When I got a new job in July, I made a deal with my wife that I wouldn’t participate in any racing events this year because of the extra travel abroad that would keep me away from my family more than I’d anticipated. It didn’t mean that I couldn’t do something on the side, though. For example, one time I was in France and had a Sunday afternoon free. Instead of touring one of the Cognac region vineyards, I chose to spend it racing go-karts at a track nearby. Call me crazy? I also went to Italy for the first time and, instead of visiting beautiful Florence, I spent my time taking pictures of the new Alfas that we can’t get here in the US.

Then I had a hiatus on travel in September that "allowed" me to participate in this COM event. A miracle! Unbelievable! I felt like a rookie Formula One driver! Just being there was enough—I didn’t expect any wins or placing.

I had new Kumho tires (properly heat-cycled on the highway a few days before) in preparation for the big event. The day developed with a few incidents that affected the rest of the event. The track configuration using the South Oval/North Chicane is the fastest combination possible for NHIS for these events. This meant that NASCAR turns 1 and 2 enabled you to get maximum speed coming into turn 3. The track surface had been recently treated and the speeds were phenomenal.

A Camaro stock car blew the side oil plug right in the middle of turns 1 and 2 in the oval and left trails of oil that created havoc for the rest of the day. An Acura NSX following the Camaro immediately stamped the wall. Lucky for the driver (and thanks to the safety of COMSCC), only his pride was hurt. These "modern" oils are difficult to absorb by conventional methods, and so oil in the fastest curves on the track was the call for the day. Another car, a VW Scirocco, was in "over-drive mode" and stamped the wall again. This time, it hit so hard that the driver’s seat came undone.

During my practice time, I was in the middle of the pack of times that the other cars were doing. This was good news. There were seven cars in my class. The Time Trials under way, I kept on thinking about that oil in Turns 1 and 2. Coming in at 115 MPH and out at about 105, I don’t think that the oil greatly increased my desire to go any faster, especially taking into account the incidents with the NSX and the Scirocco.