2015 One Lap of America
 

Yeah, I've said it enough... The intention of buying the Z in 2013 was to set it up and running the 2015 OLOA. I've slowly been doing this and though I don't quite have everything on it that I would like, I have improved it enough to be fast and reliable. Plus, it leaves me more to build on for the 2016 event!

I would like to thank everyone for their suggestions, tips and advice so I could do the most efficient upgrades that I could, and not waste money on upgrades that will need upgrading :icon14: (for the most part).

This year's schedule will take us from South Bend, to Omaha, Denver, Pueblo, North Texas, Bowling Green and back to South Bend.

http://onelapofamerica.com/images/hi...route.png?cb=1

So what are the modifications to the car so far?? On my 2012 Base Sport...

Fast Intentions 34 Row Oil Cooler
Fast Intentions 18" Resonated Exhaust
Stillen Brake Ducting
Stillen G3 Long Intakes
CJ Motorsports Road Race Pump
Whiteline Front Swaybar
Whiteline Differential Bushings
Z Speed HD CSC and Insulate Clutch line
TAK JAK's custom Upper front A-Arms
NISMO Diff Cover
Forgeline F14 18" wheels (Square setup)
SPL rear Camber links (with lockouts)

I would like to thank all of the vendors who have helped me make good decisions, and help me with installation questions (Charles especially with the Fuel Pump!) along the way. So what is left...??? Eventually Bilstein PSS10 shocks, Fast Intentions Cats, Full tune, Quaife Diff, SPL Upper Front A Arms, Racing seat (only installed for the event) and a harness bar. THAT is for 2016...hopefully.

I would also like to thank Winding Road Racing Winding Road Racing | Auto Racing Gear, Auto Racing Parts & Tools, Racecar Services, Auto Racing Suits | Austin, TX for sponsoring me for this Year's OLOA. They were kind enough to donate all the brake pads I will need for the event! (Carbotech XP8's all around!)

I would like to thank all of the vendors who have helped me make good decisions, and help me with installation questions (Charles especially with the Fuel Pump!) along the way.

If you are on Facebook, and you wish to follow along (first week of May) feel free to start following my race team (Normally for my Spec Miata, but EXPANDED NOW!!) if you search for Team Blenderblaster. Hope you follow along. I will be a bit of an underdog in my class (Sports cars, over 3.5L, Under $50,000) and in the stomping grounds of new Camaros, Mustangs, and older Corvettes...but we will see what we can do!

Tracy Ramsey
Team Blenderblaster

Seems more like a lap of the boring middle part of America. The track parts should be fun though! And I'm sure you'll meet a ton of cool interesting people. I've always followed the coverage of this event since the first time I picked up an issue of Car and Driver when I was a kid.

There sure does seem to be a lot of flatness out there. A bunch of freshly planted fields, and fertilizer...ugh.

Tracy Ramsey

That's all flat land. Even in Colorado. That's front range. :icon14: Have fun doing it. :tup:

Who is your codriver?

I did last year's One Lap with my father in his Focus ST. Tons of fun. Something every one should have on their bucket list. Unfortunately the route this year doesn't bring you closer, but if you have any more questions I'm an open line.

My crew chief from my Spec Miata (Jason) is driving with me...we should hate each other after a week together in the car ;-).

I ran it back in...2010? With Victor Bell in the Jetta TDI. Fun times. Less fun car...

Tracy Ramsey

Hope to see y'all at MSR. Good luck.

If you need help in Colorado, I might be able to help you out.

Thanks for the offers of help everyone, and HOPEFULLY, I won't need it! I will also be updating this thread, as well at Facebook, on our progress.

Tracy Ramsey
Team Blenderblaster

First update: 5 days left until the start at the Tirerack in South Bend. Car is all waxed up so I can get the stickers off later! Did our "test pack" of everything we need to take along. Even with the rear interior panels removed, it is going to be a TIGHT fit. A 285 rear tire on an 18 inch rim will NOT lay flat in the spare tire area...was hoping it would with the panels removed. Oh well. Who needs a rear view mirror anyway?

