Second Place, One Big Moment and the Lap I Couldn’t Quite Put Together
A good time-trial weekend does not have to end with a win.
Sometimes second place, a car that comes home intact, a moment that gets your full attention and a full day spent driving with friends is more than enough.
Texas SCCA Regional Time Trials Event #6 brought us to Motorsport Ranch Cresson for the 1.7-mile counterclockwise configuration. Golf Ball and I finished second in T3. Sam once again beat me at Cresson, Josh earned third, and I had one memorable moment coming out of Tombstone that looked dramatic from both inside and outside the car.
That sentence sounds calmer after the fact than the moment felt in the car.
The result mattered, but it was not the whole story. My best lap missed the goal I had set for the weekend. At the same time, the data showed that the pace was available if I could stop trying to find all of it on one lap and instead build the muscle memory to connect the pieces.
That may be the most honest kind of time-trial result: the trophy says second, the stopwatch says there is work to do, and the paddock makes you want to come back and try again.
Second in T3 at Texas SCCA Regional Time Trials Event #6.
The Goal: Put a 1:22 on 200-Treadwear Tires
I arrived with a clear target.
I wanted to break into the 1:22s on 200-treadwear tires, with a stretch goal of reaching the 1:21s. I had previously run a 1:21.8 on slicks, so the goal was not pulled from nowhere. I wanted to see how close I could get on a street-tire-based setup.
For this event, Golf Ball was on a new set of Bridgestone Potenza RE-71RZ tires. The car itself felt great. The brakes were predictable, the suspension was working, and nothing mechanical was getting in the way.
The tires were a different story.
A fresh set of 200-treadwear tires, no prior heat cycle, and a hot Texas track created a greasy combination. I spent much of the day managing the rear of the car as it tried to step out. It was entertaining and occasionally educational, but it was not the fast, settled platform I needed to put together a clean qualifying-style lap.
The good news was that I got faster in every session.
The frustrating part was that the final number still stopped at 1:23.49.
The Hottest Session Became the Fastest
My best lap came in the final and hottest session of the day, which was not when I expected to find time.
More importantly, I did not enter that session intending to make one last desperate attempt at a personal best. I went out to experiment. I changed turn-in points, tried different lines, and treated the session more like practice than competition.
That approach made me about three-tenths faster.
It also dropped my calculated optimal lap by multiple seconds, into the 1:21 range. An optimal lap is not a real lap—it combines the best sectors from a session—but it is useful evidence. The car and driver had enough pace to reach the stretch goal in pieces. I simply could not connect those pieces in one clean lap.
That distinction matters.
The answer is probably not another modification. It is not a faster tire or a more aggressive setup. I need a non-competition practice day at Cresson where I can work on lines, turn-in points, and repetition without treating every lap like it needs to count.
The next improvement is seat time and muscle memory.
The Tombstone Moment
Tombstone provided a much louder version of the same lesson.
I held the car too tight through the corner instead of allowing it to use the track. I stayed in the throttle, the front tires ran out of grip, and Golf Ball understeered wide. Two wheels dropped off the pavement.
Then I lifted.
With the car already unsettled, that weight transfer created snap oversteer and sent me cutting back across the track.
From my point of view, it happened quickly. From Lew’s car behind me, it looked exactly as dramatic as it felt. The two-view video is useful because it shows both the mistake and the consequence: I asked the front tires to do too much, ran out of road and then made a sudden correction when the car was least prepared to accept it.
The important part is that I did not hit anything, collect another car, or end the weekend early. Golf Ball stayed intact and I had a very clear piece of video to study.
It was not the fastest way through Tombstone, but it may have been the most educational.
Two views of the same lesson: understeer, two wheels off and a lift that turned into snap oversteer.
Chasing Sam Is Still a Performance Modification
Sam won T3 and continues to beat me at Cresson.
Congratulations to him—again.
I would prefer to write that chasing Sam has become less necessary because I finally beat him, but for now it remains one of the more effective performance modifications available to Golf Ball. He gives me a clear benchmark and a reason to keep improving.
Congratulations also to Josh for taking third. Sharing the podium with people you enjoy makes the result better, even when one of them keeps standing one step higher than you.
Sam first, Roshan second, and Josh third in T3.
The Friends Are the Point
The part of these weekends that lap times fail to record is everything that happens away from the timing screen.
I parked next to Josh, unloaded as the sun came up, and spent the day catching up with friends including Bill, Marshall, Lew and Aaron. Lew happened to be behind me for the Tombstone moment, which means friends are useful for both community and inconvenient video evidence.
The day started before sunrise, parked beside Josh and surrounded by the people who make these events worth attending.
The Texas SCCA Time Trials group brings together competition, instruction and the kind of paddock where people help each other even when they are competing against one another. The corner workers, volunteers and organizers make the entire day possible. They give up their time so the rest of us can safely chase small improvements around a racetrack.
I care about the result. I want to get faster. I would absolutely like Sam to stop beating me at Cresson.
But I am not trying to become a professional driver. I am learning, driving with friends and enjoying the process of figuring out a difficult car and a difficult track. A second-place trophy is nice. A day spent wrenching, driving and laughing with people I still want to see after the timing sheets are posted is the reason to keep doing it.
What I Learned
The final session gave me the clearest takeaway of the weekend.
When I stopped chasing the result and started experimenting, I went faster.
The 1:23.49 did not meet my stated goal, but the 1:21 optimal showed that the goal is realistic. I do not need to invent more speed. I need to repeat the correct inputs often enough that they become natural, then connect the good sectors into one lap.
The Tombstone spin told the same story from the opposite direction. A line error, too much throttle commitment, and a poorly timed lift turned a manageable understeer into a trip across the track.
Both lessons point toward the same next step: practice.
I need time at Cresson when the objective is not to win a session. I need to test lines, understand where Golf Ball wants to rotate, and develop the confidence to make small corrections before they become large ones.
Second place was the result. Better practice is the plan.
And one of these days, Sam, I may actually figure Cresson out.