Event Journal

Conclusions

Plans change.
Mike and I are rather beat from all the driving. We decide its safer to just let Enrique tow the STI home to Phoenix and for us to fly to Phoenix and drive Mikes GTI home from there. There is no way we can drive it home on our own in the time we need to be home. It would now just be the 2 of us driving and still make it to work on Monday. Plus our families will be happy to see us home sooner. Were eager to get home and were rather tired of driving, quite honestly.

Our trip facts:

Miles on car when we left SO-CAL: 800
Mikes driven: 9200
Fuel burned: Wow, a lot.
Hours slept per person, per day on average for this 10 day event: 3
Arguments: 1
Fights: 0
Laughs: 891
Tears: a few.
Hardships: nobody counted. You just buck up and move on.
Families missed: 3.
Family support: 100%
Friends support: 100%
Strangers support: 99%
Support given to fellow one lappers: 5. (everytime we saw someone who needed/asked for help. Even if they were in our own class.)
Speeding tickets: 1
Times hit with radar: 429
Times hit with laser: 5
Times hit with X band: 1.5million
Animals killed: 0. (One unconfirmed field mouse.)
Bugs killed: Enough to feed an entire 3rd world country.
New friends: have a look at the entry list. Great people, all of them!


Right now Mike and myself are resting comfortable in the Hilton at the O'Hare Airport. I'm looking out the big windows at my grand view of a parking garage. Its better than some views we've had this week. We just had some Chicago pizza from the sports bar down stairs and naturally, beer. While in Rome. Now that its been over for 24 hours I've had some time to reflect a little.

This event is tough and unless you have actually done it, you can't know what's involved. Even then, I suspect that if I did come back next year, I would probably still learn new things about doing this event. I thought I had an idea what to expect from this event and for the most part, I did. There were a lot of things I learned as I went along and it was nothing I couldn't cope with and it was never overwhelming either. The tough part was the never ending driving. The majority of the time in this event was spent in transit from one track to another. You got to love to road trip! That's part of participating in the event.

For me this experience was extremely enjoyable and valuable. You could even say it was precious experience as I've no clue when I will ever be able to do it again. It's cost prohibitive for me to fund it myself. If I were ever able to do it again, I think I'd have to spend more time on the tracks and not just driving to them. It was hard for me to be at the track and not drive although I knew what my role at this years event was with exception of the drag racing event. It was still well worth it, I wouldn't change a thing.

What would we do differently if we could?
We would have more testing time with the car, get the suspension dialed in before we leave home. Add 100-150 more HP. A few minor fixes and additions to the car to be more electronic device friendly.

What's in store for next year?

Mike has said that he would take next year off and probably return in 06. Nothing is ever final until the day comes and he is either there, or not. Wait and see.

Enrique is already planning for next years event. I will let him speak for himself as I know he is reaching for higher goals than what we accomplished this year.

Myself, well I have no plans as of this writing. I'm open to most anything. I would definitely have to compete in the event as a co-driver doing much more than just the drag race to come back again. I'd like to evolve as a driver in that way. I'd hate to let all my previous racing experience go to waste on the sidelines and I will gain even more experience between now and then. I know I could be a beneficial asset to a team, its just a matter of making a connection with someone with the same goals and ambitions as myself. Hopefully I have made some sort of impression and this journey will continue for me towards that goal.

I don't think anyone can do this event without a lot of support. Financially and otherwise. You don't see any one man teams out there. For that reason I have to thank Mike Potter for asking me to be a part of this team. His ability to match personalities is only one key part in the team working together as one. His contributions to the team were what makes the team work together as a team. Great drive, Da-da!

Enrique Ramirez for having the drive, desire, ambition, dedication and know how to put together a car, team and sponsors to make participating and being competitive as a team possible. Without this total package we are nothing. Considering the relative out of the box preparation the car was in for the event this year, id have to say we did a great job finishing where we did. Great drive Da-da!

I had a great time guys!

Shawn Meze

May 8th

Well, that was different. The closer we came to the hotel in South Bend the more euphoric the mood became. We still had one more event to complete to finish the race. Doing the math we know that even if we don't make it, we will still finish 3rd in class and 13th overall. So the seriousness of this event is very lackadaisical. The party has begun!

We are checking into a hotel and the sun is still up and not coming up, that's ODD!! We drop off the bags in the room and head out to a restaurant for a real dinner! Fast food has taken its toll on all our systems. A steak dinner will do us all good. Therapeutic or something.

Its been a week since any of us have had a drink so a beer seemed like a great idea. And it was. We shared dinner with fellow one lappers and friends who eagerly toasted any and everything we could think of. That was so much fun. We returned  to the hotel to continue the party, but as I got back a sudden migraine sidelined me for the night. I ended up in bed by 11:30 so it wasn't a total disappointment. I awake to Mike standing, fully dressed next to his bed. I freak out thinking I've overslept but quickly realize its 2am and Mike closed the bar down with Norm and Mike, the yellow Audi S4 team that overcame all kinds of problems to get to the finish. It's best I didn't go to the bar with Mike as the one beer I had with dinner was plenty enough for me to get my buzz on.

With a big smile on my face, I roll over and resume my sleep. I'm in heaven!

The morning call wakes us up and we drag ourselves from our slumber. We take our time doing most anything and drive all the way across the street for breakfast. Then we roll out to the Tire Rack.

The mood there is definitely one of a party atmosphere. This is a celebration of completing this great race. Finishing is winning. Then you look at where you placed. There are tons of stories being swapped, broken parts proudly displayed. Group pictures are a common sight. The people who saw us off a week before are now back to welcome us home.

