Day One - Tire Rack

Its been a busy morning and early afternoon. After a great breakfast and a run to Walmart for a new folding chair, shop towels, mini-DVD tapes, and a football for exercise, we headed to the local DIY (do it yourself) car wash to clean the old girl up. A quick wash and dry was followed by a fuel top off before making it to the Tire Rack at 9:15. There were a few cars in the lot and registration was officially open.

We unpacked the car for the first time - damn there is a lot of stuff in this car! We then went down to registration and signed our lives away. IN the process they handed us more stickers for the car which we promptly installed in a blistering wind. The weather is quite warm and slightly overcast with a strong breeze - gusting to 20 or 25 MPH is my estimate. There is just enough sun from time to time to require a sunblock lathering.

The sticker application is finished in short order and then I assist Woody apply the stickers to Neil's M-Coupe. The older folks need all the help they can get. While I keep Woody on the straight and narrow Brian works to adjust the harnesses in the car so that they fit both of us. We have installed a four-point roll bar, full race seat, and harnesses in the car for safety this year. Keeping the fat backside planted nicely in a seat also assists greatly in driving the car.

After finishing all this work, we run the car through tech inspection. Do you have all the right stickers? Yes. Do you have a fire extinguisher? Yes. Helmet and fire-proof suit? Yes. Your good to go. They brand the side walls of our Michelin PS2's and we are free to resume our pre-event prep chores.

Just before lunch, Brian and I tackle removing all four wheels and taping over the wheel weights in the event we heat them up enough during track sessions and the weight glue releases. A little added insurance. Lunch is served and it is the usual fair of burgers, hot dogs, pasta, and brownies. Yummy! Neil Simon has arrived (Woody's partner) from his conference in Chicago.

We are now waiting for the drivers meeting to start at 3:00 and then the wet skid pad test at 5:00. From there it will be a quick pack up and hit the road toward Elkhart, WI and tomorrow's event at famed Road America. Brian is driving the wet skid pad and after much debate and conversing with the Tire Rack specialists, we opt for 32 lbs all around and traction control off.

Wish us luck! The next report should be how we did on the wet skid pad and how nasty traffic is getting around Chicago on our trip north.

Cheers!