CMC Race Video - Carolina Motorsports Park

Video from the May 3rd NASA Mid-Atlantic CMC race at Carolina Motorsports Park.

I like the view from the front row. But the Mustangs did not like having an F-Body up there, so they went to new shaved Toyo's and I was left with my 4 race old ones. Oh well. I had nothing for Mike Morris's Mustang all weekend. I did manage to keep Kent Lydic behind me for a number of laps. The real racing begins at about the 6:45 mark of the video. Kent kept getting a run on me out of turn 8. I had gotten into a bad habit the prior time at the track to just leave it in 4th through that turn (you know what they teach you in HPDE, eliminate shifts). I needed to drop to third gear there. Doing that on Sunday, I dropped about 1/2 second off my lap times.

I had no trouble out braking the Mustangs, until my brakes gave out on the last lap and I almost punted the FFR. Time for some ducting on those bad boys.

Yes, the car pushes...

NASA Southeast Thunder Race

I had so much fun the previous weekend at VIR, I decided to head down to Carolina Motorsports Park to run with the Southeast region.

Saturday was terrible with about 2 inches of rain falling throughout the day. I did get the annual AI/CMC Beach award (a child's beach bucket and shovel) for ending up in the sand trap at the exit of T14. But did finish in third in CMC.

Sunday was a different story. Caught up to the leading CMC Camaro and we had a dog fight for 25 minutes. So here is the video. It is long since I have not had a chance to edit out some parts of it. I actually make a pass for the lead and hold it for about a lap and a half. Never having lead a lap, I make a big mistake leaving the door open in T1. Lesson learned.

CMC Race Video

In car video. This was my ninth race and first podium finish. My fastest lap was 2:16:1. The top five finishers broke the CMC full course track record.

Silverado Towing Options

I have a 2001 Silverado 2500HD with the 6.0 motor. I have been thinking of parting with it for a new Silverado. The truck and my BMW R1150R are my daily means of transportation. The truck also serves to pull the 24' enclosed trailer for the Camaro.

My main gripe with the HD is the ride quality and now the fuel mileage. With a round trip to work at 56 miles, it is getting more and more expensive. I test drove a new 2500HD and it's ride quality was equal or less than that of my 2001 with fresh Bilsteins.
The 1500 I test drove actually had a very nice ride.

My towing days are down to 8-10 times a year as opposed to 3 times a month when I was AX'ing.

I am pondering options with cost being a big factor:

1) The 1500 with the Vortex Max package. It is a $3000 option and the gas mileage is not a whole lot better than the 2500HD I have now. It does come with 4 wheel disk brakes and a 10,000# towing capacity.

2) A regular 1500 with the towing package. This is the most economical option and provides me with decent fuel mileage. The big issue is the 7,000# capacity. With the CMC car, trailer and normal spares, I figure to be right at the limit or slightly above it.

3) Just keep the 2001 and save the money for a 2009 Camaro.

My towing is mostly to VIR (90 minutes) and points that are no more than 5 hours away, all via interstate.

Thoughts...opinions...experience?

Roebling Road

Some in car footage from this past weekend at Roebling Road.

This from the final qualifying session prior to the Time Trials. The laps are in the upper 1:24 to lower 1:25...about 1 second off the CMC track record.

They have done an awesome job on the repaving of the track. The surface is smooth and very grippy. My tires were going away big time by late Sunday though, dropping about a second from Saturday to Sunday's time trial.