Yesterday I took Bumblestook to SJF Performance to double check the alignment and nut and bolt the car in preparation for Nationals. The rear toe slipped a bit since the last event and the front subframe bolts had loosened slightly so the alignment was reset and all the bolts double checked. We also raised the rear bar from full soft to 5/7, my baseline concrete setup.
Bumblestook ready for Nationals - SJF Performance - 8-26-2017
The trailer has been at SJF this week to replace the old / cracked breakaway box from the trailer with a brand new Tekonsha unit and also solder and heatshrink wrap the remaining wires that were still using taps. I've been getting brake controller shorts for that past year intermittently and these were obvious potential sources. In the end though it wasn't any of this that caused the problem. Turns out one of the brake wires going through the axle shaft was frayed. Luckily it was easily visible when you pulled the wire so I wrapped it with electrical tape for now and that seems to have cured the problem.
We got the most perfect weather and course to finally do a true dry/hot weather test of Bumblestook in her natural element. It was time for the bumblejockey, Hez, to get back in the codriver spot. There really isn't any other driver (besides myself of course) that has had as much seat time in Bumblestook as Hez has and putting him in the car would give me the best measure of her relative pace from last year.
Waiting patiently to be let loose - NNJR SCCA Meadowlands, NJ - 8-19-2017
We softened the front sway bar one notch based on the feedback from Dave at the last event. We set our usual pressures and as soon as I took my first run I knew she was back. Even on cold tires, her balance was perfect. It did all the quick transitioning S2000s are known for with none of the bad behavior. The rear would slide out a little then catch, the front would turn in super quick and go wherever you wanted with even the slightest change of steering angle. She felt the best she's felt ever and the results showed it.
Top PAX results - NNJR SCCA - 8-19-17
After getting the tire temps settled, Hez put in a blazing fast run to sit in 2nd in PAX, only 0.015 seconds behind GJ in Lipman's very well prepped and tested SSR GT3 and I ended up 6th out of 134 drivers.
RAW time results - NNJR SCCA - 8-19-2017
The RAW times were there as well. Hez's fast run was only a tenth of a second away from the SM/SSM times of Dan Stainback's STI and Jake Namer's RX7. This is pretty astonishing considering that today's course was in many ways a power course with nice sweepers and flowing transitions. The most interesting thing is if you watch our video, you can see we're still leaving a bunch of space to the cones which means she had a lot more pace out there. This was only her 4th event this year and boy is she showing she's eager to go back to Lincoln and take another shot at the championship.
Oh and for those curious, the new yellow bikini top to keep the interior cool when the hardtop is off is a made to order piece from Covercraft. It's a Covercraft Weathershield HP Convertible interior cover, model number IC3040PY (The last letter is the color I think so if you want another color, just look for the IC3040). It's really designed for the S2000 CR which has no soft top but obviously would still fit all S2000s although I'm not sure why you'd buy one if you already have a soft top that goes up in 10 seconds.
