Aglet Racing, Formula 500 Team
Latest update
Last weekend I got the fire system installed, made and installed an aluminum heel rest to replace the wedged in hunk of 2X4 and cleaned up some of the chassis. Tomorrow I will install new hoses for the cooling system, the fuel sample valve and start dismounting the old, hockey-puck tires to replace all the wheel bolts. I have two more weekends after this to get the car ready for annual tech and I still have to get tires, but I think everything else is either here or on order.

Here's an action shot of the little car at the BEAC Enduro event. I'm even doing a halfway decent job of looking ahead.
Champion - originally posted 12/14/05
I ran the final event on Sept 28, on a rain wet course. I had the rain tires on, but as I just needed to get points for the championship, I only made one run and put the car back on the trailer. So I'll get my championship award at the Coneheads banquet.
Right now the car is in the garage, up on blocks and partially disassembled for between-season maintenance. All I have left to buy are some bolts and o-rings and I'll get it finished up in time for Annual Tech for road racing in Feb. Allt eh stickers except for number and class are coming off, some touch-ups to the paint and a good wax job then new stickers. I have enough wheel halves for 3 7/8 sets (missing one wheel half) so i'll have two sets of slicks and one set of rains mounted. The fire system is ready to install and I haven't found any cracks in the chassis.
I ordered a driving suit, helmet and harness from
Security Race. I've been a customer of theirs for several years; they make the
Impala harnesses that I sell. When I go down for final fitting, I'll order underwear, balaclava, socks and gloves. Then I'll be set for required safety equipment.
I'm scheduled for my SCCA driver school with
Proformance on March 13-14. I'll post my predicted race schedule here when I decide; but the basic plan is to run the NW Region series and Rose Cup in Portland.
Untitled - originally posted 9/14/05
On August 28 I ran in the BEAC Enduro event. The course was a hoot to drive and I finally have a decent photo of me and the car in action. Once again I was first in class, last in class and only car in class... One more event left and I have to go, rain or not, to get my season championship. :-)
The photo is the one on the home page of this blog.
Car show - originally posted 8/22/05
On Saturday, since I wasn't racing, I decided to put the car in the Marysville Sunrise Rotary's 3rd Annual Tulalip Casino Rod & Custom Show at the Tulalip Casino. It was a fairly good-size show with somewhere around 500 vehicles on display. I sent a lot of kids (and a few adults) away smiling after letting them sit in the car and may have sold one or two on the idea of inexpensive formula car racing. One guy offered me $100 to let him drive it, then said something like, "Christ this thing is filthy!" He won't get a drive... Yeah, it's not show car sanitary, but it's not a show car; and two-strokes coat everything with a fine film of oil that's hard to get completely clean.
All in all a fun day. Lisa came up and we wandered the show for a while. I plan on doing the show next year too, I'll work on a display beyond just the car.
Life again - originally posted 8/17/05
Life has interfered with me keeping this up to date. So it goes...
On July 31 I ran the Sports Car Spectacular, the next event in the WWSCC Championship. Since Lisa wasn't allowed to drive, and she had to go to something that afternoon, I ran in the morning. I did fairly well, improving by two seconds in each of the 5 runs except for the last. Unfortunately, I coned in 3 of the 5 runs; but my quickest run was clean! Unfortunately for my points, two Formula SAE cars ran in the afternoon and beat me handily. But that wasn't unexpected, the UW FSAE group has a heck of a quick car and some great drivers.
I had to miss Miatacross on August 7 as I was in South Dakota visiting family and looking at the half million bikers from across the world going to Sturgis Bike Week. Registration for the next event hasn't opened yet and the location still says TBD, so we'll see what happens. It's the Enduro, which is always a fun event; the course is set up so you can make continuous laps and you get one run, the first lap isn't timed but the next four are and that's all you get. If you mess up on understanding the course, you are screwed...
Understeer/Oversteer - originally posted 7/11/05
Every year, the
Torque Steerers club sponsors a two-day autocross event as part of the
WWSCC championship series, this year sponsored by
Jim's Detail Shop. The two days are seperate events, but there is a trophy for the best combined time for the two days in each class. This year I got all three trophies in the Mod A class. I was the only entry in class, but hey, it's 200 more points toward the season champion jacket...