Tracy Ramsey

As well as packing, practice unpacking. As you should be working to walk the tracks when you arrive as much as possible.

Take the stickers off?! Why would you do that? :)

Sorry about this being a bit late (by a day) but here is the first day update. Just got done with our morning sessions at MAM and did well. Car is a bit twitchy, wish I went XP10's in front instead of 8's all around. Getting used to the PSS, but did well in morning session. Jason is busily studying my video and goes this afternoon. Videos will be posted as soon as we can upload to youtube.

A Week in the Life of a One Lapper - Day 1
I find myself on the road in the middle of Iowa as night falls and finally getting my mind wrapped around what I want to write for day 1. So much has happened over the last day or so, and I want to try to express all that we've seen...
First, some background. In January of 2014, my wife and I bought a used 2012 Nissan 370Z, which became HER car, with the express permission that It would be run in the 2015 One Lap of America. That meant 2014, and some of 2015, became my window to prepare this car for the trials and miles that make up the One Lap. The list is long of parts added, removed, modified and worked on so this car would (hopefully) be trustworthy. Well, yesterday was the culmination of all this time as we arrived in South Bend, Indiana, for the welcoming party for the One Lappers (often referred to as the Lap Dogs).
It was a nice little gathering as some South Bend fire trucks came out, a SWAT vehicle, and some other various public relations vehicles to welcome the One Lap cars at the official hotel. Many of the cars made it, and almost all of them took the opportunity to apply their decal packets so they wouldn't have to do it the next morning....I know we did!
So Jason Cange and I (Tracy Ramsey) woke up this morning to a glorious day that would eventually find its way into the 80's which is, by northern standards, a pretty darn nice day for May 2nd.
We headed off to the Tirerack for the first event and registration. I would be remiss not to thank the Tirerack for their continued support and sponsorship for the One Lap of America. Some quality car enthusiasts work here and love helping out drivers of all kinds. Enough free advertising! We prepared the car by first emptying out the back of the car of our supplies, tools, clothes, etc etc that we will carry with us all week.
We also took this opportunity to check out our competion in SSGT2, Big Bore...which means Sports Cars, Under $50,000, over 3.5L ORIGINAL engine size. Aftermarket updates are a free for all! It appears that we have some older C5 and C6 Corvettes, and many new Mustangs..and one Challenger in our class. One of the Mustangs was built by Gas Monkey Garage and puts out 700HP!!! That is about double of what we have so we knew we would have our work cut out for us.
Knowing that it is a wet skid pad, and having experience in my Spec Miata, we decided to disconnect the rear swaybar in an attempt to keep the car balanced, and be able to transfer the weight to the outside tire better. That was the only real change we did along with lowering our tire pressures a bit under recommendation from one of the Tirerack specialists I have known for a long time.
57 cars took to the the Wet Skid pad and we hoped that our Michelin Pilot Super Sports would be all of the wet tire that it is made out to be....and it WAS! GTR's did well but it was a Viper that took the win, with a Porsche mixed in there. The 370Z exceeded our expectations and we took home a 13th place overall finish, with a 2nd place in class!! No real time to celebrate as we had to pack the car back up (you really wouldn't believe how much we can fit in the back of this car!) and hit the road for Omaha NE, and the next leg of the OLOA at Mid American Motorplex! Off to the hotel for a few hours of sleep and to the track in the morning.
Don't forget to follow Team Blenderblaster on Facebook, and follow our results at www.onelapofamerica and click on the 2015 One Lap, and then results. Until tomorrow, good night!!


