This last weekend saw the final round of the Redline Time Attack at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., and with just 21 points separating our GT-R from the 2^nd place Takata Time Attack/LIC Motorsports STI with over 40 points up for grabs in this final race, it was still anyone’s ball game!

A lot of work and new parts development went into the car for final weekend of Redline Time Attack at Auto Club Speedway, all in anticipation for an attempt at the GT-R’s first Super Modified Class overall track record. The COBB crew has not been satisfied with just taking Modified class track records at every event the GT-R has finished, we all wanted to get an overall track record. This would be the second attempt at the Auto Club track record, the first attempt was foiled by poor track and weather conditions, and a malfunctioning AWD system. Unfortunately the second attempt fell just short.

Due to driving the GT-R hard in the rain the event before, where excessive load was applied to the AWD clutches, they were not gripping like they should have been this weekend causing the car to behave mostly RWD just like the first Auto Club Speedway event. Our transmission clutch packs were also in need of replacement and were on their way out all weekend, keeping our testing time down to a minimum. Major splitter problems were also hindering the team, but the amazing “team of the year” COBB crew worked tirelessly, rebuilding the splitter multiple times over the weekend due to contact with the ground through the high g loading of the oval.

On race day, we put all this behind us and went for it. First up was the Modified Class Record Assault. The Fontana Nissan GT-R had also obviously under gone some changes since we last saw it, as it was hot on our heels and challenging us for first place. Mike Cronin Jr. broke our previous track record by a few tenths in his GT-R, but luckily we broke it by more! We turned a 1:40.3 to beat our previous record by almost 3-seconds. We were extremely excited as we were only able to muster a 1:41 and change the day before in testing on our used up slicks. We then came in, tried to cool the car down as much as possible, bolted on the sticky Yokohama A005 slicks, and went out for the Super Modified Record Assault. We backed up our fastest mod time with our fastest ever super mod time of a 1:37.5, over a second faster than we have ever gone. It wasn’t all that we wanted; we had hoped to be in the 36’s. But with an ailing car, we’ll take it!

The drop in laptime was mostly attributed to our master tuner Tim Bailey. I told him Sunday morning, “Give me all you got!” He loaded up a map that ran more boost than we have run before, and the car performed flawlessly for back to back Record Assault sessions. It’s really been this kind of expertise that all the COBB crew has shown behind the scenes, that has allowed me to perform like I have on track. Dustin Harris, my car chief, gave me so much confidence going out on track every session. And with Eric Bizek, his right hand man, there was nothing those two could not fix throughout the year. The GT-R is a beast of a car, and it was tamed by the COBB crew.

With another track record, a season championship, and a surprise “Team of the Year” award going to COBB Tuning Motorsports, I am filled with pride, and also a little sadness that the season is over. The season brought all the COBB shops together all over the country, to achieve greatness this year, and it will be a season to remember for years to come.