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Michele's Carbon Fiber Race Hood

I finally got to put the decal I’ve been wanting for months on my carbon fiber hood this weekend. I got this hood specifically for functionality (the vents for cooling); and to be completely honest, I am not really into carbon fiber, or the “Evo” style.

As soon as I received it I knew I wanted to do this. I wanted to make the hood into something I would love and I knew putting people that I owe a million thank you’s to on it was the best idea. It took me a long while to finalize the list, and well, you’re looking at it…

Each and every one of these people have gone FAR out of their way to help me in some way with my racing. Everything from late night calls to long talks, these people showed me that I can do whatever I want and that I can succeed; but most of all, they gave me help and support. Some gave me more generosity than I could fathom, and others poured advice and ideas to make me strong.

I want the people listed on my hood to know that I will never forget what things they individually did to help me out. That the big and the little actions really did go a long way; I do my best to take nothing for granted and this is just one way I would like to say thanks. I truly appreciate anything and everything you have done for me.

For those that found themselves feeling as if I “forgot” them and even had the audacity to bring it to my attention… I would like to say that the purpose of the hood was not to separate people with favoritism. It wasn’t to rank people and say some are better than others; so PLEASE do not misunderstand the message. I could cover my entire car with names and still not have enough room to thank everyone. If you do not see your name listed, don’t take it personally.

My favorite part about this is that no one knew about it and no one expected it. I based it off of what I’ve been lucky enough to have between 2005 and 2010. So, thanks everyone, for everything. It has been an amazing 5 years of racing and I can’t wait to see what the future brings. Though I do know that without the impact from each of you, I would not be who or where I am today. 

-Michele

Here’s the List of Names:

Mom&Dad, Michael, Kellie Gascon, Britt Guerlian, Amanda Higgins, Brandon Lessing, Anthony Philleo, Jeff Abrams, Tom Godfrey, Brad Mark, Thomas Smith, Cory Huggins, Todd Waugh, Gene Rolfe, Chris Darquea, Alicia Doremus, Jay Ronquillo, Zee Reid, Michael McGuinness, Kam Urquhart, Guy&TJ Clark, Quirt Crawford, Eladio Rodriguez, Ken Miller, Richard Petty, Dan Fultz, Clint Boisdeau, Gary Martin

Summer Days means taking my Seadoo for a Spin!

After taking one of the heaviest workloads at UNLV that I have ever attempted, I have completed 18 credits in 3 months J  I am very proud of all the work I have done and I am itching more than ever to graduate in December!

With the heat of the summer track events have slowed down, but they are about to pick up real quick!

This Sunday, August 8^th, I will be competing in the first gymkhana event held in the United States thanks to my new sponsor Tunerzedge!  The event is called “Gymkhana Grid” and will be held in Los Angeles, CA at Hollywood Park.

I will be competing in FF (Front engine, Front wheel drive) for the fastest time around a challenging course in which you can see below, in addition to racing an opponent in the same class.  Keep a look out on twitter and facebook for my updates at this event!  You can get the schedule and other information about the event at www.gymkhanagrid.com it is being hosted by Ken Block as a test event for media. Looks like fun to me!!

In addition, the following weekend ( Sunday Aug 15) is another NASA AZ track day along with the infamous UMS Time Attack on Sunday.  The track will be at Firebird on the West Course.  I have not ran this course yet, but I’ve heard is more for than East… and well I had a blast on East!

I will be sure to post an update after the event this weekend to let you all know how Gymkhana Grid goes!  Thanks for keeping an interest and sorry for the down time!  For now, I’ve got to get back to packing for this LA roadtrip!

Michele Abbate practicing at FIR-East in the NASA AZ event

Finally got back on track this weekend with the help of a new sponsor, www.TunerzEdge.com. After what looked like a weekend I was going to have to pass up due to a couple factors, I got the chance to toss together the plans on Thursday to get the MSP and me out to Chandler, AZ to race at Firebird International Raceway on the East course with Gary Martin of Tunerz Edge.

