7.26.14 – “SKID PLATE RACING IN MY ACCORD RACING MACHINE”

Skip all this reading and jump to the VIDEO if all these words are overwhelming!

This article describes what Skid Plate racing is http://goo.gl/TfQnSz.

Briefly, Skid Plate racing involves removing the rear wheels of a front wheel drive car and replacing them with flat metal plates that offer very little (no) traction.  The cars slide and spin like driving on ice.

The car was actually in pretty good shape from the last race at Orange Show.  Just had to uncover it and go . . . a few dents and still rocking the unpainted Kermit hood.

PRACTICE

Orange Show offers a nice, long practice session.  I was glad to take part in it – put in around 28 laps and really got to connect with the car and the track.  I was able to stay out of trouble for the most part and eventually set the 4th fastest time of the session.

At this track, starting order is picked at random, so the times set in practice don’t help or hurt you.  I drew 2nd for my starting position.

THE RACE!

Starting from second, on the outside, I knew I needed to get a good start so I could get the low line that was working well for me.  Starting in first on the inside (and where I needed to be) was Ryan Beat, a pro off road racer in his first (and probably only) skid plate race.

Luckily he didn’t get a great start and I was able to pull away.  I led the first lap and half but had to slow down to get around some cars that had crashed.  I fell into 3rd, with Robert Rice right on top of me looking for my position.

Another car spun right into me causing me to fall down to 5th.

I was able to quickly reclaim some places and spent most of the race between 3rd and 4th but a stupid error on my part during lap 9 threw that all away – I was in 3rd, trying to catch Robert for 2nd when I came on some lapped cars.  I decided to take the outside line which put me really close to the wall.  As I was doing it I knew it was a mistake and my rear right bumper just touched the wall.  It was enough to spin me around pretty hard and once I got the car going again, I knew something was wrong.  I had virtually no steering – the car just kept spinning and I was really only able to drive it really slow with the wheel at full lock to the right (it will probably need a new rack).

Ultimately I finished in 9th but I think I could easily have had a 3rd place finish if I had just been patient and stayed out of trouble.  A valuable lesson.