9-20-09 Success!

You never know what to expect at “The Futures” every year. Some guys plan on running other shows and understand that they are really out for fun. Others are extremely hard core and know they will probably never see you again after the race and choose to drive recklessly. This year it seemed that most people were in the first category and it really turned out to be a great show.

This year we wanted to try something that no one has ever done before. That was to race the Hobby Stock Division and Super Stock Division with the same exact car making no modifications. This was a pretty incredible challenge because most of the races were run back to back leaving very little time in between races and practice sessions. We had other things that we needed to worry about than tires throughout the day which included changing our transponder to make it easier for the tower to score me in both races. We also needed to constantly fill the car with fuel because we probably turned over 100 laps.

During practice it really turned out the car was pretty close now that we had fresh rubber on the RR. We brought three new tires that we changed throughout the day to give us a competitive advantage. The car did need to be tightened up slightly this we did by adding some sway bar preload. Looking at the weather throughout the week I was hoping for cooler track conditions but it turned out to be a pretty warm day which did make it slightly greasy as the track heated up in the afternoon.

We qualified pretty well as we were able to get fast time in the hobby stock division with a 13.6. The Car was fine I just don’t think I drove it in hard enough into turn number one. I was able to correct this problem when I qualified with the super stocks where I was about a tenth faster with a 13.5. To my surprise I qualified 4th overall with cars that should be much faster than me. These cars are from the neighboring tracks where they are allowed to be 100 lbs lighter, fiber glass bodies, and a significantly larger motor than we car running.

Both features were extremely exciting especially since they were back to back. During the Hobby stock feature I started in the 16th position. As the race progressed I was able to make a lane change to the inside which was the much faster lane. I was able to follow the faster row of cars passing some of the cars in the outside row. There we numerous cautions that made for some pretty close calls, but as I made it up through the field with about 12 laps left I found myself on the pole fighting neck and neck with Justin Poenitch. When the green dropped Justin was able to keep up for a few laps before he washed up the track and opened the door for Al Stippich to take over second place. As I led the last ten laps or so my car started to develop a loose condition that made it difficult to get on the gas hard out of turn 4 letting Al close in. At one point he got to the inside of me but I was able to use a lap car to hold him back. During the final of 30 laps some cars must have spun through some oil dry in turn 4 and kicked up a giant cloud of dust that I had to drive through not knowing what was on the other side. This was difficult but I just hammered down and drove through the cloud hoping for the best. I did win the feature but I had no time to celebrate because I had to race with the super stocks in the next race.

In the pits my Dad and John Daley did a masterful job of changing the RR tire, filling with fuel, and changing out the transponder in no time at all. At the start of the super stock feature I started in the 13th position and noticed right away my car was not handling as it was in the previous race. The car developed a slight push on the outside of the race track. I figured this was because of the temperature differences between the right side tires. When we changed the RR we got a lot more grip out of it than the RF causing a push. As the RR tire heated up the car became extremely good on the outside of the race track. I had another close call with a spinning car but was able to avoid it with only a trade of paint. As we restarted I again was on the outside of the track slowly creeping forward as I would get out motored down the straight-away and I would catch up in the corner. Eventually, I took advantage of another lucky opportunity as a lap car held up two rows of cars allowing me to sneak past them all. I pretty much spent the rest of the time on the outside of the track coming in an unbelievable 5th place. I will never forget what one of the sportsman drivers asked me before I went out and qualified, “Why are you guys running both divisions?” He said this in a way like I did not belong with the big boys. My response was simply “Because we’re fast enough.” It feels so good to be so right!
One final thing that I thought was incredibly interesting was the fact being in that car for two 30 lap features was pretty fatiguing. I don’t want to seem like a baby but I was pretty sore the next morning. I found that the entire left side of my body was sore from my neck to my lower back. I also found that my left bicep was sore along with my right tricep from turning left all day. I now have a huge respect for those late model guys who go out and turn 80 laps in a feature while pulling more than the 1.7 g’s in the corner that I am used to.

