There’s no turning back now, the Tire Rack Time Trials Nationals Powered by Hagerty is underway from NCM Motorsports Park and the first of four segments is now in the books. Each driver’s best lap from Thursday afternoon and Friday counts as 25 percent of their total score.
The action was fierce, and we learned a few things – while having more to watch over the next two days. Among the stories we saw were:
Full Speed Ahead!
There was only one guarantee this week at NCM Motorsports Park – Steve Luca was going to lower his lap record time. Whether anyone else could go lower was less of his concern.
So it’s not a surprise that Luca and his Ford Mustang ripped off a lap of 2:01.983 on Friday, comfortably under his previous best of 2:02.759.
“We made a couple of changes on the car from last year,” Luca said. “It’s about 100 pounds lighter last than last year. We had that huge splitter issue last year, and that caused a lot of imbalances with the aero because we didn’t have a splitter that could match up with the big wing we have on the car. So the big difference you’re seeing is that it’s a little bit lighter and the aero package is better sorted out.”
Luca’s Serpent Stangs shop, which – you guessed it – focuses on Mustang performance, is just a mile from the track. That makes this even more special.
“It’s super important to us to have the record here, being our home track,” Luca said. “And not for nothing, but it’s a Mustang and this is the Corvette track, so it’s cool to rub that in people’s faces just a little bit.”
But the work isn’t done. There’s one more goal left to complete here at Time Trials Nationals.
“Our big goal this weekend is to be the first production car to do a sub-two minute lap,” Luca admitted. “We did a 2:01 today and that’s great, but we’re really here for that 1:59. Based on that lap we did earlier, I think it’s on me now. That lap was a little sloppy, so if I can put it together the car has it in it. No more excuses.”
Oh, and Sunday is going to be cooler – so it’s absolutely a possibility.
Not Just Luca, Though
It wasn’t just Luca’s Unlimited 1 record that fell on Friday. Others bettering existing marks were:
Tuner 1: Ryan Mathews, Chevrolet Corvette, 2:10.762,
Max 5: Andy Hollis, Honda CRX, 2:16.516
Sport 3: John Laughlin, Honda Civic, 2:18.845
Club Spec Mustang: Trevor Kindlon, Ford Mustang, 2:22.660
Club Spec MX-5: Mike King, Mazda MX-5, 2:28.939
Ultimate Track Car Challenge is Radical
Grassroots Motorsports is back at Time Trials Nationals with the Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge, and the tops on opening day is definitely Radical.
Raiden Nicol leads the way in a Radical SR10, followed closely by Nicholas D'Orlando in a Radical SR3. Nicol’s best lap in the sports racer was an incredibly fast 1:54.253, with D’Orlando posting a 1:57.496.
How incredibly quick was that lap? No car, in any other timed competition of any kind, has ever gone quicker at NCM Motorsports Park. Now that’s radical, in a 1980s California kind of way.
Get Out – But Don’t Stay Out
Earlier this week, Grassroots Motorsports Magazine’s JG Pasterjak decided to hold a competition to see who could exit the car most quickly. The test is mandatory in many wheel-to-wheel racing series – for instance, an FiA Prototype driver is required to exit the driver’s side in less than seven seconds – but may not be something that Time Trials drivers think of.
The admittedly less-than-scientific test for all drivers who wanted to participate didn’t lead any concrete data, though that wasn’t really the goal for Pasterjak. There were some observations, though the least surprising finding was that those who exited quickest were in their early 20s and fit.
Still, it opened some eyes and sent some to practice their exit, just in case. For others, it was a healthy refresher.
Put Richard Sawicki in the latter category, who runs a roll cage-equipped Miata. He brought up some pointers for other, however.
“Luckily I’ve never had to do it in a real world,” he said. “I think the key is just making sure you stay calm, have your order of operations planned out, figure out what order you need to do things, and if you can do things at the same time. Once you have that down, you can work on getting the speed and just practice, practice until you do that consistently and then you can work on the speed. That way if the time comes, and hopefully it doesn’t, you can do it and get out of the car quickly without panicking.”
Follow Along As The Weekend Progresses
There is plenty of activity coming up over the next two days, and you can follow along here with audio, live timing and results. Saturday features Track Sprint on the East Course and a three-lap Track Attack on the West course, for two more scores before we return to the full course on Sunday.
More information on the Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials Nationals Powered by Hagerty can be found on the event page here.