Friday
I had class at 8am, along with two tests in both; I left Las Vegas Friday night, and once in AZ I met up with the Snail Performance team at a local shop.  After watching a bit of wrenching on some subarus we decided to go grab a bite to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings.  It was about 11:30pm by the time I pulled my car in to Jeff Abrams’ (www.MazdaManiac.com / Black Halo Racing) garage where I almost fell asleep changing my oil and getting the car ready for practice tomorrow.

Saturday
Alarm went off at 4:15am and we were out of the door by 4:45am.  Driver’s meeting was at 5:20am and HPDE 4 (where I am now) was the first class out on track.  FIR East is a track I’d never been on, and I was aiming to do my best to beat a few significant cars.  During the 3 sessions we got for the half day of racing I was feeling pretty good about the car and the track.  Todd Waugh of BHR took some pictures as well as some video, so thank you to him!

After my first session the car was oversteering a bit too much but after a call with Eladio Rodriguez of H1 Performance (www.H1Racing.com) he had me tweak a couple things and I didn’t touch the set up at all the rest of the weekend.

It was a lot of fun running in HPDE-4 because I knew the majority of people in the cars out there.  All 4 guys from Snail Perfomance/Tayko Garage were together (Travis, Taylor, Jerome, and Markos) which always turned me into attack mode when ever spotted.  Low and behold I got a chance to see each of them push the limits of their cars.

Finishing our last session by 10:30am left us with the whole day to spare and catch up on some sleep.  But instead, we decided to have a BBQ at Abrams’/BHR HQ and chill out by the pool and relax the rest of the day.  I also got to enjoy some WHATABUGER, something we do not have in NV.

Sunday
Race Day!  This was my first time in NASA runnung in the HPDE4 group, as well as being on this track, AND ALSO my first time running in the UMS Time Attack.  Classed in TA-A I was aiming to beat Markos of Snail Performance/Tayko Garage in his 2005 2.5RS Subaru on old RA1’s. We are a good match because he’s got the AWD and r comp set up, while I’m on street tires but equipt with my baby T25 turbo.  We got 1 practice session before the Time Attack took place.

I was placed behind Jeff Abrams in his turbo RX8 followed by Markos on grid.  We got 1 warm up, 2 timed, and 1 cool down lap.  I was determined to keep my nerves and anxiousness calm.  In other events I get psyched up and super excited, which causes me to overdrive half of the time.  This event I knew I needed to work on my mentality skills, so I wanted to do just that.

Focusing on just driving and being smooth, less throttle work and aiming to not toss the car, I just “took it easy”.  It almost felt too easy, but the majority of the time, that’s when you turn your fastest lap.

On my first timed lap everything was perfect, except the car fell out of 3rd gear mid-turn.  I only wonder when my trasmission will lock up again. My timed second lap I knew I couldnt have any more issues with teh transmissions so I just held it in gear as I went through the turns.

After the TA session we had 2 more sessions for fun. I ran 1 and then began to run out of gas so I was gunna sit it out on the next one; BUT Snail Performance/Tayko Garage was playing musical cars and Markos offered his 2.5 RS to drive.  Alwas a fun car to drive, and every time I get in it, I spin.   Keeping the tradition we ended the day with another awesome session on track.

RESULTS
Although not officially posted at www.NASAAZ.com yet, the announced results placed me in 2nd for TA-A, following Gary Ortega in his gutted red civic hatch, he ran a 1:08.X (also an official of the NASA organization). This wasn’t hard for me to take because Eladio Rodriguez (H1Racing.com) got me used to getting beat by a gutted red civic hatch, so because of this, I would like to dedicate my finish to him….

My better time was set on my 2nd timed lap, running a 1:09.7 and next, 3rd, was Markos with a 1:10.6 There were 8 cars total running in TA-A so I am very happy with my finishing place.  In addition I was surprised to find out I beat Jerome (2008 STi on NT01) my a mere tenth of a second.

I want to thank everyone that helped me get out there AND while I was out there this weekend.  This includes:

Tunerz Edge
H1 Performance
MazdaManiac//BHR
Snail Performance
Tayko Garage
Twisted Priorities
BCE Designs

And I’d like to mention the continued support of Import Image Racing and Protege Garage

Until next time!

