Friday, October 16, 2009

From The Lincoln Tunnel to Lincoln Nebraska

By: Jake
2009 ProSolo Finale: Lincoln, NE Sept 5th - 6th

The journey to Lincoln Nebraska started out with a circus of undercover NYPD officers swarming my vehicle within half a block of my apartment. I knew it was a bad idea to leave the exhaust dump and those damn Redline Time Attack decals on the car. There I was, sitting in a flashy, sticker ridden race car
--> with a matchbox spoiler on my trunk, surrounded by fifteen plain clothed undercover NYPD officers with shields dangling from their necks. The traffic stop was a hell of a spectacle for the hundreds of New York City passers-by.












NYPD Traffic Stop (Dramatization)

It was nearly an hour until they sent me on my way with a measly traffic violation (no massive drug bust here, sorry folks). I guess the undercover detectives were not very familiar with the practices of cutting traffic tickets. As it turned out, I allegedly honked my horn without any clear sign of danger. We were in Manhattan for Christ’s sake, who doesn’t honk their horn? That battle would have to wait for another day; I had a more important one waiting for me in Nebraska. It was peddle to the metal out of the Lincoln Tunnel on a mission to a new Lincoln.









Hamfist Racing Subaru Begging for Unwanted Attention
After about fifteen hours of driving I was in the middle of nowhere and getting restless. A quick glance at the GPS showed I was approaching the Mississippi River. If there was one thing I learned throughout the many years I was forced to take social studies in grade school, it’s that civilization cultivates around water. There was bound to be something along the river to do or see. I discovered downtown Moline, IL and in this city there was a hair salon... two actually. At that point I had grown an incredibly grizzly beard and a Jew-fro that rivaled Seth Rogen. I sat my ass down for a relaxing professional grooming - my first paid haircut in nearly 10 years - to take my mind off the fact that I still needed to drive another 12 hours. Despite being in Bumble-Guam, Illinois the two hair stylists were really cool. Without second guessing my directions – or mental state – they carved the mysterious pylon into my head.








Photo By : Danny Kao









Thanks Beth And David From DaVarah Salon For Making Me A Conehead Like Dan Aykroyd
Back on the road, I spent nearly half a day dodging oversize tractor trailers with one hand while the other was fingering the novel scalp terrain.








1300 Miles Worth Of Insecticide On The Street Driven Hamfist Racing STU Impreza
Upon arriving in Lincoln I could see the racers in attendance were the best of the best from the 2009 ProSolo series. A win in Lincoln, I realized, was going to take perfection. Expecting my Subaru to understeer on concrete, I decided several test and tune runs would be necessary to obtain that perfection. Since the car has non adjustable shocks I jacked up the rear pressure to astronomical levels in an attempt to induce oversteer. The concrete was too grippy for that trick, so I had to rely on alignment adjustments, which I have not played with all season, to get the car to rotate at corner entry. Corey Ridgick – driving the Bridgestone Mitsubishi Evolution in STU – helped decipher my rear toe adjusters, and Max Hayter – driving the ChaseCam/Fordhal Motorsports Subaru STi in STU – let me borrow his set of Longacre toe plates, to achieve a slight rear toe-out alignment, effectively dialing out the terminal understeer that plagued my car on concrete. Thanks guys!








2007 & 2009 ProSolo STU Champion Ridgick (left) and 2008 ProSolo STU Champion Max Hayter (right)
Day 1 of ProSolo competition started out well. On the left course I was chipping away at the clock with some solid runs and respectable times. On the right course, however, I felt off the mark having gone too deep into the braking zone after the far right slalom. Despite imperfection I was sitting behind Geoff Clark in second place going into the afternoon runs. In the afternoon it got hairy. I red lit after psyching myself out thinking I needed a solid improvement on the right course. With that red light still etched into my retinas I must have overlooked a wall of three slalom cones. Swinging around for what would be my last run of day one I shook off the cobwebs and yelled at myself to look ahead. With the announcer calling out all sorts of action at the top of STU, I tried my best to concentrate. On the right I pulled out a three tenths improvement moving me ahead of Clark, but it wasn’t enough. Both Ridgick and Hayter edged me out and I was sitting in third place, 0.517 seconds from first.








