An Engaging Weekend of Racing

Event: Indianapolis Region Points Event #2, #3
Location: Peru, IN
Results: 2/113, 1/108
Best beer of the weekend: Gamma Deluxe from Jolly Pumpkin

So when I started this blog, I told myself I was only going to write posts about National events, but this particular weekend at Grissom Air Force Base in Peru, Indiana is getting an honorable mention. It's also posted out of order, because I think it needs to be shared with the world!

It was a Friday afternoon and I was leaving work early to make the 5 hour drive. I always get frustrated when we stay so close to this site because I already lose an hour due to a time change on my way up, so it's hard for me to get there before 8 or 8:30 p.m. This particular Friday was no different. I kept hitting traffic and slow downs, and was passing my frustrations along to Clint. He reminded me that we'd see each other in only a few short hours, but that was only mildly soothing because I still had a few "short hours" of driving to do.

I ended up making it to the hotel right around 8pm- nearly an hour after he arrived. It was really too late for us to go out and do anything, and we both had brought beers anyway, so we flipped on the TV and started sharing some beers that he brought. The first was tangerine IPA from New Holland brewery- "Tangerine Space Machine." It was pretty good, but the tangerine was a bit overwhelming. We finished that and he asked if I was ready for the next beer. I replied with something like, "do you know me? I'm always ready for another beer!"

So I was laying on the bed, watching The Simpsons and thinking about getting my Mazdaspeed3 ready for the event my friend was driving it in at Bristol Tennessee the following week, when he brought out the next beer, poured from the bomber (750mL bottle) into the little clear plastic cups provided in the hotel room. It was "Gamma Deluxe" from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, a sour farmhouse IPA. He carried both glasses over, one in each hand, and standing at the side of the bed asked which one I wanted. I struggled with this question- one of them was filled with about half head and the other one was a perfect pour. I started to go to the Perfect Pour, and then fumbled, deciding to take the one with more head so that he could enjoy the other sooner.

He stopped me, and told me to take the other one. Well okay, I guess. When I pulled the cup with the Perfect Pour out of his hand, behind it, he was holding my mom's engagement ring (which had been decommissioned when she passed in 1996). My heart fell to my stomach and my eyes started to well up. I don't exactly remember what happened next... I don't think I said it, but I at least thought "are you serious?!"  But like, for real?!? I looked at him and look at the ring, and looked at him and smiled and laughed. "Will you marry me?" He asked in a stately sort of way. "Of course I will!" I replied, as I leaned in and squeezed him tight.

He did it! Just a week after our 5 year anniversary, we are finally engaged! Better yet, he managed to catch me completely off-guard, and bring me a ring that I know he must've spent an entire day-his only free weekend day year to date- to retrieve from my father. It was all I've ever wanted, and he (finally) did it. I'm sure at that moment, and still, I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life.

The next hour or two was spent trying to take a good picture, texting and calling family, and soaking it all in. By the time we finally got to sleep we only had 5 hours before we had to be up again for the next day's autocross. Thankfully, it was a local event, so there weren't any big contingencies or awards on the line.

Funny how much less stressful local events are, once you start competing nationally. The next day came, and I was really feeling it. Our good friend Johnathan and his girlfriend came down from Chicago to spend the day with us and race his Mazdaspeed6 alongside ours. 

We were also testing out a new front splitter that Clint had fabricated. We swapped the front bumper (one had a splitter mounted and one did not) halfway through our runs to see if we could feel a difference. For me, it was immediate. All of a sudden I had a new found confidence in the car's ability to rotate and point where I wanted it to, when I wanted it to. It was all about balancing the aerodynamics. Clint added the (rear) spoiler at that first test and tune event out at Grissom a month ago, and the car hasn't been quite as eager to rotate ever since. Adding the splitter below the front bumper of the car prevents air from flowing under the car as much, thus decreasing lift under the front end of the car, and shifting the traction bias back towards the front tires. That means the front tires end up having more grip and balancing out the rear spoiler (which effectively reduces lift over the rear of the car, meaning more downforce over the back tires, resulting in more traction). If you're wondering what I mean by "rotate," I'm referring to how "tail-happy" the car is. You certainly don't want your car to be unpredictable and spin out every time you let your guard down, but when properly balanced, rotation of the rear end around corners can help a car corner much more efficiently and transition from left to right in slaloms better.


Fast forward to the end of the day, and I finished 0.012 seconds behind Clint, and we were first and second place out of the 112 drivers, overall! Maybe tomorrow will finally be my chance to beat him...

That evening, with Johnathan and his girlfriend in town, we went back to the brewery I mentioned several posts ago- Tin Man Brewing. We had some beers, ordered some Mexican food for delivery, and played some bags before heading back for the night, us to our hotel, and Johnathan to Chicago. It was great to have a night out with friends in this busy season. Plus, he took that awesome engagement photo (up top) for us!

On day two of the local event, my sister stopped by with her kids to watch and congratulate us.

I found my comfort and familiarity with the car in its newest form continued to grow. On my third run, I made my way around the first corner and came across a cone that had been knocked over and not reset. I stopped and pointed it out, and earned myself a re-run! Re-runs are usually nice, as you get an extra look at the course. I let the car sit for the assigned 5 minute cool-down between the two runs, and then took it back out, laying down a time that dropped me into first place!

Shortly after returning from that run, I was spraying the front passenger tire with water to cool it off between our runs, and noticed it was unbearably hot near that wheel well. Clint checked it out and realized the cooling fan on that side wasn't running, and our coolant was boiling over! We shut off the car and started spraying the radiator, rather than the tires, to cool it. We weren't certain if we'd get to finish the day out, on only one fan...

But by the time it came back to Clint's turn, he decided to give it a try. He knocked his time down to 0.14 seconds behind me. We kept the car cool, and I took my last victory lap (even though I had already secured my win). I managed to drop another 0.3 seconds, but hit a cone early on, so I didn't end up making an improvement. It didn't matter, I had done it! I beat my fiance, and took first at the event, after losing by only a very narrow margin the previous day!

I'm putting this one down as one of the best weekends of my life.