The Ultimate ACR Racing School

[VENOM V]

About ten NorCal VOA members converged on the Bondurant Racing School to drive Bob's new fleet of Vipers. Most of the guys enrolled in the three-day Viper 2.0 course. I'd taken three levels of Ron Fellows School so I was going to pass on Bondurant, until I heard that none other than Justin Bell was an instructor for their advanced ACR program. This program is aimed at someone whom already has their SCCA or NASA competition license and recent racing experience. I plan on doing some more racing next year perhaps in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, and to be competitive I need to continue to grow as a driver. I jumped at the opportunity, as did my friend Loyde. Maurice Liang was there capturing the story and snapping photos (credit to him for some of these), so don't be surprised if you see a write up in a future Viper Quarterly.

IMG_2741 by solomontodd, on Flickr

Day 1 - Boot Camp

Day 1 was all about getting to know the new-to-me track. Justin was not available on the first day, so Loyde and I each had our own 1 on 1 coach. They had us on the track probably 6 hours, minimal coaching and maximum seat time. I kid you not, we each went through about two sets of front and one set of rear tires that day! I had shoulder surgery 3-1/2 months ago and was not fully healed, so my shoulder was screaming before long. Icing it between runs and lots of Advil, I wasn't sure if was going to make it the full three days.

I was grateful when they gave us a break from the track and put is in Charger skidpad cars. These cars are equipped with hydraulic outriggers that the instructor can use to induce extreme understeer or oversteer. They would randomly cause the car to skid out of control or plow like you are on ice, and your mission was to gracefully recover without drama. This is an exceptional way to gain an intuition on vehicle dynamics, I did a ton of skid pad work previously and am a true believer in its value.

IMG_2732 by solomontodd, on Flickr

Day 2 - Justin Bell

If you're familiar with Justin's storied racing career, his Viper reviews or his YouTube show, "Worlds Fastest Car Show," you can imagine that Loyde and I hit it off with him immediately. What I did not expect was how exceptionally talented and focused he is as a coach and communicator. We had fun coming up with nicknames. I drove the number 3, so I was Dale Earnhardt. Justin drove the 07 so he was James Bond. And Loyde? He drove the 10 car, so we called him Danica, lol.

IMG_2743 by solomontodd Danica, Bond and Earnhardt

Momentum Car Vs. HP Car

With shoulder feeling much better the second day, Justin coached me on braking style. He encouraged me to brake harder earlier then carry a more consistent, predictable speed through the corners with a more settled car. We returned to the skid pad, this time not with a skid car, but a full-blown Hellcat Challenger. Billowing clouds of smoke came pouring off as we practiced full-drift figure eights. I don't know if I've ever laughed harder.

Of all that he taught me, one lesson really stood out. When Justin rode with me, he told me that although I was turning very fast lap times, I wasn't going to go any quicker unless I changed my driving style. I was driving the car near its limit all the way through the corners, which meant that there was very little traction left to allow hard acceleration out of the corners. This is how you drive Miatas, you carry as much momentum through the corner as possible. However with a Viper, you want to rocket out of the corner with aggressive acceleration. We had Aim data acquisition systems in the cars. We overlaid Justin's lap to mine, which proved his point. I was faster through the entire corner except right at exit, where he was a couple MPH faster. Coming on to the main straight, the data showed that he gained 0.4 seconds on me just due to that! I put this to practice and began to close the gap in our lap times. Now I think I truly understand what it means to be "slow in, fast out" of the corners.

IMG_2746 by solomontodd, on Flickr

Tires, Brakes, Reliability

Due to a heat wave it was 95 degrees on day two and 99 degrees on day 3, in late October! Then again, we were in Arizona. This was the first time that I had tracked an ACR in hot weather. To my surprise, the Kumhos behave very differently than in cool or warm weather. In the morning, they were grippy as hell and well balanced. However in the afternoon, the rear tires became very greasy and the ACRs were very loose. I had only experienced mild understeer, so I was shocked that they would perform so differently. Also, the tires would heat cycle out before wearing to cord. Although I love these tires and have tracked in high-30s with tons of grip, they are not as good in the extreme heat.

