A Lap Around PIR in a fast car

[RealRideRacing]

It's not exactly a Porsche but this is so well presented that I had to share it with everybody. My friend Manuel just did a great video clip with telemetry display taken onboard an American Stockcar Challenge (ASC) stockcar taken at Phoenix International Raceway's GrandAm road course. For those of you who may want to use this for your own precursor to running this track, the ASC car is a Ford Taurus tube frame late model stockcar with 366hp (spec engine) running on bias ply slicks and weighs 2,700#. The series runs exclusively on road courses. Take a look, I thought he did a great job:
http://www.symbolicproductions.com/ITrackview/MGR/PIR.html


Regards,
David
REALRIDE.COM RACING
http://www.RealRide.com

[Tim Stevens]

Thanks for sharing. That is a great set up. What type of software does he use to show all of the braking and gas stats?

[Az911]

For comparison 2 years the 993RSRs were running 1:01 laps at PIR

[RealRideRacing]

1:01 is pretty fast. Fast time for the ASC cars that weekend was 1:04, not bad for cars that we built 2 of for less than $18K each. The top 10 cars were within 1.5 secs of each other.

Regards,
David
REALRIDE.COM RACING
http://www.RealRide.com

[team FTB]

You guys have seen the in car footage in the above referenced link. Thought you might be interested in what they look like. Here's picture showing what the cars look like. We all used to run Porsches at the track with the POC before switching over to the ASC cars. For us poor folks it was a lot cheaper than our Porsches. 1:56's at ButtonWillow CCW using the full course, not bad for 15-18k for a turnkey car. Enjoy.

[campbellcj]

I like the telemetry-video presentation; very slick!

Is it just me...or is the forward visibility "challenged" in these cars?

$18K for a fully race-ready car is hard to argue with; hell, I have more than that into my "lowly" 914, and it is not done yet (are they ever?)

[team FTB]

Hmmmmm...visibility what a concept. One of my greatest challenges moving from the porsche into these cars was that viz everywhere was limited compared to the porsches and street cars in general. You get used to it after awhile though. I'm also built like a midget so seeing over the cowl hood is a challenge in right turns so a flat hood is definitely next on the list.

But hey, what does it matter. The car is a rolling tank and nothing rattles it that you can't see. I remember I was tucking up the inside of an M3 in turn 8 at Willow and he turned down on me, bounced of my door panel and went careening off the track. My car did not even budge, solid as a rock.

Yes, like you I spent a ton on my Porsche and it was never as good as this tube framed car. Waaay cheaper and faster than my beloved Porsche on the track.

Feel free to fire any questions. cheers.

[ajackson]

Where do you get information about purchasing/running these cars? I did a quick google search and didn't come up with much (maybe my search terms sucked).

[RealRideRacing]

Alan,
Try using search word: "American Stockcar Challenge" (all in one quote). I came up with several pages of press releases.
Send me an email: realrideracing@sbcglobal.net
I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. How much it costs to build an ASC car, who to contact, how much it costs to run one, and much more. I don't think a Porsche forum is the appropriate place to discuss this.
In the meantime, you can visit the official ASC site at: http://ascracing.com
RealRide.com also has a discussion forum for ASC.

[RealRideRacing]

California Speedway Pro Sportscar course video:
http://www.symbolicproductions.com/ITrackview/MGR/Fontana.html

This was taken during practice on Friday. Last year, Justin won this race with lap times around the 1:44-1:45 range. I've heard that lap times improved this year but I'm not sure by how much.

[jluetjen]

The term "Bruser" comes to mind. The cars just seem big and heavy. Big engines, big brakes, big axles, big cages -- Everything just seems big. There is no doubt that they are fast . 911's (note the 911 content) are from a completely different place designed as they are to be "quicker" as opposed to being "faster" (which in some cases they still might be).

I'm sure that the stocker is fun to drive and "reasonably priced" (as much as a race car can be!). If the chance ever come up I'd try one. But at the end of the day I enjoy the 911s and other cars in which less is more.

Some people say Tom-A-toe and some say Tom-ah-toe. Both are fine.

[RealRideRacing]

Well there's no question that the car does feel big. Surprisingly, the cockpit is pretty cramped compared to it's large exterior and does take a little getting used to at first. My first few times weren't so much as hitting the apex as much as getting within a car width or simply running over it! OK, exaggerating here, but you get the point.
I was still racing a Porsche TurboCup in the POC while Justin was getting his start in the road racing stockcars. I remember when he described the experience to me as like driving a boat. As you mentioned, it's not quite as quick and twitchy as a sportscar, but then again, you're going quite a bit faster most of the time. My first time behind the wheel of one, I really understood what he meant. It's a totally different experience than a sportscar, not necesssarily better or worse.
Several of our Porsche buddies took a test drive in the stockcars last year. Namely Doug Baron who ran at Daytona in a GT3RS recently. Doug took a few laps and came back in grinning from ear to ear. Loren Beggs, whose 911 Design has prepped the last few cars to win the Tribute To LeMans, was standing nearby. Doug's comment to Loren was "Loren, you gotta check out this gearbox! It shifts like butter! Now how come we can't get the 911's to shift like this?". Loren climbed under the car and started studying the Jerico transmission in the stockcar. Randy Beck who's one of the most talented drivers in the POC, and who's father owns the Beck Spyder company, also took a test drive in the car. We had to literally pry him out of the car! His comment? "What a hoot! The car is really lazy but God it pulls out of the corners!".
For me, the switch from a modified 944 TurboCup car to a stockcar was huge. Justin came from a 930, and as they say, those 911's are like trucks anyway (just kidding folks!). But I've driven several race prepared 911's as well and I can tell quite a difference. Justin's story about nailing the M3 is a great example of the rock steady characteristic of the car. At the Tribute To LeMans a few years ago, I was hit by a "to remain un-named" multi-time IMSA Champion. He took off my left front wheel and I had to limp back to the pits losing precious time in the wheel change. Had I been in the stockcar, I wouldn't have felt a thing (no I'm not still bitter!).
By the way, the biggest factor slowing down the ASC cars is the power. We're limited to the 366hp spec engine to keep costs down. The engines cost $3,500 and last up to 3 yrs on nothing but oil changes, and have a 1 yr warranty. At tight tracks like Buttonwillow Raceway, the ASC cars do well. At a recent event, one of the mid pack ASC drivers on old tires, was dicing it out with Craig Stanton driving a GT3 Cup Car on fresh tires. But at Willow Springs Raceway where power is everything, our best time is 1:23.970 while Rob Stefanowitz in a 700+hp 911 Turbo did a 1:18 (Bill Auberlen did 1:19's in a GT3RS). However, a few years earlier, Steve Resnoweicki (sp?) shoved a $25K engine in an ASC car, tweaked the aero a little, mounted some radials and turned in a 1:11 at Willow! By comparison, the IMSA GTO record there is 1:17 by Dennis Aase. Rocky Moran ran a 1:08 in an IMSA GTP car while the outright record is held by Michael Andretti in a Champ car at 1:05.
No it's not a Porsche, nor does it pretend to be. But with it's bang for the buck, you really can't beat it! ASC is not for everybody as the competition is pretty fierce and the racing can sometimes get physical (http://images.realride.com/cgi-bin/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=ASC_In_Car_Videos&image=PIR%202-21-04.wmv&img=&tt=avi). But parts are ridiculously cheap and the drivers are some of the most talented road racers around.