The course, designed by Alan Dahl, flowed really well both days, but the off-camber sections really punished overdriving. Saturday's course went something like this: Start with a 90-degree left, uphill through a 3-cone slalom, two 90 degree right corner boxes with a gate in between, decreasing radius right followed by a hard left, then a 5-cone slalom (all downhill from the corner boxes), a gate that was easy to think of as another cone in the slalom, sweep right then left to a 3-cone slalom then sweep right and through the finish lights. Sunday's course was run in reverse with a two-cone slalom after the start before the sweeping left turn started and the finish gate replaced the 3-cone slalom that was at the start on Saturday. A simple course, but car placement was critical. I managed to complete five runs each day without spinning - the brake bias adjustment really helped.
In between events I put on a new clutch belt and had the tension a bit tight. When fully backshifted the car wouldn't pull away from a start on an uphill section unless I reved into the powerband with the brakes on and left in a cloud of tire smoke. That's something I need to take care of before the NT in two weeks. The clutches are a bit of a mystery to me but I'm learning.
The new Digatron was useful, I could track peak EGTs and revs - though I never have time to look at it while on course. The right cylinder is running about 20 degrees cooler on EGT peak than the left and my peak RPM has been in the 7600 range. I know that the EGT is a problem if I want max power; but I don't need any more power right now. And I think the RPM with the
Aaen pipe should be up about a thousand RPM - back to the clutches again.
A great event! My wife came out the first afternoon and got some video of me running. On Sunday morning, someone I know through work came out and he also took some video. Maybe I'll get some on here soon. :-)
It's a Concept Thing - originally posted 6/29/05
I finally sussed out how the brake bias bar functions and now I can actually lock the front wheels. Maybe I'll spin less on course now. :-)
I also installed a Digatron DT-34 instrument that I got used from another F500 driver. It took some work to get it working, the electronics inside were set up for a different type of tach input so I had to send it back to Digatron for some work. Since they are in Spokane, when it was done I towed the car over there to do the install. Good thing I did as it needed to have a resistor changed and we had an o-scope on the tach output for a while to ensure that everything was working right. I had up to three techs out there at any time, including the owner, and the service cost for the instrument repairs (it also needed a new display and faceplate) and help ont he install was ~$70. With the sensors I got from them, the total bill was only ~$130; add the instrument and some almost new EGT sensors I got from another F500 driver and I have about $200 into an instrument that would cost me at least $500 to get new. I can highly recommend
Digatron, tell them I sent you!
Catching up - originally posted 6/23/05
I've been busy, so I haven't been able to get to this blog.
Memorial Day Weekend
There were two events I attended on the weekend, the SCCA event on Sunday and the BSCC event on Monday, both at Bremerton Motorsports Park, an unused runway and taxiway at Bremerton National Airport. I was in the afternoon run group on Sunday, so I got to sleep in a little before making the drive from Everett. I actually did pretty well, improved my times with each run and only coned on the first run. After the festivities were over, I helped set up the course for the next day. Since it had been run in the opposite direction by the PCA group the day before, we couldn't just turn it around again. I got out of there about 1930 and went ot the hotel - I wasn't going to drive back and forth both days...
I got up early and checked out on Monday. I was in the morning run group, so I needed to get out there and walk the course again. I had left the car and trailer at the track, so setup was unchaining the car, warming the engine and putting the nose on. I ran, improved on times for each run, but coned on the first and third runs. The fourth run was my best and I ended up 0.13 seconds out of the trophies. :( I did spin twice, both times after the finish and didn't take out any cones in the finish box - a real advantage to a car this short. Loaded the car and went home.
I was planning on running the WWSCC event at Everett on June 5 and even worked setup on Thursday evening (don't ask), but it was raining when I got up, so I went back to bed. The rain tires aren't mounted and since I can barely control the car in the dry, I don't even want to see what would happen on slicks in the wet...
Off to Bremerton on the 12th. I was in the PM group, so once again I didn't have to make the early morning drive. When I got there I discovered that things were delayed. Someone in a Lotus Elise had spun off course, clipped the timing trailer, and ended up sitting in grid, seriously trashed. It was a good thing he hit the trailer, otherwise other cars would have been damaged. It took a while to get the course modified and things back underway. The course was an absolute hoot - really fast with lots of full throttle time for me. Unfortunately, I spun in the same place on my last two runs and think I coned the other two; I haven't seen the results yet. I gotta do something about this brake bias, the rears lock up and I'm off in the spin cycle.