Justin Bell kept raving about the ACR. Its the only "street car" that he's ever driven that drives like a race car. These ACRs have CCMs, he could not stop praising the brakes. He is very aggressive on the brakes, pounding on them and commenting that iron brakes would not hold up to this. I agree. I think they are remarkable, I have yet to push them over the edge and experience any fade.

Pat Bondurant, Bob's wife, joined us for dinner and said that the reliability of the Vipers has been superior to the previous fleet of C7 Corvettes that they had. Other instructors confirmed this. A couple of mechanics said that they've yet to have a Viper engine blow, unlike the Vettes. Plus, they can run hard in the heat. Only once did hit 240 F coolant in 99 degree weather. Keeping RPM down is all it took to drop the temp in a single lap. When I read pessimism on Viper reliability, I take it with a grain of salt. I have friends that have blown Vette and GT3 engines, GTR and Ferrari trannies, you name it. All cars have problems, I think the Viper is one of the most reliable.

Time to Race

Justin, Loyde and I competed in time trials to see how the coaching paid off. I was able to edge Justin for the win with the faster lap. Keep in mind that Loyde and I had more track time on this West track than Justin did, and I believe he would have won handily with more seat time. Still, just to be in his zip code was satisfying. On the third day, Justin and I each ran time trials in each other's cars. He beat me in his, I beat him in mine. What a blast this was! If you want to take your tracking skills up a huge notch, Justin is just the guy to get you there.

IMG_2769 by solomontodd, on Flickr

IMG_2751 by solomontodd, on Flickr

IMG_2770 by solomontodd, on Flickr

[Topplayer]

Looks like a great time! Love seeing this amount of praise on the viper!
I cant wait to go next week for my 3 day school. Seeing all these threads have me giddy like a school boy!

[Canadian venom]

Cool story, made me want to book a class there!!

[Snakebit10]

Thanks for sharing Venom V. Enjoyed the read. Incredible that you are that close with a hot-shoe like Justin. You just have to be on cloud nine with that accomplishment hehe. Those ACR just look killer.

[Bruce H.]

Awesome review, Todd...what a great instructor and program they have!

Really interested in the braking and cornering stategy. I've always known that corner exit speed is important because any gain there is then multiplied all the way down whatever length of straight follows it, which is often longer than the distance through the actual corner. It's also obviously important to exit the corner as fast as possible when setting up a pass. But when I analyze my data logs I definitely haven't been as focused on this aspect as I should. Now I'm going to have to go back through them all!!!

The "slow in, fast out" strategy is often combined with a late apex line. Was he recommending that as well, or was it more about timing and amount of brake and throttle? Did you need to apex a little later than your usual style?

I'm hoping you can expand on braking strategy up to turn-in, and then through to the apex. You always hear that you should brake as hard and as deep into a corner as possible, hardest in a straight line up the turn-in point, with most trail braking to some extent beyond that. Is he also still basically recommending that, or is he advocating to get all or most braking done up to turn-in? Does he want you to be able to stop all braking well before apex in order to move to maintenance throttle for balance and then earlier acceleration? And how early in a typical corner is he trying to get you to transition from trail braking and/or maintenance throttle to acceleration? Was your style recording higher entry speeds but lower mid-corner speeds, or just lower exit speeds?

The reason I'm particularly interested in this is that an instructor friend of mine basically weened me off of trail braking, getting all braking done by turn-in, immediately to maintenance throttle, and start squeezing on throttle progressively before the apex. I feel the lack of trail braking is helping my front tire life...unless I use them to scrub too much speed which I try to avoid.

Awesome pics...and good to see Loyde out there ripping it up too!

Bruce

Edit: In reading this post I think I should have just called you! And thanks for sharing in another the great thread!

[ViperPete]

I really enjoyed your post!

Thanks for posting!

[J TNT]

Great post Todd , thanks for sharing !

