tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80236570494108219952024-03-07T10:20:31.468-08:001989 Bridgestone ST Civic ~ Drivers: Stephen Yeoh and Mike KazmierczakThis blog will cover all of our adventures on and off the track.Stephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.comBlogger268125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-58268887462571555402013-08-29T09:37:00.001-07:002013-08-29T09:37:45.475-07:00It's that time of year again!Wow, it's hard to believe that another year has past and it's time to head off to Nationals again. My Civic is loaded on the transporter and #Bridgestone is sponsoring us with the new for 2013 RE-11A. It should be a lot of fun going up against the Toyo and the new BFG Rival. I've been very impressed with the new tire. It has more grip than the RE-11, but the feel and response of the RE-01R (whichStephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-9848055467454334472012-09-02T10:30:00.002-07:002012-09-02T10:30:45.541-07:00It's time...As I sit here and write this, the second day of the ProSolo Finale is in progress. I'm listening to the live feed on Ustream while packing. Let me just say that doing this is making packing very difficult. I'm listening to the commentators, rooting for my friends, my heart is racing and I'm forgetting what I'm supposed to pack.
I suggest having all your packing done before you listen in on any ofStephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-7146338959323817392012-05-07T01:36:00.000-07:002012-06-01T01:36:48.238-07:002012 El Toro ProSoloSome of you have heard me say this before. This is my favorite event of the year. It's held at my favorite site and my favorite format. It sure would be nice to have more of these events. No matter what happens, this is a great event to play at.
Saturday is a beautiful day and I'm having fun. I'm putting down decent times and in the hunt. I'm having a good time. These are especially good events Stephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-72719993385384394812012-04-30T00:41:00.000-07:002012-06-01T00:45:20.634-07:00San Diego National TourI've been looking forward to this Tour. It's my first Tour where I haven't been buried in homework or class projects. I've also had a chance to practice and prepare for this event. The weather forecast actually looks like it will be a rain free Tour. Our car is ready and sure looks pretty.
Saturday is dry just as the weather man predicted. We don't run first thing in the morning, which is Stephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-32460034824231145122012-04-23T09:53:00.000-07:002012-04-24T00:55:19.191-07:00National Tour preparationThe San Diego National Tour is right around the corner and Mike and I head down to Qualcomm to get some seat time and acclimate ourselves to the surface. The Civic has been running well and we haven't run in to any major mechanical problems recently. I bum a ride down with Jeff and Nicole, which makes the weekend a whole lot easier for me.
The course looks like a mini road race with not a lot ofStephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-47608372002211869632011-11-01T09:53:00.000-07:002011-11-01T09:53:07.065-07:00Whole again!Not much has been said about this since this problem has been around for quite a while - we have been having an issue with valve float for about the last year. It's been affecting the car and has been gradually getting worse. The first time we really were affected by this was as early as the San Diego Tour back in March/April time frame. Going uphill at Qualcomm in third gear because you can't Stephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-14034241862709223422011-09-14T19:43:00.000-07:002011-09-14T19:43:30.722-07:00Nationals awards banquetSince the race wasn't very fruitful, we now get to have some fun with old friends at the awards banquet. It's at a new place that is about 20 minutes away from the Embassy Suites, seemingly out in the middle of nowhere. Our friends are there and we dig in to the food and mingle a little. I'll let the photos speak for themselves. Thank you to everybody that provided the candid shots ;-)
This Stephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-1358602021959044942011-09-14T19:34:00.000-07:002011-09-14T19:34:00.057-07:00Day 2 Nationals, Lincoln NebraskaDay 2 shows up nice and dry. The forecast is that it will be in the 90's today with no rain. Today, we run on the East course, which is more similar to what we usually see in California. This is going to be another fun day.
The morning starts out the same, I'm on the opposite course in Heat 1 helping my daughter in her go kart. It's very exciting being a parent watching them go out to race. At Stephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-90452670917702609802011-09-14T19:20:00.000-07:002011-09-14T19:20:28.079-07:00Day 1 Nationals, Lincoln NebraskaBoy, this is an interesting start to Nationals. I'm woken up at around 3am by a large racket outside the hotel. I get up and take a look and it's pouring cats and dogs. I can also see lightning in the sky. I wonder how the event will turn out.
It turns out that the rain had sorta stopped by morning. However the rain stopped late enough that the ground was still very wet. Neelu was running on theStephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-34976995951595315032011-09-14T19:07:00.000-07:002011-09-14T19:07:04.340-07:00Day 0 Nationals. Lincoln NebraskaMonday is day 0 for us. Time to get the car unpacked, check for damage from the trip out from California, get the car tech'd and then head off to our practice sessions. The unpacking and inspection is uneventful. The car appears to have arrived undamaged.
