I attended the “full” Midwest Fest for the first time in 2021, as 2020 meant no festival portion for the event last year. Honestly – I preferred last year. There were so many people at the event that you could barely get your car from paddock to grid and back, as tons and tons of people were crawling around all over the place.

The event itself was a little odd. Day 1 conditions were strangely loose – my car was sliding all over the place, and very difficult to deal with. Yet, for most people, day 1 conditions and times were the fastest of the weekend – including myself. I wish I had had some better, cleaner laps during the daytime sessions that day, but grid order and traffic meant I didn’t get a clean chance. The rest of the weekend was difficult to set times down, as the track conditions and especially my tires deteriorated rapidly. The outside edges on the left front and rear began delaminating, showing cords.

The tally looks like 3 sessions on day 1, 4 on day 2, and 2 on day 3, for a total of 9 sessions, plus the 7 I had at Heartland, and a few autocross runs. That is not a lot of runs, and extremely disappointing in terms of longevity for these tires. As the deterioration is so severe on these, I should really begin limiting my hot laps on them in the future.

Given a number of big life changes coming up, this may be the last track day I have in the future. I’ve got a few more things in store for the Evo to come, but the priority on them has decreased considerably.

Set Up (Evo):

• Ohlins DFV (Custom valved); Shocks 5/7
• OEM FSB 4/5; WL 26mm RSB: Medium
• RE-ACD: Gravel; ATS 1-way CH Front Differential; ATS 1.5-way CH Rear Differential
• Camber at -3.5, -2.5 rear, 0 Toe F/R
• Brakes F: Girodisc 2-pc & ST41s Brakes R: Girodisc 2-pc & ST43s
• CE28N 18×9.5; 255/35-18 Falken RT660
• 35psi

Notes (Evo):

• 2021 Evo: 18 autox runs, 25 track sessions (7/16 on Falkens, new tires needed)

2021 Event Count: 2 Autox, 5 Track Days