AR Auto Service

Originally posted May 13, 2008

Due to a reading comprehension issue on my part I was 2 races short this weekend of getting my national license which also made me ineligible for the National race being held this weekend.

What does this mean? It means that for the first time this year I have competitors in my class, and also for the first time this year I am unable to compete.

Steve Zink, Kristina Etherington and Russ McHugh from down south came up to race this weekend and I am unable to compete. This is incredibly disheartening. On the upside I will be able to get an idea as to what calibre of driver and car will be competing at the Runoffs as both Steve and Kristina were at the 2007 Runoffs.

I also find later that Russ McHugh is actually registered for the regional race! I will have competition!! YEAH!!!

Qualifying starts around 11am on Saturday morning and I make a point to grid just slightly behind Russ to watch his overall pace.

My plan? Go out for 4-5 laps and warm up my tires. Pit in to confirm tire pressures and then run 2-3 qualifying laps and park the car.

The session starts and I park myself a few car lengths off of Russ’ bumpe and watch him drive. After watching 4 or 5 1:37.xx laps flash by I get bored and pit in. I confirm tire pressures and go out for my qualifying laps. I’m pushing pretty hard but the car is also pushing pretty hard today. I dont know what the problem is but I bust out 2-1:33.8x laps out back to back and figure “thats close enough”.

Was it actually close enough you ask? Yes. Russ Qualified at 1:35.5 or so. Nearly 2 seconds off my pace.

I wait paitiently until Sunday for the regional race hoping to crush Russ in my first and only race with competitors in my class. Instead, as I arrive at the track an hour before the race I see his Miata being loaded into the trailer. Apparently he is going home.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I finish the day as an uneventful solo race again and go home in first place. Again.

How’s that for an anti-climatic finish?

Originally posted May 7, 2008

This is the *second* race of the season and I have a trump card for this race!

Side note : John Hudak’s NSX went down before the weekend even started with some internal engine damage. Cause is still unknown but regardless of what it is it will be expensive. The Crazy widebody NSX will be out of commission for a while now.

First, let me tell you about the secret mods unknown to my competitors that have begun to take place in the dark of the night.

They are as follows:

1)Contact Lenses. Yes. I have been racing without being able to actually see the race track.

2)Ride height. Apparently the previous owner of the car had installed a new set of shocks without pre-loading the control arms. The car is sitting about 1″ higher than it should be.

3)Wheel bearings. In the last March race I almost lost a wheel off of my car at the end of the race due to a failed bearing. Being the crazy anal retentive guy that I am, I had all 4 bearings and hubs replaced.

Now, let me tell you about the Eddie driving style. There are several key points that make the Eddie driving style unique.

1)Brake late and brake hard. Ok. Let me rephrase that. Brake too late and brake too hard.

2)Chuck the car into the corner for all its worth. Tire wear be damned.

3)Use every inch of the track. And maybe a bit extra as well.

The above style was good for a 1:35.1 second lap time in the previous race but just wasnt working well due to the fact that the Integra has no brakes and the tires are really expensive.

The previous course record for SSB class at Portland International Raceway is a blistering 1:33.9. The track is in fact longer than before, but faster in some sections making the lap times difficult to compare. Some of the classes have broken the old course record but most of them are slower, making me think that the 1:35.1 second lap time is in the ballpark of where I should be.

Unfortunately, my huge elephant sized ego wont let me leave it at that. I must break the old course record regardless of whether the course is slower or not. The problem? The 1:35.1 lap time was set during qualifying and I was driving the old Eddie style for all it was worth.

So, for this weekends race I change gears a little bit and focus on braking less (since I dont have brakes) and attempting to use the throttle more (scratch Eddie driving characteristic #1). My tire manufacturer tells me that radial slicks develop grip when they are loaded gradually and can’t be chucked into the corner. (Scratch Eddie driving characteristic #2). My car tells me that running over the curbing is taking its toll on shocks and bushings and might end up very expensive. (scratch Eddie driving characteristic #3)

After re-inventing the driver (Eddie) and molding myself into something completely different than before, I whip out a course record demolishing 1:33.3 lap time. And, since there were no competitors in my class again I simultaneously take first place and last place.

At this rate I will be the undefeated and undisputed Oregon Region SSB class champion.

Originally posted Apr 1, 2008

The story begins at 5am on Friday morning. The SCCA Novice school is a 1.5 day event that spans everything from ground school to mock starts and races on the track.

Sounds like fun you say? You would be absolutely right, if it wasnt snowing, hailing, raining, sleeting, foggy and cold!!

