,
 |
| There was a concern stemming from the speed of Edik Stepanyan's Integra. He was able to pull away so hard and so fast, it seemed like his car was more powerful than advertised. “Could he be cheating?” We've heard the question before. Edik was very open in my feature car article on his DA. If he was cheating, he's hiding it pretty well. |
 |
| As the look on his face shows, Rockwood didn't know what to think. He actually had another concern of his own that he didn't realize until the next day. |
 |
| The drivers discussed it with the MPTCC officials and they openly deliberated all of their concerns. The MPTCC is very open with their partcipants and welcome open discussion, as this will only help refine the rules. |
 |
| Me, well, I had to deal with Naeyaert's insistence on wearing his goofy hat and sunglasses. As if Kojima didn't need more ammo in the “Redneck Cannon.” Well, at least I pull off the look better than he does, even as I wear that damn hat backwards. |
 |
| A full decision as to whether or not Edik would earn any points for Saturday's race couldn't be made before everyone wanted to leave and find the nearest bed to sleep in. Especially those who worked on their cars and then drove 8 hours straight to get to the track from SoCal. Did I mention that? Just as a side note, I have never driven 8 hours in any direction and stayed in the same state. California is a long freakin' state! I'm told Texas is worse across, though. |
 |
| That morning, just after practice, it was decided to impound the cars after qualifying. However, the drivers and teams were not notified to ensure no one could hide anything. Remember that issue that I mentioned that Rockwood was concerned about? Well, it turns out he finally went though his set of brake pads. Not bad for a set of Hawk pads to last as long as they did (5+ years). Steve got his money's worth out of them going down to the backing pads! He's also showing off the latest slick tires from Achilles Radial! It seems that after they heat cycle, the tires get tremendous grip. They're also inexpensive! However, this set is narrower than the Toyos he normally runs as these are the only size available at this time. They are a 19/57R15, which means they are a 190 mm width tire! |
