Jacob Meggers, our very own Punk Rock Chef has finished his recap video for the team, here’s a quick idea of how the weekend went,, at Punk Rock Speed!
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Flickr Photos
Whew,, we made it!!! (well so far)
So we’re now ensconsed in that which is Altamont Motorsports Park.
It is a crazy sight that is just tough to manage, so here are a few word based snippets (having trouble linking the video right now).
Pimps and Ho’s, the ride, a sweet CRX and their crazy crew (the video is awesome) they had one heck of an entrance at tech.
Everyone has been so nice to each other (wait till we all get on the track)
Every kind of car, with every prep level,, from tight paint masking and nascar level trim, to cars that looked like they were dropped off a cliff to look better.
Finding people you already know, (and didn’t know they were into lemons racing)
Getting to meet the famous Murilee of Jalopnik in person finally (after talking via phone and email for so long).
The owner over at AltaMont Motorsports Park, John,, a great guy! He took me for a ride around the track and showed me what’s where this afternoon (shhhhh!!!) Genuinely cares about getting people good information, being safe, and having a great time. His car is he and a bunch of first time lemons people (and they’ve got a supermodified wing on a miata!)
I’m bushed and have forgotten things all through the day (like to eat) so I’m going to do that now. If you see this post with any video,, it’s cause I finally got it to work.
Oh yeah, and the best news of all,,,
WE PASSED TECH INSPECTION!!!!
We’ll see you at altamont with an operational car!
Yes, we’re operational. Subscribe to us over at Youtube. Have fun ignoring it! (watch the next video!)
Altamont-The Track Map,, Seriously
Here’s what John says to do (I’d take his word for it!)
Cars exit from the pit-paddock area (Pit Out) just before T3 on the 1/2-mile oval and the track runs counterclockwise. Banking at T3 is 12 degrees and 11 degrees at T4. The LeMons track turns back into T4 of the integrated 1/4-mile oval which is 8 degrees, but because you’re now running the 1/4-mile track backwards, the corner is waaaaaaay off-camber. This corner is called “The Bank.” Up the 1/4-mile banking into “The Loop” (that Mickey Mouse looking ear between the two ovals) which is a double-apex corner, and getting this right is critical to owning the infield of the course. Exiting “The Loop” brings you back onto the 1/4-mile at the entrance to T3… again, you’re running backwards onto the back-straight to the transition is waaaaaaaaay off camber as you drop down. It’s trickier than it looks at speed but when there’s a lot of cars and traffic, any line will do — just get through it unscathed. If you can do it at speed, it depends on what kind of car you have. Rear engined cars (like my Porsche Turbo) hate the off-camber and slide all the way to San Jose before they stop. In my GTA car, (550 HP) the torque pulls me out of the off-camber roll okay but the power curve is short in order to get set up for the next corner. Front wheel drive cars are point and shoot… don’t lift… and trail-brake into the right-hander. It’s a quick reverse of vehicle dynamics for the sharp right-hander into “The X” and by the middle of the “X” get far right for the exit out of “The X” onto the front straight of the 1/2-mile (4 degree banking). T1 on the 1/2-mile usually has a man-made chicane to keep everyone honest. Out of T2 (on the 1/2-mile banking), the basic line is stay high to make an easy and fast transition into “The Esses.” However, staying low is the defensive line to block the entry apex. The esses can make you or break you. Most drivers screw these up so bad that I have passed three cars in our Miata before they know what hit them. The key: slow in and fast out. Too fast in and you miss the apex… which puts your car completely out of sorts and in the dirt. Slow in, hit the first two apexes solidly, then short shift to pick up the power curve for the exit. This should give your drivers a basic understanding of what to expect. BTW – in the Miata, we do 20 up-and-down shifts a lap, from 1st to 4th and back again.”All the best –John CondrenTeam Heavy Downforce and somewhat associated with AMP
UMIGO karting, green track and a good time now open in Livermore
Ok, so they’re not open till Wednesday the 23rd of so. Those Fire Marshalls are sticklers, but of course for good reason.
Mike, Shaun (our San Diegan), and yours truly (Fred) went on Saturday night to try out the new track, and to try out our driving gear. Here’s the results from driving, and of our gear.