This was by far the most successful day of racing in my career. I am really on top of the world right now and I don’t know how this racing stuff can get any better. After talking it over with my family it looks like we are hanging it up for the year. I would love to race La Crosse or Rockford but I feel like I should quit while I’m ahead and spend some quality time with the family. I won’t be idle during the off season as I will bury myself in Milkens “Racecar Vehicle Dynamics” along with other books and articles, and try to learn something that may make us faster. Finally, I could not be more proud of my Dad and John Daley for being there to perform the maintenance on the car between races. I could not have done it without you guys.

Aaron Cain #5

9-13-09 One year of hard work pays off.

 The car was completely awful on Sunday and we did not actually figure out why until the end of the day. During practice we decided to experiment by taking extra lead out of the car during practice. The track conditions were brutally hot so we anticipated a loose car. The car was total garbage during practice and no matter what we did it seemed impossible to tighten the car up. We changed wheel spacers, cranked on the sway bar, put the lead back in and nothing seemed to matter. We new our tires on the right side were getting a little dated the RF had 3 weeks on it and the RR had 4 weeks on it. But the tires have easily gone 5 weeks in the past with only a small drop in lap times. So we just had to go with the car we had even though the car appeared to be getting worse with each lap. We qualified with our worst lap of the year by two tenths with a 13.87 and only got 3rd in time.

 I started the feature in the last position as I won the week prior and because a few unfortunate caution laps I was able to slowly make my way to the front and it also allowed my tires to cool down during cautions. During the race the car was still completely awful. Accept now it seemed we had absolutely no side grip at all. I was spinning the tires on exit at the same time the RF also had no traction, a total 4-wheel drift. Eventually we somehow we finished in the 4th place position.

After the race we discovered our problem while waiting for championship pictures to be taken. Our RR tire started hissing and loosing air. Upon closer inspection we found that the RR was completely down to the cords. I am not sure why this tire wore away so much faster than any other tire we have had on our right side. I personally think that it was a manufacturing defect with the tire. We were incredibly lucky that tire did not blow and ruin next weeks plans for the futures instead it just ruined the qualifying streak.

Next week at “The Futures” we are going to attempt something that we have not done before. We are going to run both street stock divisions. If you look at lap times we should be one of the faster cars in each class provided we qualify well. This gives me the chance to race a ton of laps and potentially make some pretty good money while doing it. We anticipate a crazy day of adjustments and a tire changing frenzy between races. Who can go wrong with 80 laps of racing!

This past Sunday is a day that I have been hoping for a long time. Earlier in my racing career I did win a couple of Thunderstock championships, but the class was more of a hobby stock division and we were extremely limited on what we could do with the cars. This championship really means the most because of the amount of research, time, and effort that we put into our program over the last 12 months. Over the last year I have read every article, book, and manual that I could get my hands on that had a chance of getting us around the racetrack faster. We have tried to locate the lightest and best stock suspension components to improve weight distribution. We did extensive sponsor hunting in an attempt to keep our hobby financially neutral and provide those who we sponsor with the best service available. It has simply been a great year and any other success that we have from this point forward is a bonus to us.

My wife and kid have really had to make some sign cant sacrifices so I can go play NASCAR on Sunday. I would like to especially thank them for making this dream of mine come true.

Aaron Cain #5

9-6-09 Got another one…Finally

Wow, it has been a long time since we have ended up in victory lane but we were lucky enough to pull out another victory. It is really not that surprising that it has taken us a long time to get back to victory lane because the competition has gotten much better. This past Sunday the car was far from perfect like the car was the week prior. I am starting to think that the more rubber that is laid down on the track the greaser the track feels. Of course about 100 other variables could have affected this. During practice we were super loose where we ran into the same problem with side grip coming out of turn 4. We made some minor swaybar adjustments to tighten the car up in practice that seemed to help.

During qualifying I had the best first lap of qualifying I have ever had. Out of the gate we had a 13.8 and the car felt great on the first lap. On the second lap I just over drove the car and really screwed it up. I qualified with a 13.61.