Tracy Ramsey

A Week in the Life of a One Lapper - Day 2

The storms were a'raging as we pulled into Omaha last evening to get some well needed rest after our first travel day. Good old midwest storms covered the city, but also gave a nice background noise as we got some sleep at our nice hotel. I mention that because we were laughing at the many One Lappers posting pictures of their hotels that looked like something out of a Stephen King novel! We were thankful as we fell into our beds and were awakened by a bright sunny day in Omaha.
A quick breakfast and off we went, BACK to Iowa to The Mid American Motorplex. This hidden gem south of Omaha is a beautiful flowing track with some high speed areas, and some very technical sections where setup, and handling, would be the key. Close access to major highways made it easy to access MAM, it has its own dragstrip on site (hence Motorplex) and the viewlines are great, as it is a VERY flat area where it is located.
Team Blenderblaster was still on a high from our results the day before (13th overall) but we realized that in the Big Bore class, our little 6 cylinder Z may have a very tough time keeping up with the rest of the class on an open track with their V8's! MAM boasts the longest straight that we will see this year...a fact that had us worried.
We unpacked the car again (we are definitely getting better at this), set up cameras, checked our tire pressures and did a quick review of our MAM video from our library. Deciding that Tracy would go first to get a idea of the car's handling and get some good video, the Z was lined up basically by the number given at registration. The idea was to give numbers that approximate performance, and then after first sessions, reseed cars after seeing their results. Did I mention our Z had the highest number in class?....hmmm....
Out we went with our run group. If you don't know how the One Lap is run, the cars are divided into 4 or 5 car run groups out on track at one time. The cars leave the pit at intervals and are sent out on a "reconaissance" lap after which they stop at the Start/Finish line. When they are all lined up again, the starter releases them, again at interval, to keep cars from having to pass while doing their three lap run. After their run, all the cars return to the pits and the next group goes out.
We studied the group that was assigned to us, and after some quick conversations with drivers, they moved us to the front of the group with the understanding that this is the place with they least possibility of catching the car in front, which in this case, would be the last car of the group. It took most of the first lap to warm tires and bring the pressures up, but after that the Z came into its own and we ended up catching that last car in the group anyway. Since it happened at the start finish line of last lap, it didn't hurt the time at all and we awaited our results.
Imagine our surprise when we were shown leading the class, getting a 19th place overall finish, and actually moving up to 11th place overall in the cumulative standings! It was a great run, a great start, and Jason was already anxious to get to the afternoon runs.
Jason, unfortunately, hadn't run the car since summer of last year, and even then he hadn't turned off the "nanny" control, or traction control. Understandably as he went out his first lap was a bit off the pace we had hoped for, but by the third lap he was within two seconds of Tracy's best lap times. From our distant attempt at timing him it was originally thought that he was about 15-18 seconds off of the three lap pace, leaving us a bit disappointed but knowing that he had picked up a lot of speed and confidence in the car by the third lap.
Once again, imagine our suprise when we found out he was only 9 seconds off the three lap pace, and finished second in class! It appears we are in a 2-way battle with the Corvette of Jim-Bob Racing for first place in class as our two cars have swapped places each of the 3 events, with the rest of the class a bit behind the two of us. Our results today also leave us in 16th place overall in cumulative standings.
Now we are on the road to Denver through the seemingly never ending roads of Nebraska, and after stopping for a nice steak dinner with friends of ours, Dan and Ben Schaut, we found a hotel that will save us about 1.5 hours of driving between tonight, and tomorrow morning. Team Blenderblaster and Schaut Speed Motorsports spend a lot of racing time together as we have teamed up for wins in Chump Car, raced Spec Miata together, and have even toured Southern Wisconsin Breweries in our non racing moments. We should be arriving early enough (10 pm?) to get some studying in on videos of High Plains Raceway, our destination tomorrow.
We have high hopes that Tracy can keep putting up some great times, and Jason can keep building on his improvements, and we can take the battle to our main competition! Updates as we can on the Team Blenderblaster facebook page, and of course, another daily summary tomorrow.

Tracy Ramsey

Splitting the driving at tracks is the least competitive, most fun way; and it's how we took our first year. Being close to the top 10 the way you are is impressive. Keep it up! Get lots of sleep. It is an endurance event.