In terms of UMIGO Karting, it’s on the north side of the Lawrence Livermore Labs
6538 Patterson Pass Road in Livermore
First of,, the track is HUGE!!! A lap runs over a minute!
The fastest lap of our group was half a second under a minute at full tilt. It’s that big!
When the grip comes in, I’d look to lap times nearing 50 seconds, possibly even as low as 45! For the distance travelled, it’s really something.
The karts are great! Electric start, Big red kill switch on top, and plenty of speed.
The parking is cake (all you East Bay folks, don’t worry, just come on down, you’ll always fit in the lot, and the security is top notch (there’s a national lab across the street with high level security doing driving sweeps often, you’ll be plenty safe!)
Best of all, it’s simply a great time! Click this link for more pictures of our time at UMIGO Racing in Livermore. 
We got lotsa roll-cagey goodness done this weekend!
Finally Shaun got to meet the rest of the team (he’s our awesome Engineer/Roll-Cage master) from San Diego.
Armed with info from Lyle of Saabsgonewild and the gang at AUTOPOWER roll cages we were ready for battle.
We nearly completed the whole cage installation in the weekend.
More importantly Jaime over at 5-star Automotive (our anchor driver) continues to make magic happen down in Patterson on a weekly basis. When we walk into the shop, more is done, and done right! It’s so great! Brakes work, clutch works, my pants fit better. It’s all awesome!!
We’ve got 2 bars left to complete the cage and we’re home free (then the dash’ll go back in!)
We’ll keep you posted!
Livery, I hate Livery!
Here’s the layered .pdf of the car (the file). Check it out and give your drawing skills a go!
Above this,, that’s where the file is
You’ve gone too far! Back up there!
It’s ALIVE!!!! (slightly)
Work, was definitely accomplished this week.
We got the engine to begin that wonderful belching noise that means, that some way, some how,, it could come to life!
Watch the video to get really excited about just how awesome it’s going to be!
Also, we finally got to meet our crew chief in person, he even approved of the car. Typically this wouldn’t be a big deal, but our crew chief is none other than racer Scott Schroeder, (he’s a little bit of awesome).
So check the video, think of pledging all your money to sponsor us for no good reason whatsoever, (seriously, others have!)
Tires!! (We got the Special Round ones!)
Well today, on my way to get fitted at the dentist for a face fixing device (apparently they don’t come in size “missing a brain”) I picked up the tires for our racer to be.
At Tires to Go in West Sacramento (we can’t recommend them enough!) Thanks to Dave Komaromi (a noted commenter) and the rest of the gang, we’re now set up with 6 T-rated tires that will fit our erstwhile racer.
I foolishly didn’t write down the guys names (why I didn’t do that I’ll never know) but I did get some mighty fine pics of the gang at Tires to Go, so if you’re in West Sacramento (3001 Evergreen Avenue 95619 is the address) please stop by and buy a whole bunch of tires, they’ll thank you for it, and we’d really appreciate it too!
It also looks like we’ll be going with the standard Z seat (a nice one for something older than some of our racers!) and having a removable steering wheel (it’s a safety device right?!) Oh it is, because if it’s missing you can’t control the car! Perfect! (At least I convinced me right?)
I can do this with my eyes closed (said Jaime)
A lot got done today, from the left rear suspension (we yanked the old one, once it decided it wanted to leave) by the simple process of:
1. Remove muffler
2. Remove a bunch of other bolts
3. There are more bolts apparently
4. Suspension parts are really heavy, when you put them back in the car, have a whole jack to lift a car and the parts, Jaime does,, whew,, without Jaime,, we’d be SCREWED!
5.Put everything back in, pay attention to what you did
At this point I did:
6.Leave muffler unattached on floor, and various parts strewn about his shop. Apologize and go visit my best buddy down the street who’s wife just had their second child (what a cutie! Hi Nora!)
We also removed the fan mount and fan clutch, then mounted the radiator (with hoses), then placed the fan in front of the radiator, (that thing rips, we’re just going to use one).
We also fussed about a bit with the clutch (it was clearly out of fluid). We’re not out of the woods there yet, but things are looking up.
Mike worked online (buy our stuff!)
More happened I’m sure,, but that’s what I know so far.
ScuderiaPRC Punk Rock Chef 