Despite arriving at Buttonwillow with a virtually untested package, the Professional Awesome crew was determined to make a strong statement. But as Dan explained, it wasn’t all smooth sailing on the way to their record-breaking lap. “We had minor drama at Buttonwillow, but nothing that too terribly screwed us up. Brake bias was an issue for two reasons. First, the pedal box wasn’t assembled properly and didn’t allow any real brake bias adjustment. Because of this, the car had very little front brake bite and would swap ends if the brakes were pushed too hard. Fiddling with the knob didn’t help anything and as this was the first time using a pedal box, we didn’t realize the assembly issue until the end of the first day (note: we didn’t assemble the pedal box in the first place). The second issue was, once we got it adjustable, even with max front bias, it still wasn’t completely right, though it was greatly improved. A new master cylinder is required to get more front bite. This meant the braking performance wasn’t even as good as the stock system on Hankook RS-3 tires… so plenty of time to gain there in the future.”
The other issue that slowed Fortune Auto a bit was a weird cooling issue. As Dan put it, “Long story short, we couldn’t run more than 1 hot lap per session because we had a cooling issue that was sort of like a blown head gasket. This didn’t hurt power output, but it kept me from learning the track better and limited the amount we could dial in the car. So instead we focused on big things, like the brakes, letting the Fortune Auto guys fiddle with the [damper setting] knobs, and that was it. We saw the alignment wasn’t right, but it was close enough that we didn’t want to get into the minutia until the big picture was sorted out first.”
Normally Dan (top pic) does the driving for Professional Awesome, but because of the cooling issue that was limiting his seat time so severely, the team decided to throw current SLB overall recorder holder and all-around hotshoe Jeff Westphal (bottom pic, red jacket) in the driver’s seat. As Dan explained, “Regarding Jeff, it was planned long before SLB that he’d give some input on the Buttonwillow test day (the day before SLB). Without his help, we wouldn’t have caught the brake issue. Once we saw the difference in our lap times at practice, though, we knew we should stick him in the car for the actual timed event. I think I would have gotten close to his time with enough seat time, but with the car only being able to run one lap every 30 minutes or so, it was hard for me to figure out the track and the car. The interesting thing is Jeff never truly got one unimpeded lap during practice and only one clear lap at SLB. So his record-breaking lap of 1:44.062 was his only complete hot lap of Buttonwillow in our car. Think about that for a minute!”
Speaking of that one unimpeded flying lap, here it is in all its glory. I think you’ll agree that Westphal can drive a bit. Although you can’t see his footwork in this video, you can certainly hear it, and the speed and fluidity of his shifting and transitions back to full throttle are really impressive. That’s the sound of top quality pro driving, my friends, not to mention a really well built gearbox from TRE including a JDM 5th, custom gear detail, REM Isotropic finish, and a 4.0 final drive.
All in all, I think it’s fair to say that Professional Awesome more than lived up to their name. Building such a competitive Limited class car after the massive setback at Road Atlanta is a feat all its own, but then to crush JC Meynet’s class record of 1:48.550 with basically no testing, without optimized brakes, and a cooling issue tells you there’s still a lot more to come from this car and this team. No disrespect meant to Meynet here, who set that record quite a few years ago on a lesser tire and with a less developed aero package. Who knows, maybe seeing his record fall is the motivation needed for us to see old man JC back in action in 2015.
And what can we expect from Professional Awesome in 2015? According to Dan, “More power (via improved efficiency, not pushing harder because we like reliability). More aero (with hopefully improved efficiency as well, with more testing involved). Less weight. New records!” As the late-great sports broadcaster Stuart Scott would say, “Booyah!”
Specs:
Engine
4G64 block
4G63 head
Manley 94mm billet crank
Manley 162mm rods
Manley 10.5:1 pistons
Manley +1 intake and exhaust valves
MA Performance Ultimate Duty valvesprings and retainers
MA Performance Rev 3 intake
MA Performance custom exhaust manifold w/ downpipe
MA Performance Ultimate Duty head studs
Garrett GTX3582R turbocharger
Full Blown throttle body
ETS custom intercooler
Spoolin’ Up COP
Fidanza cam gears
Radium competition catch can
Turbosmart BOV
Turbosmart silicone hoses, vacuum line and Murray clamps
Be Cool radiator
Cool It Thermo Tec heat protection products
UMS Tony Szirka Tuned
Drivetrain
TRE Transmission w/ JDM 5th gear (custom gear detail, REM Isotropic finish, crazy badass work, 4.00:1 final drive)
TRE Transfer Case
TRE 1.0-way rear LSD
Wavetrac front LSD
Exedy Triple disc clutch
Chassis
All Speed Innovations Cage
Racefab front and rear tubular subframes
Suspension
Fortune Auto Dreadnought Pro 2-Way coilover system
Whiteline roll bars front and rear
Whiteline bushings
Robispec spherical trailing arm bushings
Brakes
Evo X front calipers
DBA 2-piece front rotors
DBA slotted rear rotors
CL RC-8 brake pads
Wilwood pedal box
Fuel/Computer
AEM Infinity 6 ECU
AEM E85 fuel pumps x3
Radium surge tank
Turbosmart fuel pressure regulator
Zeitronix E85 analyzer system
Wheel/Tire
Rota MXR 18×11” wheels
JM Fab hubcentric spacers
Hankook Ventus TD 295/30-18 tires
Interior
AIM MXL Pista dash
Momo Daytona Evo seat
Momo steering wheel
Schroth 6-point race harness
Aero
Custom Professional Awesome fender flares, splitter, flat bottom, and diffuser
APR Performance GT-1000
