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Our 3rd and last ChumpCar race of 2014 took place at Road America. By far our most relaxed race we have ever done. Compared to our last 2 events, we spent so little time working on our car. It was nice. It was enjoyable. Why cant they all be like this?

We left Friday on our super long 2.5 hour journey to Road America. It was a cold and raining day and we took our sweet ass time. Tech really didn’t exist, and we couldn’t get into the track until 6pm. So we sat outside the track and harassed Team MKR. We eventually unloaded the car, and went for supper.

Saturday morning. RAIN! I like driving in the rain, but holy effin rain line. This proved the be VERY tricky as the grip was in the weirdest places. Took about an hour for things to dry up where we could start driving on the dry racing line.

Besides cars flying off the track left and right, we went on throughout the day drama free. Our new fuel system ran flawlessly and we were able to push the car pretty hard for a full stint. This was a relief as this has been a non-stop battle since we built the car. The last 25 minutes of the race (after a full course yellow) can be seen here.

Throughout the race we kept in the top 10 and finished in a solid 4th place, just one spot short of the podium,….again.

Bleed the brakes, changed front rotors, rotated some wheels, and our Sunday prep was complete and we headed for supper with the MKR guys again.

Sunday- Weather for October was great, no rain for today at all. We got a good starting position and kept turning those laps. We stayed clean and on track (well most of us did) and it paid off with a solid 6th place.

Matt from MKR had so much energy I couldn’t believe it!

Some track data showing a comparison of our 4 drivers:

More video to come…

Honda really did build an awesome car. And what better event to take this car to than Optima’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car.

As some of you know, this S2000 (also nicknamed “Ice2k”) has been driven hard by a few of us. Eric got some serious hang time, Mike plowed it into a rock of ice, Shane and Kirsten went through a few snow banks, and Andy’s done most of the above. This car has also been the “training” car for many and has been used for driver development. It truly is driven hard and driven 80 miles round trip to/from work daily. It loves every minute of it.

So when we heard Optima was searching for that Ultimate Street Car, we figured we better participate with the best street car we know of.

The week prior, we gave the S2000 all the missing attention from the past year. New windshield, radiator, A/C system, newer shocks, Hawk brakes, new RS3 tires (borrowed from Mike), some new fluids, and to top it off, a new front bumper. Oh and let’s not forget its first ever coat of wax.

Friday at noon Eric and I departed Stevens Point and headed to Michigan. Dodging some traffic jams in the Chicago area brought us to MIS in just over 8 hours. After a trip to one of the most interesting taverns I’ve been to, we called it a night.

Saturday Morning- For some reason we found ourselves at a car wash. I don’t know what this was about but Eric tells me the judges like a clean car. After spending too much time at the car wash, we drove to Michigan Speedway which was a really far 2 miles away. Instantly upon our arrival we felt a bit out of place in our cheap little Honda. Got the car through tech and received our mandatory sticker pack.

First up, Speed-Stop Challenge. This was a 300foot drag race followed by a 180 degree turn-around and a 3 cone slalom with a box at the end. You must stop inside the box without overshooting it or the run becomes a DNF. The best I could muster in the S2000 was a 15.0. This was good enough to secure 2^nd place.

Next was the Autocross. I felt much more at home here and was able to pull off the 1^st place win with a 31.5 run.

There was also a Design & Engineering competition, which I pretty much failed at. The Honda did have all required street car amenities but lacked any creativity due to its almost bone stock-ness. I scored pretty low in this.

The last competition of the day was the Road Rally. This was a 60 mile trip to the Lingenfelter private collection. It wasn’t a difficult competition but it’s one that can ruin everything if you don’t make it there before the deadline (or get pulled over by the police). We made it and received full points here. Then we ate next to millions dollar cars.

Sunday, the BFG Hot Lap on the road course. This is what it really came down to. In order to win the Vegas Invite, I needed to secure a 1^st place on the road course. It wasn’t looking to good either as I only had 200hp to work with on a very open course with several big straights where the power could be put to use. I spent most of the day driving as hard as I could, reviewed data to find any lost time, and taunting the competition. In the end it was a very close battle but I was able to sneak out with the 1^st place win on the road course with a 1:29.96.

So, it seems like the 365Racing crew will be making a trip down to Vegas in November along with some of our good friends of the RSMotors racing department. We are looking forward to trip!