The race was one of the most memorable races that I have ever been part of. I started in the 9th position and initially I had trouble breaking out of the pack. I was pinched behind Dan Wood on the inside and Stephanie Lozinecki on the outside eventually Stephanie faded back and gave me the opportunity to move to the outside. I thought I could get underneath Dan Wood but he did a great job of holding the bottom. I accidently got into the back of Dan Wood causing him to get loose and slow up. This allowed Stephanie close the gap on the outside. I thought I had Stephanie cleared so I moved to the outside were she graciously did not put me in the wall. Toward the end of the race I was in third position when Rick Schafer had mechanical problems leaking lubricants on the track. I hit the slick and slid the car into the wall in between turns 3-4. Somehow there was enough grip to slow me down where It caused little damage. I got extremely lucky! On the restart I was supposed to start in the 3rd position with 2 laps left, except the second place car Ryan Farrell was having transmission problems and was forced to retire early. This moved me up into the second position alongside 2008 track champion Al Stippich. During the last 2 laps the car was better than ever on the outside. I think the tires really needed to cool down a bit to regain some grip that the caution provided. I eventually was able to hold Al to the inside where it appeared he was pretty loose off of turn 2. This gave me the opportunity to take home the win.

My Dad has always told me, “I’d rather be lucky than good any day.” In this case I see his point, many things must go your way to win a race. It did not matter how good the car was I won the race from the misfortune of others. I could have easily knocked down the wall twice on Sunday and not finished the race. Ryan could have avoided mechanical problems and finished the race and I could have took 3rd. Either way I am truly blessed to take home another victory. Next week we will be in survival mode as we will start the race from the rear and do the best we can.

Aaron Cain #5

8-30-09 Slinger Speedway

Sunday at the races ended up being perfect track conditions for our car. The temperature was in the upper sixty’s with very low humidity. These are not ideal conditions to bring the fans out but great for racecars. This week was the first week in a long time that we did not have to touch the setup of the car the entire night at the track. We got rid of the pesky chain and decided to use a smaller wheel spacer in the RR of the car in hopes of tightening the car up off of turn 4. For a long time I have been contemplating this change because it just does not feel like there is enough vertical weight transfer to the RR. By sucking in the RR tire you geometrically transfer more vertical weight while transferring less lateral shear force on the tire tightening it up. This adjustment caused our car to become crazy fast. Infact, I really was not feeling that well Sunday and far from the top of my game, the car was faster than I could drive it.

We qualified with one of our best times of the year 13.510 but as I mentioned earlier I probably could have drove it faster. Stephanie Lozinecki becomes the 5 person in Thunderstock history to enter the 13.6 club with a 13.673.

The race was quite interesting because I made a choice that really did not work out they way I anticipated it. Looking at the line up you always make predictions on what lane of cars is going to take off faster. I thought for sure the inside groove was going to be faster so I bailed out on the top side and tried to follow the inside row to the front. Adam Peschek was able to maneuver to the inside of the track allowing Eric Lingford a clear lane around the outside to the lead where he claimed his division leading 5th feature win of the year. I had the opportunity to stay behind Eric and potentially challenge for the lead but I was worried about getting freight trained by the inside row of cars. Instead I had to methodically pass cars and settle for 2nd place.

