Race #2 - Smells Like AMC Spirit - August 29-30, 2025
With the car tracked and tested all summer long we felt we were ready for the race weekend. We tackled some general maintenance and a full review of the car, packed up enough spare parts to largely reassemble almost anything on the car if need be, and drove on out to the event.
We found ourselves a strategically smart pit spot and got to work setting up our home base. You can see it above, before one of our team members brought their larger travel trailer along.
Generally there just wasn't much to report or exciting the leading up to the race. We got there, we setup, we didn't run practice as we all knew the track and knew our car was sorted... so we just hung out and chilled.
Here you can see us dressed up for Tech & BS. Our theme was "chicken" to go with the Polka music we'd be playing out the back of the Accordion.
The driver who attended the least work parties to work on the car had to wear the tall chicken suit. That would be Winslow... and with his coms solution also not working... he was the man in the suit!
Day 1
Day 1 was an exlierating day of racing for us. We got out to the starting line early, half because we misunderstood the schedule, half because we were hoping to do well. We got on track first, but it didn't terribly matter since the green flag drops whenever the organizers feel they've got transponder information logged properly.
We quickly wound up in a top 3 position overall, and first in our class... but then just as quick dropped out of the running as our car sucks down fuel, causing us to pit every hour just about. We dropped back to 16th... and then back up to top 5... and then back down... and then back up... it was a roller coaster of a ride.
As the first day began to wrap up and more cars broke down, we found ourselves in the top 10 overall and competing for first in class. That said, our class was a tight race, with the top 3 cars in our class all within 2 laps of each other and 4th only trailing that by a few more laps. Right as the day was coming to a close, I was out driving and became concerned we'd run out of fuel. We did a quick dash and splash fuel stop hoping we wouldn't lose time... and then they ended the race 10 minutes early! We'd have been fine and kept our gap close had they not done that, but it is what it is and it just as easily could have been something else. We wrapped up the day 2nd in class, and 3rd overall.
Fortunately for us we had no major mechanical issues. We took the car, rotated brake pads and wheels/tires, and that was mostly it. We did pass all of our suspension, aero and chassis settings along to ChatGPT and discussed how we felt the car was handling. We got a few suggestions, that mostly lined up with that we were thinking doing anyways, and made the changes to the car.
Doing so well we figured some libations were in order. A few good drinks to celebrate the victory!
Here's the full crew after Day 1!
Day 2
Day 2 started a bit damp, but not terribly so. Dave went out, and the whole track was running under yellow as the organizers confirmed transponders. By the time the green flag came out the track had already largely been scrubbed dry by the cars on track.
A lot of cars didn't make it to the start line, and the car we were competing against for first in class had a mechanical issue and almost didn't even make it to the start line!
Once the race was off, it was a close battle between ourselves and the two other cars competing for B class. We would all trade laps back and foruth, but overall we were putting down way more distance than our competitors, our pit stops were strategic... and with some help from full course yellows and then a red flag, we were able to finish the race out with fuel to spare instead of needing a top off. The same can't be said for our closest competitors, who remained within 2 laps of us the entire time, but finally right before the end had to pit for a fuel top off dropping them 3 or so laps further behind us. With an hour to go there was simply no way they were going to regain that unless we mucked up... and we simply didn't.
We wrapped up the day first in our class, and second overall! Above you can see our car in the "winners circle" for the awards ceremony.
We were all quite thrilled and happy with ourselves, so we posed with the car.
Here's our team receiving the trophy!
And there's the Accordion safely back at home, sporting it's new trophy and some celebratory art!
Some Nerdy Data Analysis
So I downloaded all of our data from SpeedHive as CSV data, input it into ChatGPT and chatted out just what we were seeing.
Speedhive Race Results:
https://speedhive.mylaps.com/sessions/11166149
Driver Performance — Green-Flag Laps Only
Filter: include laps ≤ 2:20 (140s). Exclude pit laps > 4:00, and Dave’s final “carry it home” stint.