Then there is the pesky last event to complete. For the last time we unload the car and set it up for the dry skid pad. Mike drives with a .959 G on the skidpan. A big improvement over the wet. he feels he redeemed himself over his previous attempt there in the wet. There was nothing to redeem, it is what it is. We watch the other cars finish their final event and we move onto the awards ceremony where we receive our expected 3rd place in the Mid-priced Sedan class behind a well prepared STI and a seriously modified EVO. We were very pleased to do as well as we did.

As a bonus, we were also awarded with the George Scheuster award for sportsmanship! That was a true honor for us.

This concludes the one lap of America race for us. All that is left is a long drive home to So-cal.

Thanks for following along.

Until next time, whenever that will be,

Shawn

May 7th

Journals are a funny thing when your day runs nearly 24 hours long.

On the One Lap journey, days blur together. There is no distinct stop and start point. I don't sit down in a nice hotel and ponder my thoughts for the days events. Instead, I'm usually typing on the laptop in the back seat after we initially get back on the road en-route to the next track. In doing so, I'm giving up potentially 3 hours sleep a day. Most transits are in the 700-800 mile distance range, by the time I'm able to write up an entry for the days events then its now time for me to move up to the drivers seat.

We manage 230 miles on a 15.3 tank of fuel. That's a good 4 hour stint per driver. I know this has been said before but, Once that's over then we move to the passenger seat to navigate and help keep the driver awake and alert. I could write there but some sections of the route need attention. Plus my battery life is short and the ability to plug into the cars power is not an option. We have a zillion things plugged into the cig lighter. Figure that's 8 hours worth of work right there. Then keep in mind that I've been up most of the morning and been busy all day at the track. The excitement level won't let me sleep regardless. Let me tell you, those 3 hours I give up are extremely valuable!

I give them up willingly. I've been following various One lap Journals for the last 4 years. It never fails that these writers would flake off mid event, leaving me frustrated and feeling abandoned. I always felt I could do a better job at being sure that I would continue to write if I were ever lucky enough to be a participant in this amazing event. I accepted this personal challenge and in doing so I've learned to use my time wisely at the track to get down just some those stories that I know I would forget later. It's been fun sitting at the pit wall eating a gourmet breakfast burrito while writing. I shall cherish these memories.

It should be blatantly obvious that I'm no journalist. I just write what I think, see and feel. Perhaps I'm more of a reporter? I guess I report stuff. I now know why those previous writers fell off the face of the earth mid event. Its all about priorities. That and internet access. We haven't always had decent internet access on this trip. One hotel only had 2400 baud modern connection. At other times our options were to sleep a grand total of 1 hour or, do e-mail and update web sites. What do you think we did? Exactly. We crammed Z's.

That said, the drive from Hallet Oklahoma was a long one, 13 hours total. Fortunately it was also uneventful even from the standpoint of the songs the radar detector sang us along the way. From the Missouri State line to the Illinois State line, nadda peep. I'm not complaining about that either. By the time I was rotated to the passenger seat and Enrique took the wheel, things were changing. The weather was getting colder. On the road we saw a few one lappers along the way. At least we were going in the right direction. Its refreshing to see another racer on the road. Always a friendly wave as we pass. You get to the point where you actively look for them. "Is that a lapper" is a common question heard in the car along the way. Out of nowhere We get a cell phone call saying that the yellow Audi S4 had been fixed and was on its way at about 9pm. They would have to hustle to make it on time.

One thing I can say about this particular trip is, the nighttime drives have been absolutely beautiful. In the western states that we traveled through the vista's have been simply amazing. Fully lit up by a full moon casting hues of blues and grays. When you hit the Midwestern states, there's not much to see in that regard. When conditions are right and the light shows from thunderstorms are just as entertaining. When there is nothing else to do but drive In a straight line plus listen to  Mike and Enrique's favorite XM radio station "MIX" with only 12 songs over and over again, anything visual helps pass the time and keep ones mind alert.

Mike had a double stint of sleep. Myself and Enrique did a double stint up front. Odd considering Enrique was to do the driving at Road America. Mike was pretty beat so the team adapted and overcame. This wasn't a dictatorship. We were pretty good about reading one another and when we saw one of us was in trouble, we allowed for additional sleep. That's what makes us a great team. We all get along well, we all have the same goal in mind. it just works.

Eventually we make it to the hotel near Elkart Lake in Wisconsin for 2 hours of hard earned sleep. After checking in at the lobby which is busy with other one lappers at 4:15am trying to check in. We hustle off to the room where we are fast asleep for our Z cramming mission. 6:30 comes faster than anyone needed but as we have become accustomed to doing, we move out to the track.

Road America is another one of those tracks that has a sort of religious experience for many people who walk these hallowed grounds. I'm one of them. I'm tired as we drive in the main gate but I'm also wide eyed, taking in everything I see and hear. When we get to our pit and get out for the car prep routine, the bitter 47F cold air takes your breath away. The 15mph wind doesn't help either. I felt like my ears were going to shatter like glass if I bumped them on anything of substance.

Car prep task complete, they're calling up the first 10 cars. We are ready. Its nearing time for our run group to take the track. I'm told I could go up in the flag stand so I ask the timing and scoring people how I go about doing it. I see that I can just simply walk across the track and climb the ladder and simple, I'm up in the stand. Easy right. Not so fast, there are rules here. I'm not allowed to walk on the track. No problem, I'm not looking to break any rules. The problem is, I don't know what the rules are here and I don't want to find out the hard way. I ask how to proceed if its even possible from the timing and scoring people. It doesn't hurt to ask, right.

