My First GLTC Race Experience
I recently competed in my first Gridlife Touring Cup race event, which was a dream realized. The competition, friendliness, and atmosphere were everything I hoped they would be.
I recently competed in my first Gridlife Touring Cup race event, which was a dream realized. The competition, friendliness, and atmosphere were everything I hoped they would be.
If you're new to competitive racing and want to get the most out of your tires, this introductory racing tire guide is for you. With any luck, you'll soon be standing on the podium and winning contingency prizes. Need help deciding what tires to run? Grassroots...
NASA Southeast hosted a 3-day test and race weekend at Carolina Motorsports Park (CMP) in February. I had convinced Carlos to drive up from Florida since our first Gridlife event of the season is at CMP in April. The plan was to test and develop our GLTC cars and...
This is my third draft of this post. I've written over 600 words each time before realizing that my writing wasn't supporting my intended conclusion that sometimes we don't know what we don't know. This metaphor is also known as a black...
I can't believe it's already Friday. I'm getting to the point of needing to work on my E90 every day to try and finish up an engine swap, amongst other upgrades that the car needs before the season starts. As such, I didn'...
My very long-time friend, Mike Burroughs of StanceWorks fame, recently posted a video declaring that he hates the nearly-perfect S54 E36 he has owned for 17+ years. This is an E36 that, by all measures, is one of the nicest out there – and it has been for the better part of two decades.
The last couple of years have been a wild ride. When the opportunity to compete in Gridlife full-time presented itself, I could not say no: I knew that I would regret it if I did. Racing in GLTC with my closest friends has been nothing short of core memories....
Ahh, the venerated GoPro. The most recognizable action camera is currently in its 13th generation, featuring notable improvements over past generations. But this is not a tech or film blog. We're here for the racing. Most of you have probably owned and used a GoPro for motorsports at...
My very long-time friend, Mike Burroughs of StanceWorks fame, recently posted a video declaring that he hates the nearly-perfect S54 E36 he has owned for 17+ years. This is an E36 that, by all measures, is one of the nicest out there – and it has been for the better part of two decades.
We are in an era where almost all professional race cars are official "factory" cars produced by the marque, as opposed to customer-built creations that started life as showroom production cars. It wasn't that long ago that teams had to build, develop, and campaign their...
I love nerding out about roll cage design. Door bars in particular. There is something almost voyeuristic about seeing part of a roll cage through an open door. While a roll cage alludes to protection in a rollover, in wheel to wheel competition you are more likely to get hit...
Say the letters "PTG," and any E36 fan will immediately have a mental image. Prototype Technology Group campaigned their BMW-contracted E36 M3 program to great success in the mid-late 1990s. The GT3 class cars featured distinct bodywork, impressive development, and legendary drivers (Bill Auberlen and Boris...
What is an OEM-style shifter? On most manual transmission BMWs, the shifter linkage consists of a sub-assembly that includes it's own "carrier", selector rod, and shift lever. In addition, there are some bushings and shims involved to keep things tight. The pivot "cup&...
As detailed in my recent post about Tire Parity in NASA Racing, there are new rules for NASA's power to weight racing classes (ST and TT) intended to create better parity between the bevy of tire choices. Thankfully these new rules are not based on manufacturer's...
Over the years, my track experience has mostly been relegated to the E30 chassis; up until recently, the only other platforms I had driven hard were an E36 on track and a GR WRX at autocross. While the E36 featured some very notable improvements in suspension design and chassis dynamics...