See this post...

Spike

 

Note to self:

never buy a used vehicle from the Spike Engineering Corp

 

LOL

Over the last few months, since I've been considering a Z06, I've thought about the "funny" lines I could use when advertising it. For instance:
Daily driver - never driven hard on the street. All fluids changed often, sometime twice in a weekend. All suspension modifications tested to work well.

Spike

 

Hey Spike, Would you let us know the reaction of the porsche guys after the track event.

 

never driven hard on the street

hahahahaha
thats pretty good spike....

 

Time to call BREMBO

Jason

 

Initially, there were few I overheard talking and making comments like "what's a truck doing here," or "why..." etc. The starter told me later on that evening that he notified the corner workers to keep an eye on me so that I don't hold up traffic. A Corvette owner in the yellow group stared in disbelief shaking his head "no, no, no..." as I drove to pregrid. In essence, I was singled out as a possible hindrence. It wasn't a big deal because I expected it and the fact was that I was in a truck.

To make matters worse, I started the morning on street tires to get a good feel of the truck. Plus, my instructor was a little unsure of it's capabilities and I had a hard time focusing on the instruction when he'd tell me to "slow, slower, slow down" or try to drive a line that didn't work for the truck. BUT, if I was an instructor and was unfamiliar with a driver in a TRUCK, maybe I've would have done the same. Thus, my first session was real slow (I was concentrating a lot on letting faster running cars go by). Still, the session ended well and I got some good pointers. I also had the chance to show him the lines on a couple corners that work better. He agreed.

When I pulled off to the pits, I overheard a few more talking. Again, no big deal because I was so slow during the session and they had reason to talk.

So, I put on the slicks for the second session and decided to run that session without an instructor. After several laps warming them up and scrubbing the new rubber, I ran MUCH faster. Since the passing rules in our group were by wave-by only, the first few times I was on the rear of several cars, they didn't wave me by because they thought I wouldn't be able to pass them. So, I patiently waited. Finally, one waved me by, then another. Also, some of the cars behind me couldn't catch me and some that did, took a while to overtake me. Plus, a large majority of these cars had instuctors riding with them, so they were able to watch how the truck worked on the corners.

After the session ended, several guys came up to me, introduced themselves and complimented the truck and my driving. Some were shocked that I stayed and stayed and stayed in their rear view mirror until I passed them. One guy even (jokingly) offered to pay me if I wouldn't pass him anymore. We both had a good laugh. A couple guys that I blew by were very impressed. Heck, I even passed two Ferrari's. By the end of the day, I heard enough people say positive things and figured I earned some respect. The truth is that they had every reason to doubt me and the truck, and I'm glad the day ended like it did because on Sunday, I wasn't as intimidated by all the fast cars at the event. It's a weird feeling to show up and see a lot of trucks pulling rigs more expensive than the home you own.

I'll definitely run with these guys again. They were all very pleasant and fun to drive with. They were safe, fast, courteous, and fun to talk with between sessions. Furthermore, you could get "one-on-one" driving instruction as much as you wanted plus the chance to ride as a passenger with the advanced group, eat all you want (catered food and drinks), and attend chalkboard sessions.

Azeem (dreamin) was also there and like I've mentioned in the past, Z06's are incredible on road courses. We both road with an instructor that had a new Z06, Azeem on Saturday, me on Sunday and all I can say is HOLY COW. A stock Z06 on street tires, stock pads with a good driver is absolutely amazing. BTW, if you ever have a chance to do an event that Azeem is at, make sure you meet him.

The instructor I had on Saturday asked me to ride with him on Sunday and I learned a lot about driving SMOOTH during that session. He also gave me more pointers that helped a lot on the track Sunday.

How did it end? I ran my last session with the red group (instructors/advanced group) and felt confident that I could hang with these guys and not impede them. I passed two cars but was passed several times by extremely fast drivers. There were several that weren't able to catch me until I made a mistake or two.

Fun days...

Vids will follow sometime this week.

Spike

 

Too much money for my pocketbook. If you want better brakes for less money (track use only), call Ruslow. The savings would buy a lot of driving instruction or a monster box tranny plus other mods.

Spike

 

Spike,

You've got to be ONE COOL DUDE!! I always read your posts because you do such interesting racing and describe it so well, not to mention the videos.

You DA MAN! Period!!

Tim

 

Man, don't go over to the dark side. Stay on the Ford team. It's great to hear about a truck whoppin' *** on 'Vette's and other sports cars.

 

LOL



Seriously though, I wasnt' woopin ***, it was fairly even.

On a side note and to make a note of how much variables there are on a road course, one of the instructors was driving a front wheel drive Pontiac Grand Prix on street tires (an older Grand Prix) and probably could have blown away everyone in the blue group. He was driving it in the red group and holding his own. It was amazing to watch.

Spike

 

4D THNDR

that fly by video is the BOMB!!!!!!!I can hear that beast coming from about 1/4 mile back. I love it. Now if someone in the Dallas area would take me for a ride in an L so i can wet my britches. I have a '02 f150 with the 4.6 cause the L was out of my league. I just stared at one like a dog stares at a pile of meat.....

 

OUTSTANDING!!!!

Way to go Spikey!!

 

Thanks man. Which did you like better? "Crazy Sh*t"(shot in Sept) or Crazy Sh*t Part Deux(shot in Feb)? I'm kinda partial to the second one where the camera guy is about 6' when I pass by and on good computer speakers it sounds like a jet fading into the distance.

 

Second note to self:
If Spike offers to help on a brake job, respectfully decline.

LOL

Those things are toast!!!

Excellent post, way to unleash the Lightning wrath upon the non-believers!!!!!!!