It looks like I will be able to do it. My instructions are that I just need to go under a tunnel to get the other side. Its big enough to drive a car thru that runs under the track and to the other side. Once there, my task is to find my way around a large white building with large pane windows on the trackside. I don't find an obviously easy way to access the walk way from the building to the flag stand. I'm getting nervous because Enrique is now on the track at the start finish line waiting to be started. I go around the building once and see in front that there are no cars in the parking lot. I assume the building is not occupied and I'm not really comfortable with pulling on door knobs when I suspect nobody is there. So I do the next easiest thing, I climb a short steel bar fence and make my way to the flag stand. I get there in time to start my stopwatch on my team car and am setting up my camera for some flyby shots in following laps from the flag stand. I have this euphoric "This is amazing to be here" feeling in my belly.

Right about this time I hear to my right... "HEY!!! Gid ovah here"!! I feel like a 4 year old with his hand in the cookie jar. I turn to see the door open and a not so happy face leering out at me. I walk over to him ready for a lecture of some sort. At the very least an ear full.

After a short discussion with the head of the safety team, (From what I saw, he ran the entire track masterfully so his title might be even more involved that what I give credit for. Either way, super great guy.) apologize for climbing the fence and explain myself while taking responsibility for my actions. I also explain that I didn't know there was anyone in the building. If I would have known all I had to do was knock on a door, I surely would have done that. Because of my willingness to openly take responsibility for myself I was to my amazement, forgiven of my crimes and allowed to stay. These are some great people at Road America for sure. I still felt bad for making them have to yell at me. I would love to name names here but for the life of me I cant remember the gentleman's name who dealt with me. For that, I'm sorry if your reading this.

Little did I know that this building houses an amazing video surveillance system. They see every inch of the track and I was allowed to visit a during a couple run groups. That was a real treat! For your info, if you ever go there, go knock on the door you wont regret it!

I returned to the pits to check in on the team's status to find out that the Yellow Audi S4 that ran thru the tires at Hallet had indeed been fixed and had arrived at Road America in time to make the first run group! That's a 13 hour drive plus now they had to race! Wow, that's hard-core!

Enrique finished 21st overall on the morning session. In his second event he finished a full 10 seconds faster. Were now confident we will hold onto 3rd place in class and hopefully can hang onto our overall position of 14th. While we were packing up the car word came to us that the 3rd team Subaru STi driven by the Firestone brothers crashes in the wall. The front end is completely wiped. Cell phones light up and contacts are made for repairs. They say they will have it fixed well enough to run it at the last event. It only needs to run 4 short laps. Fortunately nobody is hurt in the accident, that's the important thing.

We once again pack up the car knowing we only have a short 230 mile drive back to the place where we started this whole thing at the Tire Rack facility in South Bend, Indiana. The thought of getting 6 or more hours sleep tonight makes us giddy! We are excited about this prospect indeed and the mood has lightened from all the teams!

Til then....

Shawn

May 6th

As we get to bed we decide our game plan for the next day. The schedule says the track opens at 8am. We would like to get up early and be at the track when it opens because there are only a few covered parking spots available. We really want to be one of those with shade. Off to bed we go. Nobody has a problem falling asleep and Mike and I are  getting used to sleeping with each other. Its like 1950 TV stuff here, we both have had a foot on the floor the first couple days. Now we snuggle, we miss our wives so. (I'm kidding, we don't miss them. (Speak for yourself Shawn! ERR))

Something seems wrong. I'm sleeping in a bed and I'm becoming aware of being awake. It's still very dark, I should be snoring still. Next thing I know the room explodes with activity followed up with a knock at the door.

Its 7:20 we are late! Its dark because the curtains have the nuclear blast protection film on them which let's no light through.

I've never seen Mike and Enrique shower so fast in my life. Especially for Mike, a shower is a religious experience. A time of deep meditation for him. That sort of quality takes time. For as long as I've known him, I've never known him to take less than a 30 minute shower. That's a quickie. To his credit, he was in and out within 10 minutes. Enrique was in and out so fast I don't think he needed a towel! I was most impressed.

If it wasn't for the blatant lack of ability from the person running the hotel, we could have been on the road at 7:45. Still within the time frame we were after. We arrive at the track and end up without a covered pit. We are not bothered, we are here to race, not be pampered. (But we would have gladly taken a covered spot.)

Once again Enrique and myself get into the pre-race routine of prepping the car. We've got it down pretty good now.

The car has some sort of ability to create water. Early on we had a right rear floorboard filling up with water. We thought it was from the rain. It turned out to be the A/C drain hose not sticking through the firewall all the way. More recently, the cooler we have been using decided to spring a leak. I had emptied it out of water to lessen the weight of carrying it while riding the bike. (part of our race strategy, ICE on the intercooler at hot tracks.) Empty of all liquid, it still managed to soak the seat. This thing has some sort of aqua demon. We re-inspect the cooler and its dry and empty. The rear seat is soaked where the cooler sat. We take advantage of the bright sun and remove the rear seat bottom for drying. This saves us a whopping 2 lbs! Extremely light seat.

Mike does his recon of the track and I can feel he is eager to get on it. He knows this place. His energy level is high so I expect nothing but a great time. His confidence in himself and the car is high and his first run group times shows it. according to our stopwatches, he runs a 4:40 to the 2nd place STI's 4:41. Typically we run 10-15 seconds behind. Mike is on a roll.

