Are RTR Drivers Faster?

[catchacab]

Got this off of the PHAX yahoo forum

 

Hey guys and gals!

Completed yet another weekend with NASA for the sixth
championship event for the East Coast Honda Challenge.
This took place at Summit Point Raceway.

The format for the weekend included practice,
qualifying, and race on both Saturday and Sunday. The
weather was going to be HOT. Mid 90's and very humid
with a chance of some major storms over the weekend.

Saturday practice session was used to shake down the
car and make sure everything was in good working
order. Everything went well except for some slight
contact with another car. Damage was very minor and
the other person involved learned from their mistake.

For qualifying later that day, I made sure I got to
the front of the line to get some clean laps in. I
was successful and turned about 3 laps before pulling
off the track. I ran a 1:29.0 which was good enough
to take the overall pole for the entire Stinger run
group.

For the race, we were forced to do a rolling start.
The pace car set the speed in favor of my Honda CRX.
Third gear right in the sweet spot of the rpm band.
Todd Reid in his Ford Probe was starting next to me on
the front row. He has boatloads of power and I knew
that would be my biggest problem for the race.
Luckily, I got a great jump. Todd was still able to
sneak a car length or so by me but I got him back in
the braking zone going into turn 1. After that, the
rest of the field was in my mirrors. I ended up
running the rest of the race by myself and worked
through lap traffic. In the end, I finished first
overall.

You can view in car footage of the race by clicking on
the following link:

http://www.ajnealeyracing.com/In%20Car%20Footage%20%40%20SPR%20August%2025%202007.html

Sunday was going to be more of the same. Practice was
used again to shake down the car. I noticed I had an
extremely bad vibration in the steering wheel while
traveling at high speeds and that the brake pedal was
very long. Turns out the front wheel weights flew off
and the front pads and rotors needed to replaced. I
promptly took the wheels to Phil at Phil's Tire
Service who took care of the balancing and I then
worked on the front brakes to get ready for
qualifying.

Again, I was first in line for Sunday's qualifying
session. I again had a clean track and turned out
about 4 laps. The track actually felt very fast with
a cooler front approaching. I ran a 1:28.0 which,
again, was good enough for the overall pole for the
Stinger race group.

The race later that day again started with a rolling
start. The pace was set about the same and got
another good jump. But the roaring field behind had a
bit more power than my Honda. I got a HUGE bump going
down the front straight before entering turn one by
Wade Cunningham in his Nissan Sentra SE-R. With that
boost, I was able to get by the Scott Willard in his
Nissan Sentra who started next to me on the front row
in the braking zone for turn 1. Again, after that, I
wasn't challenged for the rest of the race. There
were a lot of yellow and debris flags scattered
throughout the track with cars caught in gravel traps.
In the end, I finished first overall.

You can view in car footage of the race by clicking on
the following link:

http://www.ajnealeyracing.com/In%20Car%20Footage%20%40%20SPR%20August%2026%202007.html

Again, I always have a lot of fun hanging out with the
NASA crowd on race weekends. I had planned on racing
at Summit Point Raceway again this weekend with the
SCCA, but have thought better about it. Instead, I
will focus on preparing my 1988 Honda CRX Si for the
NASA National Championships at Mid-Ohio September
13-16. The best of the best will be there. I am
extremely excited.

Keep posted on http://www.ajnealeyracing.com for
updates!

I'd like to thank the following for supporting me for
the 2007 season:

Hondamans Auto Service - http://www.hondamans.com

Studio 553 - The ultimate in digital graphics services
- http://www.studio553.com

Primary Residential Mortgage - Ask for Dean or Devon
and tell 'em AJ sent ya! -
http://www.easymdmortgage.com

Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Please
contact me anytime if you are interested!

Thanks!

AJ Nealey

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http://www.ajnealeyracing.com
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