Nissan Sport Magazine Staff Blogs

Beads of sweat clung to my face and hair as I took off my helmet and HANS device. Driving with a two-layer Nomex suit on a hot summer day will do that for you!  Competing in both SCCA and NASA racing over back-to-back weekends, it’s always entertaining to see which cars you’ll be racing with. For NASA (National Auto Sport Association), the Nissan Sport Project 350Z T2 racecar (which was built to SCCA specs) races in the Performance Touring ‘B’ class.  That means it races in the same group as the “thunder” group, populated by late model Camaros, Mustangs and Firebirds. At Pueblo Motorsports Park (PMP), these AI (American Iron) or CMC (Camaro-Mustang Challenge) classes were mostly what I was racing. Stripped down and sometimes equipped with rear wings, these cars look and sound like the old Trans-Am racers of yesteryear.

The Z, with Nissan’s modern multi-link suspension and superb Brembo brakes, was quicker through most of the ten turns at PMP. But the 2.2 mile layout includes some long straights and this is where things get a bit dicey. Imagine driving flat out down a straightaway, VQ35DE howling at redline as you shift into fifth and a Camaro getting bigger and bigger in your mirrors as you approach 110 MPH. Hold your line and see (and feel) the V-8 get alongside as you approach the braking area for turn one. While not quite a game of ‘chicken’; both racers know that TWO cars going side-by-side aren’t going to make the turn! 

Most of the time, I could go deeper into the braking zone and take a slightly higher line into the turn. The Camaro driver would generally have to hit the brakes sooner to retain some control, but there were a few occasions when a ponycar driver would battle me for position. I’m happy to report that the 350Z won most of those skirmishes during both weekend races. Of course, there were some cars (both Ford and GM products) that simply blew past with a 10-15 MPH advantage and disappeared into the distance. See ya!

But rarely was I alone on-track during a race. Playing either the prey or the hunter (I enjoyed the latter much more), there was little time to relax. In Sunday’s race, I passed several cars, including a Camaro, in the early stages. After sizing him up and noting the places he made mistakes–I made a decisive pass into the tight T7 hairpin. He didn’t give up, however and after following my line for several laps, learned how to go faster! Using his superior torque and power to repass (on the main straight with two cars lengths margin meant he OWNED that corner) with two laps to go and try as I might, he made it stick to the end.  

Even worse, I couldn’t catch the PTB class Mac Autosport turbo 240SX that finished just ahead of the Camaro! Both Nissans finished the race mid-pack in the thunder group. But as I climbed out of the 350Z in impound, I saw a bashed-in door of the Mustang ahead and several other reminders of ‘battle scars’ on other cars. Racin’ without rubbin’ should be my byline in racing with American Iron.

The sun was setting and the summer air was cool as I drove home last evening. My 350Z’s MB Quart speakers were playing Coldplay’s latest composition as I scooted along  a side road. Up ahead, a non-descript Honda sedan stopped in a driveway, seeking to cross in front of me. My peripheral vision picked up the young female driver, possibly in a rush, not fully turning to scan both sides of the road. In an instant, the Honda quickly accelerated into the roadway with the Z almost on top of it.

Without thinking, I was on the brakes. I could feel the ABS pulse as the powerful Brembo binders clamped down. The other driver suddenly realized that she had made a BIG mistake–particularly with a Redline Z headed directly into her door. Her terrified face was apparent even as she accelerated away from what could have been a potentially fatal T-bone accident if not for situational awareness and a capable machine.

The moment passed and the uneventful trip home continued. Still, I wondered what the outcome would have been had I not been paying attention or the brakes malfunctioned. The terrified face of that woman still haunts my memory, but on reflection, there’ve been several near accidents in the last few races that were similar close calls. I don’t usually give much thought to those after the checkered flag falls. Maybe I should. The real value of racing may be in avoiding the carnage that everyday driving can bring in a moment’s notice.

Heat shimmered off the concrete paddock at LaJunta Raceways. As I sat in my 350Z T2 racer awaiting the start of the race, sweat trickled down my face and back on the 102 degree day. As the five-minute call went out, I stretched forward to get my HANS device and Impact Racing helmet on (no easy task in the tight confines of the Z cockpit). It got even hotter as I cinched up my shoulder harness and lowered my visor as cars left the grid. Getting even a slight breeze in through the window was a relief, but I’d have to be naked and drenched in water to get a real relief on the pace lap!