Well first I would like to apologize for the lack of updates.  School has been hitting me hard and I have honestly never worked so hard.  I’ve never put so much time and dedication to school in my life. But its okay, I know its going to be worth it and… well.. as much as I hate it, I like it, to be honest. I like being focused and dedicated, and not distracted. It feels good.  I think its because i know what I am doing, is for me. I’m finally doing what I want, to get myself where I want to be.its just a breath of fresh air.

But anyway, without my mushy gushy about chasing my goals, racing has been quite the handful since Feb.

In march I signed up for a track day at SMMR again.  The car ended up overheating after 3 laps and I was fortunate enough to be offered a spec miata for the rest of the day.  Although, I was really looking forward to running my car since it finally has a good suspension set up, I realized after it overheating in Phoenix in January at 40 degrees outside, and again in March at this event I met my match and decided it was time to rebuild the top end.

This past weekend I went to Phoenix again with my fresh (top end) motor expecting the best.  I only got a few chances to test the car at high rpm while in vegas.  It seemed good after I gapped the plugs smaller.  For the most part of the trip down I took it easy and didnt get into boost too often.

Once saturday morning came, I swapped my tires, got teched and waiting for HPDE-3 to be called to grid.  I was really excited because the new aluminum radiator and slim fans were working wonders and knew I would finally have no reason to see any cooling issues.

Driver’s meeting was at 2pm, and I think we hit the track at about 4:30 or 5 a clock.  Car felt good took me quite a while to get into the groove of things, was just feeling out the track a bit. DE3 was crowded with cars, not a lot of room to open up for space.  I paced back for a lap or two to see if i could get a nice clean lap in.  Once I thought I had it, the car began to buck under wide open throttle.  Seemed as if it was running out of gas or leaning out. I tested it a couple more laps and then decided to come in. 

Super bummed, we checked it out and tinkered with a few things.  I went back out for my second session around 8pm, in the dark.  Car still wasn’t acting right, 2 laps and I had to pull off.  Unfortunately, that was all the lap time I got for the weekend.  I didn’t want to push the car too hard, again, because I was 300 miles from home.  It was a crappy sitatuation but probably the smartest decision.

I did get an opportunity to ride along with Markos Mylonas in his 2.5 rs in DE4.  That was a ton of fun and I got a chance to see the track at speed, which is always nice.   At the end of the night they held the Time Attack sessions (which I wanted to run in, but of course was unable to with the car down).  Clocked Thomas at a lap of 1:07.XX  smashing everyone’s time out here, but unfortunately his trasponder was not working so it was an unofficial time.  2 other people clock him in the same minute so they awarded him the points but no official first place.

Kind of a bummer weekend for the both of us to drive all the way out here for nothing, but we made the best of it and got ourselves home.  On the drive back I received a call from Geno from Skinfly clothing (www.SkinFly.com).  They are now my most recent sponsor for 2010 and they’ve got some awesome clothes.  Check it out for sure! If you like anything on their site use the code: SKINFLY25 and you’ll get 25% off your order :]

That’s all for now. I’m back to the school books and I will update you soon on the Autocross Event from Sunday April 18th 2010  (Searching for a pic frmo this event,  hard to find sincei  was only on track for 1 session)

Michele Abbate's first open wheel race

I have been dying to write this post, and even though I should be studying for more midterms, I can’t wait any longer!  I was extended the opportunity to rent and race a legend car on Valentine’s weekend for the championship race of the Silver State Legend Road Course races.  The normal rental price is usually around $1000.00 but thanks to my dad, brother, and a few good talks with the guys from Spencer Clark Driver Development I was given a good deal I couldn’t pass up. 

Sunday the 14th was race day, and it couldn’t have been anymore last minute.  Saturday morning I went to the Clark’s shop and got fitted into a seat for the car.  Feeling the excitement was pretty cool.  I had always wanted to try my brother’s legend car out, but his seat is WAY too small for these hips :[.  So I knew this was my chance to finally feel how it is to be in a real race car, that is purposely built and set up for road racing.