Aaron Cain #5

8-23-09 Another Solid Day at the Office

This past Sunday was a pretty good day. The temperature was prime for racing with conditions dry and in the mid 70’s. The valve adjustment seemed to work well as I did not experience the lack of power out of turn 2 that I did the week prior. We also have been playing around with a different setup over the last two weeks that I can now explain. I did not want to discuss it prior because I was afraid it could be considered illegal although there is no rule against it. Many people that have thunderstocks look toward the sportsman division to get any of their tricks of the trade that may or may not work. This trick entails chaining the rear end to the frame so it does not shift to the inside during cornering. This is a problem especially with metric cars as you can literally see the rear-end shift to the left 3-4 inches when following behind. We started experimenting two weeks ago and the setup was very tight so we went back to our conventional setup with little practice time. This past week we dropped our LR spring down to a 275lbs and left the chain in. We did turn one pretty fast laps in the 13.5’s but the rest of the lap times were incredibly inconsistent and completely all over the map. The Car at some points during practice felt really good, sometimes it felt tight, others loose. After giving this much thought we came to the understanding that depending on how hard I use my breaks going into the corner determines how hard the rear-end gets tugged to the right. The whole point of the experiment was to create a more consistent car throughout the race, but instead we created a finicky pile of dog poo. Adjustments seemed to be incredibly sensitive and were different from lap to lap. In the end our team is just like everyone else we are constantly trying new things every week to get faster. If we did not experiment with these things and are satisfied with how fast we are going, we would never learn a thing and eventually everyone would catch up.

I qualified first with a 13.651 while a new driver joins the ranks of the illustrious 13.6 club. Congrats to Eric Lingford for becoming one of 4 drivers to turn a lap in the 13.6’s

The race was a good clean and fast race where the inside lane took off and left me stuck on the outside eventually I was able to make it to the inside and follow the leader for awhile until I was able to break free and begin to whittle the distance away between the first and second place. I eventually ran out of laps to even attempt a pass. With the loose condition that my car developed I most likely would not have been able to make the pass for 2nd or 1st.

Next week we will be trying a more conventional setup that should hopefully make us more consistent and faster than this past week. We need to learn as much as we can before we take on the big boys of the sportsman division.
Aaron Cain #5

Congrats to Steph #27!

I am pretty this week so I am not going to be able to spend a lot of time on the blog this week. This week our team was fighting a number of minor handling and motor issues. During practice the car felt pretty flat off of the corner, it just did not seem to have the same acceleration at certain points during practice. One thing that I frequently talk about is the number of variables involved in racing. Some of the variables you can control while others you cannot. The ideal racecar would be one where you have all of the controllable variables working together to produce a faster and more balanced setup than the next guy. However, there are always variables that you cannot control, track conditions and weather for example. This past Sunday was not a scorcher but was incredibly humid, and humidity robs horsepower. The heavy wet air displaces some of the oxygen which leaves less for the fuel to mix with. This can result in a slightly richer air/fuel ratio decreasing horsepower. I am not convinced this completely was our problem but this week we will be adjusting valve lash and replacing a section of fuel line.

There was some confusion about qualifying this week but I never heard them call for us to line up. Next week I will make sure to be down there much earlier than last week .

The race was one of the most fun races of the year. I started in the 7th place and only got up to 3rd but it was a back and forth battle from start to finish. There were a few close calls avoiding accidents and was just an incredible adrenaline rush. Late in the race I was able to get to the bottom of the race track and pass a few cars in the last laps taking 3rd place. The big news of the night was Stephanie Lozinecki’s #27 first ever feature win. It was just a matter of time until she became the first female ever to win a thunderstock feature. Congrats Stephanie you earned it!

Aaron Cain #5

8-2-09 Congrats to Ryan Farrell #80

This past week was pretty tough week as I found out that one of my recently graduated student’s father passed away due to complications with leukemia.  So this week meant a lot to me because she was in the stands on Sunday. 

This week the track did something that I have never seen done in years past.  In an effort to make the racing better, the track closed down the lower groove of the race track forcing all divisions to only drive on the high-side to lay down more rubber for added traction.  This gave us an opportunity to see exactly how the car was going to handle and what kind of lap times we could turn all by ourselves using nothing but the upper line.  A 14.1 was the best lap we could turn on the outside, the car was a little loose and it was a little strange dodging orange cones but we discovered that we were a little loose and after a few adjustments we were able to turn a few 13.7’s during the second session.  The car still was not what I wanted and seemed a lot faster than the times I was turning.  But going into this week it was our 5^th week on the RR tire and it was showing signs of wear and was significantly harder than the other tires.

