Anderson-Anderson Racing ran in the BMWCCA Club Race this past weekend at Nelson Ledges. Overall, it was a success with us taking second overall both days, but to be honest we felt we should have accomplished more – the two overall wins were easily within our grasp and we let them both slip away. Despite having pole both days and being the only car in the 1:12′s, we were unable to win.
Nelson used to be my “home” track, from 1999 thru 2002, until BeaveRun opened. I used to spend lots of lapping days at Nelson, well over 25 intense days with probably over 2500 laps total over the years. But I hadn’t been there since 2003, mainly because I moved to Fort Lauderdale, then Tulsa, and finally St. Louis, where I live now. I had planned on racing there with BMWCCA last July/August 2008, but a very important work event prevented me from making the event. So this event marked almost 6 years since I had been to my old home track. I was really looking forward to the event, I had always enjoyed Nelson and I had always been quick there. My first ever HPDE was at Nelson, back in July 1999. That event was a huge success, although my car was BONE showroom stock back then, that first track school was the first time I truly appreciated what an ///M3 could do on a track, and because of that I always had a fondness to the bumpy Nelson Ledges circuit. And make no mistake, the track is unique and memorable – it is BUMPY, NARROW, and FAST. My fastest lap was a 1:12.663, which equates to over 99 mph average speed – easily the fastest track (as far as average lap speed, not top speed) that I’ve ever been on. The track is 2.0 miles long, and they claim it has 13 turns, but in reality it only has 7 turns. Turns 1-2 are only one turn, 4-5-6 (called Oak Tree) is just one turn, and 7-8-9 (the Carousel) are also just one turn. Turn 10 on the backstretch isn’t really a turn, but turn 11 is definitely a turn, called “The Kink”, and it is Nelson’s signature turn. I found that The Kink hasn’t lost any of it’s magic or difficulty, and it took me quite a few sessions to work my way back up to going through there full throttle again without lifting. Back in 2003, the last time I had been to Nelson, my car has stock cams, no aero, and not nearly as much capability. So this time, I was approaching the Kink at a MUCH higher speed, and although the new race car aero helped a bunch, it still takes nerve to go through there flat out. That turn has high consequences if you do it wrong, because you enter it at 120+ mph, and it is not flat nor smooth.
But the track was just as much fun as I remember, even if now I was lapping about 5-seconds per lap faster. It is a track that takes an extreme amount of concentration, because at the 95+ mph average speed range, you have ZERO time to do anything, there are no long straights to rest or make cockpit adjustments. Friday I spent the day refreshing my memory on the racing line (it really hasn’t changed), and softening my shocks to make the car compliant accross the bumpy surface. The car worked flawlessly, and we were looking forward to a good weekend.
Saturday dawned sunny and beautiful. The schedule was a practice, then qualifying, followed by a 4:30 pm 30-minute sprint race. My main competition was two other fast IP cars (Jeff Negus and my McB teammate Kevin Ogrodnik) and also an E46 M3 C-Mod car. Qualifying went great, and I was able to rip off a 1:12.7 to take the pole by over 0.5 seconds. Jeff was P2, Kevin was P3 and the CM car was P4. Jeff’s car is very well set up and he is an amazing driver, but I have a little horsepower on him, so I was confident I could pull him down the front straight at the green flag. However, I had been successfully starting a lot of races in second gear in order to get a really good jump on the field, and although I knew the risks of that strategy (missing the tricky 2-3 upshift), I had been executing it very successfully recently. So I decided to try it again, but it was really a stupid strategy in hindsight – I knew I could pull Jeff into turn 1, I had the pole and the inside position, and there was really no reason for me to need the 2nd-gear start and the associated risk. But I decided to do it anyway, and when the green flew, I launched, and then promptly missed the 3rd gear shift, and ruined my start and wasted the pole position. I was able to get the car into fourth, but I was obviously flat, and Negus and the C-Mod car got around me, and I also unfortunately pinned Kevin behind me. A few other cars in the third row got beside me, but I was able to fight my way back into 3rd place by the entrance to turn 1, with the C-Mod car taking the lead and Jeff in 2nd. So now I had a lot of work to do, and Nelson is a narrow and difficult place to complete a pass, especially in a 13/13 series, and ESPECIALY if you are already on probation…. The race unfolded OK, and I was able to stay with the two leaders, as I formulated a plan of attack. A full-course black flag came out early in the race due to an incident which sent a car into the tire wall. They brought us into the pits while they figured it out, and after a 20 minute delay, they informed us that we would have a full 20 minutes of green flag racing, which was good news for me. We did a single file restart, but I was unable to pull Jeff down the straight to take 2nd, and again settled into 3rd behind the CM car and Jeff. The race wore on for a while, and I made several attempts to take second from Jeff, and almost pulled it off many times, but was unable. The CM M3 leader seemed to be having problems in certain turns (going into Oak Tree, and 12) and we found later that his transmission was failing and he was unable to get the car into 3rd gear. Eventually, he pulled in when it became apparent that Jeff and I were going to get around him anyway, and so then it was just Jeff and I fighting it out for the overall win. I tried multiple times to get around him, even once I faked him to the outside of The Kink, but nothing was successful. On the last lap, I got a GREAT run out of the final turn, and almost got him at the line, but he held me off and he took the overall win bby only 0.129 seconds, only about half a car length. It was a great battle, one of the best I had ever had, but I was very upset with myself because I had blown the start and lost the clean opportunity for the win. Regardless, Jeff did an amazing job, and deserved the win – he never once blocked me or drove dangerously, and I felt very good about racing him.