[greygt3]

Fantastic write up Todd. Sounds like money well spent.

[flyingskibiker]

Will you adopt me?

Great stuff!

[ViperPete]

What does the 3 day school cost? Sounds like a great vacation to me...

[dadeuce]

Excellent write up! Thanks for taking the time to give us so much detail. I'm jealous after reading that. Now, if you'll excuse me .... I have something to go write down on my bucket list.

[supertanch]

Fantastic write up and I envy on the great experience you gain! look forward to seeing your ACR break more track records after this.

[VENOM V]

Haha, thanks guys. Ridiculously fun, it should be on everyone's bucket list.

The standard TA 2.0 class is not too bad, I want to say $3600 but someone else can clarify. The ACR is normally a 2-day program. We elected to do 3. This is professional level private coaching, very expensive. I paid about $7200 in total. This is less than they typically charge. Considering that we probably had about 15 hours of seat time, went through 6 pairs of front tires and 3 pairs of rear tires and maybe some front CCM pads, plus hundreds of dollars worth of gasoline, and with Justin Bell coaching, it was well worth it. All of this in brand new Extreme ACRs.

Justin Bell is just raw talent, and with his ability to focus on exactly what YOU need to improve, he is the best coach I've ever had.

[Dman]

I so appreciate this post, such great info and detail.

I've been considering this for a while. I've been disappointed in a few programs I've taken.

This sounds like the ticket. Great to see a program specifically for competition license holding racers, and is in the Viper. This is officially on my list now. Frankly that price range is OK IMHO. I can drop $3-5k on a race weekend, hec my labor day weekend was over $10k (thanks to a more than flirty encounter with a wall resulting in snapping my thumb in two, lol).

Adding this one item to my xmas list. Sadly ironic that this amazing program has spawned and I'm in a gap for the 1st time in 17 years without a Viper in my garage.

[VENOM V]

Awesome review, Todd...what a great instructor and program they have!

Really interested in the braking and cornering stategy. I've always known that corner exit speed is important because any gain there is then multiplied all the way down whatever length of straight follows it, which is often longer than the distance through the actual corner. It's also obviously important to exit the corner as fast as possible when setting up a pass. But when I analyze my data logs I definitely haven't been as focused on this aspect as I should. Now I'm going to have to go back through them all!!!

The "slow in, fast out" strategy is often combined with a late apex line. Was he recommending that as well, or was it more about timing and amount of brake and throttle? Did you need to apex a little later than your usual style?

I'm hoping you can expand on braking strategy up to turn-in, and then through to the apex. You always hear that you should brake as hard and as deep into a corner as possible, hardest in a straight line up the turn-in point, with most trail braking to some extent beyond that. Is he also still basically recommending that, or is he advocating to get all or most braking done up to turn-in? Does he want you to be able to stop all braking well before apex in order to move to maintenance throttle for balance and then earlier acceleration? And how early in a typical corner is he trying to get you to transition from trail braking and/or maintenance throttle to acceleration? Was your style recording higher entry speeds but lower mid-corner speeds, or just lower exit speeds?

The reason I'm particularly interested in this is that an instructor friend of mine basically weened me off of trail braking, getting all braking done by turn-in, immediately to maintenance throttle, and start squeezing on throttle progressively before the apex. I feel the lack of trail braking is helping my front tire life...unless I use them to scrub too much speed which I try to avoid.

Awesome pics...and good to see Loyde out there ripping it up too!

Bruce

Edit: In reading this post I think I should have just called you! And thanks for sharing in another the great thread!

Great questions Bruce, and really the key ones to focus on to become a great driver. Yes, slightly later apex so that the car is rotated and aimed in the right direction to rocket out of the corners in a relatively straight line (well, a giant radius arc any way).