Boundary Bay Driving Centre - originally posted 5/9/05
On May Day I went to an event in BC put on by
VCMC (watch the video). The drive was great, just a few miles farther than going to Bremerton, but with scenery rather than cityscapes. The border crossing had no lines, so into the Great White North I went. I found the site after a minor excursion and as I pulled in, Sheldon and his co-driver Ernest waved me in to park next to them. I got unloaded then went to register, $40 CDN for a membership which includes one free event - what a deal. This was the first event for their Novice Championship, so it was referred to as "the biggest turn out we've seen in a while", 94 entries with many novices (DUH!).
The course was interesting (I need to start keeping course maps and scanning them), out through a set of offset gates, through a V lane, cross over to the other side runway, a pinch cone then a big sweeper to the right - increasing radius. A short two-cone slalom, cross back to other side of the runway, hard left and back through the two-cone slalom and sweeper (now decreasing radius), the pinch cone and into an open ended box, then a five-cone slalom and through the finish lights. One gotcha in Canada, you actually have to STOP in the stop box or it's a DNF.
The runs went OK, except I missed the pinch cone on the second run, resulting in a DNF. I also DNFed the last run after spinning when entering the sweeper the first time. It was great to run against someone in my class, though I got beaten by 10 seconds on a 47 second course. I don't feel too bad about it though, Sheldon and Ernest have been driving this car for over a year; and though it's the same year and model as mine, it's been updated to a full four-link rear suspension, is geared for autocross and they are using real autocross tires.
I'll go back to BC for more events, the people are great and the event ran nearly flawlessly. Even the drive home wasn't too bad, only 25 minutes at the border at 1700 on a Sunday evening.
What a difference a week makes! - originally posted 4/26/05
Sunday it was sunny and mid 60s. The course had been swept clean by the morning run groups. After a car spun and bumped the curb, one set of slalom cones had been modified since Saturday evening which put the last cone in the slalom, just before a C-box, on top of a small rise.
Tech went OK, just something unusual for the tech guys; so I gridded and went off to walk the course a few times. I got some strange looks for crouching and sitting during my course walks. :-) When I got back from one walk, Josh Kerwin was standing next tot he car. Josh is my boss's son and I've been involved with him since he was about 11. When he turned 18 he got to autocross my Impala and loved it, but later he went to the crotch rocket side, not that there's anything wrong with that. While getting stuff on for the first run Lisa, my wife, shows up. First time she's watched me autocross - the new car is VERY different than the Impala and it makes her a bit apprehensive.
Time for the first run, I get strapped in and Josh yanks the cord. up to the start line. The first gate is a 90 to the left, then two 90 rights that can be taken as a smooth arc, a series of weave gates, short slalom, C-box to the right, wide 180 to the left, 270 sweeper to the right, 3-cone optional slalom then the finish lights. On the first run I'm a bit tentative on the throttle, only gassing it while the car is well settled either straight or has taken a set in a sweeper. I finish with a time of 45.367, clean. Back to grid, adjust tire pressure and drink some water; damn it gets hot in that cockpit sitting in the sun when moving slowly through the pits.
The grid is moving quickly, fairly short course and good overlap. So I'm back into helmet and gloves and strapped in. Get the start signal; starter was a newbie and says "Go" quietly. But I can't hear him so he nods. I'm more aggressive this time and finish with a time of 40.474, clean, almost a 5 second improvement. Back to grid, short break, kiss Lisa goodbye since she's headed out, and back into gear for the third run.
Even more aggressive on this run, more throttle in the corners, and quicker inputs on the steering and brakes. I knock another 1.3 seconds off for a 39.136, clean. Back to grid, Tire pressures are stable and all the old clag is gone so I'm running on my own rubber now instead of old dead borrowed rubber.
Fourth runs have started and the cone carnage is terrible. The little orange fellows are flying everywhere. Lots of red flags and reruns ensue. I get to the start gate and am nodded off. The run is cooking, feels real good and fast - then the red flag waves!!! The car in front of me has destroyed a lane of about a dozen cones ahead of me. Back to grid...
