Overview

We finally went to Daytona, and the thrill of racing at one of the most famous tracks in the world was exciting enough, but the 50+ Spec Miata's that were racing made the weekend an absolute blast. This was our first time racing at Daytona, it was also our first time racing on a superspeedway/road course configuration (roval to some). The wall-like highbanks and importance of drafting at Daytona were definitely a learning experience for us. The #25 5xR Spec Miata was put to the test with the high speeds of the superspeedway portion of Daytona, the Race Engineering 1.6L performed flawlessly and was one of the fastest 1.6L Miata on track. Our set-up was spot on as usual, with the high track temperatures from the August heat our tires were like glue. We did exceptionally well for our first trip to this famed NASCAR track, read on to find out the details of each of our on track sessions...

Qualifying 1
Q1 was a feeling out session, being our first time ever on the track we were trying to learn the turns and braking points of the 3.5 mile track. After a few laps we were able to get up to speed, one of the most comfortable portions of the track for John was the bus stop section in between NASCAR turns 2 and 3. The bus stop is a quick left-right-left chicane used for slowing the top speed capabilities of some cars, for the momentum cars such as the Miata it is one of the most important turns on the track. At the end of the session John qualified 9th out of 50+ cars in class for Spec Miata, which was more than good enough for our first time on track.

Race 1
With the threat of rain all weekend, and the storm clouds moving in for the early afternoon race, it was uncertain as to what the weather was going to do. While sitting on the grid for the race to begin, the rain started coming down lightly. We gambled and stayed on our dry tires, as surely some other competitors did not. Fortunately the rain only lasted for a minute, which was good for us and surely good for a 70+ car field! When the green flag dropped, John got an excellent jump and slotted into 3rd after the first turn! 3rd is where we settled in until there was a safety car dispatched for on on track incident. On the restart John once again had another great start, this time he got into 1st and eventually dropped to 2nd after the first turn. After several laps of bump drafting the first place car, we had a decent gap on 3rd place. Coming out of the bus-stop, John had gotten a run on the 1st place car and made the pass in between the high-banked turns 3 and 4, streching out a 10-15 car length gap on 2nd place! After several laps of leading the race without drafting help, the 2nd and 3rd place cars caught up to John by bump drafting on the fast straits. Coming off of the tri-oval the 2nd place car made a super aggressive pass on us in the inside of turn 1 and caught John off guard. John went to counter-pass on the inside as it seemed the competitor was going off track, the competitor cut back into the inside of the turn and unfortunately there was contact as John could not avoid the car coming back into the turn. The competitor spun, and came back into John which caused a spin as well. The race was not lost though, as John was able to fight his way back up to finish 9th, where we started. Not so bad for our first time.

Qualifying 2
Q2 was a bit more comfortable for John, as track knowledge was not an issue. Working with 5x Racing friend and customer Pino Evola, we were able to post much faster laps than the previous day, but still only earned a 9th place qualifying spot as everyone else was faster on day 2.

Race 2
Dry weather and sunshine were back again for Sundays race. Starting 9th, Race 2 was a bit more relaxed than Race 1, we did not want to have another incident and more repairs to make on the car. After several laps, John was locked into a 3 car fight for 4th place. There was a whole lot of clean racing with our competitors, as we all swapped positions several times over the length of the race. Many turns were taken bumper to bumper, inches from each other without incident, which is always more enjoyable than bumping each other. After an exciting race, John ending up in 6th place, which was more than satisfactory for only our second race at Daytona.

Overview

5x Racing decided to try our hand at a NASA Southeast Spec Miata Challenge Race, and what better of a track to visit than Roebling Road Raceway in Savannah Georgia? NASA racing around the country has been growing rapidly, with a younger, progressive, future oriented outlook on racing it's easy to see why. NASA has a different format on a race weekend, mostly because they have TONS of classes racing within one weekend. From High Performance Driving Event classes, Time Trial, and Race Groups, NASA has it all in one place. They make it very easy for someone interested in getting into a racecar to learn the ropes without jumping in head first. The NASA way of racing was new to 5xR, as we were grouped with about 50-60 cars in the "Lightning" Race Group. The spread of times was remarkably close considering the vehicles involved, with lap times ranging from low 1:20 to 1:30 it made for some good racing all around. All in all it was a great weekend, we had excellent results and made some great new friends. Read on to see how the race went...

