JPR AutoSports

What a great event! Seldom is the weather so impossibly pleasant and consistent at the same time. Clear and cool in the morning, sunny and breezy in the afternoon, perfect. Not surprisingly, the great weather, NASA NE, and Poconos Raceway is too good a combination for people to pass up. They didn’t and the turnout was impressive. We were able to secure a couple of garage spaces early and Joe from EFI Logics made short work of getting the car unloaded and set up quickly. Joe is one of EFI’s newer techs and is very knowledgeable. Working with Jack they had poured over the car to get it ready for a long three days of racing as the weekend wore on it was clear, from his handling of the Evo as well as the countless questions he answered on behalf of other drivers and onlookers, that Joe has accumulated significant skill for all his youth. Next time you get to EFI in Bethel, make a point of stopping in and saying hello to Joe – worth it.

Friday was interesting as it was my first time on the single infield -long course. While running the North course backwards is easy enough, the new concrete bump on the exit to the Nascar Tunnel turn is terrible, and a giveaway. Then a sprint to 155 on the straight to a hair raising Turn 2. Heavily banked, it still takes some getting used to. Physics play a big role but it’s hard to consider the math when trying to bend the car in at 130 to a sharp right. I don’t care how banked it is, it took me a while to get comfortable and keep my speeds up. The afternoon was spent getting used to this new track configuration. The new APR Performance wing made a clear and discernible difference. Very stable at all speeds, the down force was especially evident on turn entry and exit and the wing/ splitter combination helped maintain speed and grip. We’ll review the data for the new wing vs the old wing and report back.

Friday evening was an opportunity to run the normal North course for a Time Trial with MotorSports NE, affiliated with NASA NE. I like this shorter configuration and, apparently, so do others as 18 drivers turned up to compete, including a number of the wheel to wheel racers. The shorter straights and tight turns are good for the Evo X configuration. Joe and I had worked out the tire pressures earlier that day, the Goodyear Eagles were scrubbed up and sticky as hell and he had the car dialed in pretty tight and ready to go. After warming up for 20 minutes on the track we gridded up in groups of three.

My turn was up with 20 seconds of open track. Starting on Nascar turn 3, I got to speed before timing started on the short straight after Turn 2. Despite the new bump on the Turn 1 entrance (the transition from the Nascar track to the North Course infield), we ran a 58.08 which was fastest for the day and won the event! This time was faster than our TTS course record from last year and, what’s more, the 2nd and 3rd spots were two of the fastest racers of the weekend. We were especially pleased to have the EFI Logics Evo perform so well.

Saturday and Sunday was back on to the Long course and we methodically worked the lap times down. The Evo is at a slight disadvantage on the long course as it is less aerodynamic than the big Corvettes and Ferrari Challenge cars. We saw sustained speeds of 156 and thus lap times were 1:32s. Traffic became an issue and so NASA NE did a great job of gridding up the TT drivers first and separately, which helped get us a couple of clean laps. Faster top speeds and turn entry ruled the day and while we won the TTS category, we spent the day chasing a big TTU Corvette. We had a great time and it couldn’t have been more fun as the Evo would gain ground on the infield only to give it back on the straights.

BBQ on Saturday night after the awards ceremony led into another exciting day on Sunday. We ran the track in the other direction which is, surprisingly, even faster than Saturday’s configuration. Sunday afternoon came too soon, though after winning our class twice and the TT on Friday we were feeling pretty good about the results. The Goodyear tires were spectacular and wore like iron. If you are still running Hoosiers it’s time to try something as sticky that lasts longer. EFI Logics did a great job with the car and it ran perfectly all weekend long, never a hiccup and having Joe there to keep everything in sync made all the difference. NJMP Lightening is next, are you ready?