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Saturday, November 28, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving
Yeah, it's a day late. It was a good one. Hope everyone else found a lot to be thankful for.
I had a "holy crap people actually read this" moment as I happened to glance at the site stats for
the past month. Really I have no idea (apart from a few people who are contractually obligated...i.e family) who might
include this site in their post-lunch procrastination cycle, but thanks!
I also wanted to give a shout out to the
folks at Tennspeed. I appreciate the kind words in response to the Daytona mini-blog. Going to that kind of thing
is fun for a number of reasons, but being able to share the experience with people who appreciate it makes completely worthwhile.
Now, I'll quick slacking and have a video or two posted somewhere before the end of the weekend.
-Wheelman
out.
12:14 am est
Monday, November 16, 2009
Daytona: Fini Wow, 4 days of some of the most spectacular car porn I have seen in a while. Everything went well for
us; that is to say the Porsche is in one piece, and dad is still kicking. The Ferrari Challenge race on the last day
was pretty entertaining, and getting to meet Derek Bell was a very nice treat. I'm typing this from somewhere in
central GA on the way back to TN. Keep an eye on the space to the right for videos and a mini-blog link.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Daytona Again.Rolled into Daytona today around 3. Got everything unloaded, took a few pictures, and have made it back to the hotel. Pay
attention to the headline to the right for a link to the crap-load of pictures I plan to take over the next three days. Enjoy! Also,
went for a jog around the infield earlier; just to stretch the legs after two days in a car. Ran a loop around the go-kart
track, did a couple of laps along the Lake Lloyd boardwalk, and got some funny looks from the "Daytona 500 Experience"
tour groups being shuttled through on a tram. :)
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Nashville Super Speedway: End of an Era....for now.
I've only driven NSS
on one other occasion....one other not-very-successful occasion. So I feel
it's only fitting that the track that highlighted the extent of the problems with one of my cars also serve, in possibly
one of it's last-hosted events to fully vet the renewed fitness of my other car. 4 full sessions and a bit for fun,
nearly 70 laps, and a 300mile round trip to and from....with no issues what-so-ever (knock on wood out of habit).
Friday Nights in the Old City: The Knoxville "UTDM" meet.
You
may recall my last article describing the great atmosphere, massive turn-outs, and unfortunate dispersal of this meet in it's original manifestation
and wonder why it's cropped back up as a headline on the site. Well, it seems reports of the event's demise
may have been somewhat premature. A few enterprising folks took the initiative, moved the location to a public parking
area under a bridge, next to some railroad tracks, in the old city....and even went so far as calling ahead to KPD.
As a result, UTDM rides again! In honor of this momentous occasion (and as an excuse to play with my video editor, and
take more pictures of the NSX) I've compiled the requisite cheesy video:
Pocono 2011. Setting a new record for late updates on 3-Zero.net: So, amidst my own vehicular trial
& error, we arrive at the time for our annual pilgrimage up north. My plan was laudable: Take my lap-top,
run the usual mini-blog on Sports Car Frenzy and TennSpeed, then dutifully update this site shortly after returning. Well, 2/3 isn't bad I suppose. Much to the chagrin
of my hypothetical/imaginary readers here, I became thoroughly distracted with shaking-down my recently resurrected NSX and
consequently failed brutally at web-mastering. Ok. Enough with The excuses. The forum links above will take you to a general account of the proceedings,
and the pretty pictures below link to many more, nearly-equally-pretty pictures.
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Driving an irregular oval - Nashville Superspeedway: My inability, thus far, to crack
the mystery surrounding the MR2's cooling system has festered into a point of acute personal shame. History provides
a veritable cornucopia of solutions for such indignity: wearing a scarlet letter, becoming a hermit, Seppuku, etc...
However, since I'm really not handy with a sewing kit, the housing market is crap, and I really can't be bothered
to die right now, I figured I might have better luck just fixing the problem. However, I first must find that which
requires fixing, and the only way to find said "that" involves looking for the problem in the only environment where
it occurs: the racetrack. Enter a conveniently timed event at Nashville Superspeedway, hosted by the Music City Mustang Club. The 1.8
mile "road course" configuration provided a test bed for the cooling system. I trailered the MR2 to the event,
splashed for a garage bay, and brought the proverbial bag of tricks with me. After 3.1 sessions of driving, and several
hours roasting myself over the hot engine bay, the problems persist, but I eliminated numerous variables. Naturally,
it's nothing simple or easy. With that said, I did manage a little fun on the track, some of which I have shared
below:
Video:
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