Sunday was scheduled to have a combination practice/qualifying session then a 90-minute enduro. I was viewing Sunday as my chance for revenge, and I must have been pretty geared up for the day, because qualiying went amazingly well. The track was slightly damp due to sprinkles of rain and some light showers, and my ABS wasn’t working. But I was able to turn in another 1:12.7, and that gave me pole by over 1.2 seconds. My car has been leaking power steering fluid all weekend, and right before qualifying we found the main culprit, loose AN fittings/lines on the bottom of the PS res. We tightened those, but because of the enduro length, we decided to check them and fill the tank up during the mandatory 5-min stop. That decision, and the decision to put a full 5 gallons of fuel in, proved to be my undoing in the enduro. I don’t care for 90 minute enduros personally, because my car is right on the border of if can make it or not. 60-minute enduros are no problem at all, but 90′s are close and depend on the track. I assumed that I would have to fuel to make it, so we planned on putting a full can in. It turns out that I really only needed a few gallons, or maybe none at all. Anyway, the green flag flew, and I got a good launch (this time in 3rd gear!!) and went into turn 1 in the lead. I was able to open up about a 2-3 second lead after a few laps, and everything was going well. I had planned to come in around the 60-minute mark, unless I saw something that may bring out a full course caution. Sure enough, at about the 20-22 minute mark, Bob Wright’s left rear wheel came off his car (broken wheel studs) and we went into the tire wall at the exit of the carousel. Those of us at the front decided that a FCY was going to come out, so we all dove into the pits. I don’t think my Dad was ready for me yet, so we didn’t start the pit stop off on the right foot. Then I decided to put the entire 5 gallons of fuel into the car, and by the time we got all of that done, we were almost out of time. The disaster happened when Dad was checking the power steering fluid level while I buckled in. He accidentally dropped the cap under the car, and couldn’t reach it. Since I officially couldn’t move the car until 5 min were up, by the time I backed up, we got the cap back on, and closed the hood, I had lost well over 40 seconds, perhaps as much as 50 seconds. I tore out of the pits and began to chase down Jeff, hoping maybe he would make a mistake, or have a problem. I was lapping about 0.5-1.0 seconds per lap faster than him, but it wasn’t enough. I got the gap down to 20 seconds, but I needed another 30 minutes at least to catch him. So I came home in second place overall again. Overall though I was pleased with my driving and the car’s performance. Even with hot greasy tires and some traffic, I was consistently ripping off lots of 1:12′s and 1:13′s in a row, and driving very solidly.
And we ended the weekend without any major problems, and with the car intact. We need to fix the PS leak, both the chronically loosening AN fittings on the res, and the leaking and splashing out of the top cap, but that is minor. The car did work great, was handling beautifully and the motor ran cool and strong. So although the results didn’t reflect our speed, I’m not too upset really. My incident at BeaveRun and 2009 points penalty that comes with that has effectively doomed my chances to repeat as National points champion, so I’m not nearly as upset about results as I was last year and earlier this year. It was great battling with Jeff, Kevin and others, and it was a fun weekend. I know my Dad is upset with himself about dropping the PS cap, but in reality, it was my fault because of the decision to fuel so long and it was also my fault to decide to mess with the PS at all. And the Saturday sprint start was TOTALLY my fault, so I will take the burden of blame for the weekend and the lost opportunities.
We’re going to get the car ready for O’Fest in late September, I’m really looking forward to that event. I’ve never been to Road Atlanta before, should be fun. I’m instructing in the Club Racing school Wednesday-Thursday 9/30-10/1, then racing Friday-Sunday 10/2-10/4. I’m hoping to get some seat time in the CR school, so I can learn Road Atlanta a little before we start to race on it. Mark Connolly may head down to Atlanta Friday for the race weekend to crew for us. Should be fun!!!