| Driver | Day 1 Median | Day 1 Std Dev | Day 2 Median | Day 2 Std Dev | Δ Pace (D2−D1) | Best Lap | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jesse | 1:48.89 | ±3.32s | 1:48.24 | ±3.48s | −0.65s | 1:44.89 | Fastest overall + stable both days |
| Winslow | 1:49.45 | ±4.10s | 1:48.97 | ±4.19s | −0.48s | 1:45.21 | Consistent, dependable laps |
| Pat | 1:52.79 | ±5.78s | 1:50.20 | ±7.65s | −2.59s | 1:45.07 | Biggest improvement |
| Dave | 1:49.31 | ±4.23s | 1:49.00 | ±5.31s* | −0.31s | 1:44.29 | *Day 2 Stint 1 had FCY disruption |
Consistency Rankings — Day 2 (New Setup)
| Rank | Driver | Std Dev | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jesse | ±3.48s | Fast + steady |
| 2 | Winslow | ±4.19s | Rock-solid reliability |
| 3 | Pat | ±7.65s | Improved a lot, still variable |
| 4 | Dave* | ±5.31s | *Skewed by early FCYs |
Fastest Laps (Day 2)
| Driver | Best Lap |
|---|---|
| Dave | 1:44.29 |
| Jesse | 1:44.89 |
| Pat | 1:45.07 |
| Winslow | 1:45.21 |
Fuel Usage — Longest Stints Before Pitting
Competitive stints only. Excludes Jesse’s Day-1 finish (splash) and Dave’s Day-2 “carry it home” stint.
| Driver | Day | Laps Before Pit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pat | Day 2 | 45 | Matched longest run; smooth & efficient |
| Dave | Day 2 | 45 | Equal longest fuel window |
| Jesse | Day 2 | 43 | Higher pace, slightly higher burn |
| Winslow | Day 2 | 40 | More traffic/fighting lowers range |
| Pat | Day 1 | 46 | Showed strong conservation on Saturday |
| Dave | Day 1 | 36 | Shorter early stint |
| Winslow | Day 1 | 34 | Shortest typical stint |
Biggest Gains from Setup Changes
| Driver | Pace Gain (Day 2 vs Day 1) | What Helped Most |
|---|---|---|
| Pat | −2.59 s/lap | Softer fronts + freer rear rotation |
| Jesse | −0.65 s/lap | Cleaner exits, stable balance |
| Winslow | −0.48 s/lap | Steady gains, already consistent |
| Dave | −0.31 s/lap | Gains masked by FCYs |
Setup & Strategy Changes
| Change | Before | After | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front Dampers | Firmer | 2 clicks softer | More front bite, less mid-corner push |
| Rear Wing | 5.75° | 4.75° | Freer rotation, reduced drag |
| Rear Tire Pressure | Lower | +1.5 psi cold | Helped rotation mid-corner, smoother exits |
| Fuel Strategy | 3–4 laps past light | 5 laps past light | Longer stints, fewer stops |
Methodology
- Included: competitive stints; green-flag laps ≤ 2:20; median pace, variance, and fastest laps.
- Excluded: pit laps > 4:00; laps > 2:20 (FCYs/red flags/severe traffic); Dave’s final “carry it home” stint (Laps 376–410).
- Fuel efficiency section counts laps per stint before pitting; excludes Jesse’s Day-1 finish splash and Dave’s Day-2 finish.
What it Would Have Taken to Won Overall
So I reviewed the data with AI... and the biggest gain we could get would come from less pit stops. Pitting as much as we did, often more than others, meant we lost a lot of time on track. We fortunately regained that with reliability, consistent lap times, and not receiving penalties... but we still have some distance to cover!
In order to get our pit stops down to 2 hours, we're going to need to a larger fuel cell, infact likely double the size of our current fuel cell. Add in a surge tank and some other bits and pieces... and we've got a fair bit of work to do on the car to get the time between pit stops up further!
If we target 3 stops per day (6 total for the weekend) instead of the 9 taken...
Stops removed vs our actual: 9 → 6 (–3 stops)
Time saved: 3 × 446.8 s = 1,340.3 s (≈ 22.3 min)
Laps gained at our avg non-pit pace (112.64 s/lap): +11.90 laps
Projected finish: 409 + 11.90 = 420.90 laps → basically dead even with Blackbird’s 421 (within a tenth of a lap)
Sensitivity if we have to fuel-save to make the 2-hour stints (roughly ~400 non-pit laps over the weekend)
–0.5 s/lap average → –1.78 laps → ~419.12 laps (≈ 1.9 laps down)
–1.0 s/lap average → –3.55 laps → ~417.35 laps (≈ 3.6 laps down)
If we also tighten pit work with 6 stops:
–30 s per pit (×6) → extra 180 s saved = +1.60 laps
→ ~422.50 laps (≈ +1.5 laps over 421)
–60 s per pit (×6) → extra 360 s saved = +3.20 laps
→ ~424.10 laps (≈ +3.1 laps over 421)
Takeaways
Moving to 6 total stops (3 per day) puts us right on Blackbird’s total at current on-track pace. If we need a little conservation to reach 2-hour stints, we’ll likely fall 1.9–3.6 laps short unless we claw some of it back with faster pits or a small pace gain.
Solution: pair 6 stops with sharper pit choreography (–30 to –60 s per stop) and/or a modest ~0.5–1.0 s/lap average improvement. Either path gets us past 421 without needing hero laps.
...so you're saying there's a chance!