Lining up for the start of a race is just that–the starter looks to see if anyone is “hanging back” or moving off the 2X2 rows to gain an advantage. With LaJunta being a SCCA National race, there wasn’t any of that. We just wanted to get to it! The green flag fell relatively late and the VQ35DE came to life, joining screams from Chevy V-8s, Porsche flat sixes and even a Ferrari as the field went to wide open throttle. Dust and debris from the cars ahead of me obscured the track as we jockeyed for position into turn 1. I found myself side-by-side with a GT1 Corvette whose engine coughed and sputtered. He’d pull away as 600 HP overcame the 300 I had on tap. But then his motor would bog and I’d be up alongside again! My main rival in a turbo Pontiac Solstice GXP was getting away, but there was little I could do about it without making contact with other cars. Rule #1: make clean passes and avoid any kind of contact in the early stages of a race.

Things began to go downhill when the slowest section of the track began breaking up. The track had been repaved earlier and unfortunately not enough time was alloted for the new asphalt to cure. Take a hot day and apply cars with sticky tires and hotter engines and you have a recipe for a mess. The 90 degree RH T4 was followed by a similar angle LH turn 5 that led to the backstraight of the 1.6 mile circuit. Overdrive the entrance to T4 and it was like you were driving on ice;  stray off the clean line going out of T5 and you were in the dirt in the runoff area! By mid-race my class leader was almost 20 seconds up the road, but now I began to cut into that lead. One lap it was -19, the next -17, the next (where I almost spun it) it was back to -18, but slowly the distance closed. As the last lap was signaled, I once again took the Z to redline and pushed as hard as possible. I hoped the leader would have more problems through T4/T5, but he made it through cleanly. Damn! As I drove under the checkered flag, I was seven seconds (an eternity in racing terms) back. It wasn’t until later that I noticed the jagged, white sweat stains in the arms and legs of my driving suit. Strange to have tried so hard and gone so fast, but not accomplished what I set out to do on a very hot day…WIN.   

Ever wonder what it takes between races to keep a SCCA racecar running? Since the Nissan Sport 350Z T2 racer just arrived back into town after the June Sprints (it was shipped there and back with several other racecars). Among the items to repair: 1) ABS malfunction with RR wheel sensor; 2) Rough running VQ35DE–need to pull plugs and read them to determine next course of action; 3) Pull and check Coblat Friction brake pads (Road America is one of the toughest on brakes); 4) Fabricate new rear tow hook (last one was ripped out when  pulled from Canada Corner gravel trap); 5) Check Z battery for low cells (battery was dead after trip from track) or possibly power drain problem; 6) Reset swaybars and suspension for this weekend and 7) Set tire pressures for Enkei RPFM-1 wheels and Toyo R888 tires .

The Z has already been  cleaning and checked this weekend. I need to get these additional items done BEFORE loading it into the transporter for the Fourth of July ”Ms. Liberty” SCCA Double National at hot LaJunta Raceways in SE Colorado! Plenty on the line with Divisional titles at stake for the final National races in this area.    

Ever wonder what value Antilock Brake Systems (ABS) really have? I got a vivid illustration this past weekend while racing at the famed Road America circuit.  The Nissan Sport 350Z T2 was on a qualifying lap around the 4.0 mile circuit, when a wheel speed sensor malfunctioned. Heading down the long backstraight, I wound my way through the flat-out in fifth gear bends to Canada Corner. This corner calls for maximum straight line braking (from 130 MPH+) and a fifth-to-third heel/toe downshift. I flashed past the brake markers to the ‘3′ sign and nailed the brakes.

The weight transfer forward is extreme and ABS usually pulses the rear brake disc brakes to keep them from locking. Not this time! I felt the rears instantly lock as the Z slewed from side-to-side.  I released brake pressure and got the wheels turning again but there wasn’t enough room to turn the car without sliding into a pack of cars already in the turn. So I locked ‘em up again as I slid off into the infamous gravel trap that lines the outside of Canada Corner.