The afternoon session is run backwards and is like a completely different track and word comes down that they will allow time to walk the track for the new configuration. Mike takes advantage of this on 2 wheels.

In the second session, the Audi that were chasing in the overall points has a problem that puts him up and over a tire wall. Thankfully he is not hurt although unfortunately the car didn't fare as well. He broke a radiator. Enrique went to work and managed to find a guy in the crowd who knew the owner of a local Audi dealership. Working his magic on the phone, he arranged to have them pick up the car to have it fixed. With any luck, we will see them at the next event at Road America.

Mike drives well and soon were back in the packing-it-up mode and hitting the highway.

Time to turn it off and get back on the road.

Til then...

Shawn

May 5th

Sometimes things just don't go as planned. Adapt, overcome. That's a good game plan to stick by, right?

But first let me start with a story. You wanna hear a story? Good, here it is, and it goes a little something like this...

I'm driving deep into Utah, holding a solid pace. Making decent time. Previous nights netted a little faster average speed so this speed feels a lot like walking. Someplace on I-70 where the scenery is stunningly beautiful and the roads become mildly twisty and every now and then throw major elevation changes at you just for fun. I pick up a slight radar sourced just ahead. I slow down to the posted speed to investigate. I'm hit hard with radar and then we see him coming westbound. Instead of just continuing with the, "nothing to see here" routine, I see his turn signal on. Oh crap, he's going to turn around. Check my speed again, I'm legit. He continues to hit me full bore with radar but doesn't gain on me from being 1/4 mile behind me. Now the speed limit drops from a boorish 75 down to an agonizing 60mph. He still doesn't gain on me, maintains the 1/4 mile gap behind me. He's keeping me honest. He's torturing me!! Give me a ticket already, just stop bombarding me with radar!! STOP!!!

I see my chance, long downhill winding grade. I get on it a little and put some distance between us. Is he gone? Or is he now with radar off and sneaking up on me.... I'm so paranoid, I need medication!

Apparently he pulled someone else over but I'm still feeling the effects of the close call. I'm doing 85 but nervously. Every car that catches us makes me slow down wait until I can verify their identity before proceeding with my pace.

One of these potential hazards was a fellow one lapper. There are safety in numbers. 2 is perfect. Anymore than that can be hazardous. One watches the 12 (front) and the other watches the 6 (rear). I had the 6 position.

About 2 hours into the drive the Prelude we're running with slows. No power, doesn't run. We stop to render whatever help we can. Open the hood and we find their timing belt quite loose. The Timing belt tensioner has failed. More teams stop to offer help and before too long we have 4 cars trying to help. Blake Fuller and his Dad, Peter, stop and tear in to the car. Most teams slow to offer help, a few just fly on by. After a failed attempt to fix the car in the full moon, 48F night air, were left with calling AAA for a tow to a local shop for repairs. Its now 2am and were still 3 hours from our destination.

Apparently I've hit a wall of some sort. Sleep depravation has caught up with me. Some things you can't hide or fake. I climbed into the back seat to continue my journal entry, trying to make good use of some down time. Instead, I fall deep asleep. It was a nightmarish blur of stopping and starting. Garbles talking that I can't understand, a few words here and there but I'M unable to snap out and wake up. I'm aware that I'm crammed up in a 3X3 space and it's not comfortable, yet my body keeps me from regaining any sort of consciousness. I sleep. Nothing wakes me. Well, the deer in the road sort of did, but once the danger passed, my lids slammed shut once again. I was utterly useless to the team. Mike and Enrique were left alone to fend for themselves. Enrique pulls a double stint which was what was left of the nights driving duties. This is the only reason we got where we did last night. It's 6am and we roll into a hotel and we manage an hour sleep. I'm in dire need of a shower but the extra 20 minutes are more important right now. I wake up puzzled and wanting answers about last nights events.

One of those events was that the other car that stopped with us (Blake and Peter Fuller) and did the vast majority of the wrenching on the downed Honda shows signs of smoking. We stop for fuel and find the turbo is leaking oil. They have been working for 6 hours on cars and those poor guys are beat, and to my astonishment, have an upbeat comedic tempo. How do they do it? I'm dead to the world. They are hard-core. Simple as that.

After a full hour sleep in a hotel bed, I wake up completely dazed and confused. I see 2 bodies on the floor (the Fuller's), I don't know where I am, who they are, did I mention, where I am. I take the better of 20 minutes trying to reboot the systems.

Mike brings me a cup of coffee from the registration desk and pours it down my throat. That helps. Off once again to Pueblo Motor Sports park for 2 more rounds of racing.

Mike is tasked with the days on track driving duties. Enrique and myself fall into the routine of preparing the car while Mike rides recon pedaling hard on his bike. The morning session is warm with a slight breeze. The weather was once again perfect as we're blessed with another gorgeous day. Mother nature brought her best stuff out today.

On track Mike drives well in his first session. We make a few slight changes in the car for the afternoon session which seem to work just as planned. The car gets better and better every run we make. That makes me wonder how good the car would have been if we had even a week to do some testing with the car. Its all about prep work.

Then its back to the task of repacking the car and getting back on the road. We are off at 2pm local time. The next stop is only just over 500 miles so we should be able to get there in time for a full nights sleep.

We're back on Hwy 50 and using a bunch of minor back roads which bring us right through the center of these small towns that are seemingly stuck back in time. I like these old towns but in the interest of time we need to get going.