Hamfist Racing Subaru STI in all its impound glory
The spread to first was within reach but I knew Ridgick wasn’t going to give it up without a fight. Sure enough, on day 2 he improved by eight tenths. I simply needed to go faster… and I did, improving run after run with a near 6 tenths pick up on the left and almost a full second on the right! I stormed ahead of Ridgick and Hayter and ultimately secured my first ProSolo victory.
The win felt fantastic but at the same time bittersweet. All season I’ve been chasing one driver: Corey Ridgick. Every event I would get closer and closer to victory until I finally began to drive faster than him. The times I was faster, however, were always on one course out of two course events (National Tour or Prosolo format events). He would best me on the other course, by a greater margin, ultimately winning the event. I always “won the battle but lost the war.” This included finishes at DC ProSolo, Finger Lakes National Tour, Northeast Divisional Championship, and the Holbert Memorial.








The Provisional Hamfist Racing Win
After finally driving faster than Corey on both courses and securing the event win at the ProSolo Finale, Ridgick once again managed to edge me out and win the war. I finished 2nd place in the overall season points championship and Ridgick secured the 2009 ProSolo Season Championship. Congratulations!
Corey deserves the season championship. He was nearly perfect every second of every course of every event all season. That’s what it takes to win this game. I still wake up covered in sweat thinking about the 0.001 second differential from DC ProSolo and how things could have ended differently. I swear to the world, next year I will hamfist my way to perfection and to a ProSolo Championship. No more f’in What Ifs.
2009 ProSolo Season Finale Results
2009 ProSolo Championship Points Standing

Hamfist Racing win in Lincoln featured at SCCA.com...

"Baker Wins ProSolo Finale, Strano Takes JCJ Cup
BY:SCCA Communications
09/06/2009


Photo:James Sykes

LINCOLN, Neb. (Sept. 6, 2009) – The first Tire Rack® SCCA ProSolo Finale at Lincoln Airpark ended with Ian Baker, of Herndon, Va., taking the top prize, while runner-up Sam Strano, of Knoxdale, Pa., earned enough points to claim the overall Super Challenge Championship and take home the JCJ Cup.

Driving a Stranoparts/SSC/KONI Honda CRX, Street Touring S winner Baker faced off against F Stock winner Strano in the final round of the Super Challenge. Baker, who had yet to win a Super Challenge this season, picked the right event to get it done, beating Strano’s StranoPerformanceParts/Capital Quest Mtg. Ford Shelby Mustang to the finish.

With a sturdy lead in the Super Challenge points heading into the Finale, Strano’s second-place finish was enough to claim the JCJ Cup for the top Super Challenge point scorer.

The leader of the Ladies Challenge points came away with the Ladies Challenge Finale win as well. It was only fitting that after winning Ladies Class 1, Leslie Cohen, of Cardiff by the Sea, Calif., would face off against the woman chasing her in the Ladies Challenge point standings, Meredith Brown, of Los Alamos, N.M. Cohen’s C2 Racing/Leslie Cohen Design Honda Civic bested Brown’s Automotive Pros/MidAtlantic Toyota MR2 to take the Ladies Challenge win and Championship.

The Honda Tuner Challenge went to Jinx Jordan, of Terrell, N.C., driving a SoloPro Driving School/Hoosier Honda Civic. Jordan managed to beat the Super Challenge winner himself, Baker.

In class competition, Jake ..., of New York, N.Y., stormed to the front of the Street Touring® Ultra field to take the win in his HamfistRacing.com Subaru Impreza. The victory ended Corey Ridgick’s STU win streak. Ridgick, of Allentown, Pa., would finish second by just 0.026-second in his Bridgestone Mitsubishi Evo, but take the STU ProSolo Championship.

In D Street Prepared, Mike Sheilds, of Temple, N.H., took a slim 0.086-second win in his Ambrosia SW BMW 325is over Mark Alan Smith, of Denver, Colo., in a 3Zero3MS.com/Ska Brewing/Bildon Volkswagen. Sheilds, however, scored enough points to take the overall DSP ProSolo crown.