The ‘kitty litter’ was wide and deep enough to immediately arrest my speed and bring me to a stop before hitting the tire wall. I knew I was stuck the moment I came to a rest and waited for the corner crew to come to my rescue. As I waited, a red dash warning light (which wasn’t on when I started the qualifying session) was illuminated with the letters ‘ABS’. The safety crew used a front end loader with a chain to lift the rear of my Z clear of the gravel and pull me back. After getting back to the pits, we hooked a Nissan CONSULT diagnostic tool to the ECU. The appropriate fault code appeared on the screen and indicated that a right rear (RR) wheel speed sensor was not sending any signal. With the race but hours away, I went to work. After lifting the car and using jack stands, I inspected the RR sensor, which is actually on the inboard side of the rear axle. It was tight, with the appropriate spacing fixed and no apparent wiring issues. I took it apart and cleaned the connectors with compressed air before inspecting the harness again and reattaching everything. After clearing the code, I fired up the car and drove around the paddock. The same warning light came up again. Damn!

With no time (and no spare parts of this type) available, I was left with a tough choice: either abandon the race altogether or go for it, knowing I’d be without ABS. That decision didn’t take long: I didn’t travel thousands of miles and spend all this money just to spectate! But I knew what a significant handicap the loss of ABS would be- no electronic controller working millions of times a minute to sense even the slightest wheel lockup and allow the hero driver to go DEEP into the corners. My race strategy changed too. Rather then an aggressive start and seeking to improve my laptimes, I’d have to be conservative and work my way to the front.

As it turned out, my strategy kept me out of trouble until about lap five. Squeezing the brake pedal into turn one gave me momentary lockup, but I countersteered quickly and kept it on the track. But my momentum was broken and I lost contact with the next closest car, my teammate Rick Kulach in the other Nissan Sport 350Z. From then on, my confidence in the usually dependable Brembo brakes was less than stellar. My lap times fell off, particularly towards the end of the race when my VQ seemed to pickup a high-speed miss climbing the hill off the final turn. My attention turned to nursing the car to the finish, rather than catching and passing others. The checkered flag appeared just as I was being lapped by the leaders–another humbling fact heaped on top of an 11th place finish. Not what I was aiming to accomplish in any stretch of the imagination…

So despite a seasoned driver (with advance warning of ABS being off-line) behind the wheel, slowing 3200 lbs of a steel, glass and rubber proved to be a big challenge.  The 350Z has had more than its share of accidents on the road. But I wonder what would happen if this modern safety feature wasn’t there? How many more accidents, both minor and serious, would any of us face every day with such a high-preformance machine? I’ve yet to actually fix the ABS in the racecar, but rest assured, this will get done (along with several other problems) before my next race on the Fourth of July weekend!     

Like everybody, gas prices have really hit me hard. Towing the 1,200 mile one-way trip from Colorado to Wisconcin for the famed June Sprints at Road America is no joke. Unless it’s on me!  With a crewcab dually towing a 10K pound trailer, the gas bill is well and truly exorbitant! After some deliberation, I’m paying another racer (who has a 18-wheeler and six other cars to transport) to take my Z to Road America and back. Two sets of tires, a box of spares and a few 5-gallon jugs of premium fuel are all that I’m taking. My 350Z  teammate, Rick Kulach, will be traveling to this event with his full rig. So I’ll have to borrow his tools and make due in what promises to be a very hot, tough race! No fewer than 11 cars are entered (including four BMW M3s,  Solstice GXP,  Evo VIII, Camaro and others) in T2 for race #1.  With long straights and 15 high-speed turns around the 4.0 mile track, it promises to be an exciting time!

The second race at Miller Motorsports Park offered some insight into what makes SCCA racing such a competitive endeavor. In the morning qualifying, the 350Z had a minimum amount of fuel onboard and fresh Toyo R888 tires for a  go at a quick time. I knew the circuit better and had worked out the areas where I would try to improve. As the green flag dropped, the first thing I noticed was an increase in top speed. At the end of the front straight, I was seeing 128 MPH, whereas the previous day the best I saw was 125. I could attack the first part of the circuit more, since I’d assimilated much of the learning from the day before.

But I wasn’t the only one- the crew on the blue and green Camaro had undertaken an overnight change of suspension settings (new springs and swaybar settings) and was clearly quicker. Faster I might be- but everyone else seemed quicker as well! The race itself unfolded in much the same fashion. A few class battles ahead saw me looking to stay out of others crashes (but they avoided them) and a lonely stretch from midrace on to the finish. It felt like I was my own private racetrack, as I kept consistent laptimes without any battles or oil on the track to “distract” me.

Learning my lessons from the previous day, the Z had slightly over 2/3 of a tank of fuel onboard. I could go to redline on almost every shift and not worry about running out of fuel. On the last lap, it looked like the leading Super Production Z06 ‘Vette would lap me just before the finish. 500+ HP vs. 300 Z ponies fought down the straightaway until the Vettte driver elected to back off and cruise on in. I’d avoided being lapped- and reveled in being able to take another lap at speed before hitting the checkered flag! 

