I see loads of folks who want to get into my field. Writing this down so I can have a place to send anyone interested. Here’s the short version, for any age:

Get your Certified Ethical Hacker https://www.eccouncil.org/programs/certified-ethical-hacker-ceh/

Reason: You have to do something that allows you to think like an attacker. Depending on your background, you may not need this, but most folks will want to get into the mindset a bit. And use your powers for good. If you find yourself drawn to doing sketchy stuff, stop a bit and think. Unless you’re going to be a loner always, there are few secrets amongst security people. Your background will be extensively searched. If you apply for a cleared position, that’s another whole thing. They will find stuff you did early in your life. It may matter. Be advised.

Learn about networks.

Reason: The CEH will do some of this, but you want to know how the pipes work before working on the plumbing. As the old Orange Book said, the only secure system is the one not connected to anything. So it behooves one to know how those necessary connections work.

Specialize. The field is huge, and the days of starting out as a sort of generalist are long gone. AppSec, red team, network security, IAM, compliance, anti-fraud, cloud security (and on what platform?), security project management, and the list goes on. All of them are deep sub-fields now. You need to ind one and go deep.

Reason: It’s just too broad to do what most of us old-timers did and do all of it.

Get the certifications for the job you want.

Reason: Certs can take lots of time and energy away from doing security and prototyping things. It can be a diverting game to get lots of them, but you want to find out the ones you need for your potential job and get those. Ask after what would help. If you want to go to work for AWS, better get them AWS security and architecture certs!

One year between posts. That’s awful. Will try to do better. This year there’s a lot to talk about.

The big news is that we bought a new car! Good friend moved up in the ProAm ranks and passed on his good fortune to me. It’s an Elan DP-02.

The DP-02 is a prototype lites car that normally runs in IMSA. It’s like a rocket on wheels with a suction cup underneath. Powered by a 260 HP Mazda engine, it weighs only about 1500 pounds including useless driver.

The car had several surprises for me. First and foremost, it’s got a family. Cars like this do not run with just a driver. There’s a crew chief who has been working on it since ten years. There’s the former driver, and the data guy and the coaches… It’s an amazing supportive group!

The second thing is it tried to rip my head off. It’s open cockpit, and the amount of upforce on my helmet is severe. Never had that problem in the Bluecar!

Lastly, for this post anyway, is that you brake it very, very strangely. It’s got massive downforce, so the amount you can brake immediately after lifting is big. But it’s very, very transient. You want to get from full power to brake in under half a second. Under a quarter is ideal. Then, pushing on a 4″ lever, you need to generate over 800 pounds of brake force (no power brakes; too heavy) for about a half second, then release under control. It’s hard to do! But if you do not do it, many, many bad things happen. First, if you hold pressure too long, is you lock a tire. No anti-lock brakes here. That can also happen if your transition time to brakes is too long. Second, you can boil the fluid. The car should really be an open wheel car. So airflow to the brakes is not as good as it could be, and they are small. So you brake HARD!!!!! for a short time, then trail off.

It’s so much fun to have a learning curve like this again!

My last post was very sad, so doing an update!

The reports of Texas World Speedway going under were vastly exaggerated. I don’t have insider knowledge, and don’t like to speculate in blog format, but we’re very glad it’s remaining open for another year. It seems to go year to year; it’s never certain, but so far it’s going well. They have repaired the track enough to have it remain functional, but pretty sure the concession stand is gone. Will miss that lemon chicken.

It didn’t hit me until I was in the car with my green student, and was talking about what he should do when he came back next time. Of course, he would not be coming back, ever, since TWS is closing.

Pretty sure I was able to keep the shake out of my voice, and the shades kept anyone from seeing my eyes get red. The wind from the passenger window dried the water leaking from my face. Have not had that sort of fluid leak at TWS before.

For those of you following the saga, TWS is an old racetrack near College Station, Texas. It was built in 1968, and has hosted some pretty big names over the years. It was never picked up as a NASCAR track for various reasons, but it is the only superspeedway in the country available to us amateur types. I learned to drive there. So did Sheri. So did many of my friends.

If it’s one thing racers hate it’s being out of control. That awful powerless feeling gets you. The track is going to be turned into houses and possibly an elementary school. I’m sure it will make the current owners lots of money, though more in the long term. And there’s not a fucking thing we can do about it. The chance passed us by years ago, though that’s another story.

I’ve seen lots of stuff there. Hordes of Miata going green sound like a swarm of angry hornets as they come down the front straight. The howl of a McLaren at full song setting a track record. The hoots from a drunk redneck as he takes a pass in his F-150 along the old oval in the middle of the night, illuminated only by woefully inadequate headlights. He was never seen again. I’ve been off track in every corner there. I know them all, and where to put my wheels so nothing comes to harm. I’ll stop now before it becomes a real Roy Batty moment.