A Street Prepared was shaken up, as Eric Stemler, of Peoria, Ill., took the win in his Chevrolet Corvette over Jason Collett, of Smyrna, Tenn., also in a Corvette, while ASP point leader Jason Uyeda, of West Hills, Calif., finish fourth in his A.R.E./ProParts Lotus Elise. This finish turned the point standings upside down, as Stemler would take class honors with 53 points, followed by Collett, with 52 and Uyeda, with 51.

In H Stock, Ron Williams, of Topeka, Kan., made a comeback to take the win in his MINI USA/Hoosier Tires MINI Cooper, beating Joseph Austin, of Montgomery, N.Y., in an On a Dime Racing MINI Cooper by 0.352-second. The win secured Williams’ H Stock title.

The tie for the Ladies Class 2 ProSolo Championship was finally settled, as Annie Bauer, of Renton, Wash., beat Christine Berry. Driving a PMWLTD.com/SignEdge.com BMW 2002, Bauer topped the Hoosier/ChaseCam/BerryFamilyRacing Mitsubishi Evo of Berry, from Alta Loma, Calif., by 0.683-second.

The pylons won’t be put away just yet, as the Lincoln Airpark has one more event to contend with. The 2009 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships begin on Tuesday, Sept. 8, and run through Friday, Sept. 11. News and results will be posted, as they become available."

Stayed tuned for the Hamfist write up... For real this time.

2009 ProSolo Season Finale Results

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Hamfist Racing Published at RedlineTimeAttack.com!



RedlineTimeAttack.com September 23, 2009:

E-Town: A Racer's Perspective

We received this writeup from Jake, driver of the Hamfist Racing Subaru STI, and want to share it with all of you!

