So your doing your first NJMP 2 hr race… things to know….
A pal is doing his first NJMP 2 hr and asked for some pointers. Thought it might be generally useful for a broader audience as well. Feel free to add on.
To begin with,IIf you want to win you will need to run a team of 2. There will be only 1 required stop, the 1 hr mark. Any additional time for driver swaps is lost time. 3 or more, odds are you will not win. Given that there’s significant cash on the table, that’s to be expected.
Yeehaw! Find a fast pal and push them around a bit.
NJMP does not allow you to solo. You must have a team of 2. Be aware that the driving time is NOT equal. The clock is running during the fuel stop so the 2nd driver will drive only about 40 minutes. So, work out a rotating system with your drive buddy so no one gets screwed on seat time, over multiple races. Or see NJMP Malicious Compliance hack below.
Hack: Buy 2 team Berths with a pal. Create two teams and drive both heats, just on two different teams, swapping kart seats at refuel. Now you get to do the whole race. NJMP is fine with this.
A bit about starts…. You start single file from pits and are racing the moment you cross onto track. Don’t dawdle.
Here’s what a lap looks like, generally. No defense here, obviously. Note placement of the kart on approach to the complexes etc in context of the description below.
What else: it’s really only 3 turn complexes… t1, 2-3, and 5. When in doubt, late apex. Noob mistake is turning in too early at 2 and then getting stuck in a weak position to exit 3. This kills your speed to 5. Late apex the ever loving bejusus out of 2 to set up for 3, imho. See my footage for line.
5: this is a banked corner that’s surprisingly not receptive to lateral loading since it’s also crowned. Or something. In any case the fast line here also leaves your belly completely exposed to someone going under.
@nikspeeds gets his moneys worth
So, if you are being pursued you will need to approach 5 more mid track so as to let the racer behind you know that you aren’t gonna make it easy. You will have to decelerate a bit harder, especially as you get narrower on approach.
In contrast, if not in danger of being passed, you are gonna approach 5 as far to the right as you can, hold the entry up higher and later then when defending, turning in on a wider, gentler arc that requires less braking…… longer arc but faster. Again, see footage. I’ll post links.
If you are lucky you will get an opponent or two with a similar kart and skill. When this happens, you can go back and forth for hours.
1: probably the big kahuna of these turns. It’s a fast corner, at the end of the S/F straight. It also has an unusual little bend right before the turn,that messes with your perception of the approach.
The turn requires you to do a direction change at the end of straight to access the braking zone. This is flat. You do not lift, you just turn at full tilt. Be reasonably gentle since you are hauling butt, prolly 45+. In draft maybe 50.
The approach is as wide again as you can make it. Hug track left edge. The asphalt gets a bit wonky as you get to the direction change, a little gravelly on the surface, on the outside edges of the track.
Here I work with a guy and we get through a pack. He makes a hole for me as I give him extra juice. Alas, the train jumps the track a bit and he falls victim while I drive on. That’s sort of the point of being behind a guy… if you ride their butt they will eventually make a mistake or get caught up in someone else’s problem. Profit!
You are gonna now hug the right edge, since you navigated the turn from straight onto braking area if t1. To your kart right is the red and white kerbing. The very end of this is your braking zone. You’ll notice the dirt is ground up around it towards the end. Initially you will brake too early. Push it deeper, towards end of the red/white kerbing, holding right side…… then turn for the apex. The hard part is the entry, the rest I’ll let you experience first.
South Jersey is coastal and features sandy soil. It gets swampy when wet and drains slowly
T1 and T3 apexes collect water. The water creates mud which gets splashed on the racing surface. Zoiks! Apologies to the guy I punted trying to make up lost ground.
Common newbie mistake is to let the track fool you into taking 1 too much from the middle track since the track tricked you with the zig on entry. Hold left edge down straight to give you a nice wide fast arc to sweep across to the right edge of t1 braking zone.
Also, finally, 2 approach. The fast line is hold right edge of track to the very late apex. This totally opens up the inside. Again, defense will require you to play with your approach to 2. Get comfy doing 2 entry from all the way narrow to super wide, delayed long arc turn down to a very late apex. You’ll see how the kerb is all bare dirt around the late apex mark. Narrow defensive entries will require you to late brake harder to hold the inside line without bleeding off into the kart you are fighting with.
Bring friends and field a bunch of teams
Track wise it’s only a few turns and you’ll get the hang of it quick, though it will take some time to master. The surface can be dramatic. There are areas that collect water and therefore leave mud and water on the surface that you come to know. The way the kart grips in 5 under changing conditions, etc, all that tactical knowledge comes from seat time out there racing.
Administratively the race is a cakewalk in that there is one mandatory refuel. There’s really no strategy other than nose down, pound laps.
Here’s a full heat. I believe I was a few laps up on 2 by end of heat when we pitted for refuel. A good day. It really depends on kart draw, though.
This is the polar opposite of @nikspeeds exciting race. Here, me and @nikspeeds are up against @RandallC and Richard. They did the two teams approach and ultimately won. Despite my managing to get a few laps up, when Randall got the wheel of the better kart in the final heat, he was able to make up the deficit and pip us by 1/2 a lap! This heat, however, is kind of dull since I lead. This is recent footage but I have races going back years on my channnel @dominiquecallan148 on YouTube.
The races are 2x a month alternating sat night and Sunday in the am. Here’s a night heat.
Speaking of which…… it’s an endurance race. Fighting is slow as heck. Avoid this. Learn to push other guys along if it make sense to do so. 2 karts working together are faster than 1, and the trailing kart can follow through the slower traffic. Worry about winning the race towards the end. Worry about being fast for the first 3/4 and simply just try to keep rolling unimpeded.
If the Kart you are pushing gets fighty, things can go sideways. Not everyone understands/is open to being pushed into corners. In this case I’m giving a guy who did me a bit dirty enough rope to hang himself. If someone doesn’t want to let you past, taking them to a deeper braking point than they are used to can result in mistakes like this. It’s a fine line because you don’t want to force the error… you just want to create the conditions where it’s likely.
In the case below, an innocent is punted unintentionally. I was giving him speed and he did a thing I did not expect and off he went. Same fella different circumstances.
Push if necessary. This doesn’t mean dump the guys ahead. This means don’t waste time fighting the fast drivers when you could be harnessing their speed to your advantage… wether that’s following in their wake or pushing a guy that’s only a bit slower than you along so as to get more and more distance on the other guys.
Anyhow, these are my brief thoughts. Others feel free to add.