One Lap Of America 2018

I wasn’t planning on posting any updates until we got to South Bend and the event was underway but in true One Lap fashion – we managed to have to modify the car without even touching a tire to track yet. Shortly after it started to rain we went to pass some trucks and at wide open throttle noticed the RPMs “flutter” like it was topping out but at a low RPM far from redline. Deciding the rain was the only factor that had changed in the last 30 minutes I suddenly realized the air intake must be sucking in water and causing the car to act irregularly when on the gas. We tested the hypo when we stopped at NAPA and purchased a filter to convert the cold air intake to a short ram instead. We were correct and barely lost any time after a quick switcharoo in the parking lot. The larger tires had eaten away at the fender liner and pushed more water directly into the old air filter. The rest of the trip was smooth and I’ve never been so happy to just make it to the starting line after thinking it was something far worse and we might have to turn around and find another car to run this year. #oloa2018

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 3, 2018 at 9:04pm PDT

I’m not the only Honda this year and I can’t even answer “the Civic” when people ask which car I’m in because we’re lucky enough to have a Type R and an S2000 this year (as well as an NSX). Slapped on the stickers and took Howard’s famous maple syrup and bourbon shot with @travispastrana to officially non-officially welcome him to the week of irresistible madness we call One Lap.

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 4, 2018 at 9:13pm PDT

first event of #oloa2018: wet skidpad 💧💦#onelapofamerica #tirerack @officialoloa

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 5, 2018 at 9:21pm PDT

enjoying a Golf sandwich at the country club. The car handled amazingly and we qualified in great position for the rest of the event. Onto the Gateway Roval in Missouri tomorrow!

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 5, 2018 at 9:31pm PDT

best way to learn a roval? start a scooter gang and race your friends.

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 6, 2018 at 3:25pm PDT

thumbs up to the NASCAR / Indycar Roval w/ @travispastrana

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 6, 2018 at 3:37pm PDT

when your co-driver suffers a harsh attack from a pack of rabid tires in your car….you tell him to fix it. Seth got his Ricky Bobby on and came into turn 1 just a littleeee too quick and clipped the tirewall. besides the obvious aerodynamic modifications we fixed mostly everything but the AC condenser which we will repair for the 2nd time on this trip tomorrow. I went back out for the second session and held the exact same position as yesterday and then managed to win my first drag race afterwards. no AC means windows down to Tulsa and onwards and upwards we go!

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 6, 2018 at 4:00pm PDT

St. Louis -> Tulsa #onelapofamerica #oloa2018 @officialoloa #tirerack

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 6, 2018 at 5:53pm PDT

tailgating in tulsa post transit

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 7, 2018 at 5:16pm PDT

fixed the AC and got back out on track to an awesome session in Oklahoma today. The Yokohama team stickerbombed our newly reshaped hood but the last laugh was on them as they didn’t realize the sticker gave me the one extra horsepower I needed to edge Travis by less then a second in the afternoon session. Colorado here we come! ⚠️: One 🕊 may have been harmed during the creation of this post.

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 7, 2018 at 5:48pm PDT

…and suddenly a wild NSX appeared

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 7, 2018 at 6:28pm PDT

Finally struck back in the sticker war today and plastered Beavers to all deserving and unsuspecting racers. Had an awesome time at one of my new favorite tracks today, tried left food braking on pavement for the first time (instead of dirt) and went partially airborne on two wheels through the curbs – hope the photographer caught it! Finally feels like a true One Lap on this 11 hour drive to Cresson where we will be only 3 hours from home before we continue to head east and come back to Texas later this week again. 🚙💨

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 8, 2018 at 6:25pm PDT

Colorado -> Texas #oloa218

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 8, 2018 at 6:57pm PDT

Good to be back home in Texas! (even if only temporarily) we were so eager/excited/wired after the 11 hour drive yesterday we woke up before our alarms and headed to the track on less than 3 hours of sleep to get our 🛴 on. It paid off as we had our best three overall finishes today back to back to back. Afterwards, we celebrated with tacos at the brand new Toyota HQ in Plano. Its finally catching up with me and i’m going to attempt to take my first nap of the trip. NOLA bound!

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 9, 2018 at 3:02pm PDT

DFW -> NOLA #onelapofamerica

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 9, 2018 at 3:08pm PDT

hangin’ with a bunch of legendary lap dogs and a lap puppy. #onelapofamerica #oloa2018

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 10, 2018 at 6:13pm PDT

the naps are becoming more frequent as we near the end of the journey – managed to get 3 of them today. it was a solid day in NOLA – Seth and I finished one place away from each other in overall standings for the AM and PM sessions. Checked my lap times from a month ago when we were here on old tires and we dropped 8 seconds per lap on the new wheels/tires – all the testing and prep paid off! Onto Kentucky for the last track of the event tomorrow before we wrap up back in South Bend on Saturday.

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 10, 2018 at 6:30pm PDT

almost to the finish line! the National Corvette Museum track is a blast – everything from high speed straights to super tight roller coaster elevation dropping and rising corners. I think we must have drove the car just about to its limits this week as the brakes finally started to fade on my last lap and I started jumping curbs and drifting sweepers to adjust. Luckily it’s just the “dry” skidpad tomorrow and then we’re on our way home. Super happy with how well the car felt this year – we should finish mid pack this year instead of the rear. Back to South Bend to complete the One Lap!

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 11, 2018 at 1:41pm PDT

@bilkofmx and @travispastrana are going to get to the maple syrup shots before us. back to the starting line to finish this thing! 🏁 #oloa2018

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 11, 2018 at 2:48pm PDT

12 days. 19 events through 13 states…..over 6000 miles powered by fast food and minimal sleep. #oloa2018 is in the books! We fought hard to bounce back from our missed session at Gateway when the car hit the wall but fell just short of enough points to take 1st in class. In this event, even making it to the finish line is an accomplishment – especially after a crash! We’re more than happy to not only get 2nd in class but improve from 60th overall last year to 42nd (of 71) overall this year – that might not sound impressive but when you have a little 200HP Civic facing both highly skilled and professional drivers in race cars with 2x, 3x and almost 4x the horsepower – it’s a very respectable result. This is what makes One Lap so special! It’s all about the awesome people you meet – drivers of all skill levels and backgrounds from the weekend autocrosser to the paid professional driver. There’s not many events that I know of where you can show up and put yourself to the test against the pros. The challenge and the determination to fight off poor diet and fatigue to reach the finish line – no matter what you are driving, no matter what your skill level is. Showing up to a racetrack you’ve never seen in real life and driving it as fast as you possibly can with only one warm up lap is an addictive challenge for any driver. Today we ran the skidpad, watched everyone destroy their tires, replaced what was left of our brakepads, ate lunch, got our trophy and hit the road! Back to Texas for now but already excited for next year to see if we can dig even deeper.

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 12, 2018 at 6:50pm PDT

siiiiiickkkk rolling shot taken by @panda_exprs on the way to NOLA. gunna miss prowling the highways looking for one lap cars to shoot 📷

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 12, 2018 at 7:25pm PDT

a sample of our diet on #oloa2018

A post shared by Brian DeFrees (@defrees) on May 12, 2018 at 7:41pm PDT