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1987 Grand National
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A Lap Around Willow Springs
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Turn 1: This corner is a fast corner that has good banking and a wider exit than most think. Coming into this corner you want to brake and downshift one gear down from the top gear. You want to Trail Brake this corner so the car stays set up through the corner and you are not pogoing around the corner. The turn in point for this turn is the last white reflector on the right. You want to have the right tires almost on the white line so you get a nice big fast arc through the corner. The apex is located where the reflectors on the inside of the track start. You will see them down on the left at the geometric center of the corner. You don't want to coast through this turn, go ahead and get back in the gas after you're done braking. This will get the car into a nice four-wheel drift coming off into the exit. The exit is a blind exit, in that you cannot see the edge of the track from the apex. Upon exiting, track the car left to set up for Two. Fourth Gear

Turn 2: The big sweeper. Enter this corner about 2/3 of the out from the right hand side. It will take some practice, but ultimately you want to put one steering input into the wheel and hold it. This will give you a nice smooth and balanced line around this sweeper. The apex for this corner is almost at the end of the Red/White curb (candy stripe). There is an orange circle here as well. If the orange circle is not there then look at where the paint on the curb has been worn down by other racers. When you can see the apex start feeding in some fuel to the car to power out of the corner. Let the car drift left, using the whole track and put the power down going into Three. Track the car to the right, all the way to the white line to get a nice big arc into three. Fourth Gear

Turn 3: Brake hard in a straight line and downshift. The turn in here is very late; it feels almost like you are going to drive straight off. This corner is 100º that is slightly banked into off camber. You want to apex the car late, again, almost at the end of the candy stripe. Now look up the hill and aim the nose of the car at the B in "Budweiser" up on the building. Take the car straight up the hill so that the right side tires are just touching the candy stripe on the right. This is the first apex going into Four. You want to be very careful exiting Turn Three. It can be deceiving when to put the power down. As you are apexing the car at the end of the candy stripe in Three, you will feel the G-Forces pushing your body to the right. When you feel the G-Forces relaxing on you that is the time to put the power down. If you put the power down while the car is still loaded to the right the car may spin around on you. During the apex and the exit the weight of the car is on the right rear tire and if you ask that tire to accelerate and hold the car through the turn it will break loose. Wait till you get maximum traction with both rears, and then put the power down. Third Gear

Turn 4: After hitting first apex (which was the candy stripe on the right after Three) you want to take the car up to the top of the track, Track Left, and then snap the car around to the right apexing at the Green Flag Station to the right. You will see where the pavement is broken to the rightside of the track, this is the apex. As soon as you have the car turned and going straight put the power down and let the car track out to the left, almost to the edge of the track. Third Gear

Short Chute to Turn 5 and 6: Bring the car back to the right so that you are almost touching the candy stripe curb to the right. Start your braking here and get all you braking done in a straight line. It is key to get the braking done in a straight line since you are going down hill and there is little traction in the rear tires. Then start to feed in a little power and look for the late apex at Five. The apex in Five is the divot in the curb on the left. Instead of letting the car track out to the right, hold the turn a little longer (about 10 feet past the apex) then turn the car right. (Fourth Gear) This way you are going over the Hill at Turn 6 in a straight line. You want to crest this hill (or any hill for that matter) in a straight line so that you can be at full power going over the hill and not lifting. The car will land settled and ready to go.

Turn 7: Keep the car Track Left as you go through here. Fifth Gear

Turn 8: Depending upon your horsepower, you can either take this corner flat out or if you have a lot of horsepower you will want to lift just a bit through here. The key through 8 is to straighten out this turn as much as you can. When you leave Turn 7 you want the car Track Left, then in a nice big, smooth arc bring the car Track Right to the apex of 8 and then shoot straight for the left edge of the track going into 9.

Turn 9: When you are leaving 8 you want to find your mark for the braking zone into 9. If you look off into the distance you will see a row of telephone poles going North and South. There is also a row of poles ngoing East and West (parallel to Rosamond Blvd.). Aim the car for the first pole to the right of the North/South poles. As you get closer to the entrance of 9 you will see four little white reflectors on the white stripe on the track. That is the turn in. Here you want to Trail Brake the car and down shift. The reason for the trail brake here is because most of the cars out there have a "Push" or "Understeer" set up in them. You need to get some weight on the front of the car so it will turn in. Don't go to the edge of the track as you turn in here, go about ¾ Track Left so you have some room to catch the car if need be. Look for the apex all through this Turn (DO NOT look left!). The apex is a blind apex in that you cannot easily see it from the entrance of the Turn. In Turn 9 there is a slight dip in the pavement and a divot in the candy stripe, that is the apex. As soon as you see the apex start feeding in the gas and go! Let the car Track Left and mash the gas. Take the Checkered Flag! Fourth Gear through the corner Fifth Gear just after the exit.