Fastest dry lap time: 01:43.2
Fastest wet lap time: 01:56.8
Now that the car was in better shape to run a full event, it was time to head to what we expected to be our biggest event of the year: Gridlife Midwest Fest at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI.
This was the event in 2018 that triggered our interest in Gridlife. If you haven’t heard of it, imagine Forza Horizon, complete with a music festival and drifting, but in real life. And if you haven’t heard of Forza Horizon, I would give it a try, its mega fun.
We arrived bright and early on the first day of competition and our good friends over at Knottfast Racing were kind enough to save us a paddock spot right amongst the Street Mod Subaru guys. Mike Aumick was next to us and it was a cool sight to have a row of blue Subies together in paddock.
After a first session trying to learn the circuit layout and decide how aggressively to run the rear wing, the car came in, melting … something. There was no smoke, and nothing from the driver’s seat was prominent enough to cause alarm. However, when we lifted the hood, the intercooler piping had shifted and was vibrating so aggressively that it had worn through the washer fluid reservoir and was resting simultaneously on the fuel lines coming from the fuel filter and the positive side of the battery terminal, threatening to shake its way through those next.
A quick removal of the washer bottle (who needs this on a race track, anyway?) and a giant hose clamp to keep the piping in place solved the issue for the rest of the weekend, and even as of this writing has still been the perfect solution to hold the intercooler piping in place.
The next hurdle to overcome is an overheating motor. In our first two sessions, the car could only do 2 hot laps in a row before the coolant temp was getting near the danger zone. Thankfully, Gingerman had a way of taking care of that issue for us.
While sitting on the grid waiting to run, the skies opened up and there was an enormous but brief downpour. That cooled everything off, but the track wasn’t too wet to get out and attempt to push for an improved lap time. After two laps, though, lightning in the area shut down the track again, and with a much longer break in store, mother nature took that opportunity to dump even more rain, this time soaking the track and leaving several large areas of standing water around the circuit.
When we went out again, in the full wet, the car loved it. Without any overheating issues, we could put in consistent lap times and learn where the water was standing, to get the times down. By the end of the session, we were the fastest car out there.
That was easily the highlight of our weekend and the car’s overall reliability, thanks to Mike at 5250 Performance, allowed us to spend more time watching the drifting and Grid Life Touring Cup events.
After the racing was done for the evenings on the second and third days of competition the festival opened up and turned the entire venue into one big party. The relaxed and connected vibe of every Grid Life event shone through brightly during the festival, with a video game tent, food trucks, and a massive stage and light show during each artist’s act.
We left on Sunday, looking back at a successful, albeit podium-less, race weekend with more great Grid Life events to come.
Next stop: Illinois for Grid Life at the Autobahn Country Club!