While we are tech and registration, we start running into friends from the East Coast and start chatting. It makes waiting in line for tech a Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04675782452561052348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-70336031205173041732011-08-28T15:32:00.001-07:002011-08-28T15:32:07.661-07:00Hi-tech video mountJason is using the latest in hi-tech video equipment to watch his video - a Bridgestone hat hooked on to the seat. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhoneLocation:E Sky Harbor Blvd,Phoenix,United StatesStephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-77577292578658790722011-08-28T14:58:00.001-07:002011-08-28T14:58:06.795-07:00Are we there yet?We have made it as far as Phoenix AZ. Short transit here and then off to Omaha. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhoneLocation:E Sky Harbor Blvd,Phoenix,United StatesStephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-31936203127794011642011-08-28T13:11:00.001-07:002011-08-28T13:11:58.875-07:00Finally on the wayWe are at the Ontario airport waiting for our flight to Omaha and then on to Lincoln to join our friends. Time to play shortly. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhoneStephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-20792990520705538632011-08-24T10:47:00.001-07:002011-08-24T10:47:40.986-07:00Load them UP ship 'em OUT!!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04675782452561052348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-82830682621381861902011-08-15T16:34:00.000-07:002011-08-23T10:51:59.120-07:00Last Race before Nationals!!!photo by Vladimir Boyko
Wowee, I can't believe it's actually almost time. This is the last race before we pack up for Lincoln Nebraska. Jason has been working really hard on making sure the car is in tip top shape for the upcoming trip to Nebraska. We already know that the car will not make it on to the transporter without damaging something and we'll have to raise the car, just to get on the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04675782452561052348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-26346235030932212142011-07-25T16:20:00.000-07:002011-08-20T16:11:12.933-07:00Charity Fundraising ridesThis was a fun practice event. As part of giving back to the school district where my kids go to school, a ride in the Bridgestone Civic was auctioned off at a local fundraiser. The lucky winner was Jan Iceland, a member of the Oak Park School Board. She brought her husband and 2 nieces along for the ride.
We contacted our sponsors - Bridgestone to let them know that we had generous winners of Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04675782452561052348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-1958024314869324432011-07-18T15:52:00.000-07:002011-08-02T23:45:24.386-07:002011 Novice SchoolOur morning starts early. Jason and I are there right at 6 am when the site opened to get things going. We had to check signage, make sure the porta-potties have been located to the correct place, all elements are still intact and start building the full course. We also had to get registration set up, brief the instructors, give the drivers meeting and handle other logistical issues that may cropAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04675782452561052348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-53024952965652441322011-07-15T22:30:00.000-07:002011-07-27T09:02:57.196-07:00Autocross school set upTalk about trial by fire. The wonderful folks over at Top Gear USA were running behind schedule or something and even though they were aware of our confirmed use of El Toro since February, they needed to use the site for the weekend and requested that we change our schedule on Wednesday before the school. After an emergency board meeting, it was decided that the school would not move and we Stephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-46684386462494084292011-07-10T21:57:00.000-07:002011-07-10T21:57:23.386-07:00Autocross school is comingWell, it's been a busy few weeks. It seemed like a long time ago when we first talked about this. Lisa Severy, our regular autocross school chair is going to be away and Jason and I will be co-chairing this event. We have big shoes to fill, following in Lisa's footsteps.
The school is this coming weekend, which also happens to be the same weekend that the I-405 is going to be closed from the 10 Stephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-80070169272936117602011-06-27T08:43:00.000-07:002011-07-10T21:50:33.091-07:00CSCC SoPac DivisionalsWoo yee, I've been looking forward to this event for a long time. A chance to play on home turf at one of my favorite events.
The course was set up by a 'guest' designer from Arizona who doesn't usually have such a big lot to play on. This time he put together a course that ended up being 1.8 miles in length. Even by our large lot standards, this was a big course.
Our car is working well and Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04675782452561052348noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-84682386433475003202011-06-13T12:03:00.000-07:002011-06-15T12:15:18.945-07:00PCA Practice in JuneFor many years now, this event has been held on Fathers Day. This year, it was not. However, with a limited number of local events left before Nationals, this event was particularly crowded with SCCA drivers getting their cars ready for Nationals.
Based on our last outing, additional changes were needed to bring the car back in to balance. After consulting with the local experts, we came Stephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-48527416915005404682011-05-23T11:45:00.000-07:002011-06-18T23:47:38.738-07:00More changes afoot for the May eventWe went in to this May practice @ Autoclub Speedway with some changes ready to be tested. Since we had only made changes at one end of the car, it was expected that the car may not be balanced with the changes.
Autoclub Speedway is a bumpy lot and it's hard to say if the changes made here are representative elsewhere. During the Saturday practice, we tried all kinds of shock settings and ended Stephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-88115662194503876502011-05-15T22:59:00.000-07:002011-05-23T23:41:18.614-07:00BMWCCA event at the Santa Anita RacewayWowee, we get to play at a new venue - the Santa Anita Raceway in Arcadia. On top of that, Jason has volunteered to do the course design with the following criteria - straightforward for novices, drivers will probably be in RWD vehicles with about 300+ HP, the course should flow clockwise and have a showcase turn for spectators in the NE corner.Jason puts together a great course using some simpleStephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-90975918810179135452011-05-01T21:13:00.000-07:002011-05-05T09:13:18.354-07:00El Toro Championship eventThere was some concern that the day was going to start out like it did at practice yesterday - winds gusting to 65 mph and cones blowing over. Instead, we had a calm morning that was interrupted by road closures for a local marathon, which set off a mad scramble to find a way to get around the event and to El Toro.A local LAPD babysitter proved to be most useful. We still arrive early enough to Stephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8023657049410821995.post-28247372942003918222011-04-10T19:37:00.000-07:002011-04-15T15:59:03.261-07:00El Toro ProSolo - Day 2The weather starts out cool, but it's a nice day and it is warming up quickly. Even though we started running an hour earlier, it's already warmer when we run than it was yesterday afternoon.The morning is very exciting as everybody seems to be going faster and the lead is changing almost every other run. The announcer is adding fuel to the fire announcing what could be as well. It's very easy toStephen Yeohhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11234110243615137106noreply@blogger.com0