AtomFest - Thursday - Day 1

[Driver]

Time to pop some cherries.... Tell us how your Thursday went.

This morning I woke up to the fabulous song that is Jacob Potts snoring...   Took Sadie (the unofficial AtomFest mascot) out for a walk and trolled the parking lot. She's loving all the people she's mreeting this trip as am I. Hardly anyone moving around at this time of the morning. Walking over to the track (we're in the infield) I promptly  slipped on the VERY wet muddy ground and realized I was here, for better or for worse.  One of the volunteers Randy has arranged for AtomFest was right nearby getting the morning breakfast ready and offered me a towel to get the crud off. So very nice. You did good Randy.. Top Notch. Stayed on my morning walk (it's still VERY dark at this time and ran into Bruce who was one of the displaced people that did not have a trailer last night.  Had a chance to talk and bs about things as he repacked all his spoils from Cabellas and points East of here. He said something about buying the entire store out.

Dawn was just breaking and I headed over to the tent for breakfast picked up so OJ
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and then everyone headed to the 2nd story of the Tower for the drivers meeting, signed the appropriate waivers
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and the first few track sessions began.
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Adam was kind enough to take me on my first Atom ride, ever. Appropriate as his was the first Atom I've ever seen in real life (last night). Towards the end of our session his Catalytic Converter packed it in, so we stopped a few laps early. I'll let him post this thoughts on that. He had that fixed shortly before lunch when the track shut down for an hour.

When the sessions resumed after lunch he took me out for another ride and the power difference  was obviously improved. With every lap we were faster and faster. Thought it was going fine until we were passed for the 2nd TIME by a red winged wonder.  Turns out it was one of the track folks driving a Atom owner around and he had 10+ yrs of experience on this track! Ok, so we felt better then.

Came back and I now have wiFi so here's my thoughts the first 12 hours here. More later.

New forum name: Passenger 

[bolus]

wow, what a great day.  Biggest problem was the  track running out of gas (and the nearest premium being 20 miles away).  The truck just showed up though. 

We've had a lot of minor mechanical problems during the day.  Darth melted his cat shut (but chipped it back open and is back on the track). Silver lost an oil line to the accumulator.  I was behind him that lap with white smoke billowing out of his car.  The excellent track mechanics had him back up and running within 1 session through.  Terry lost all his coolant when a line blew, this then caused 4 drivers to spin in the same turn.  Someone else had their muffler peel open like a can of sardines burning the frame and completely melting the back-up light. 

I had a great day fortunately.  With my water injection and smaller pulley I finally feel like I got the car I ordered.  Holy cow is it fast!    It feels like I dropped 200 lbs in weight.  I did not get to dyno yesterday because of the storm but I was very pleased today.  I'd say an extra 30hp at least. 

Cant wait until tomorrow. 

[MadMaxedAtom]

Bolus,what size pulley are you running?How is your water injection being metered?

"Holy cow is it fast!" 
Don't you love it when your hard work bears fruit?

Can't wait to see the dyno runs...

[bolus]

I'm using my original 300 pulley.  2.9 I think.  The best part is that'd didn't even tune for it. 

It was great seeing Bruce drive the bright red frame fully carbon fiber car today

[DFext37 Fielding]

apperantly it is indian curry orange... 

[Driver]

So for one of the later sections of the day I took my 3rd ride after lunch with RFMarz. His carting experience fully shows. He very clearly will be in the running for one of the fastest I think if he can get decent grip and some clean runs. Said this evening that he was somewhere in the low 30's. Much fun, even thought the Recaros are very unforgiiving for a large person.

For my fourt session of the day I rode with CalScott (Peter) in his newly done centrifugal blown Honda. Man! This was different. Even though still getting to know the track, this first lap around the track with my fat butt as a passenger the acceleration was mind blowing! This is an entirely different animal! Numbingly quick down the straights, hitting 120 on the front one. I think I see a lot more people going that route if they have a Honda setup.

Anyway, the bbq just ended, sat around the campfire for a little bit and I'm going to get a heavier jacket, it's really getting cold here at night with wind that just cuts right through you. I'm going to go rejoin the huddled masses and see what trouble I can get into.