Sunday, Valentine's day morning, 7am you could only find me in 1 place... at the track and ready to go, accompanied by my friend Amanda.  I got my racing credentials, and suited up.  It took about 20 minutes to get my seat straps adjusted in the car for a good tight fit.  Then I knew I needed some guidence on how to drive the car.  For those of you that don't know... a legend car is basically a roll cage with a fiberglass body, powered by a 1200cc motorcycle engine, with a 5 speed sequential gear box.  My brother had explained to me that you only use the clutch when you stop and go.  If you want to shift gears, you just lift....  to me it sounded a lot more complex. 

Guy Clark explained to me what each button, trigger, and gauge was... even though none of the gauges were hooked up (for purposeful reasons).  He showed me how to start it up, then told me to go drive it around the pits a little to get used to the gearbox and gears.

Well.... let me tell you, that throttle/gas pedal was the touchiest (yes i made that up) pedal i think i'll ever feel...  but... it was sooo awesome :]  i took it for a couple minutes to get a feel for it, but in all honesty, was a little unsure how I was managing to do so .   I drove it to tech, where they checked everything out and told me the car was good to go!

Next I went to get my pit-pick aka P-Pick which places you somewhere on the grid for the heat race; lowest numbers first.  Of course I picked #3, out of about 100.  So, I picked the pole position….. letting my brain take control instead of my gut feeling, I asked to start in the back.  As much as I didn’t want to, I knew that I was there to learn, not to win; and the last thing I needed was to do damages to the car, and have to pay for it.   So all-in-all, I was to start last in the first heat race.

Before I knew it it was my turn to go out.  I got suited up, helmet on, and into the car.  Going out on track with a group was a great feeling. …. To know that I was part of a race It made me feel awesome inside.  I was finally doing something that I have ALWAYS wanted to do. Not just be in a legend car, but to be doing something on my own, that my brother has gotten to do, and actually race in a real, wheel to wheel, position based race.  It was an inspiring moment for me.  And even though I had a lot of inner drive to do well, I kept the thought that I was there to learn right up front.

We took our warm up lap, approaching the green flag in a tight group, and the flag dropped!  I avoided getting bunched up in turn one at the end of the straight because from watching so many of my brother’s races, I knew most the damaged happened here.  I continued to get a feel for the car, studied my line, and shifting points, and trying to figure out exactly how to match revs,  and shift with no clutch.  It was a real learning experience for me.  Needless to say I didn’t get lapped and I finished the race.  Last place, but I was still overwhelmed by the whole experience:

“Driving a legend car is amazing.  If you asked me to describe what it’s like, I would have to say that the power is like riding a motorcycle, with the throttle at your foot. The handling is nothing like anything I’ve ever driven before.  The turn in is instant, I can’t even imagine what an indy/f1 car must feel like if I think this thing is amazing.  The braking is hard to grasp at first.  I am not used to manual brakes so they felt really hard to use, but I adapted to them quickly.  I will say that anyone that loves driving and can really feel a car and how its handling… you MUST drive a legend some time in your life.”

Then my brother went out.  He p-picked 6th and placed 1st in his heat.   It was a good race to watch. :]  I always like watching him.  He came in and answered some questions I had about the car and the track.

Once it was time for the main, I wondered what position I would be in.  The class is so large that the heats are split into two groups, then combined as one for the main event.  I was 3rd from last once we got on grid.  My friends Chris (www.racephotolabs.com) , Jim and Adam came out to watch me.   It meant a lot to see my friends supporting me (Thanks a lot guys ).  We did our warm up lap and took the green flag, feeling much more confident this time I really got on it.  I still backed off for that first corner; no damage is best!   Throughout the race I kept with the pack, always having at least one behind me.  I gained a few positions due to other drivers spinning out and going off.  I never drove too hot into a turn and never dropped a wheel.  i took the checkered flag with 4 people behind me and I wasn’t aware of how many in front.