Qualifying 1
Q1 was a bit tough, with so many cars on track it was almost impossible to get a clean lap. Over 50 cars on a 2 mile track makes for a 2 mile train, and it took it's toll on John's performance not being used to dealing with cars slower in the turns. Our lap times were suspiciously high from our past precedent through the practice and Q1 sessions, which had Rick searching for an answer in the set-up of the car. John was blaming himself for the slow times, and the 30 or so Spec E30 BMW's! Although the set-up was off and track crowded, John still salvaged a not too bad 3rd place starting position considering the circumstances. Luckily Ricks suspicion was correct, as he found some reversed shock heights on the rear shock set-up, no doubt a shop mistake when changing to the 99+ Miata shock hats last week. We also lowered the whole car a hair to set the car on the bumpstops through the corners.

Race 1
With the set-up tweak John was ready to attack the track for Race 1. A funky split start brought the Spec Miata field right into the back of the E30 field going into turn 1, which made for some interesting racing from the start. John was battling with Jeffrey Walter and Joseph Strong for 1st place for almost half of the race, with each racer taking his turn at leading the pack. The #25 5xR Spec Miata was flying down the strait-a-ways, but unfortunately the Spec E30 BMW's were a touch faster on the straits and slower in the turns. John kept getting held up around the track by the E30's, which allowed Walter to catch up and eventually pass John for the lead. A car stuck off of turn 1 brought out a double yellow, which paced the field around the track for the rest of the race ending in a yellow/checkered finish. John came home in 2nd with no chance to catch Walter for 1st, it was a bittersweet podium. We were very impressed by the awards ceremony and BBQ NASA held for the racers on Saturday night, it was very cool to be honored for your performance and hard work. This is something the SCCA can take a lesson from!

Qualifying 2
Q2 was where John and the 5xR Miata shined! We totally nailed the set-up of the car and the fuel weight, in combination with getting clear track conditions for the first 3 laps allowed John to post a flying lap of 1:23.777, right where we were in September for the SARRC Championship race! With this being the fastest Spec Miata race lap of the weekend, John non-the-less secured pole position for Race 2. A clean track was the key to getting fast lap times this weekend, which was very hard to achieve with all the cars.

Race 2
Starting from pole and being able to pace the field for a split start was important to getting out in front early. John secured first place on lap 1 and held strong until the traffic came up, which allowed traffic master Jeffery Walter to catch up quickly. John and Jeffery were racing hard for several laps, swapping in and out for 1st place many times. They were also killing their tires on a very hot day, which came into play sooner than later. John settled in behind Walter with plenty of time left in the race to mount an attack to see if a mistake could be made by applying pressure. Sure enough the hot tires took it's toll on Walter and he went off track in turn 2 which handed John the lead for good. Several laps later John took the checkered to secure the Race 2 win! A smart weekend was played by John as he did not put a wheel wrong in any of the sessions, not even going off track once! Consistency is always going to pay off at the finish line! Look for us at our next race on June 28-29th at Moroso.

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5x Racing is going BIG in 2008! We have decided to upgrade our program in more ways than one, both on the track and in the office. The biggest change is our new web site. We contracted the services of Web Design Solutions for the upgrade to a professional ecommerce site, which uses the awesome web shop manager ecommerce solution. The team at WDS also created an fast new 5x Racing logo to go with the new site design and colors from scratch, these guys are GOOD! I know our customers will appreciate the new features that will be available with our new store. We are also upping our program to cater to the fast growing autosport of Time Attack racing. We will be adding products for key vehicles that are popular with the Time Attack racers, keep posted for exciting additions to our product catalog. As always our specialty will be Spec Miata, so Spec Miata is our first priority! On the track we are doubling our program, as in adding another Spec Miata racecar to the 5x Racing Team! Rick Adamczyk will be starting his amateur road racing career in his brand new 1995 Galaxy Gray Spec Miata, which was built 100% in house at the 5x Racing shop. This car is beautiful, Rick is a perfectionist when it comes to fabrication, and his skills show on his new car! Watch for us in the Southeast SCCA South Atlantic Road Racing Championship races in 2008!

