Driver Experience: John Carson at Redline Time Attack

Pic Courtesy of RLTA

Photo Courtesy of: www.redlinetimeattack.com

First off, I want to thank Attack the Track for letting me come on here and share my experience at Redline Time Attack.

Back in November, they held an exhibition event at Buttonwillow Raceway Park on the notorious 13CW configuration.  The birthplace of U.S. Time Attack. The idea of this event was to kick off the return of Redline Time Attack, and get people pumped about the 2013 season. This was really something special for history.  Although I never participated in Redline in previous years, I was told by Old School Time Attackers, that it had that old Redline feel to it.  I ended up taking home First in Street AWD, and also took home the Street Class Champ award, as I set fastest time in Street AWD, FWD, and RWD.  The overall turnout was great, with a majority of the cars making out the Street, Enthusiasts, and Modified Classes.  Hopefully more unlimited cars will come out for the 2013 season.   

My winning lap was a 1:59.407.  Funny enough, this actually would of been good enough for 2nd in AWD Street at this year’s Super Bowl of Time Attack – Super Lap Battle.  I still have a stock turbo, stock aero, cams, bottom end, intake manifold, throttle body, etc.  If you need a driver for your Time Attack car, I am available!

This was my first time cracking two minutes on BW CW13.  It has taken me six visits over the span of a year and a half, through rain and extreme heat, to finally crack the two minute mark!  My two previous visits were a 2:02 flat and a 2:02.7 in the less than stellar and extreme summer conditions.  Buttonwillow in June and August is HOT!  Both of these days had an ambient temp over 90 degrees. One word: greasy.  The cooler weather for this event really helped over my previous efforts; however, the track conditions weren’t perfect either, considering it rained up until the day of event, washing away any type of grip that was laid down previously.  The Robispec suspension set-up, with it’s oversteer characteristics, proved this in Riverside, Buttonhook, and several other areas on the track.  This was especially true in the early morning practice session without any sort of heat in the pavement.  It did make for good fun though! 

Here is a very basic run down on the car:

2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX GSR SE (Evo), 3376lbs w/driver, 330whp on KT Motoring’s Dyno Dynamics, Robispec  KW V3 Street Tire set up, Hankook RS-3 -255/40/17

 RLTA Street Champ

On my 1:59.4 lap, I actually got locked out shifting to fifth gear on the back straight coming out Phil Hill. I probably could have went high 58 just from that alone. The lockout issue I experienced turns out to be a common occurrence on aftermarket Street Clutch Disc’s as they start to wear.   The wear creates a sort of dead zone in the clutch engagement which affects 5th gear speed-shifting.  When I came into the pits, and popped my head out of my car, I heard the announcer call my name over the PA, “ John Carson currently sits in first with a 1:59.407”.  It was a great feeling to hear that! I then heard them call out 2nd place, “Ben Siu, currently in 2nd place with a 1:59.65X”.  He actually pulled in right after this, and I delivered the news to him personally since he didn’t hear it.  His emotions were mixed.  On one hand he set a personal best for himself, and on the other hand, he was in 2nd place behind me!

Here is Ben Siu in his Evo.  He actually ended up being 2nd fastest out all the street sub classes.  Evo powah!!!

Ben

A friend of mine, Gilbert, helped me adjust the clutch engagement hoping to rectify the lockout going into the second TA session.  I was going to go for a 58 lap in the second TA session now that I had tasted 59’s, but unfortunately, the rain started to come down on and off during the latter half of the day.  I had parked close to Ben, and like I mentioned before, he was only behind me by 0.25 seconds! I was keeping an eye on him to see if he would go out again. He is notorious for coming back late in day and clenching a win. I’ve seen him do it multiple times this year!  The rain kept coming and going.  Ben had actually packed up, and then unpacked; only to pack up again thinking the rain was clearing, only to start raining again. Poor guy! You shouldn’t have left early buddy!

Looking into the sky, and the direction from which the rain clouds were coming, it did not look good. The clouds had a dark grey color composition to them.  You could see the rain coming down in the distance as the sun shined through.  It was quite beautiful, minus its adverse effect on trying to set a fast lap.   Multiple people said the track was losing grip. I was only going to go out if he did.

