NT555s on track, NJMP Thunderbolt

[Juice]

 

[JJ427R]

Good Recovery! Have not spun on track myself yet and I've only had two wheels off track in a couple cases. This was my hairiest moment on track yet at Road America a couple years ago goin thru the kink. friend was behind me and all he saw was a cloud of dust, hoped he wasn't going to hit me...

 

[Juice]

I do belive I also put 2off. lol Heard talk in the paddock about the asshole that put mud & grass on tbe track. I quietly just walked away.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Happens to all of us. Missed the T9 apex and ran out of road on exit. Won't ever know for sure whether or not I found the easy way to turn a little mistake into a bigger one.

Norm

 

[Juice]

I guess I should give the backstory that led up to my "wooops" moment.
Signed up for a 2 day event at NJMP. Track is 90 min drive from my house. I decided just to drive to the track. No trailer, spare parts or tools or anything. (Smart decision eh? lol)
That was the third session of four for.the day. I got comfortable with the track in the morning and started to push a bit harder.
Drove home after the spin, swapped tires to slicks. Loaded trailer and hauled car back to track for day two.
The "near end of life" nt01 slicks I cut 6-8 seconds a lap off my times vs the street tires. Just sayin' The other video in my NJMP thread is from day 2 btw.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I guess I should give the backstory that led up to my "wooops" moment.
Signed up for a 2 day event at NJMP. Track is 90 min drive from my house. I decided just to drive to the track. No trailer, spare parts or tools or anything. (Smart decision eh? lol)

Just driving to the track isn't necessarily a problem - I'm about an hour away and driving to the track is the only way I can get there (don't have either a trailer or a tow vehicle, nor a place to park them even if I did). But I do pack a fair amount of stuff, including two mounted tires (two of what are nominally the street tires for the car).

A bit off topic, but track days/weekends at NJMP for me have become get-away weekends for my wife and I, we stay overnight and take two cars. Usually end up at the 'Oar House' in downtown Millville, too.

Drove home after the spin, swapped tires to slicks. Loaded trailer and hauled car back to track for day two.

Did the street tires get flatspotted or was it a case of becoming really uneasy about driving on them?

The "near end of life" nt01 slicks I cut 6-8 seconds a lap off my times vs the street tires.

I'm not surprised.


Norm

 

[Juice]

No flat spots that I could notice, just no grip left in them. Max lateral Gs recorded with NT555 was 0.7 G. NT01 I was seeing 1.1x G.

 

[JJ427R]

Did the street tires get flatspotted or was it a case of becoming really uneasy about driving on them?

My guess on this is related to having too much brake pad for the tire he was on. He is running Hawk DTC 60 Pads and was previously running slicks. Those DTC-60s can be too much pad for a street tire and he was used to driving with the slicks, hence the flat spotting when braking.

My mistake did not notice you did not have flat spots, disregard...

 

[Juice]

Actually, I was not using the DTCs at that event. That was with Hawk HP Plus pads on all 4 corners. It was a combination of exceeding the tire's grip, and not enough sway bar in the front. The front bar was on the softest setting. Since then, I have ended up on the middle setting.
That is my story, and I am sticking to it!

 

[JJ427R]

A bit off topic, but track days/weekends at NJMP for me have become get-away weekends for my wife and I, we stay overnight and take two cars. Usually end up at the 'Oar House' in downtown Millville, too.

This is very similar to me and my wife as well. I don't have a trailer and being I'm in a wheelchair we usually have to drive my van as well. It's almost impossible to fit everything we need plus my wheelchair in the stang. BIR is my closest track and that is 3 hours, Road America is 5 hours. We have family in the Brainerd area so we usually add a day and make it a family visit as well when we go there. Road America in July has been our "summer vacation" for the last 8 years.

 

[Juice]

Same here on these "track vacations". We have been going to WGI since 1999 or 2000. Have not missed an event, and for a while the club had two events per year. So yea, Got some seat time at the Glen. I end up putting in somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 track miles per event. Times that by about 30 events. That will get you an idea of track miles logged there.

 

[JJ427R]

Not sure if you've seen my recent post on BIR Performance driving school for this year but no guests will be allowed at the track this year, driver only. We have to leave the wives at home! I'm guessing it will be this way at most tracks this year.

 

[Juice]

I have no word on my June 8&9 Glen event. I like to remain hopeful, but I think it will be delayed at minimum.