ActiveTuning Sponsored NX Breaks Another Track Record

Team GAC Squashes Former Willow Springs Record More Than Three Seconds Shaved From TTF Record As Car Runs Flawlessly in Mid-90s Heat

REDONDO BEACH, Calif. - The season of record breaking continued earlier this month as the Gardner Automotive Communications (GAC) team took down the NASA TTF class track record at a heat-soaked Willow Springs earlier this month. The former record was set by GAC back in February. Changes to the car were few since then, but better momentum driving allowed Dan Gardner to post a 1:41.98 best lap time on Saturday, close to 2.5 seconds faster than this past February's record. On Sunday, Gardner managed an even better 1:41.21 while chasing down Ted Severns in a TTD-class Fast Lane Toyota Celica racecar. Sunday's time resulted in a record more than three seconds faster than the last Willow event. The team took wins on both days in TTF, and, in fact, would have placed second two full classes up in TTD on Sunday! Two new sponsors came on board prior to the competition. Custom Steel supplied the team with a new water temp sender adapter that sandwiches between the head and water outlet pipe. The piece has an amazing amount of craftsmanship and is built with a 1/8 NPT-tapped hole ready to accommodate the sender. Harman Motive graciously provided the team with time on their Dynojet to establish a good baseline. Harman has an in-house AWD Dynojet that can test both 2WD and 4WD race and street cars. The Custom Steel piece was installed as well as the Mossy-supplied Hose Techniques silicone radiator hoses that didn't make it onto the car for the last event. After the install, Gardner bled the cooling system to ensure maximum cooling efficiency. The brakes were then checked, and all looked well except for a melted and torn brake caliper piston boot on the left front. The team replaced the boot and retaining ring and put the brakes back on the car. Afterwards, the striking rod was adjusted one more time to maintain proper pedal height. The transmission seal still seemed to have the same odd, mild leak, but Gardner and crewman Chris Viscovich again couldn't find the reason, nor could they confirm that the substance was indeed transmission fluid. The biggest issue the team encountered in between events was an odd grinding on the front wheel spacers. New spacers were sent out, and the team now believes that slightly loose lug nuts were to blame. The loose lugs potentially were caused by the new studs seating a few more thousandths of an inch into the hubs. Loose wheels can be a serious track danger, and the team will repeatedly check lug nut torque to make sure that some other dynamic isn't causing the problem. Crewmen Casey Jordan and Brian Pierce unfortunately couldn't make the event, but Jordan still pulled the racecar to Willow before heading back down to L.A. "Other obligations took me away from racing this weekend, but I wasn't going to leave the team with no way to get the car up and back to and from the track," said Jordan. On Saturday in the practice session, Gardner broke his previous record with a passenger riding along! He would better his time on each subsequent session, eventually getting down into the 1:41s. After the second session, Gardner felt that the car had too much initial push going into Turn 2, so he stiffened up the large rear Progress bar, taking it up to the middle position. That seemed to help, and the bar was left there for the duration of the weekend. "Since I was not braking and barely lifting going into Turn 2, I really needed more car rotation to keep from pushing in the first part of the turn," said Gardner. "Going in a hole helped with the initial understeer, while a quick lift on turn-in helped rotate the car before hammering back down on the gas. Long live adjustable swaybars!" On Sunday, ambient temps rose into the mid-90s. Even for Willow, that's hot in early May. Not surprisingly, it was in the morning where Gardner would run his fastest time. As the day went on, the track would get hotter and lose grip, and the lap times for almost all competitors showed it. The engine water stayed cool, but during the last two sessions of the day, oil temps soared to 250 degrees F. Gardner kept an eye on the bright green oil temp warning light, but it never stayed on long enough to cause him to give the car a rest. Still, with even warmer summer temperatures yet to come, the team will continue to explore the possibility of an oil cooler. Gardner's time on Sunday eclipsed all but one TTE and one TTD car. Not only that, the car hardly hiccupped. Some initial front brake rotor warpage was suspected, but the pedal vibration never got severe enough for a rotor change. The pesky black fluid continued to ooze from the driver's side transmission seal, and this time Gardner decided to remove the tranny fill plug to make sure the level and coloration of the Shockproof fluid was all right. Inspection revealed that everything was fine. This may simply be a case where when extremely hot, a slight amount of transmission fluid is just going to leak and get discolored by dirt. Definitely something to keep an eye on, but nothing to cause panic. Aside from suspected rotor warp and the leak, the car was bulletproof. With little to do before the next event at Buttonwillow, the team will tend to basic inspections and checks, and won't dive into anything unless a problem is detected. "It's nice when there's not a lot to do between events," said Viscovich. "We've seen almost every problem you can have crop-up over the last two seasons. We deserve some rest. Oh, and did I mention I'm having a baby?" The team currently has 590 season class points, and is alone in first place in TTF. The GAC NX2000 is currently fitted with

• Nitto 205/50R15 NT-01 tires
• Recaro Pole Position Seats
• Progress Technology coilovers, front and rear swaybars, and lower control arm brace
• Mossy Performance: OEM parts, Crown stainless brake lines, Unorthodox Racing pulleys, Hose Techniques silicone radiator hoses
• Carbotech Panther XP8 brake pads
• Optima RedTop battery
• Hitachi alternator and starter
• G-Force 5-point harnesses, racing suit, gloves, and helmet
• Active Tuning grounding kit
• The Tire Rack Kosei K1-TS 15x7-inch wheels
• Custom Steel water temp sender adaptor

In addition, tire mounting, balancing, and repair are performed by America's Tire Co., graphics are done by G5 Designs, car care products are supplied by Mothers Polish, and dyno testing services are supplied by Harman Motive. The car can be seen competing next at Buttonwillow on June 10 and 11.