This was definately one of my best racing experiences in my life.  Which says a lot.  I would have never thought those ugly legend cars with those giant wheels could feel so responsive on the track.  The engine pulls nicely, the shifting might be the greatest feeling in the world once you figure out how to left foot brake properly, and the handling has never been as close to “on rails” than I’ve ever felt before….

so…. all of you racing/driving enthusiasts… find a way to drive a legend car… and DO IT. you’ve got to experience the feeling   Andddd I think that about sums it up.  Hope you enjoyed the long read, I’ve been waiting to many days to write about it, but for now (and the next 2 weeks) back to studying for midterms. <3

Michele Abbate at the PKE2010 indoor racing at the South Point

After over 12 hours of the unorganized event of PKE2010, my team placed 11th out of 48.  The event itself was a great idea, but it was not near as organized as planned; At one point we were legitamently 6 hours behind schedule… talk about a long day of racing.

I arrived with my team, Cory Huggins (AZ dirt track driver) and Ian Lindop  at the South Point at 7:30am.  Practice finally began around 10:00am.  Practice consisted of one 5 minutes session to get a feel for the karts.  This would be my second time to be entering an indoor karting event. The karts are gas, but my main issue was and still is, having no grip.  The last time I competed in one of these races (2008 in Phoenix AZ) I just couldn’t get the hang of giving up power and going slow to make up time.  The same issue prevailed. 

Needless to say after practice, which lasted about 3 hours to get through every person, we had a driver’s meeting where we drew our heat # at random. I drew for my team and pulled heat #1; so we were first out.  We decided to send Cory out for our qualifying laps.  He ended up 5th out of 12 for the line up, a good spot.  By the end of his 30 lap race he was in 4th.   It was my turn to go out.

I got gridded in 5th isntead of 4th, due to a timing error and the race began.  Halfway through the first lap I got taken out which made it impossible for me to gain any positions.  I ended up last in my 30 laps.  Ian went out to clean up and recover from my mistakes, placing 3rd in his 30 laps, from last place!  This was all done by about 2:00pm.  Little did we know we would be sitting around for 11 hours before we were told we made it into the final main event.

My brother and his friends, Josh Fultz and Ben were in the last heat, heat #4.  They placed 3rd, but after waiting from 10:30am (the driver’s meeting) til 9:00pm to run their heat, they didn’t care to even stay any later, and left as soon as they got off the track.

The main event began after so much confusion with timing issues, losing transponder times, and yelling drivers with 12 final teams at 11:30pm.  We decided it would be best to put me out first since I wasn’t doing as well as my teammates on the track. We figured I’d run the first 30 laps, then they could gain more positions from where I left off. I qualified 11th out of the 12… I really didn’t have much experience to be driving/drifting on such a slick surface.

Low and behold, another organization failure arose and the officials decided there would be no driver changes in the  main event and first driver to go out is the one who would finish the main.  We didn’t find this out until I was already on the track.  Starting 11th,  by the 3rd turn of lap one, I had made my way to 4th place.  But only 2 more turns got me punted off line and in the dirt.. again.  I finished the race 11th, and that was the end of our PKE2010 race night… at 1:00am.

My team and I were bummed that we didn’t know the officials changed the rules, but we made the best of it and were happy to be one of the teams that got to compete in the main event.

It was definately a long day, but also some more seat time that I gained for 2010 :]

Hey guys!

As mentioned in my last post, I wanted to get some more information up about the Performance Karting Expo that is going on this weekend Feb. 5th-7th

What:  Performance Karting Expo 2010
Where: South Point Arena, Las Vegas NV
When: Feb. 5th (races all day, main event 6:30pm)
Why:  Because racing is awesome.
How Much:    $12 for the arena seats and $25 for pit passes
(that is jus for friday.  more info on the other days at the south point website link below).

Click for or more info from South Points Website

Sum up:

This will be an endurance kart race where I am put on a 3 man team.  The track is inside the 80,000 square foot arena, working in conjunction with the World Karting Association. This Indoor Karting Racing League sanctioned mini-enduro will bring indoor karting to a Las Vegas arena for the very first time.

My team consists of myself, Cory Huggins, and Ian (who I haven’t met from Corona, CA) will race a total of 180 laps in gas powered indoor karts while thousands of fans and spectators are watching from the arena seats.
Races start in the afternoon on Friday the karts will be identical brand new gas driven machines and selections will be done by random drawing.
A total of 48 teams will compete in heats Friday afternoon after two practice sessions for the final round of 12 positions.