Part of the danger of running through these little podunk towns is sheriff Roscoe P Coletrain is waiting for us at every corner. They see our cars with the stickers rolling through town and the dollar signs light up their eyes. Not only that, but they coordinate with other towns to let them know were coming so we can fund their summer picnic's too. I got a ticket from a Roscoe who claimed he got me doing 81 in a 65 with radar. Funny thing is, the Valentine 1 radar detector never let out a peep. This detector peeps at anything to do with radar. I'm a $126 source of revenue for Roscoe, that's all I am. Gigdt-gigdt!!

Keeping in mind we have to deal with this sort of activity from the local law enforcement officials, I force myself to run the speed limit to the letter. 55mph through most of the way on this trek on the open sections and through town it's 30mph. It's just mind numbing.

We finally make it to the hotel at midnight. We are a few days behind on being able to upload pictures and journal entries, we try to catch up some and get to sleep.

Tomorrow is a track Mike if very familiar with and is excited about it. With the improvements on the cars handling and braking, were confident we can keep the pressure up on the overall points. We are currently 3rd in class and 14th overall. We are hungry for 13th!

More tomorrow, til then....

Shawn

May 4th

Finishing up day 4 with a pleasant arrival to my aunt and uncles house in Henderson Nevada, just 20 minutes south of the track. They graciously opened their doors to us and treated us like royalty. Ahh, the life. The 3 of us agreed that these were the softest beds we have ever slept in. Mike said he didn't move the entire night. (all 4 hours) Ain't family grand! I also had the best cup of coffee I think I have ever tasted, ever. Man that was a great cup of joe! It sure was hard to leave them and the cozy house behind to head out to the track.

Right on time we head out to the big track and we tackle some issues that came up with the car on the evening journey to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Somewhere outside of Bakersfield, the Praxis suspension system went into limp mode. I realize most of you (if there is even anyone besides my dad reading these...!) aren't mechanically inclined so I will try to describe the problem without getting all technical-geekal. (I invented that word, you can use it if you wish.) Basically the trick suspension had a part fail which puts the system in a sort of safe mode. It doesn't work. It's safe to continue to drive the car, it just doesn't give the performance features the system has when it's working right. In the transit portion of the event, the only real problem for me is the blinking green lights, which, at night are rather bright! It had the potential to drive me batty, but I  prevailed. 

Keep in mind, we took the entire suspension from our primary car that was wrecked pretty bad. Some suspension components were destroyed but we replaced them. It's hard to know when a part that's been in an accident will fail, especially since the system worked perfectly from the very moment we activated it. Just a little reminder, Mike and I  installed the suspension in about 9 hours only 4 days before we left for the event. We used the trip out there as our test and it passed flawlessly.

Here we are in Las Vegas and I'm on the phone trying to get a hold of the Engineer for the Praxis system, Mike Swope, for help. We already went through the diagnostic process of the system, time to call in a pro. Mike met us at the track and immediately went to work on the car. We suspected a few items that were listed in the manual for the troubleshooting section. Our problem was we had no way of testing them. Mike was having car troubles of his own and was delayed in getting to the track. We were trying to make the system work but the current settings were the front at a touring setting (way up high in the air) and the rear absolutely slammed. Initially we thought this would just have to do but after Enrique pulled out of the pit garage Mike P. and I noticed that the front was in 4X4 mode and the rear was in full race mode. Not a good combination for the track. Our solution was to disconnect each air line to the front strut and let the strut settle down to a lower, race like position. The right front was easy enough, Mike P. watched the height while I bled the air out. It worked! So I moved onto the next one and had a little more trouble getting the air line off. I'm laying on my back with my right arm up in the wheel well with my shoulder under the front valance. I had some trouble getting the line loose and when it did finally come loose it came all the way out. this dropped the car on my arm. I managed to get the line back on then twist my arm just enough to get the valance off of me. That's just paying dues as it hurt like you know what but, I'm just fine.

My family shows up in an air conditioned motor home. More luxury is lavished upon us with cold drinks, home made lunches and the comfort of a land yacht. I was even able to introduce my family to Brock Yates himself. That was a true honor for me as I think he is a great motor sports enthusiast. I have much respect for him. I also loved being able to share what it is that I love so much about motor sports. The people. Competition with comrades is much like love and war. It's a blend that balances the soul. At least, it does mine. I feel as if I'm truly born to race and I'm beginning to dread the last day of this event.

I'm just one of those countless poor souls that can't afford to do what they really want and that's to RACE. I hope those that can and do race are grateful for what they have. I envy them so. I work hard and do what racing I can afford but its just not enough for what I want in life. I'm not complaining, this is just my reality and I accept it for what it is. It's a tough sport to break into. I'll continue trying. Without fail. So, with that bit of reflection..... Lets talk about the racing, that's why I'm here, right? Yeah.

We made a few changes to the car to hopefully help make the car more drivable. Enrique mounted up and drove the morning session. Hey, its Vegas so you know its going to be hot. Oh yeah, its a dry heat. Pfftt. It was much cooler in the morning session than in the afternoon so even though Enrique's drive was hampered with an ill handling car, he still managed to get a respectable 18th position! We know its only going to get hotter for the afternoon runs therefore we don't expect to pick up much time if any in the afternoon. Hopefully the other drivers don't pick any either but, we will see.