Eddie was a bit lazy so this is an excerpt from John Hudak’s post on NSXprime.com. Quick Summary: I won’t lie. It was a trying week. Driving in snow, hail, rain, sun, hail, sun, etc…. sticking out out like a sore thumb, sound issues, etc…. but everyone really stuck it out through the school, into the race weekend, and finally just gave it their all on Sunday afternoon. I kind of wish I could have been in the grand stands!

Race Results:

Eddie finished 1st in class! No need to go into all the details there- but clearly a national title is already in the mail. I qualified 9th with a 1:41 wet lap. I then finished 7/13 in class and 13th/30 cars overall with a 1:32 fast lap in traffic, completing 19/20 laps and earning my license!! Not bad for running some-what ill prepared with a road car on a set of street tires!!

I think I could have picked up two or three or maybe four more positions, but unfortunately I had to give up a few positions because my car began to trend in the direction of a minor over heat so I had to run a cool down lap in their before returning to race speed. I also entertained everyone when I stuck a wheel off at the exit of 6 and found myself facing the right direction!!

The fastest car of our group ran out of gas. I then crossed the finish line right behind an orange pro prepped Porsche that was otherwise kicking my ass all weekend with gobbles of hp and tire. Eddie crossed the finish line literally right before his rear wheel bearing finally gave in and seized.

Stiff competition against a lot of pro prepped cars… first time out I’m amazed how fast you can go when you are actually in a real hurry!!!

Here are some pictures from our week long ordeal that pretty much started on a PCA day on Tuesday, through the ground school later in the week, and finally ended with the race on Sunday…

PCA Instructor Retreat:

<move along, nothing to see here, another DE day.. wait, except for that sweet… Cayman S and Superleggera. >

SCCA Ground School Day1:

Ground School Day1 – Goal: try to stay dry and keep the spirits high. My goal: How many novices can I pick off after the green flag and before entering the chicane… while really not being able to see much of anything out of my front windshield but the faint glimmer of a tail light. First time anyone ever told me to not drive so aggressively during practice! LOL. Racing in wet snow and hail… fun stuff I could get used to this!!

More Rain and hail!! One side of the track is literally dry one minute with sun breaks, while the other side of the 1.945 mile course is getting pelted with hail so bad as we clear T9 it’s white so they had to bring us in.

SCCA Ground School Day 2:

Me getting ready for practice… thumbs up that I will be “hitting my marks” on video tape as everyone was watching us like a hawk. Staying “low key” so as to not stand out like “that guy” with all the “implied sponsorship”

Eddie looking at me like… I just really need tires, brakes, and more hp and everyone else just needs less car and more talent.

SCCA Regional – Saturday Practice Session

Ahh some dry time at last!!! My nemesis during practice… this beautiful well prepped C6 Z06 with 450 ponies. Duking it out I spent like six laps within a few feet of this bumper WOT before I finally took him coming out of T7. I was not about to let the NSX community down in the NSX vs. Corvette debate!!! (Ok, except for the green one in like WC trim with triple the hp, he can win)

Like an act of faith they then brought me in on a meatball for the sound violation… again.

Nice staff, let me at least finish that round out before bringing me in… tells me that the two of us must have been entertaining someone!!

Microsoft sponsorship on another level (past 59 anyways LOL), just really happy he is not in my run group…

SCCA Regional- Sunday Race!!

It dried out and the sun broke and everyone put on dries! We had a two plus lap start behind the pace car because everyone wanted some!!

What a shot!!

The Speedware sponsored 350Z… hmm, he must have also had one of those $625 alignments…

And where credit is certainly due….

-Many thanks to Paul K. for lending me his Taitec Lightweight exhaust so I could finally run a lap without having to leave 2-3 seconds on the table having to lift for the sound station (117db is apparently too high for these guys- hey, who would have known )

-Thanks to our National Spec Miata Champ K. Sutherland for showing me how T2 and T7 is really done right!!

– Thanks to Brian and the chief steward for keeping the pressure high and for helping me keep my nose clean!

-Thanks to Eddie, Brian, Pong, and the whole AR crew for their service and technical skills for keeping my ride running and the morale support.

– Thanks to John, Greg, Trevor, and crew for the awesome prep work keeping me safe enough.

– Finally, thanks to all the staff at SCCA for making my first race a memorable fun one I won’t soon forget!
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Eddie Nakato’s SCCA debut in 2008 has met with excellent results racking up an impressive 9 wins in 11 races and 3 new course records!

Pacific Raceways : 1:42.775

Portland International Raceway : 1:33.378

Reno-Fernley Motorsports Park 1:36.07

The SCCA Runoffs (the winner-take-all National Championship Race)Â is scheduled for October 6-12 in Heartland Park Topeka, KS.  Keep an eye on this website and we’ll let you know how Eddie does and when the race will be televised on the SPEED Channel!