The main event will be Friday evening starting at 6:30pm and the event will be filled with all the theatrics and energy of a major boxing match with live TV coverage, and trackside announcers.

I am EXTREMELY excited for this event!  A HUGE Thank you to Tom Godfrey of Finish Line Race Gear (www.FinishLineRaceGear.com) who extended the opportunity to me.  Tom has helped me for over 2 years now with my racing career and has still continued to give me more seat time when possible.

If you’d like more information on the event you can check it out the link. www.PKE2010.com

Hope to see some of you there! I really appreciate all of your support!  If you can’t make it to the event, it will be broadcasted live on the Internet by RaceFanRadio and streaming TV.Until next time!

Taking a friend for a ride on the first course of 2010 LVRSCCA autocross!

School is back in session, so I’m sorry for the lack up updates.  Since the NASA event there has been one regional autocross event.  This was on Jan 17th.  2010 has brought a new class to the SCCA called SMF, which is Street Modified Front-Whee-Drive.  I am really looking forward to competing in this class this year, mostly because I won’t be dominated by the 280+ AWD horsepower cars any more! Also, it gives us FWD drivers a chance to really attack each other on the track :]

Eladio Rodriguez from H1 Performance (www.H1Racing.com) will be my main competition in his built civic, and Kam Urquhart as well in his Honda POS civic. :] as well as a supercharged saturn ion that i know of. Unfortunately Eladio couldn’t make it to the first event, causing me to gain some extra points for the season.

We got a total of 11 runs for the full event.  Our region allows for a lot of runs, which can be nice, but I don’t really care for it because I like the challenge of having to be fast in just 3-4 runs.  That is how the SCCA AZ region runs their events.  Even though here in Vegas we get more bang for the buck, I feel like it shorts the good driver’s from their advantage.

After the results were posted, I ended up 2nd place just behind Kam.  Here are the final times for SMF:

Kam Urquhart 88 civic  43.509
Michele Abbate 03 Protege 44.361
Blaine Krasky 88 civic  45.223
Teresa Workman88 civic  46.545
Nick Black 05 Ion  46.683
Kevin Bleuer 09 Cobalt 49.042

Car felt good but I think the tires are what were holding me back.  It’s about time to invest in a new set, especially for track days and Redline Time Attack events.

I have some very exciting news for my NEXT event.  It’s coming up rather quickly.  Super bowl weekend, Friday Febraury 5th I will be competing in the first annual Performance Karting Expo (www.PKE2010.com) here in Las Vegas, at the South Point Casino. This will be an endurance kart race where I am put on a 3 man team.  The track is inside the 80,000 square foot arena, working in conjunction with the World Karting Association. This Indoor Karting Racing League sanctioned mini-enduro will bring indoor karting to a Las Vegas arena for the very first time.

This is the track layout:

PKE2010 Track Layout Feb 5th 2010

My team consists of myself, Cory Huggins, and Ian (who I haven’t met from Corona, CA) will race a total of 180 laps in gas powered indoor karts while thousands of fans and spectators are watching from the arena seats.
Races start in the afternoon on Friday the karts will be identical brand new gas driven machines and selections will be done by random drawing.
A total of 48 teams will compete in heats Friday afternoon after two practice sessions for the final round of 12 positions.
The main event will be Friday evening starting at 6:30pm and the event will be filled with all the theatrics and energy of a major boxing match with live TV coverage, and trackside announcers.
I am EXTREMELY excited for this event!  A HUGE Thank you to Tom Godfrey of Finish Line Race Gear (www.FinishLineRaceGear.com) who extended the opportunity to me.  Tom has helped me for over 2 years now with my racing career and has still continued to give me more seat time when possible.
If you’d like more information on the event you can check it out the link. www.PKE2010.com

Hope to see some of you there! I really appreciate all of your support!  If you can’t make it to the event, it will be broadcasted live on the Internet by RaceFanRadio and streaming TV.Until next time!
-Michele