Wednesday, April 2, 2014

DC ProSolo 2013

Bumblestook was finished just in time. I had two week left before the DC ProSolo so I did a double header to test all the changes and make any last minute adjustments to her. On a nice sunny Saturday it was off to the Meadowlands with the NNJR SCCA. What an incredible change from earlier in the season! She was doing everything I asked of her and for the first time she placed well ending up 5th in PAX overall. The only really stupid thing I did was forget to properly tighten down the rear sway bar so by the day it had worked itself loose.

NNJR SCCA Autox - Meadownlands, NJ - 6/1/2013
Getting somewhere - 6/1/2013

NNJR SCCA Autox - Meadowlands, NJ
6/1/2013

I drove straight from NJ to DC to attend the TnT at Fedex Field with the WDCR SCCA the next day. It was another great day with near perfect conditions and the she felt pretty good there too. That's really relative since I never do well at DC. I just can't get used to the weird off camber turns but from a testing perspective all systems seemed to be a go. I did have an ominous problem on the way home where the power to my Haltech expansion module worked its way loose and the ECU wasn't reading the wideband O2 so I thought I was running rich and pulled over. Once I reconnected that, the car ran well enough to go home. Another clear sign that I need to stop driving a BSP car on the road.

WDCR SCCA TnT - FedEx Field - 6/2/2013
Finally it was time for the DC ProSolo and although my trailer was complete, I didn't have time to go to PA to pick it up so I ended up renting a trailer at Barn rentals in Queens, NY since I didn't want to risk any issues getting the her home if I broke anything. Trailering for the first time on a trailer that was much wider than the trailer I ordered, having to load in torrential downpour and having the tie downs in the wrong place meant that it took hours to finally hook her up. I convoyed down with Mark and Lisa and we got stuck in crawling traffic and we ultimately missed the practice starts that Friday.

Bumper to bumper traffic in the rain in NY - 6/7/2013
Finally on site - FedEx Field - 6/7/2013
DC ProSolo - FedEx Field, MD - 6/8/2013
In the tradition of usual suckage at DC, I continued the suckage in 2013 and didn't really do well at all so I left as soon as my runs were done which I was glad I did because it was another mission and a half just to get the car off the trailer by myself when I got home. Also glad I trailered despite all the craziness because I found a screw in one of Bumblestook's street tires so I wouldn't have been able to drive home anyway.

Suckage at DC ProSolo - FedEx Field, MD
6/8-9/2013
Spotted on the way home - 6/9/2013