Even with years of experience, it’s difficult to know a track intimately in two sessions (practice and qualifying). To know a track like Miller Motorsports Park (MMP), with a myriad of sections combining 26 different turns, is particularly tough. After refueling the Nissan Sport Project 350Z T2 racecar, I checked brake wear and tire pressures before heading off to the pregrid. With no other T2 racecars entered on this weekend, my primary goal was to bring the car home without any damage. At the start, I used a safe and conservative line to get settled in for the first lap. Up ahead, a blue and lime green late model  ‘A sedan’ class Camaro held the next position on track.

Down the long straights, the Camaro’s 5.7 liter V-8 held a sizable advantage. But under braking, the Z closed in. Through MMPs interior road course, I was right on his tail! In one area I held a trump card–the Camaro’s driver consistently drove an early apex line through turn 12, labeled ‘precision’ on the track map. I found that braking in a straight line and holding my turn allowed me to catch a late apex off that turn.  With the Camaro slow in relative exit speed off the turn, it allowed me to get alongside on several occasions. But catching someone and passing are two different things! At 120 MPH I never got confident enough to stick the Z inside and make a clean pass.  My first job was to bring the car home unscathed, right?

Worse yet, my gas gauge showed I had miscalculated the mileage for this race. The bright orange needle dropped precipitously and hung around ‘E’ after only a few (admittedly long) laps. I began short shifting and even used 6th gear on the front straight to conserve fuel. This didn’t mean I was driving slow. I kept the pressure on the Camaro in the inner road course section and hoped I could force him into a driving error. That plan lasted until I took my normal line through turn 12 and the Z snapped sideways! Turning into the skid and fighting a suddenly “loose” car was all I focused on for that moment in time. I managed to keep the car from going off-track or spinning, but also lost valuable time to my former quarry. I cleaned up my tires over the next few corners and wondered what went wrong? Did I underestimate my entry speed? Could the tires be going “off”? Was there a mechanical problem?

All that was answered the next lap. Yellow and red flags waved. A yellow GT1 was parked just beyond T12 and the stricken vehicle had left a transparent trail of oil across the part of the racetrack I’d traversed the lap before. The flags warned of a slippery surface condition, but the problem had occured too early the previous lap to get them out. Such is racing and I pressed on, hoping to make up time, but knowing that the second half of the race was coming to an end. As I crossed under the checkered flags, it was a relief to know that the Z was home safe and sound, but frustrating in the knowledge that I could’ve been quicker. That’s part of racing as well!   

The snow covered peaks of the Wasatch Mountains that surround the Miller Motorsports Park (MMP) race circuit are a spectacular sight. Located just west of Salt Lake City–near the small town of Tooele, Utah– the entire MMP facility is equally spectacular! Paved paddocks, nicely built garages and a 4.5 mile road circuit with 26 turns is the stuff of (racer’s) dreams!  

The Nissan Sport Project 350Z T2 race was at MMP to compete in the ’Great Salt Race’ Double National SCCA races over Memorial Day weekend. I’m not embarrassed to say it took me most of the weekend just to learn the racing line around this high-speed circuit. I contained my initial anxiety and learned at my own pace; over-braking at turns where I’d later find a way through flat-out!

It felt like being a rookie again,  learning a unfamilar layout with very few visual cues. Many turns were linked and while double apex turns are not uncommon at many road racing tracks–this was the first time I’ve seen a triple apex turn! Get the first one wrong and you’ll have to lift off the throttle or go off the track at the exit of the turn! Still, I always find myself reveling in triple digit speeds and MMP had plenty of THAT!

Throughout the Saturday practice and qualifying sessions, I was on a steep learning curve. Little did I suspect how many more surprises I’d face in the race itself (to be continued)! 

Here’s another shot taken after the Nissan 360 event. Driving about two hours from Lisbon to the south of Portugal (called the Algarve), brings you to some of the most beautiful beaches and semi-tropical forests imaginable. You did have to track down some secluded roads and squeeze past on narrow roads, but the white sand and the clean surf was well worth it. On this particular beach, you could wait until the tide went out mid-day and walk across to a neighboring beach. I even did some wind sprints in the sand, but mostly just watched and wondered on this carefree day…