The Arkansas Mile was last weekend.
We drove the car from Atlanta to Blytheville AR (about 450 miles) on Friday and back Sunday afternoon. The car ran flawlessly the entire weekend. We skipped the Friday running sessions because the weather looked bad and used Friday as a driving day.
The East Coast Timing Association event is VERY laid back. I suspect there were a total of 40-50 cars at the event. The longest the staging line got was about 3 cars. On Sunday, 10-15 minutes would go by without anyone making a pass. So you basically got as many runs as you wanted all weekend. I did 2-3 runs at a time before I needed to get rehydrated.
The venue was interesting as it is a semi-abandoned Air Force base formerly for B52s. It appears to be used currently as an commercial airplane graveyard of sorts. The runway is 11,600 ft and there were 3 turnoffs after the finish line. If I wanted, I could have made the first turn-off every time but decided to save the brakes and use the 2nd turnoff. Even if you missed the 3rd, there was a taxi-way with an extra half-mile of runoff room. The runway was a little bumpy but nothing that made you feel unsafe.
For rookies, they had us run the half-mile, then maintain speed until we hit the mile, then on the brakes. They wanted to ensure we knew where the course markers were. Next run, we did the same at the three-quarter mile mark. Then we were signed off to make the full mile pass. I like they way they did this as it allowed us to ease into this and get comfortable.
After the rookie sign-off, I pulled up to the line for the full (standing) mile run. The starting marshal gave me the thumbs up. Dropped the clutch and off I went. Moderate wheel spin. No power shifting, just trying to get the feel of things. 1/2 mile at 162.6mph and the full mile at 190.2mph. After about 180 mph, the car gets a little "drifty" but never felt unstable. We broke for lunch and there was some light rain. We went back to the track about 4:30 for a few more runs. 189s and 188s in the afternoon. Temperature was in the 70s all day.
Sunday morning the temperature was in the low 70s. First pass I hit 190.2 again, followed up by some more 189s and 188s. One pass I spun all the way through first and into second, and almost aborted the run, but decided to stay in it. Another 188. Let the car cool down to 170 degrees on the temp gauge and did another 189 and another. Switched lanes and hit a 190.4, which was my best time of the weekend. I might have squeezed a 191 out of it had I let the car cool down and tried that lane again. But we had an 8 hour drive home.
I was amazed at the consistency of the GT and lack of any noticeable heat soak.
Some other reference times: Audi R8 V10+ hit 180mph, Hennessey HP850 ZL1 hit 188mph, SEMA Maverick hit 202mph, Big Red Camaro hit 246mph
All in all, a great time. I highly recommend doing a mile event, and with the ECTA, you get a ton of track time at an affordable price (about $500 for 3 days).
www.ectamile.com
3 days of racing is $484.00