I decided to save my tires and brakes for another day, and hold out to see if my time would hold.  Later that day around five PM, it was discovered that my time was fast enough for the Street AWD win and the Street Class Champ award, as my time was faster than all the Street AWD, FWD, and RWD competitors.  

 Here I am with model Nicole Reckers. She is quite gentle on the eyes isn’t she?

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I would like to give a big thanks to all my sponsors that support my endeavors. I am so lucky to have their support!  This couldn’t have been possible without their superior products, advice, and fantastic service.

A big thanks to KT Motoring. They are one of the best Evo shops in Socal bar none!   Thanks to KW Suspensions for the amazing V3 coil over suspension and advice on set up for the rain (even though it didn’t end up raining).  ETS (Extreme Turbo Systems). Although no ETS parts were on my car at the time; they will only help me go faster at my future events!  Fuel Injector Clinic for their awesome injectors that keep my engine running on that corn juice (E85)!  And thanks to Swift Springs for the prize they gave me for the win!

This is the Trophy I got for being the fastest in Street Class out of all the sub-classes. 

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As a lot of you know, racing is not all glitz and glamour.  I had an ARK multi function display installed at KT Motoring prior to the event to monitor Oil Pressure, Boost, and Water Temperature.   I’ve been very lucky so far that I haven’t had any serious mishaps, a true testament to the 4G63’s reliability.  

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The adapter fitting that goes into the oil filter adapter for the Oil Pressure sensor decided to randomly snap in half going down the road.  I didn’t even run over anything.  It just snapped in half from the pressure.  Upon further inspection, the metal appeared to be very soft and brittle as we tried to tap it out.  The fitting not only snapped in half, it actually welded itself to the oil filter housing, as shown in the picture above.  A BIG THANK YOU to everyone at KT Motoring for getting my car up and running on short notice! 

Lesson learned:  Cheap little parts like fittings with poor material composition can cost you big time!  It could have been much worse, and I could have hurt my motor just days before the event!

Once again, thank you to KT Motoring, ETS (Extreme Turbo Systems), KW Suspensions, and Fuel Injector Clinic for the support!

Thanks to Redline Time Attack for hosting a great event.  Based on the car counts for this event,  Time Attack is still alive and well! 

Cheers!

John Carson

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Season Recap of eXtremeSpeed’s 2012 AWD Competiton Series

The 2012 AWD Competition Series hosted by Extreme Speed Track Events proved to be an extremely competitive series this year.  More than fifty drivers showed up in their Evos, STI’s, WRXs, GT-R’s, and RalliArts to test their driving ability and car against other turbo charged all-wheel drive vehicles.   The series championship was a best six of nine events, and was held at Willow Springs International Raceway, Buttonwillow Raceway Park, and Streets of Willow Springs on various dates throughout 2012.  The series was sponsored by Eibach Springs, Road Race Engineering, Infamous Performance & Tuning, as well as South Coast Subaru.

AWD Session Buttonwillow

The series has two main classes, Modified Class and Street Class.  Street Class vehicles must have less than 400 WHP verified by a dyno, and run a tire no softer than 140 tread wear.  Additionally, modifications cannot tally up to more than five points.  Points are added for various modifications. For example, E85 tuning adds 1 point, and 2 way adjustable coil-over suspensions add two points (2013 will only be an adder of 1.5 points for two ways).   Modified Class vehicles are restricted to 500 whp or less, and can run a tire no softer than 100 tread wear.  Modified is allowed a modification total of up to 10 points.  Dyno verification was done by Road Race Engineering in Sante Fe Springs, CA.  This was a strict requirement for podium finishers in order for to be eligible for year-end championship prizes and points. 

The rules brought on some very close battles.  For example, Round 3 in June at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Kevin Fairley narrowly defeated Zhong Cheung with a 1:58.70 vs. a 1:58.71 which made up first and second place in Modified.   For Street, 2nd place was a 2:03.66 by Gevorg  Kalantaryan, and 3rd place was a 2:03.67 by Ben Siu.  John Carson managed to win street class that round with a 2:02.00 despite the sweltering 90 degree heat.  This round had ten cars in street class, while seven cars rounded out modified.