No Risk, No Reward… By: Jake

It was mere days before I needed to head out to Lincoln, NE for the SCCA Solo National Championships and Redline Time Attack was gearing up for a weekend of grassroots time trial battles at my local track. How could I resist.
For me, the deciding factors were contingent on a few things: cash prize money, weather, and my willingness to risk my car’s well being (track flogging can cause mechanical problems, in case you weren’t aware) the weekend before the SCCA ProSolo Finale and Solo National Championships. Scanning over RedlineTimeAttack.com I realized there were several companies offering cash prizes for top finishers. Most notably Subaru was offering up to $500. Money, check. Weather forecast called for mostly clear skies Sunday, race day. Weather, check. Lastly, I figured that if I drove conservatively the car would be fine. Naiveté, check.
I was determined to retaliate against all the Street class drivers from last year’s Redline Time Attack season finale at Round 6 of the 2009 Redline Time Attack series. Doug Wind’s Mopar/Continental Tire SRT4, Alex Sharanevych’s Slick Motorsport EVO and Thomas Hiromoto‘s Fuji Racing Miata all had huge targets on their backs. Now, with the support of team Hamfist Racing, I was aiming for a bull’s eye.
Since the '08 Redline season finale my Hamfist Racing Subaru STI has received a proper H&R coilover suspension, dialed in with additional camber, wider wheels and the almightily Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs… the perfect ammunition for time attack annihilation. Also, another similarly prepared STI, driven by local autocrosser Brian Goldstein, joined team Hamfist Racing for the massacre. There was just one problem... Turn In Concept's (TIC) and their new hot shoe – One Lap of America class champion Tony Weisenhahn. The TIC crew has campaigned a highly tuned Subaru WRX at all the east coast and mid-America Redline Time Attacks this season. The car pumps out close to 400whp on a 2.5L block; amped up by a GT30 turbo and fortified with forged internals. Because the car is straight out of Turn In Concept’s garage, you better believe the sucker can grip – running none other than Dunlops in the maximum allowable width of 255mm (10mm wider than my STU spec Dunlops), TIC/AST coilovers, and just about every other TIC bushing and suspension component they have on the market.
Team Hamfist Racing was running late Sunday morning and both the cars and drivers were running on empty. Trying to maximize our course time we jumped into the practice session, regardless – even managed to forget installing our transponders before heading out. The sun had not fully dried the course from the previous day’s storm so these runs were taken at 60 percent. Between the wet conditions and the heavy on course traffic we were only able to push hard on our last few laps. We both found we were getting fuel slosh starvation issues on the second fastest part of the course (at turn 6 on the not-so-accurate track map).
With only a short 30 minutes between warm up sessions we booked it to the nearest Exxon for a full tank of gas and grub. The brimming tank fixed the fuel starve issues and this time we remembered to pick up our transponders. We jumped in the front of the pack from the get go and got a clean run or two before hitting the L.I.E. rush hour traffic. Regardless, one of the clean runs was good enough for me to qualify 3rd out of the twenty-four Street class drivers. At this point it was clear I was going to edge out all of last year's competition. The two Street class drivers who out qualified me were the TIC Subaru WRX and the Draco Performance Subaru STI. As a result, I am sent out after the Draco Performance Subaru on our first official time attack session. Holding nothing back I pushed my heat cycled Dunlops until they could take no more. The tight 180 degree turn around on the far side of the course really helped open my eyes to the worn nature of my tires. The car pushed and wouldn’t turn in the tight corners. Understeer was apparent and I realized the next time attack session I would need to put on my fresh set of SCCA Solo National Championship tires, also Dunlop Z1 Star Specs.
Regardless of the worn rubber, I edged out the Draco Subaru STI and maintained the lead over the Mopar SRT4, Fuji Racing Miata, and Slick Motorsports EVO with a 1:15.0XX second lap time. TIC continued to dominate and held a two second margin over the field. Brian and his Hamfist Racing Subaru STI also performed well in the first session running a 1:15.XXX and sitting just outside the final trophy spot. For the next and last practice session I still had not swapped rubber. Naturally, my practice time matched my time attack run nearly identically. Brian however showed some significant improvement, nipping away at my comfort zone. Once the session was over I had 30 minutes to swap rubber and get in grid for the final time attack session. The street class drivers took notice upon unveiling the fresh rubber nestled under the seamlessly harmless blue tarp. The Dunlops were shaved to 6/32”, mounted to a brand new set of 17x9” Rota DPT’s and ready to grip the road like a fat kid holding a candy bar.
Released behind Tony in the TIC Subaru I went out for half a lap of tire scrubbing and left foot braking before going all out for the top spot. With the tires scrubbed and brakes warmed up, I headed into the main straight right before the timing equipment with the intent of tripping the start line with as much speed as possible. But at the end of the straight Tony slammed his brakes nearly parking his car at the timing equipment, his arms flailing wildly out the side of the car. I was confused and was forced to slow down. Tony continued his run awkwardly and because of his random braking frenzy I was right on his tail the entire session. On my last lap fuel level got so low the car began to starve again on the long right-hander. Needless to say my session was seriously compromised.
When we pulled into the pits Tony was obviously very upset. He proceeded to explain that there was a pylon on the main straight toppled over lying directly in his racing line. Now that he mentioned it, I do recall instinctively driving around the pylon on the straight like a good autocrosser. Tony made a very valid point that safety should always be the number one concern on track and the pylon was certainly a hazard. As it turned out the pylon was there for most of the Street class drivers and anyone affected by it was welcome back for a repeat final time attack session. Naturally the top 5 street class cars, Brian and I included, opted to hit the track for a pylon-less session.
I scrambled for gas in the paddock and found team WDS willing to sell me 5 gallons of my favorite go juice, Sunoco GT100, in time for the repeat session. Back out on track everything went smooth and safe. I continued to push harder and brake later. Apparently I wasn’t the only one pushing since 4 out of 5 drivers who opted for the session improved. Fortunately I managed to hold on to second place over the Draco Performance Subaru STI by a 0.074 second margin. TIC took first in Street class by 1.741 seconds, the smallest margin out of any Redline events at which they competed. Unfortunately, Brian suffered from fuel starve and a smoking hot turbo in the final session and had to park it off course until the session was over. He still managed to secure 5th place in Street-AWD with a 1:15.086 lap time. My best lap clocked in at a scorching 1:14.384.
At the conclusion of the time attack we check in on long-time-autocrosser-turned-time-attack-hot-shoe, Mark Daddio, to see how his day closed out. He had lapped the AMS/NOS Mitsubishi EVO X at a blistering 1:07.222 seconds despite power steering issues. Mark is an incredible driver and continues to impress at every event he drives for AMS. He commented on how fast I was in an STU prepped car and congratulated me on the podium finish. He then asked, “Is that the car you plan to run at the SCCA Solo National Championships next week?” “Yeah. Why?” I replied. “You’re CRAZY!” he insisted. Mark Daddio is the kind of guy who understands the importance of maintaining a national championship car (being a multi-national solo champion).
One recurring theme I’ve notice throughout interactions with top drivers in the country is that rarely does anyone understand the importance of maintaining the hamfist mentality. Without this critical personality trait Team Hamfist would just be another group of weenies wondering, “What if?” I say, “Whatever”. I didn’t break the car and I was off to Nebraska two days later for the SCCA ProSolo Finale and Solo National Championships.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