Mike S. had spare Praxis parts with him and he quickly identified the problem and replaced the air pressure sensor. Like magic we're back in business. Not only is the suspension system working, but its now been calibrated to this car and not the car that is wrecked. The car sits just right which tells us that we've just uncorked more performance. Without the kind of help that Mike S. gave us, we would not only had the roughest ride for the rest of the trip but our on track performance would have suffered greatly.

Plus we decided to flush out the 2 week old stock brake fluid in favor of some Motul dot4 brake fluid. Upon performing the flush, I discovered that there was foamy fluid in the calipers. That explains the squirminess that we've been experiencing. One more bullet dodged and the car is even better than before. After a quick brake test Enrique reports that its definitely better. Now with the suspension and brakes better than before, were anxious to get to the afternoon run group.

Our car says its 104F outside. It even says its a dry heat. Then says Pffft. Enrique launches the car harder than I have ever seen it done thus far. And he looks very smooth and fast. On Mike's and my hand held, unofficial watches, we clock a 6:04. min session. According to our estimate, he has picked up 2 seconds over the morning group! As of this journal entry, we don't know how the afternoon times fared but we are confident going to Pueblo Colorado will show big gains in our track times. Our confidence gains with every passing day.

Big thanks to My family for coming all the way out to see us and make our time in Las Vegas comfortable and familiar. You don't know what it meant to us.  Mike's family came out from Temecula which made us one big family. Can you feel the love? Doesn't matter, we did.

We have a 775 mile drive tonight, the plan is to get into a hotel by 1am and steal a few hours sleep.

Til then....

Shawn

May 3rd

Last night (see May 2nd) was our most brutal evening. 

I'm awake and it's 11am. something like 4 hours sleep. I'm feeling good. A shower works miracles on me and I'm ready for the days events. We have our first sit down meal on the trip. Denny's breakfast is yummy! Not quite like home cooking but its not fast food either. Thank goodness.

We pull into Infineon Raceway and find our pit spot. There are motorcycles racing currently on the track. The schedule says 12 noon for us but were warned that the motorcycles could be late finishing. The word comes down through the paddock that the drivers will not be allowed to walk the course for this event because of the time it took to finish the 2 wheelers. This is a huge disadvantage for all the One lap drivers who have not been there before. Mike is not happy about that. I can't say that I blame him.

There were a lot of press type photographers in attendance. We work busily on the car to get it ready for Mike. Once ready with the car, we are asked to participate in a couple of photo shoots with the other 2 Praxis suspension sponsored STI's. I'm really not much into having my picture taken but this was actually fun for me!

They call up the first 20 cars and Mike lines up the car in the 3rd run group. I can sense he is nervous about not knowing the track but he does the best he can. Since this was a one run group event, he ran 5 laps. I was lucky enough to be allowed at the start finish stand where I clicked off some pictures with my little digital camera and taped a quick drive by AVI file of Mike blasting up through the start finish. Let me tell you, that was the best seat in the house and an honor for me to occupy that stand!

Once done with our group, we are back to loading up the car routine and we're off and on the road at 5pm. just in time for the rush hour traffic.

Joy. Next stop, Las Vegas!

Until then....

Shawn (Edited and adjusted by ERR)

May 2nd

Day 3 comes to us in the form of a nice hotel with a very comfy bed accompanied by at least 6 solid hours of sleep at a Doubletree in Colorado Springs. That's just what we needed to handle the Pikes Peak event that would be immediately followed by a  1327 mile drive to Sonoma for our next event at Infineon Raceway.

Meanwhile, we have PPIR to deal with. The day begins with breakfast in bed, orange juice, toast, 2 eggs over easy, crispy bacon and a fresh cup of coffee that would make Starbucks jealous. A fresh morning local paper neatly rolled up to fit snugly on the breakfast tray. Then we were off to our massage by 3 beautiful blondes who knew exactly how to reshape our battered bodies.... Oh, wait, that's Mike poking me in my shoulder. That taste in my mouth is not breakfast, I don't even want to guess what that flavor comes from. Coffee?? Please. The best coffee I've had this trip hasn't been anything better than a cup of warm mud. At least it was warm.

One thing I've come to realize on this sort of trip is your diet is probably something a scientist would conjure up for some evil preservative experiment. Not that I'm Mr. "eat-right" either. I just know that after this single event, when the archaeologists dig up my body in 2 million years, I will appear just as you see me now today. I'm not joking.

We get out of bed feeling like we got away with something. Up until now our sleep process has been limited to 2-3 hours tops, so this was a good recharge for our batteries.

We're excited to get down the road to the track so we blow off breakfast. This would prove to be a mistake on my part as I later purchased a breakfast burrito from a very nice lady at the track which also turned out to be a "FAST ACTING" breakfast burrito. 'Nuff said.

Once at the track we go through our normal routine of setting up the car for day 2  events. One thing I have noticed is that this event attracts a unique type of people. The more people I meet, the more impressed I am with the quality and caliber of the teams I'm exposed to. The stories from the dedicated, hard-core driving enthusiasts are just awe inspiring.

We discover a few problems with the car which, luckily happened on the way to the track and not -at- the track. Problems solved and it was time for Enrique to work his magic at the wheel.

Green flag drops and he's off with only a little bobble thru the grass. He said it was a little too tall so he did them a favor and cropped down those pesky tall blades of grass. He's right, it looks much better there now. After some adjusting to the car his second session is better with a good drive from Enrique. Now were free to repack the car and leave for Sonoma's wine country, 1300+ miles thru 3 states. We leave Pikes Peak International at 1pm in the afternoon.