During the race I just plain got lucky a few times that led me to the front.  After an early caution I was placed in the low side behind Stephanie Lozinecki  #27 and Ryan Farrell #80 on the pole.  So for most of the beginning of the race I just followed the fast guys in front of me.  Later in the race I was able to negotiate myself around a lap car I think Jake Larson thought I was going to come up into him and put him in the wall.  But I tried to leave as much room as I could on the outside.  I then was able to sneak to the outside of Stephanie and Dash winner Ken Schraufnagel #29.  By this point in the race the car turned to junk and I just could not get very much grip on the outside.  I again caught a lucky break as I was able to use a lap car to slow #29 enough to pass him on the outside.  The last few laps I was able to make some modest gains on the #80 car of Ryan Farrell but he still finished over 2 seconds in front of my second place car.  Congrats to Ryan Farrell and all the teams that were able to get him back out there after he damaged his rear-end and axle during qualifying. 

Usually we can get 5 good weeks out of a right side tire it was not the case with this particular RR tire that was giving us fits all day.  We think one of the reasons that we had problems was because that particular tire was on the RF of the car two weeks earlier.  Since the RF wheel has a significant amount of camber in it we figured that it may have wore unevenly leaving us less of a contact patch on the track.  Next week we will be putting a fresh RR tire on the car and should see a significant decrease in the poor lap times of the past 2 weeks. 

On a final note congrats to Dylan he was the kid that won this year’s customized bike for the great bike give-away. 

Congrats Dylan!

Aaron Cain #5

7-27-09 If it ain’t broke, it don ‘t need fixen’

This past Sunday we decided to make some changes to the car in an attempt to make it faster than ever.  Sometimes it is important to take a step back before you can go faster.  We decided to make a small spring adjustment to the RR of the car in attempt to adjust how the rear of the car roles through the corner.  To have a truly balanced setup you need to have the front of the car rolling to the same degree as the rear end.  The theory behind this was the rear of the car was not rolling as much as the front of the car through the corner causing the car to be loose off of turn 4.  So we decreased the RR spring from 180 lbs to 150lbs.  I really wished that we could find a 160-170 lbs spring but none were available.

The first practice session the car was incredibly tight off of corners 2-4.  This was definitely caused by the new RR spring but the freshly washed out green race track did not help things.  The other thing worth noting was that we completely backed off the preload on the sway bar assuming that it would be tight.  Tire temps showed the RF tire was 20 degrees warmer than the RR indicating a sizeable push the left side tires were also quite different front to rear.  Rather than scraping the setup completely we decided to compensate by lowering the LF spring rate from a 300 to a 275lbs spring.  This seemed to fix the problem and we seemed to have a fairly neutral race car.  Accept when we started looking at the tire temps from the second practice session they were still way off front to rear.  So after two practice sessions we decided to completely scrap my bright idea and go back to last week’s setup. 

We were the fast qualifier with a 13.657 second lap time, which is a pretty bad qualifying lap for us.  The car was still pretty tight off of corners 2-4 and we tried to make a sway bar adjustment for the fast dash.  With the limited time on the new setup we found the car continued to push on the outside and it was quite frustrating.  This was the first time all year we made an adjustment between the dash and the feature.  This was a huge advantage for us because without the extra race we would have been stuck with an awful car for the feature.  The track was cooling off and getting tighter as the day progressed so after a second sway bar adjustment we finally dialed it in. 

During the feature I started in the 10^th position and right away I lost a couple of spots because I was in a somewhat slower lane.  I was able to make my way to the inside of the #60 car and make my way back toward the front pack.  I was eventually able to get myself into second place with plenty of time to make the pass for the lead then the caution flag came out.  Slinger speedway’s policy is to revert to the lap before the caution to set the lineup.  This put me back to third place, again in the slower lane. I then lost two more positions but was able to get them back just in time to finish third.  I thank my dad for the adjustments between races because the car was a rocket ship on the outside for the feature.

Well I learned something pretty important, If your tire temps are even front to back and all indications are that the car is dynamically balanced you’re not going to really improve the setup.  The only thing I can think of offhand would be to reduce the overall vehicle weight, but then you’re really back to square one.  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Aaron Cain #5

7-19-09 Clean Racing?