L8r

Passenger

[Jammer]

Awesome Driver... someone keep a passenger seat open for me Friday afternoon please!!!!

[Jacob Potts]

Riding in an Atom around Hallett

Photos to follow. :-)

I just had a ride around Hallett in EricHowes' Atom.

Beautiful day: mid 70's temperature, nice breeze.  The sun beamed down benignly on a rainbow of Atoms, blatting fiercely around Hallett Raceway in central Oklahoma.


Hallet, near sunrise/set

It is 4:30 pm or thereabouts when EricHowe invites me to ride again in his new Atom, this time around Hallett.  The gentle sun lies rather close to the tree-lined horizon.  Sounds good to me!
 
I borrowed a helmet.  They helped me strap it on.

I got in the car.  Someone helped me strap into the five-point belts.  I gotta to be cool now.  I can't let my head even touch the headrest for a moment.  As they strapped me in, if I had had an ego, I would have quipped "I feel like Lewis Hamilton about now."

No ego, no more.

You must realize that you cannot read this post as fast as the ride happened to me.  somehow, you must read this post with a computer brain, which through which the words fly at near light speed.  That being not the case for most of us, my slow syllables must substitute for something truly rapid.

Eric bounces his new Atom, a 300 this time, onto the false grid.  A man, perhaps Hallett's stand-in for James Bond's "Q", reaches in and fiddles with Traqmate electronic whatsit on the floor in front of my seat.


Hallett's "Q"

While he does that, I give an extra tug on my shoulder belts; I am so experienced, so wise to know the belts must be tight.  Hallet "Q" gives Eric the thumbs-up, which Eric returns.

Eric hits it.  We blast out onto a clear circuit.  'Oh, yeah,' I think, fleetingly, as we enter the front straight, 'that was about the same as the "gentle blast" Eric gave me on the street--'

He tromps the accelerator again.

A higher supercharger scream than before: Eric ordered a Honda engine for this Atom. The lies I love to tell myself continued to sputter in my slow brain before it catches up with the truth, '--nothing to be amazed at--'

The nose of Eric's Atom sucks down the pavement at an enormous velocity.  All around me, tarmac, snakey ribbons of tiremarks, the tiny ridges of the pavement get sucked up under the car and spat out behind us.  A tremendous velocity.  My helmet hits the back of the seat.  

Some words, not allowed on this forum, escape my lips as We snake over a hill I had not seen and hurtled down to--a TURN!

BWWAAAH!  BWAAAH! the enginge shrieks as Eric downshifts.  The wind is a living force, pressing my helmeted pate as Eric cranks the tiny steering wheel over.

Something else smoothly, but resistlessly, pulls my head in concert with the wind.  This must be g-forces, my brain now says, after the fact.

At the time, the broad ribbon of tarmac rotates around my leaning head.  Somewhere behind my head, the Honda engine screams up toward redline.  The sun skews from behind my head to in front of my eyes.  

Into another turn.  More rotating trees, sun glaring smoothly around in front of my visor, my head sliding around.  How can this be happening?


Non-representative, but nice, image stolen from the Gallery

Into the turn called "Carousel."  In the long, cambered left hander, the five-point belts grab my body.  My body is SQUISHING against the belts and seat.  I am one with a rigid metal and plastic bolide, bending the forces of physics.  My body is the weak spot in this missile.

And on, ever on, engine whining, tires scrubbing, into the combination of turns affectionately "*** *****".  Up and over a hill, bottoming out into a sharp left hander.  How can I keep my head up to see?

And then to the final straight before the final turn, my head vibrating like a tuning fork.  One more mind-bending, body-squishing turn before we re-emerge onto the front straight.

To do it all over again.

And again.

And again.

By the fifth lap, I rest my head against the seat back the entire lap round.

Eric pulls off the circuit.  He putters into a long "race port," a metal structure like a carport, but with no sides, just a roof.

My head feels three times as heavy as it had been before the ride.  My hands do not even have the strength to push the seatbelt release.  It is a long, careful process to climb over the suddenly very tall rails of the Atom.  I stand there, breathing hard.

People look hard at me, concerned:  "Are you okay?"  "Take deep breaths."

