Just got back from a Driver’s Edge event at Motorsports Ranch in Cresson. We ran the track clockwise, and the only time I’d been there before, we ran it counter-clockwise (the “normal” direction). So, it was a new track for me.
Fantastic track. Flows really nicely. Much more of a technical track than Texas World Speedway, with off-camber turns and elevation changes, often in the same corner. One of those “easy to learn, difficult to master” type of tracks, similar to MSR-Houston. I liked it. Oh, and the facilities there are worlds away from the shantytown that is the infield of TWS.
The best part of the weekend what that PST (Performance Speed Tech, a shop located at the track) figured out why I was getting so much shimmy when braking hard on the track, while there was never any shimmy when the brakes were cold. Turns out it was slight pad deposits left on there from my old crappy Axxis Ultimates, used on the same rotors, which only had an effect when the new pads were hot and therefore had much more friction on the rotors. PST did a light turn of the rotors over lunch, and it was like night and day. No more shimmy, and I was finally able to experience what race pads are supposed to feel like. Incredible.
I ended up wussing out on Sunday morning, because it was 39 degrees on my OBC and raining when I got into the car to head to the track. I was going to sack up and drive anyway, but then I decided that I didn’t want to risk going off of an unfamiliar track when it was cold and wet. It’s only a DE. So, I turned around and headed home.
The worst news of the weekend was that I think I have a blown head gasket, and that this has been the root cause of all of my cooling system problems all along. I’ve replaced everything in my cooling system, and I’m still getting coolant spray on my engine. The only thing it could now be is that the cooling system is getting pressurized by the exhaust side of the engine, because of a blown gasket (or a cracked head), and this is causing the coolant spray.
I’m taking the car into a new shop tomorrow morning, Bavarian Machine here in Houston, and just saying “figure it out”.
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