Before the lesson, I was braking later and deeper into the corner, often with a decent amount of trail braking. This allowed me to carry more speed through the corner and turn a better lap time up to a point even beyond corner exit. About 0.1 seconds faster than Justin coming on to the main straight. However, by the end of the straight, he gained 0.4 seconds on me which netted him a 0.3 second faster lap. After seeing the data first-hand, Justin proved to me how important it is to be just 1 or 2 mph faster at corner exit. After putting to practice his suggestion, I would brake much harder earlier before the corner, then typically light trail braking to before the apex, then roll on the throttle hard at or before the apex (depending on the specific corner). You still typically benefit from some trail braking to get the front tires to bite and turn, and this actually makes the tires live longer because they're not scrubbing/pushing. Keep in mind this is the way to do it for most corners, especially the ones that have even a small straight before the next corner. Other corners however we both would trail brake very hard deep into the corner, just depends on the corner.

It's really important to get your heavy braking done well before turn in then taper off, otherwise the car will be upset at turn in and have unpredictable grip. Also, if you brake too late just before and into the corner, then it's really hard to judge speed accurately and not over-slow through the corner.

Really the best way to determine if you're doing this correctly is to have a top pro's baseline "golden" lap overlaid with your lap using data aquisition. Then it's obvious where you need to improve. I had no idea I was driving the car more like a momentum car than a HP car until I saw first-hand how much better Justin was in some corners. That convinced me to change my driving style.

[Dr.Ron]

Excellent write up!

Ron

[Gary Javo]

Awesome info. I follow the style that was suggested to you. Slow in fast out, adding more speed all the way down the straights.

[Bruce H.]

Excellent explanations Todd, thank you. it's all about finding the small gains. I would have had the baseline with Kuno but the birth of his son postponed our date, then Tim killed SRT Motorsports, Kuno moved on to other teams and I never tried to set it up again. Here's an idea, why don't you come to Mosport and lay down some golden laps for me!!!

[RedTanRT/10]

Hey Todd, great write up and sounds like a blast!! You and Loyde must have had a great time!!

Reading this one the plane coming back from DC, the price is reasonable considering all the tires you guys tore up.

Finally getting my comp coupe out this weekend at Spring Mountain, look forward to catching up, maybe BW mid-December?

The guys tell me Viper Tracks III will probably be at Bondurant this Spring, you will definitely have the edge!!!!



I'm faster than Justin Bell in a viper, and I can prove it.

Sincerely

Todd

[j_dub_168]

Great write ups!! Excellent reporting on your event, Todd and great follow-up questions, Bruce.

I recently picked up my ACR-E and would love to hook up with other track rats in Ontario, I'm totally new to the Viper scene here so any guidance on clubs or track events would be great! Feel free to PM at your convenience... Cheers

[Bruce H.]

Great write ups!! Excellent reporting on your event, Todd and great follow-up questions, Bruce.

I recently picked up my ACR-E and would love to hook up with other track rats in Ontario, I'm totally new to the Viper scene here so any guidance on clubs or track events would be great! Feel free to PM at your convenience... Cheers

Welcome...you've come to the right place! PM sent.

[SRTViperSD]

Nice pics and great write up! I was the guy that chatted with you briefly that drove there from San Diego. The TA 2.0 class was plenty for me for now. Great meeting you.

Jason

[allans]

Todd, What a great , meaningful post. I am fascinated by your ability to keep pushing the envelop, in so many ways, and then sharing your experience and knowledge with us. The Viper is a spectacular car to really feel what tracking/racing is all about. The ACR is just fabulous ! Thank You VERY much. Best, Allan

Ps, Any new set-up suggestions?

[Nemesis]

Please say this isn't true... It is increadibly close but the track is a not great....

Hey Todd, great write up and sounds like a blast!! You and Loyde must have had a great time!!

Reading this one the plane coming back from DC, the price is reasonable considering all the tires you guys tore up.

Finally getting my comp coupe out this weekend at Spring Mountain, look forward to catching up, maybe BW mid-December?

The guys tell me Viper Tracks III will probably be at Bondurant this Spring, you will definitely have the edge!!!!



I'm faster than Justin Bell in a viper, and I can prove it.

Sincerely

Todd

[MK2_Viper]

Tremendous post, thank you !