1993 Mazda RX7 R1














Year: 1993
Make: Mazda
Model: RX-7 R1
Color: Vintage Red
Owner: Sandro
Sponsor: IRPerformance

Class Eligibility:
• SCCA SOLO - A Street Prepared
• SCCA Rallycross - She doesn't rally
• Redline Time Attack - Modified RWD
• NASA TT - TTS
• MotorsportsNE - Unlimited

Handling Modifications:
• 1" 1/4 ST Front Swaybar
• Mazdatrix adjustable Endlinks
• Widefoot front sway bar mounts
• Disconnected rear swaybar
• Tein SR Coilovers 14k Springs Front and Rear
• Mazdaspeed upgraded Suspension Bushings

Wheels & Tires:
• 15"x10" Diamond Racing
• 275/35/15 Hoosier A6

Braking Modifications:
• Hawk HP+ Pads
• Stainless Steel Brakelines

Power Modifications:
• Downpipe and Midpipe
• Apexi N1 dual exhaust
• Cheap Bastard Intake w/ Custom Insulation
• Custom I/C Fans
• Apexi PowerFC ECU
• Datalogit
• NKG Wideband O2 Sensor/meter
• RP Denso Fuel Pump
• Direct Power 12V Fuel Pump Wiring

Exterior Modifications:
• Baseball Bat Fender Roll
• Permanent Cone Marks

Interior Modifications:
• OMP Steering Wheel
• 4 Point Racing Harness
• Widefoot Pedal Extension
• Removed Radio and Speakers

Other Modifications & Maintenance:
• ATE Super Blue Racing Brakefluid
• Mazdaspeed Engine Mounts
• Mazdaspeed Aluminum Shifter Bushing
• Pettit Differential Bushings
• OS Giken LSD
• A/C Delete
• Air Pump Delete

Thursday, October 1, 2009

2005 Subaru Impreza WRX (Not an STI)














Year: 2005
Make: Subaru
Model: Not an STI
Color: World Rally Blue
Owner: Ron Zaras
Sponsor: Click HERE To Sponsor This Car.

Class Eligibility:
• SCCA SOLO - ???
• SCCA Rallycross - Prepared AWD
• Redline Time Attack - Street AWD
• NASA TT - Unlimited
• MotorsportsNE - Unlimited

Handling Modifications:
• Whiteline Front (27mm) and Rear (24mm) Swaybars
• KW Clubsport coilovers
• Whiteline Max-C camber plates
• Whiteline Anti Lift Kit
• Whiteline Balljoint extenders

Wheels & Tires:
• 17"x9” Rays G07WT (BTCC wheels)
• 255/40/17 Hankook Ventus RS-3

Braking Modifications:
• Baer 6pot front brakes
• Baer 14" front rotors
• STi Brembo rear brakes + rotors
• Goodridge lines
• Hawk HP+ Pads

Power Modifications:
• Random Tech Catted Downpipe
• TXS Up-pipe
• Stromung catback
• OpenECU 18psi street tune

Exterior Modifications:
• Dents
• Scratches

Interior Modifications:
• Alpine Head Unit
• Speed Hole in Rear Floorboard
• Flocked dashboard

Other Modifications & Maintenance:
• Quick ratio 11.5 to 1 steering rack
• GFB adjustable short shifter
• Motul Racing Brakefluid
• Amsoil 5w-40 Euro Oil
• Removed Intake Silencer