Hi Les:

First, what's IAT and why is that important? I don't know so I'm going to ask.

Secondly, road racers will have to upgrade to bigger and better brakes. As you know, we put the Stoptech on the front (no spacers with road racing, so you'll have to cautiously file down the outside of the calipers) and we are using the Carbotechs brake pads. This is an awesome setup. To get ready for the season, my racing mechanic looked at my Carbotech pads. I did go through a set this past year, but they lasted me all year. This year, he put Carbotech in front and also in the back. We have metal brake lines on and are using Motol 600. I NEVER smell my brakes, just everyone elses. The first thing I do when I'm done racing is to check for smelly brakes and check my tire pressures coming off the track. To get the best stick with the sport cups, I want my hot temps to be between 30-32. So, I start around 25-26 PSI; no more unless it is really cold out. So yes, let the air out of your back tires and you'll find great stick and better control. Sorry to say, but Rotex are probably good street brakes with little dust, but won't make it at the track, especially serious hard road racing.

Third: I'm having issues with the rear wheel bearings. The right have been replaced, and the left will be replaced tomorrow. So, 3 years on these bearings, as I understand it, is pretty good. You'll notice vibration/grinding noise when you turn to the affected side which will go away when you straighten the wheel. So keep this in mind when you are running hard and start to hear noise and feel unusul vibrations. I now think I'll have my bearings removed, checked and cleaned every year before racing season. I'm getting a little tired of these problems that start to creep up during the race day that ruin my seat time. I will get better at asking my mechanics to look at certain things before race day.

Now, I'm thinking about a Euro tune. What will this do to the car in regards to temp and work on the engine? Or will the tune just make the car do what it was originally intended to do as an AMG Mercedes which is go fast.

I was at Nashville this past weeekend. This was my first oval track with an infield course. The transitions on and off this track are not easy. In fact, one of my big magnet numbers fell off because of the hard jolt in the transition area. In the straightaway, my speeds were high, about 125, but I wasn't flooring it at all, so I know I had lots more in the car. The problem is that I'm going to have to slow down for turn one, so why push that hard.
This is a pretty fun course and a good course to start out on.

Hope this helps.

Jane