the previous laps.
The day couldn’t have ended any better! No ones car broke, everyone got times they were happy with, and the track cooperated with us all day.
Look at how cool I am rolling out with the advanced guy’s! (I let them go first though, because they are fast af)
He’s got the look.
Some other random peoples.
One side of the Pits.
I dont care what people think, this thing is sick.
Patrick’s car looking super regular.
Lloyd’s civic si
Another one of Scott’s recent installs was this Parts shop max front strut tower reinforcement kit. I’ll say it again, the best part about Scott’s E36 is how nonchalant his car looks. Then you start to look closer, and you see how much function he’s got packed into this thing.
John’s rocking DTC 60s on the front of his Z06.
I have one more video that I did of the camera facing me. I wanted to try and edit some of it into the other video, but I’m still a beginner when it comes to video editing. So below is an 18 min video of what I look like driving around the track.
In conclusion, the event put on by the LVRSCCA was awesome. These events are very fun to do, there are generally more “experienced” people that do them, and there aren’t many egos to deal with. If you were ever going to do an event, I would highly recommend these being your first. It’s great because its located “in town” at the LVMS, the price is reasonable, the staff is awesome, and the people that attend are great. This whole event went off without a hitch, which is why the post is so concise. We came, we conquered, we left. It was really that easy.
I feel like I’m ending my 2019 season on a great note, I have come along way this year, set a lot of PB’s, and really made it a point to focus on my driver mod (because we all know that the most important mod.) I have done numerous track days on my D16y8 set up that I bought from Facebook marketplace, and it’s starting to get tired. I’m getting fluctuating coolant levels in my reservoir, and its burning about a quart of oil per track day. hopefully during the down time, I have for the next 5-6 weeks I’ll be able to refresh the motor. If I don’t have time, then I guess I’ll just drive it till it blows. (if it ever does)
It’s taken me a little more than a year to slowly build the four door to what it is today. It helped create great content for the blog throughout that time, and I’m happy with where it’s at. There really isn’t anything else I need to do other than buy brake pads, tires, and possibly refresh the motor. I’m still so proud of what it has helped me to accomplish, and I look forward to setting new PB’s in 2020.
Remember, the hardest part about tracking your car is mustering up the courage to get out there and do it. Set yourself a goal, make 2020 the year you start to track your car (if you’re not already) If you’re local to Vegas, come hang out with us on your first track day. We won’t bite, love to meet new enthusiast, we will help you feel comfortable, and help give you any pointers you may need. Bring any car you can, it doesn’t have to be built! It can just be a stock car; you can learn plenty with that.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or anything else. don’t be afraid to reach out to me via email @ billy@functiontheory.com, Instagram @functiontheory, or just comment below. I WILL REPLY!
And if you’re looking for any other pictures of your car, check out the link below to my FLICKR that has over 170 pictures form the event. Do what you want with them, they are free for you to download. (if you could just tag me in them that would be awesome)