But of all the things I’ve seen there, it was the community that impressed me the most. This was a track which supported amateur racing. And we supported one another. There was one incident of theft I’m aware of from the track in ten years of running there. You never locked a car or truck. Tools were on loan for the asking. The couple running the concession stand have been doing it since 1968. Once you passed through the tunnel, things changed for the better, every time.

The last weekend was great though. I ended it like I started back in 2005, in a Corvette on street tires. Sheri drove Wasp, her 2000 FRC on sticky Hoosier R7s. It was sunny with a light breeze all weekend. Could not have been much better. Never got really hot. The last session on Sunday, which is generally pretty thin was packed. No one wanted to leave. Sheri and I went on track in the same session, working on lead/follow for another chance at a better lap time that will never come.

It’s important to be present at the end of things, as well as at the beginning, but lots of times, the endings suck so much harder.

We were lucky to have the track close to us for the last ten years. It taught me a great deal. I will miss running there.

Like most amateur drivers, I have a day job. Or rather, I had a day job. My job now is finding a new job. I would rather become a track rat and teach driving by day and drive on the days I’m not teaching, but so far, no takers. However, if anyone is looking for private instruction, now is the time. I have plenty of free time. Have headset will travel. Experienced on all the Texas tracks, I have held track records at most of them. I’ve been doing this stuff for over ten years now. If you need to work something out, or simply get faster everywhere, I can almost certainly help. If you just want to learn a track before you compete there, I can help. If you want to get on track without so many other cars around, I have good relationships with track management. We can likely find a way. Get in touch with me for rates and times! tim at sirenia dot com is my direct mail.

I’ve changed the comments to registered only. The reason is spam from random bots.

The new NASA season is underway. I’m competing, in the TT2 class, and competition is fierce! Got a long way to go to catch the front runner, but working on it. I’m two seconds off the pace at MSR Houston, though I’m also two seconds faster there than I’ve ever been. That was encouraging, because even on old tires I was able to make gains.

The car is down on power. I discovered I can run almost 425 horse if I run on 275mm tires. It’s at 383 (or 393 depending on the dyno used). I think that’s the answer. It solves the straight line speed problem brought by the massive aero, and increased torque will help get out of the corners. Grip on the A7 is excellent, and they tolerate higher pressure than the A6 did.

I’m instructing less. Mostly, it’s a money thing. Anytime I go instruct, I’m spending money on a hotel, at least. Fuel is a reduced concern now, with lower gas prices. Thus, I’m instructing for money now, or at COTA (local) or where I can get lodging at least. Tires and consumables for the season will eat up all the racing budget.

When you go to a track event for the first time, it’s easy. You bring your car, a chair perhaps and maybe some snacks. Later on, it gets more complicated. You see other folks showing up for their weekend, and unloading a whole pit full of stuff. Other folks show up and simply start opening bays on the RV to expose tool bays, air compressors, and more. So what do you need to REALLY bring?

Starting Out

When you first start, just get a torque wrench and a socket that will work with your wheels. A tire gauge is also a very good idea. Once you get to the track, someone will have air if you need it, but you will want to take care of torquing the lugs yourself. Always store your torque wrench unwound, so it doesn’t fall out of calibration, and don’t use it to loosen your lugs! It will degrade and break the mechanism.

A Bit Later

So now you find you like this track stuff. You’re still not bringing a set of track wheels, but you’re more than a beginner. Now you need to bring a few more things. Fluids are first on the list. Know how to look at your brake fluid, clutch fluid, coolant, oil, transmission fluid and power steering fluid. I use a five gallon bucket to carry my stuff in. Along with fluids, you will want funnels for all of them. DO NOT mix brake fluid and oil in any funnel! Best to not mix any of them, really, but most folks don’t want to carry many funnels. You may want to carry spare brake pads, if your car is in need of them during the weekend. You also want to start thinking about your energy level now. If you need to bring gatorade or some other electrolytes, do it. Snacks for blood sugar? Yep. Try to start establishing habits for what you eat and drink at the track so it becomes a reliable pattern.

Advanced

Now you’re in real trouble. It’s a real hobby, and you may be in for the long haul. The tool thing goes up quite a bit here. You may want to consider contracting a race prep service to come to the track with you, but it’ll cost you. If you’re going to do it yourself, you will want to bring more stuff: Racing wheels with sticky tires, and all the stuff to change them. Breaker bar, perhaps a cordless impact wrench. You will want a compressor or a high pressure air tank, for tire filling. Jackstands and a jack to go under the car. Always bring four! You may have to have all the wheels off at once. Brake bleeding supplies, including a bleeder bottle and perhaps a power bleeder (or a friend to hit the pedal) and the wrenches to bleed brakes. Wrenches for the other common size bolts and fasteners on the car (torx if you need it, some metric if you need that, any specialized sizes). Spares for stuff that can break on your car. I carry spare rotors, oil filter (and oil), a wheel bearing and hub, belts for everything, brake pads and at least one tie rod end. Then you need stuff to fix things you can’t forsee. Zip ties and racer’s tape are the staples here, but also some wire and pliers to bend and shape it. And a hammer. Sometimes, you will want to start trailering at this point, because all this stuff, especially the tires, take up loads of room. A tire trailer is another option, but a trailer is good because you can always get home if the car breaks.