I stare at my frowning interlocutors.  What do I say?  What words are there?  What verbs do I use?  What adjectives?  What syntax?

Trying to answer them, my voice is husky, hoarse.  Like I had just finished singing a two-hour concert.

I tell them, "Wow."

Yr fthfl srvnt,

Jacob :-)

[maverick1]

I arrived at Atomfest today around noon and did the meet and greet thing and it was great putting faces to all the screen names from the forum. I didn't run today and didn't mind a bit after driving 12 hours for the past 2 days.
I am looking forward to tomorrrows open track day.
cheers

[Ultrasound]

Sitting in the study working. 

[twebb]

Good evening.

well I just back home froma quick out and back to LA.  Unfortunately, I spent 4 hours on the tarmac at LAX.  I'm beat.

Getting up in 5 hours to head over to Hallett.

See you boys at the driver's meeting at 8:00am sharp.

Tim
Twebb

[1965Cobra427]

Thursday is history and we made AtomFest history along the way. Sixteen Atoms in the high performance driving school were joined later in the afternoon by four others making a daily total of 20 on the track. Several other cars were present or just arriving near day's end. Many frequent forum posters began to learn the intricate ways of the Hallett circuit and a few tasted the surrounding grassy environs. Things slowed a bit midday when most of the available 91 octane fuel dwindled, but shortly thereafter the shiny Simons Petroleum truck entered Hallet's gates and we're back on-track. Many people drove the circuit and lots of passenger experiences were  . . . experienced. No one got violently ill, though a few did experience a little stomache discomfort from the visceral pounding that an Atom can produce as it attacks the twisting dipping, darting and turning asphalt.

Biscuits and gravy for breakfast, Atomic lapping all day long and a cookout at eventide, followed by hours of visiting around the fire and in the raceports where conversation and refreshments flowed in equal volume. Lap times were reported, disputed and variously discussed as were chassis setups, tires and track techniques. Nobody wondered or disputed why a certain section of the track is known (officially) as "the bitch." Then there was the talk about how fast this guy or that was, how intense the scream from CalScot's new supercharger and just how much fun all of this can be.

Dozens of first time meetings between what seems like old friends is just one of the many pleasures of AtomFest. Meeting the Ariel Motor Company staff was an exciting highlight for me. These guys are great! What a crew and they fit perfectly with us. In fact the multi national origins of the group completely disappeared as folks shared our common passion for the Atom and the thrill it has brought us.

. . . and tomorrow we'll fit a Tramate into CalScot's supercharged beast.

Oh, yes, we have lots of photos, just too late and to tired to post them just now.

[Driver]

. . . and tomorrow we'll fit a Tramate into CalScot's supercharged beast.

Oh, yes, we have lots of photos, just too late and to tired to post them just now.

Assuming the leaking gas tank gets fixed....    I think he said he went through 5 gals on that first 10 lap session.  I sat and listened to him run in the late run. Totally different sound than ANY of the other Atoms out all day long. The EcoTec has a bwahhh raspy note, the Honda's a little quieter than that. Peter's (CalScot) kind sounds like a vacuum on steroids with a very faint bwah once it passes you. Schooossseee... and it's down around the corner already. The acceleration was mind numbing. After coming off the innaugural run with him (and I'm no lightweight at 275 lbs.) several of the courseworkers gathered near us (we thought we'd broke, the oil light and fuel lights were on). As they congreated around us after we ascertained a splash a fuel was all that was needed Peter breathed a sigh aof relief and said something to the effect "at least the blower works". What a understatement! The course worker said one of the other track regulars said it was obvious what he was seeing was a different. special, animal because of the rate at which it launched down every straight patch of Hallet tarmac. How right. I had PermaGrin® plastered on my face all through the trip! 


Photos of today coming. Going to try to upload some now to the gallery.

[jon b]

All good guys - sounds excellent - especially those stories from Jacob/ Driver of their 1st times on track and 1st time in an Atom - what a way to go driver 

Sounds great - keep em coming 

[Driver]

Here's some more:

http://gallery.atomclub.com/thumbnails.php?album=100

Yes.. PICTS are up Atomites! Not much, but it's wiFi so there a taste of the day.