For Round 2 at Streets of Willow in April, Ben Siu narrowly defeated Nate Graham in his Evo X MR in the last session of the day with a 1:26.06, to Nate’s 1:26.10 for first and second place in Street Class.  At Round Six at Willow Springs International Raceway, Kevin Fairley barely clenched first place with a 1:29.86, to Zhong Cheung’s 1:29.87.  Every single round had competitors going back and forth throughout the day, attempting to one up one another.

Jaime

Above is a shot of Jaime Gonzalez’s super sexy Evo IX that competed in Modified.  

Garry 

Here is Garry Mendez’s Street Class WRX. Look at those rotors!

Zhong Cheung took first place overall honors for Modified Class with four first place finishes and two second place finishes giving him a total of 170 championship points.  Can you beleive this car is still daily driven?!? Now that is dedication to Attacking the Track!

Zhong at Streets

Kevin Fairley took home second place overall in Modified Class with three first place finishes, and two second place finishes to give him 140 championship points.  The car may look extreme, but it still has a stock bottom end putting out about 475 WHP on top of a very heavy 13 point roll cage.

 Kevin Fairley

Ramon Ornelas took third place overall  in Modified with one first place finish, four third place finishes, and one sixth place finish totaling 124 championship points.Dec-16-2012-Xtreme Speed Red 1245pm NIC_3789

Ben Siu took first place overall in Street Class with three first place finishes, and three 2nd place finishes for a championship points total of 165. Photo courtesy of: Timscribbles.com 

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Gevorg Kalantaryan took home second place in Street Class with two first place finishes, three second place finishes, and one third place finishes giving him a total of 155 championship points.

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 John Carson took 3rd place overall in Street Class with three First Place finishes, and three Third Place finishes for a total of 150 championship points.

John Carson RTA Street Champ

Here are some more images courtesy of timscribbles.com

Ken Kasitz - Modified Class

Ken Kasitz is shown above, who notably had a 1st place finish in Modified. He was kicked up a class due to NT01 tires during the Twilight Round.  He took advantage of Zhong’s mechanical issues, and ended up taking home the win in an otherwise Street Class car minus his NT01’s. He then later switched to Hankook RS-3’s and was able to finish 6th overall in Street Class.  He was one of the few subies this year that really proved their might against the fleet of dominating Evos.  His car is a 2003 WRX with a JDM STI Spec C motor, with STI Brembo brakes amongst other things.

mark Jager - Round 4-2

Here is a great shot of Mark “Jagermeister” Jager who ended up finishing 4th overall in Street Class.  He was able to pull some respectable lap times despite only being on Race Comp Engineering springs.  He tells us next year he will be on a full coil-over suspension. 

Nathan Hall - Street Class

Here is Nathan Hall who finished 9th  overall  in Street Class.  It looks like wagons can play too!

Justin Lee - Round 4

Here is Justin Lee and his very sexy Evo X. Justin ended up finishing 6th overall in Modified Class.

All in all, the eXtremeSpeed AWD Competition series proved to be one of the most successful Grass Roots Competitions in Southern California for 2012. Thirty-three drivers competed in Street Class, while twenty-two drivers competed in Modified Class.  This series demonstrated that it is a great platform for drivers to develop and hone their car control skills. Practically all the competitors showed drastic improvements in their lap times over the course of the year, even when factoring changing weather conditions.  The competition really tested people’s resilience and fortitude.  If you are looking to push your driving in a fun and friendly atmosphere, the AWD Competition is a great platform for driver development, and to have some fun while doing it. Word on the street is a lot of the top guys from this series will be competing in Redline Time Attack next year, opening the door for some new blood to come in and make a name for themselves.  It will be interesting to see the event results for 2013.   Rules and the Schedule for the 2013 AWD Competition schedule can be found here: http://www.extremespeedtrackevents.com/awd-competition-class