I get the start nod and off again. Feels good, but not as good as last time; still, I'm moving fast. Remember that cone that got moved to the top of a small rise? I was deeper in that slalom making the adjustment for the C-box while the car was light. Now I remember why you don't put in steering inputs when the car is light. Around I went and entered the C-box rolling backwards at a pretty good clip. So, knowing the run is done, I hammer the throttle and execute a perfect Indy Car stop. Since I'm the last car on course and no need to slow things down further, I head straight for the finish lights and back to the trailer.
Results are online at http://www.wwscc.org/event_results/2005/wwscc05-1.html .
No mechanical problems, the driver is coming along and the roll bar padding is in the right places. Some time off before my next event; Lisa and I are going on a short trip for our birthdays in mid-May (I haven't told here where), so I'll miss the next scheduled event.
My next events will be the NWR/SCCA event at Bremerton on May 29 and the Bremerton Sports Car Club event the following day. I was just told about an event at Boundary Bay in BC this Sunday. There is a possibility for 8 runs and I need the seat time, so I'm headed up there on Sunday at 0-dark-thirty.
The Course - originally posted 4/23/05
I just got home from helping set up the course for tomorrow. It avoids the worst bumps so, barring rain, I'll be in the first afternoon run group. If things are on time, the first car in that group will be on course at 1300. The course looks like a lot of fun; walking it, it seems like it flows well with lots of opportunities to make it harder than it probably is.
My first F500 Autocross - originally posted 4/21/05
When I got up it was misty and threatening more rain. But the site is 40 miles as the seagull flies (about 85 by road or 55 via ferry (but they have this "thing" about fuel jugs...) so I hitch up and head out. Anyone who has lived around Seattle knows that the weather outside your window has nothing to do with the weather even five miles away, so I decided to drive over and see what was what. On the way I went through several frog stranglers and areas that were dry. About 15 miles from the site the rain stopped and the roads were looking drier and drier. At the site the guys in the morning run groups reported that it had stopped raining about an hour before and the course was drying, so I unloaded and warmed the engine up. Temp about 52, dry course except for a couple of pavement seams holding water. Since I was working tech, I just signed my own card off; running first so off to grid. The grid guy staged me and the A-Mod Formula Vee in our own line so we wouldn't have to creep up the line, then I instructed him on how to start me and gave him earplugs. :-) Course walk -fairly standard layout for this site; I haven't autocrossed for a couple of years, but it should flow well. OK, reality time, I strap myself in and the grid guy fires me up. Up to the line, get the signal and EASE onto the throttle. Through the start lights, make the first two gates and onto the throttle hard. Now I'ma bout 270 degrees into the spin, so I keep it going and get pointed in about the right direction. Make the big loop and head on out through the first slalom. Then some sashay gate pairs and into what would be a weave in a wider car so I go to the throttle again -OK, I'm pointed the wrong direction again. Now I'm lost, but figure out about where the course is and continue on. Onto the old taxiway in a sweeper and here we go again, only this time I'm doing some "agricultural racing!" Slicks have no traction in wetgrass... Get it headed in the right direction and through the finish lights for a DNF - missed some high number of gates and left the course (but no cones!) Luckily I didn't hold up the A-Mod guy, he was busy spinning too. Get out and look at the car. Pull some grass out of a radiator intake, tires OK and everything still attached. Time to strap in for the second run. Second run much tamer, but still missed a gate and hit one cone; third run about the same - missed a different gate. Both runs still Mr. Toad's Wild Ride,but marginally under control. At least I was able to save it before spinning completely. When the grid guy yanks the cord for the fourth run, it just freewheels; so I get pushed off to the side and get out. The bolt for the pull start band clamp has disappeared so my day is done. I probably could have done a temp fix with a ty-wrap, but they are in the garage 40 miles away. Lessons learned:I really do need to get some elbow pads; and pad the forward brace for the roll bar in the cockpit (the bruises will fade in a week or so.) Take ty-wraps in various sizes. Work on developing throttle control and figuring out how to accelerate hard while keeping the nose pointed in the right direction. When walking the course, sit down and look at it from KBS level, it looks a lot different when the cones are at or above eye level. Damn this thing is a hoot to drive! The cheek pain from grinning like the Cheshire Cat will go away with the bruises.