Addict

When you’re all in, the sky is the limit. You can’t quite build a new car from what’s in the tool chest, but you can sure fix almost anything. Rather than list what you need to carry, I’ll give you a framework for thinking about it: Bring whatever you think you need to save the weekend, IF the fix can get done realistically at the track. So spare engines are not likely, but spare half shafts? Maybe. Spare splitter? Yep. You’re almost certainly trailering at this point, unless you have a very low threshold for car repair. Nothing wrong with that, you know, but I’ve had several weekends where I was able to save the weekend by staying up late Saturday night and working with stuff I brought with.

Pro

If you are racing and someone is paying you, you are not working on your own car anymore. It’s both a blessing and a curse. You may feel a lack of control, but at the same time, you are freed up to drive, and nothing else. It’s liberating, which is why you don’t see Fernando Alonso with a wrench in his hand. Track support and setup and data analysis are all key to getting top performance out of a driver.

It’s been a couple of years now since the Circuit of The Americas was carved out of the hill country near Austin. In that time, I’ve been fortunate enough to drive on it, and talk to my friends about it quite a bit.

Surprisingly, the verdict is mixed. Of course, the media is full of effusive, complimentary rhetoric from everyone who comes to the track. But race drivers are an opinionated lot. Does the track have what it takes to be another mid-Ohio? Another Watkins Glen? Survey so far says no.

The objections are mainly centered around one point: There are not enough fast corners. The straights are bookended by tight turns. There’s nothing like the famous kink from VIR. Nothing like even turn 1 at Texas World Speedway.

I’ve had a lot of opportunity to ride around on it, too. instructing gives you a different perspective on race tracks. Here’s what I learned: COTA is a thinking driver’s track.

It doesn’t require big balls to drive here, but it does need a big brain. Those tight turns at the ends of the straights? They are a puzzle. Also note that there’s plenty of room to take the turn wide or tight. How come? It’s to allow for different strategies. Sure, you can go under in turn 11, and risk your opponent going wide and generating more speed on the straight. And he has the room to do it. You attack in 12? Ok, now you have to hold your lead through the 13-14 complex and turn 15 before you can stretch your legs and run into the carousel. And then you have another tight turn at 20 to puzzle out.

You have to think yourself out of trouble on this track. Having the most guts will only get you driven around.

That’s why I believe it’s a great track. Race driving is very much a mental sport. COTA tests you on this most vital quality.

Rick Schwalenberg at the Driver’s Edge had a great idea: Since TWS is going away in the next year or so, we better drive all the configurations we can on it. So we decided to do four in one weekend. It was pretty awesome. I’d never driven the 1.8 mile short course, but it sure taught me this: It’s the best configuration if you want to learn turns 1-3 and 11-15. You get round to them so fast, it’s like concentrated practice.

We also did the standard tried and true 2.9 clockwise and counter clockwise.

The weekend was marred by two things: We had a car wreck in turn 6 and my suspension left the building.

The wreck was in Red group, and involved a new C7 corvette. He left the track surface in turn 6 and went over the berm where it’s a good drop. The car flipped. Driver was largely unhurt, but it’s always sobering.

My suspension on the right rear of the car decided to walk a little. Once we got the car home, I discovered the right rear eccentric bolt was turning freely! That meant the suspension was shifting around 1/2″ every time the right side of the car was under load. Made turning left exciting.

I loaded up a friend’s car (since Sheri was not along this weekend) on the two car trailer along with mine and we boogied back home, arriving before dark.

Been a long time between posts. Going to make an effort to post more often.

This last weekend brave Sheri Ray and I went to experience TWS once more with Chin Motorsports. http://www.chinmotorsports.com/

Chin is quite simply lots of track time for a budget price. They are friendly, and moving into the Texas area. Your only better deal would be the TWS PDS days, I think.

We went down on Saturday only, wanting to avoid staying in College Station with the crazy fluctuating hotel rates. Made for an early but easy drive.

We did all the car prep on Friday. New brake rotors for me, new tires for both of us. Tried out some Michelin scrubs (slicks) from JB Racing Tires. If you do track days and you don’t know about this guy, you should. John Berget gets truckloads of lightly used racing tires and sells them to folks like us for cheap. We got eight Michelin slicks delivered for less than $1500. I would estimate they had maybe 1-2 heat cycles on them. Hard to beat.

Day started well, with a new personal best for me, 1:50.8 counter clockwise. Getting better! The Tim Ray Splitter, Mk. 3 held together fine, even with an offroad expedition in the third session.

The last hour of the day is a Chin motorsports tradition: Happy Hour. They send everyone who wants to do it out on track. Sheri and I did lead follow for 45 minutes with her doing two laps, then dropping back and me leading for two laps. Very informative.

Then we loaded up and drive home. We were able to get the cars unloaded before dark to end a great day.