We ditch the "official" pace notes and take the advice of a local friend on a better route up hwy. 24 to 9 to the 70. This route is a mountainous drive for which the STI is quite capable. It also bypasses much of the Denver area and its traffic. Whatever distance we gained by this shortcut, we lost in time. We drove right by Pikes Peak and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful drive as did a few other competitors. We even had to stop to absorb the magnificence that nature has to offer. Naturally we clicked off a couple pictures of us and the car. (See the day 3 Pictures.) Once the fun was over we were back on I70 westbound. Along the way we hook up with a fellow competitor in our class and we caravan together. This was a smart move, we needed each other to stay awake.

This leg was to be the mother of all legs. For us to make it would mean that each of us would do 2 driving stints. Our initial drive out was 3 stints each so we felt this would be something we could do with rather ease. For the most part, it was up until about the time my double stint was over at around mile 1000. As long as I was driving I was fine but once I rotated to the passenger seat, I found my eyelids were like lead and for all my efforts to keep Enrique awake, I could barely manage to keep myself awake. Even though Enrique had just had a few hours sleep from my double stint, the sleeping monster was firmly attached like a leach on us both. Mike sawed logs in the back seat.

I know this look he had in his face quite well so I question him about his ability to drive. He reassures me he is fine. We drive on. We tried movie trivia but when I'm tired, I'm beyond stupid and would tend to nod off thinking of answer. In the last 200 miles we stop 6 times. It was extremely rough. My caffeine intake throughout the night came to a head and my body simply shut down, redirecting all fluids to the exits. Its a good thing we stopped 6 times, I needed it.

On our last stop for fuel Mike took over. Bright eyed and bushy tailed (He's got one.) he eagerly takes over the wheel. I can't get in the back seat fast enough and I'm quickly asleep. Apparently I slept too hard because I abruptly wake myself with a snort no less than 4 times. Embarrassing, yes I know.

Nothing more than a nap and I'm awake, were in heavy morning traffic. We're 22 miles from the track, we are in heavy traffic so we figure HERE is a fine place to stop and find a hotel for the night... er uh, morning.

We find a Holiday Inn Select and I fall dead to the world at 7am.

Shawn (edited and adjusted by ERR)

May 1st

Day 1 ends with a very long drive through out the wettest night we've seen thus far. We managed to find our way thru the rain with Enrique and myself driving the last few stints to allow Mike as much rest as possible. The hope is to allow him to be as well rested for his day of driving ahead as possible. We will try anything to gain an advantage!

After the last toll road booth had been paid up we head out to find a hotel for what we hope for, at the very least, a shower. Some sleep would be great at this point, since were all starting to feel the effects of limited sleep. What sleep we do get while in transit comes only in the cramped position that the back seat has to offer. It's not terrible and 2 hours naps can and do happen.

We find a little old run down hotel and make our way inside to register. There we find Brock Yates Jr. finishing up his registration process. He beat us here? We left probably a good 3 hours sooner than he was able to and he was absolutely one of the last people out of Tire Rack's facility. He knows of a few shortcuts he says. SHEEZ!

Unfortunately the inside of the motel is no better than the outside. Once inside we try to keep up with our Internet needs and, as one would expect of such a high-class establishment, there is only a dialup connection and I’m only able to get a 26.6-baud connection. So after a few minutes on the net, we’re all off to bed for a whopping hour of sleep. 6am comes in a blink of an eye and we’re once again up and going. Best 1-hour of sleep I’ve had all week! Stretching out the legs while sleeping is a luxury for us. We’ll take what we can get. We load up in the car again and head out to Heartland Park.

We pull in and it’s not raining however it is cold and still somewhat wet. The wind blows a steady cold breeze and begins to work my ears until they sting. We get the car unloaded while Mike rides the bike on the track for a few recon laps. Up until this point people have been asking in a puzzling manor, "what’s up with the bike"? When we explain the reason (to learn the track) they say, “oh, can I borrow your bike”? The answer to that of course, is NO! Or, sure, $100 a lap! We get the car fully unpacked and prepped for the race.

This event will also actually qualify us for our run order. The better we do, the sooner we run. The main advantage to this is we don’t have to wait quite as long and can leave the track earlier for our next city. Running early is GREAT!

This event would also be a time for me to hopefully show my ability in the drag race event, which is scheduled at the same event in Topeka, which will happen after the 2 track events run. This will be a busy day for all of us.
 
Since we don’t have our qualifying done yet, we start in numerical order, which means we are starting 55th.  Only one way to go from here!! Mike goes out in his morning run group and qualifies 10th overall! Great show, Mike! It was wet for the morning runs, which definitely helped us with the qualifying portion of the first race. Now, for the rest of the event we start in about the third run group, which is very early. So when we line up we are amongst the FAST racecars!
Mike shows the world the morning run wasn’t a fluke, he finished 12th overall keeping up us high in the points and we’re sitting 2nd in class from 8th just the day before!

I didn’t do as well as I would have liked for my team in the drag races. The car ran the 1/4 mile in 13.5 @102mph. I was confident that it could run a low 13 or a very high 12. I think I was 18th overall in that part of the drag race. I did manage to cut a .053 reaction time so my guess on when to launch was right. It would have helped to do some pre-event testing with it. 6,000rpm dump clutch launches are so much fun! So much fun, that I red lighted in the first round of the bracket races. I WAS -.037 TOO FAST. It pains me so. Well, the good news is we’re out of there earlier than most, which should make for an early arrival in Pikes Peak and a good nights sleep.