Overview
The Double SARRC at Moroso after Christmas is always a must do on 5x Racing's list. The fair weather, double points race format, and affordable race weekend are attractive to any racer. The 5x Racing Teams luck was about to change this race, as John and Rick were looking for redemption from the October SARRC race at Sebring that left the #25 5xR Spec Miata in need of repair. At the shop, the #25 5xR Spec Miata received new wheels and tires, a new intake system from SP Inductions, and we hammered out all of the dents and straitened the body out under the headlights to restore the car to race ready condition for this race.

Qualifying 1
Since this race was a double race weekend, the format was Qualifying 1 & Race 1 on Saturday, and Q2 & R2 on Sunday with each race being worth separate points. With no practice time, John and Rick set up the car with a mix of setups we used from our last race at Moroso and our successful run at the SIC at Roebling Road in September. The setup seemed to work well with the new tires and John secured pole position for SARRC Race 1, our first pole since the SCCA Drivers School race.

SARRC Race 1
Starting 1st in Spec Miata is always good, as you are clear of the mayhem that usually ensues mid pack into the first corner. When the green flag dropped we got a jolt in the rear from Jamie Tucker, a competitor starting 3rd which held back and planned a run before the flag flew. This was a good thing as it pushed John in front of 2nd place and into the clear track. Tucker got a draft off of John and made a pass into turn one taking the lead, John patiently followed for most of the race until an opportunity arose. About 3/4 of the way into the race Tuckers tires started to go away, especially coming onto the drag strip as John witnessed some impressive tire smoking drifts following. John took advantage of the speed robbing drifts and made a pass, Tuckers car was fast though as he did not fall behind too far. Eventually towards the end of the race, Koni Challenge driver Ricky Diaz joined the battle for the lead from 3rd place and made it a 3 car fight to the checkered flag. All 3 cars traded places lap after lap and on the 2nd to last lap John secured 1st place and took it to the finish, marking the first competitive Spec Miata victory for the 5x Racing Team!

Qualifying 2
Sunday brought some additional competitors to the race, adding to the challenge. John secured a worthy 3rd place starting position behind Central Florida veteran Joe Evans and Speed World Challenge racer Mary Katherine. This would be a tough spot to start from, as you are practically locked in behind pole position and are forced to match their pace.

SARRC Race 2
Race 2 would be tough, especially starting from 3rd, but none-the-less the next best position going into turn 1. When the green flag dropped John got a massive push from both Jamie Tucker and Ricky Diaz, as the best three from day one were hungry. John made it out of turn 1 in second place, followed by Tucker and Diaz. Evans quickly made a gap between 1st and 2nd, 3rd, 4th as a long battle ensued for most of the race. In the thick of the battle, John was pushing hard to stay in front of Tucker and Diaz, in the meantime working his tires too hard. Before long John was passed by both Tucker and Diaz in the draft falling to 4th, after rethinking his strategy, John started regaining ground on 2nd place Tucker and 3rd place Diaz, but it was too late as the end of the race was nearing. When the checkered flag dropped, it was Evans 1st followed by Diaz 2nd (who made a last lap pass for 2nd), Tucker 3rd, and John in 4th. Not bad for a two race weekend, a lot of points were gained in the SARRC Championship standings. The most important part of the weekend is that the #25 5xR Spec Miata went home without a scratch, and a 2008 SARRC Winner plaque! The 5x Racing Team is taking a couple month break for a few reasons: John is getting married March 28th, resources are being pooled to complete the build of Rick's Spec Miata racecar, and gas prices are just too damn expensive! Follow us to our next race at Roebling Road Raceway on May 15-16 as 5x Racing tries it's luck in the NASA Spec Miata Series.

[Sorry, no Mylaps results were submitted by the Florida region SCCA][ SARRC Points]