Perfection One Day, @#$% the Next
Saturday couldn’t have gone much better. Unfortunately, Sunday felt like it was meant to balance things out so we wouldn’t get cocky :(
Thank you to Lucky Dog Racing Hankook Motorsports, Rebellion Time Pieces, and NecksGen for putting on an incredible event! Even with 50 cars on track, all 3 EDGE cars found room on Saturday for clean laps (see Sunday below) and we placed 1st, 13th, and 15th overall. Sunday was a 180-degree turn in fortunes for EDGE but we’re still happy with the weekend’s results.
Practice and Qualifying
Qualifying in Lucky Dog is a new thing starting at the end of 2020. It is only for setting pole position and defining the limit for speed/lap times they call Super Dog. With Super Dogging, Lucky Dog looks at qualifying times and sets the Super Dog lap time. For this race, the Super Dog limit was 1:45:00.
Drive faster than 1:45 and you get a black flag. The penalties get progressively worse from a drive-through on the 1st to disqualification on the 4th. Yes, we received some black flags :o
All of this might sound strange to some racers, but Lucky Dog is focused on safety and creating a great experience for new racers. By evening out the field with a lap time limit, closing speeds are reduced, and a safe race is much more likely. We do agree with the Super Dog limits, even though sometimes we feel like caged animals.
Click here for more on Super Dogging in the Lucky Dog rules.
Saturday Race
#06 - An overall win!!
The overall win came with the class win in LDRL A (Lucky Dog Racing League A), and we also won the hard charger award for gaining the most spots. Although it’s not the fastest car and has no endurance-specific racing equipment, we had a stacked driver lineup and an incredible crew.
T.J., Kai, Aaron, and Justin drove this car together at COTA and were familiar with each other and the car. EDGE team member Matt Powers called strategy to add to the team’s consistent and precise driving to bring the car home in 1st place.
The crew was just as dialed in, with all of our pit stops being near perfect. Driver changes and refueling were seamless and allowed for pit stops lasting only seconds more than the mandatory 5-minute pit stop time, measured from pit entry to pit exit.
The victory wasn’t without some drama. An early penalty for going too fast ;) put us at the back of the pack. After working our way up through the field, we were shooting for a podium and felt good about our chances. Luck was on our side when late in the race, Kontrolle Engineering, who was in 1st place overall, had to retire. This gave us the lead, but a late caution brought 2nd place to within 11 seconds. Clear heads and great driving allowed us to stretch the lead to 30 seconds by the end, but it was close.
It was an almost perfect endurance race and one of the best race days we’ve ever experienced.
As a side note, #06 is street legal.
#188 - 13th place, fastest lap award
John, A.J., William, and our own Anthony Zwain were driving. Everyone drove exceptionally and it was a very clean race. Even though an issue with the rear suspension made handling a little challenging, the car still easily exceeded the time 1:45 limit. Unfortunately, because of the speed, Super Dogging played a part in us finishing 13th, but we did get the fastest lap of the race.
The car is capable of 1:39s with the Hankook RS4s, so keeping it under the Super Dog limit was tough. The suspension issue, black flags for super dogging, and an old smoking S54 engine with the full power tune made the race a lot more challenging than it should have been. Once we detuned the motor, it was a lot easier to stay within the Super Dog limit … hmmm.
#314 - 15th place
The new driver and car owner, Lee, was in only his 2nd wheel to wheel race ever. The other official driver, Greg, had never raced before. Kudos to both of them for driving above expectations and making good decisions throughout the race. The other drivers consisted of drivers from the other 2 EDGE cars driving stints.
Other than a small issue with the fuel delivery, the car was solid and fast all day long.
The 314 car and its drivers are a perfect example of how Lucky Dog’s program works so well for new racers. Although racing is never inexpensive, Lucky Dog makes racing very accessible to new racers and those who have never raced.
Sunday Race
#06, #188, #314
Sunday just wasn’t anyone’s day, and it was the polar opposite of Saturday. ‘Nuff said.
Statistics
- Number of cars: 50
- LDRL A = 19, LDRL B = 10, LDRL C = 15, LDRL SD = 4, Unspecified = 2
- Race Time: 6.5 Hours
- Laps: 175
- Total Distance: 391.65
- Average Speed: 60.85 MPH
- Car #06:
- Car: BMW E36 M3 Sedan
- Motor: S52
- Power-weight: Approx. 3,100 lbs w/driver, 218 WHP
- Suspension: Modified Bilstein coilovers
- Wheels: APEX ARC-8s
- Brakes: OEM Brakes
- Tires: Hankook RS4s
- Car #188:
- Car #314:
Wrapping Up
The team experienced the highest highs and some not so horrible lows. That’s just racing and the good far outweighs the bad. We’re all very satisfied.
Although an overall win, fastest lap, and the hard charger award are awesome, they aren’t the best thing about the weekend. Creating an environment where our customers can go racing, feel wholly supported, and using our experience to help them become better racers are what stand out as the big wins for us.
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