We’re still getting along great, not a single problem so far with 3 guys being cooped up together 24/7. It could be worse, much worse, but its not and I’m still having a great time. I fear that I’m now hooked on this event. Imagine that.

Till next time....

Shawn (edited and tweaked by Enrique)

April 30th

Morning comes early after our long journey just to get to the event hotel. The 3 of us are now well rested and anxious for the day to begin.

Fellow competitors are friendly and warmly welcome a new guy like me with open arms. This is the kind of racing crowd I met when I first ventured into the motor sports world in 94. This is what makes racing fun. Insanely competitive people on the track, and off the track they are exactly the kind of people you would gladly share your foxhole with. What more can I say about these people? Exactly.

After a relatively quick breakfast, we headed out to the first event site to register us in the event and pick up a plethora of stickers required to be on the car. Then we went to "AEI Performance". This shop is owned and run by Rob Slayden where he and his crew provided whatever we needed to make repairs, change the oil and they even aided us in applying all the stickers we picked up earlier. In all, it took us only 2 hours to complete all the work on the car. Thanks for the help guys, you don't know what a huge difference you made in making our first day easy!

Then it was back to Tire Rack where we went through tech inspection and attended the drivers meeting.

The first event was the wet skid pad challenge. 2 laps clockwise and 2 laps counter clockwise. Your single fastest lap combined gives your time and sequentially your cornering "G" rating. Funny enough, we don't know what our time was or where we are at as of this writing.

Currently, we are on our way to the next event at Heartland Park in Topeka Kansas. Although it was dry for the skidpad event, it's currently raining. The weather doesn't look good for the drag race that is scheduled there.

Until my next update...

Shawn

April 29th

The day finally comes and were on the road to pick up Enrique in Phoenix. I leave my home at 6:30 AM knowing I will hit traffic leaving Santee. Sure enough, I pull into Mike Potters driveway in Temecula at 8am. So far, so good, were on schedule. with a fond farewell from his family, were off beginning out first leg of our 2004 One Lap experience.
5 hours later we are in Phoenix. Here, we are tasked with having the new tires for the event installed and a few other goodies from Dynocomp installed into our backup car.
Nothing with doing road trips ever goes as planned. Time schedules must always be used as a guide, however this does not mean blowing off the time schedule. We persisted and managed to get it all done in time to leave Phoenix at 6PM.

So far, so good, right? Right! Except we managed to attract the attention of the local highway patrol. Our car, as you already know, is a new 2004 STI. So new in fact that it still has paper plates. Well, not really, it has no plates of any kind on it. So we were pulled over, much to Enrique's shock.

Here we are, 3 guys in a new car with a coffin like cigar box and a bike rack (with bike) on the roof. passing a patrolman doing 67mph in a 65. he pulled us over, ran our info and gave us a warning. To his credit, was very professional, kind and quite nice to us. So off again we go, joking that we were just it out of  the way.

the driving rotation for us is each person drives a tank full of fuel, then you rotate to the passenger side. No sleeping, your job is to help keep the driver awake and alert. then from the passenger seat you rotate to the rear seat where you can sleep. There's not a lot of room back here. We're packed to the gills with stuff. Stuff everywhere we can fit it. It was like a puzzle just to get everything we needed for the trip in and on the car. So this is how we are living transits between track events.

Driving at 3am after only 2 hours sleep is nothing new to me from my previous experience in the military. Its been a long time since I've had to do this sort of activity. I think I'm a little rusty, especially when I'm woken up in a gas station and I'm disoriented and it takes me a few too many minutes to gather my senses. In the past, I was conditioned to jump on my feet running, thinking and working. It was just how it was. I'm definitely rusty there but, I think as the days go by ill get better at it.

So the states roll by, most of the time we don't even realize which state were in until 8-15 miles inside the state line. This is not a site seeing vacation so we don't notice things like welcome to this state. Were on a mission and its like a tune up for the event. The way we see it, were getting the hardest first night out of the way while our competitors are relaxing at the hotel, we are training to win!

Things have not gone as smooth as planned. we've had a few minor problems with the car and our equipment. All has been fixed and we are within a couple hours of the hotel where we will launch the event on the wet skid pad with Mike driving the first event.

Spirits are high, we all feel great even after only a couple hours sleep at a time. We are already in a routine that we feel will be to our advantage as the event rolls along.

More later!!

Shawn

April 28th

After what has turned out to be a stressful few weeks we are almost ready to hit the road. I am home waiting for Mike and Shawn to show up, they left California this morning and should be arriving shortly. We then will take our "NEW" Black STI (story on this below) to Dynocomp for installation of the harness bar and possibly some gauges, it all depends on how we are doing with time. We are hoping to leave by 4pm and have a nice 1860 mile drive to the start!

As for the reason we have a new car, well, 2 weeks ago I received an early morning call from California, while I was in Minnesota packing for our move to Arizona, with the news the my White STI had been totaled! AAHHHH!! Now what?? Mike, and his wife Kristen, being the "step up to the plate" kind of people they are,  went out and replaced it with a new Black STI so that we could compete in the event!  There are no words to describe the emotion and gratitude I felt for this incredible gesture! So for the last 2 weeks Mike and Shawn have spent many late nights swapping our aftermarket parts over from the White car to the Black one. We sincerely thank all the people that have helped Mike with this and Praxis Systems for providing replacement parts for their awesome suspension!

Now for the pics: White before, White after, White after 2, White After 3 and new Black one.

More to follow as we hit Indiana!

Enrique

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