Atlanta Tour in the “R”

Or

“1.9, Bernie”

Well, finally…after moving my entry forward from Dixie back in March, when I bailed because I hadn’t driven the Integra, last Thursday night I was finally on my way to Atlanta for my first Tour in the Integra Type R as part of Team Grab and Go. Things could not have been more to my liking. We had decided to trailer the car down, towing behind my Lincoln. I just hoped it would be a good tow vehicle since it’s a pretty comfortable ride. It turned out to actually tow well, and the comments and jokes once we were on site made the whole idea worthwhile. “Seriously, Dude, towing with that?” was heard more than once. The fact that I got to kick back while my co-driver, Jim, did all the driving made it a win/win for me.  Again, I was sorry that David didn’t get to make this event, but the seven hour drive seemed to go quickly just chatting about autocross, racing, music and stuff with Jim.

Fridays are a pretty easy day at a Tour. It’s mostly just getting set up in your pit area, getting the car teched, taking some practice runs to get the feel of the surface, working for an hour,  registering, and hanging out waiting until 6 or 7 PM when they open the Saturday course for walking. Getting to joke around with other racers that you only see at events is a big part of the package. Because of Jim I’ve gotten to meet so many people. There was also a welcoming bar-b-q that helped tide us over until dinner and the much anticipated Original Monster Margaritas.  Having to make changes to our entries required the dreaded trip into the trailer, but I finally got to meet Nancy, the gal I’ve had to ask to move my entries around a couple of times already this year. So, I moved into open and Jim moved to the tire warmer position, giving me the 186 spot. That made me feel pretty good since it meant that he’d go first and be able to give me feedback on how the course drove compared to how it walked. I was surprised and never expected him to do that, but it was a much appreciated gesture.

Friday afternoon we found out that a friend’s car had broken and was undrivable. Luckily, both he and his co-driver found rides for the event. Saturday morning Jim offered to tow their car back to Greensboro for them after the event. I was so happy that he did that. I just had not thought quickly enough to do so myself, but helping out friends is as big a part of this sport as the actual 6 minutes of adrenalin rush. It certainly upped the momentum of comradery for the entire weekend.

We hit Cracker Barrel for breakfast first thing Saturday morning, and were on site and ready to walk the course before 7 AM. I did my usual thing. After walking the course with Jim several times I walked alone and charted everything out, making notes of places we had discussed as important. I’m still not confident about my choices sometimes, and Jim still insists on those pesky test questions, but my self-confidence is building. Then, a couple more walks with Jim and some of the other Triad guys and they were calling for first heat workers. We were so lucky this event, drawing the work first heat, drive 3^rd heat positions. I once again got my favorite job of finish post worker. Giving time slips to drivers after they cross the finish allows me to watch the event as well as put times and faces together. What a great way to get to recognize more drivers.

The course was excellent. It was simple and straight forward with no thread the needle elements, a nice, long slalom and a 5 wall “wallom” across the back. There were many off camber transitions. The pavement was about the roughest I’ve ever driven. Just when you’d want to mat it there’d be a bump or a dip to unsettle the car. One of the “funnest” courses ever.

All who know me and saw me at Dixie last year would be amazed at the difference in my attitude toward these events. Last year I was such a bundle of nerves I was almost sorry I was there before my runs. This year is so different. I think the manner in which both David and Jim approach these events has made the difference. They’re really not a big deal. They are just the best chance ever to compete in a sport that I love, on some of the best courses, with the best drivers in the country. Simply being there steps up your game. Watching Jim run first gave me great confidence. It’s strange, but even with the pre-run excitement, once I’m in the car I’m just comfortable, confident and ready to run. That’s never happened before this year. All of my runs Saturday were OK.  They were, clean and reasonable, but just soft. I never got the shakes, but wasn’t really disappointed either. Just average. Jim was giving me pointers but I wasn’t getting amped up. After trying about a dozen things to get me riled up, he found the key. “Take a second off your time or you’re out of the car!” That did it. My 3^rd run was 1.2 seconds faster.  I finished 5^th on Saturday. Not last. One goal down. Jim finished day one .2 out of first place. I guessed we both had work to do on Sunday. After impound he changed the fronts to our other set of “not new but pretty good” tires for Sunday and left for lunch. Nothing left to do until Sunday’s course was ready to walk. The course was just reversed with only small adjustments so 3 or 4 walks and we were off the land of Monster Margaritas. ‘Nuf said.

Sunday morning we decided it was worth losing a little sleep to hit Cracker Barrel again for a good breakfast before the event. And again, we were on the course walking before 7 AM. With some pretty good coaching over drinks Saturday night I had the ammo to get some good laughs out of the Triad guys. That was fun. It’s cool to see O’Maley lose it.

During the 2^nd heat we took the opportunity to review the videos from Saturday. I found it extremely helpful to see so obviously how much I needed to step up my game. I’m seeing the videos in a completely different way now, watching where I am and how I’m angled, as well as what my hands and feet are doing, and listening to the throttle. It’s no longer just cool video.

So, finally they called for 3^rd heat. We had 2 more course walks before our heat. Again, running 3^rd heat clearly rocks! Jim put what he calls the “Jimmie V” move on his closest competitor closing the gap by nearly .5 seconds to win the class. My first run had some spunk, but clearly needed to rock harder. Faster in the slalom and holding first gear longer were Jim’s strongest comments. My second run was 1.7 faster and I could see exactly what I needed to do and where. That’s always been a guess before. The places I thought would be scary were exciting instead, and I knew I could do better. My last run was coming up and I felt really good. All I wanted was to not slip below 5^th.

Off I went. I knew the slalom was faster and so was the wallom. I was matted through there. I made the small sweeper without pushing and found myself in the little downhill going faster than the previous runs. I made the left, up the hill with the vision of “trimming the grass” that was growing at the base of an important cone. One more cone to attack, then summons the “breasticles” into play for the transitions through the light.  Looking back at the timing display I saw I’d taken .6 seconds off my previous run. But what I saw besides that is what excited me.  There were a bunch of “my guys”, the NC boys, all with their arms in the air yelling, and running to our grid spot. What a rush. It turned out that .6 seconds put me 3^rd for the day, and moved me to 4^th in class for the event, .003 from 40 seconds, and 1.9 seconds off of Feinberg for the day. The 1.9 is important because at every event when I talk to Bernie after my runs, the first question he always asks is “how far are you behind Feinberg?” So, as soon as I stopped shaking I was on the phone leaving the simple message, “1.9”.

Soon after we were released from impound we were on the road home, injured car on the trailer and Bret following us in Jim’s Integra. We dropped Stephen’s car off in Greensboro and loaded the Integra on the trailer for the last leg of our journey, and headed to Bahama.

I’m learning so much more about the sport itself, about the car, and really about myself.  I am so thankful for every minute of this opportunity. I’m enjoying the team and the new friendships that we are developing. Lincoln is in 3 weeks. I’m entered and ready to go.