7-19-09 Clean Racing?

Sorry it has taken so long to get this posted this week.  Monday the website just broke the 5000 hit mark and I am pretty proud that people keep coming back to read the posts, ask questions, and leave opinions.  This past week was a very busy week with the family and I am putting the finishing touches on the Slinger Speedway Bike that I will be giving away to one lucky kid a week from Sunday.

I’m going to get right to the point this week.  It was a good week for our team but we were frustrated when we left the track.  Practice and qualifying went well, but we are still looking to break into the 13.4 range again.  Our ever aging tires are making that harder each week but a minor spring adjustment may be in order to give us a little more rear grip coming out of turn four.

Everyone wants to know what happened during the race and the infamous aftermath.  During the race on Sunday I started in the 10^th place position.  As the race progressed I was able to work my way into 2^nd place behind leader Eric Lingford #87.  As I caught up to Eric’s Car you could tell he was trying to block me and prevent me from making the pass for 1^st place.  Eric would push up out of corners 2 and 4 only to chop my car down the straight away by moving to the inside lane.  Three laps before the checker flag I was able to get close enough to Eric’s Car to stick my nose to the inside of his quarter panel.  During mid-turn Eric again chopped down on my car causing him to start losing control of his car as he contacted mine.  I got off the throttle and on the breaks allowing him to regain control of his car and decided not to send him to the infield.  I moved to the outside of his car and then Eric proceeded to drive me nearly into the wall on the back stretch bumping me farther out making it impossible for me or any other car to make the pass.  Eric also stayed a half-a-groove higher in the corners while I was on the outside.  After the race I felt like it was 8ft off the bottom of the track.  In review of the tape it was more like 4-5 ft. 

This was incredibly frustrating not because I felt like I was robbed of the win, not because I was disappointed in my own performance, or because of “Sour Grapes.”  I was frustrated because that’s not what I consider to be clean racing.  Especially, since I’m the person that goes out of my way not to touch any other car and always give people a lane to drive in.  I also was shocked that after I had the opportunity to pull the plug on his race by spinning him out, I was nearly drove into the wall. 

Well, I learned a few important lessons out on the track Sunday.  Lesson one, if the guy that is second in the points championship comes down on you it is to my advantage to spin him out.  The best case scenario is that I would win and he would finish last losing him valuable ground in the chase.  Worst case scenario, you both get sent to the back of the pack and you still don’t lose any ground in the chase.  Lesson two; I need to learn to use my car a little more offensively.  I should never have let Eric push me that close to the wall regardless of how high he wanted me to go.  I should have been pushing back and holding him down.  I’m always very conscious of my tires this is why I like to leave a little distance between cars.  However, there is just as much of a chance you could cut their tires as well. 

I was asked a question to justify Eric’s driving on Sunday.  “Have you ever driven like that to win a race before?”  First, this is a totally irrelevant question.  This is like someone trying to justify driving drunk just because his buddy has done it before.  But, I will answer the question never the less and draw some important differences between each situation.  July 17^th 2005, I was racing in one of the first years of the thunderstock division before the cars became a fast street stock division.  On the last lap of the race current sportsman driver Mark “curly” Kissinger was gaining on me and making a move to the outside to for the potential pass.  I just let my car push to the wall ensuring the victory, and making Mark lock up his breaks.  Mark who was obviously angry asked me what happened?  My excuse was I couldn’t hold the car down and it just pushed to the wall.  The excuse was obvious bullshit and I am sure Mark knew that.  My Dad then proceeded to unleash a fury on me and tear me a new one.   To this day I’m not proud of that trophy and the only reason it’s not in the trash is because it reminds me of what kind of driver I don’t want to become.  If I ever drove the way Eric did on Sunday my Dad would not be praising me for the win, he would be kicking my ass.

This brings me to my last point, the festivities that occurred after the races on Sunday completely embarrassed me.  It seemed the only two people that were actually in control of their emotions were the drivers that were involved in the incident.  My reputation as a driver at the track means a lot to me and the situation that occurred with both sides bickering, screaming, and backbiting made it appear that neither Eric nor I could handle the situation as adults.  In fact, I believe when we were able to talk with each other we came to a reasonable understanding.  So I am done talking about it, everyone knows where they stand and I look forward to racing with Eric on Sunday.

Aaron Cain #5

7-12-09 Follow the Leader

 7-12-09 Follow the Leader

This past week of racing at slinger speedway had its ups and downs.  We made some huge handling discoveries by changing one variable at a time and are back to turning excellent laps after our 13.7 slip up of last week.  One thing that we discovered in practice is to always set your sway bar preload on flat ground.  Last week we were fighting a pushing car even though we had the same number of turns in the sway bar that we have always had.  It turns out our pit is on somewhat of an angle and it created a full 1 ½ turn difference from a flat surface to our pit area.  This was partially our problem last week.

After we made our adjustments after we made our adjustments the car finally felt like it did before we hit the wall earlier in the season.  We are back to running an incredibly balanced setup which should turn very fast laps for an extended period of time. 

One thing that most racers do not know is that you need to take into consideration two different types of setup while setting up your car.  You have a dynamic setup which is what most people set their cars up for.  This is basically what the car feels like, is it loose, pushing, or neutral.  To a certain extent you can get any car to handle neutral by a simple cross weight adjustment.  However, the question remains for what period of time is the car is going to stay neutral.  This leads us to the other type of setup which is known as a balanced setup.  The point of racing is to go as fast as you can as long as you can.  As a race continues the tires get warmer and become tackier which aids in tire adhesion producing a better handling car.  But if they get too warm the rubber will become greasy and not be able maintain traction.  This is where you need a balanced setup; the tires will come up to temperature but not go over the point of no return.  You determine if you have a balanced set up by looking at your tire temperatures.  Most people use tire temps as a way of determining proper air pressure or camber caster adjustment.  Many do not compare temperatures from tire to tire.  When setting up a race car you must look at the tire temps in pairs.  If you are running lower amounts of cross weight the average RF tire temp and RR tire temp should be within a couple of degrees, the same rules apply to the left side tires.  If you are running 58-60 % cross you are looking at the RF and LR being within a few degrees.  However, from asking around I believe the extreme banking at Slinger leads to most people fall into the first category regardless of cross weight.   In a perfect world all of the tires on the car would be at an identical temperature.  What prevents this from occurring is left side weight rules which limit the amount of left side weight%.  More left side weight = Less right side weight transfer.

This weeks tire temps:

Practice: degrees

LF                                                                      RF

147  153   157    Average: 152.3          165  171   153    Average:  158

LR                                                                    RR

148   158   166  Average:  157.3          170   184   180   Average:  183

Results:  Car loose during practice because RR 20 deg warmer than RF and LR warmer than LF.  It also apears to have too much camber in the RF, this is an anomally similar to the LR most likely because the car was loose.  We were able to balance the car more and adjust the sway bar to tighten the car up, no camber changes were made and you  can compare to race temps below. 

LF                                                                   RF

145   150   155   Average: 150           159  149   161   Average:  156.3

LR                                                                   RR

143  144  143    Average:  143.3          163   156   155   Average:  158

Results: Notice the split between the right side tires is now less than 2 degrees, the left tires are also fairly close in temp.  The LR is packed full of lead this is most likely why the temp is slightly lower.  The RF tire now looks like the camber is just right compared to practice.  I was not able to turn many hard laps during the race, but from my experience the right side tires would probably increased at the same race along with the left side tires.  This from all accounts is a very balanced set up and hopefully would turn many fast laps before the handling would start to give up.

The race was pretty boring quite frankly and was nothing more than a giant game of follow the leader.  I started 6^th and finished 5^th as 2008 track champion Al Stippich #66 just could not find his way around the outside of 2009 rookie Rick Schaefer #31 until the last lap.  This held up most of the pack and most people finished where they started. 

Aaron Cain #5