There’s something surreal about racing against your past self, especially when the ghost you’re chasing isn’t just a lap time, but a version of you that was younger, rougher around the edges, and driving a car that still had something to give. That’s exactly where I found myself at NOLA Motorsports Park, staring down old data from a fast 2020 lap and wondering why, in 2025, I couldn’t get within a few seconds of it.
Same driver, same car, but the deeper I dove into the data, the clearer it became: the car hadn’t aged gracefully, and neither had its ability to hold together when pushed. Forcing me to once again face a crossroads in my racing journey.
The State of the #901 944 Spec
If you have followed the blog thus far in the 2025 season you know that I am effectively chasing my tail in 944 Spec and I am beyond the point of frustration. I have realigned and corner balanced the car 3 times (it was never far out of spec). Replaced the front and rear struts as well as re-greased all bushings. The engine appears to make power with good compression test results but it does stumble intermittently.
My initial driving impression, aside from the fact that the car ‘feels off’, is that I am working a lot harder to rotate the chassis than I used to. Especially mid corner. Which is why this weekend at NOLA Motorsports Park was such an eye opener. I have years of data to compare, hundreds of laps, track records, and a conclusion that the #901 944 Spec is no longer competitive. First, let’s look at the ghost.
Chasing My Ghost
In this video, I overlaid my 2.04 lap from race 3 in 2020 with my fastest lap from the most recent event. A 2.10s crawl. A difference of 5 plus seconds with the same car, same driver, and similar conditions is concerning. As you can see below, I appear to be working the car a lot harder than I had to in the past. And this is particularly evident in mid corner transitions. Indicating a chassis issue. Furthermore the car does not return to power like it used to, a sign of power loss.
Digging Deeper with Data
The video is hard for me to watch because no matter what adjustments I make the car struggles to break 2.10’s. Combine that with the knowledge that my driving is better than it has ever been and its a recipe for extreme frustration.
Luckily, I am running the same AIM Solo data acquisition device in both videos. And although I didn’t immediately find the 2.04 data, I knew I had to have it somewhere. When I found it on my old laptop, I let out a noticeable, f*** yeah. Now I could overlay this disaster and get even more insight into what the hell is going on.
Speed Trace
First up is the speed trace and a few things jump out immediately, including the fact that I am losing time everywhere.
Peak power isn’t drastically lower, evidenced by my ability to peak at 110 mph on the straight. However, power delivery builds faster in the blue trace. In the pink trace, I am also spending more time mid corner at a slower speed. This confirms my feeling that the car is not taking a set and lacks mechanical grip. It also explains why I am working harder mid turn yet going slower.
Lateral G
Next I am looking at lateral g’s. The speed trace shows degraded performance across the entire lap and looking at lat g will give additional insight.
The lateral G trace shows that while I’m still achieving similar peak grip levels to my 2020 baseline, the current chassis can’t sustain those forces as consistently or cleanly. The 2025 data is noticeably more erratic, with shorter plateaus at peak G and increased oscillation mid-corner. Clear signs that the car is harder to trust and more sensitive to load changes. This instability confirms a decline in mechanical grip.
In short, I’m still pushing the car to its limits, but it’s no longer holding cornering loads with the same confidence or predictability.
But cornering grip is only half the story. What about how the car actually rotates mid-corner?
Going Deeper with Yaw Rate
Now it’s time to get more technical. One of the most telling pieces of data came from the yaw rate trace, which measures how quickly the car rotates as it corners. In theory, if the car still hits similar peak yaw rates, it should be rotating just as well as it did when it was fast. And that’s exactly what I see on peak. Nearly identical peak yaw rates.
However, there’s a catch: the 2025 car (pink) doesn’t hold that rotation consistently. The yaw rate trace is noisy and unstable, showing quick spikes and dips mid-corner, indicating a car that’s simply not settled. In contrast, the 2020 lap (blue) produced smoother, longer-duration rotation, where the car turned in, stayed loaded, and held its attitude through the corner with confidence.
Roll Rate Trace
I might as well look at everything at this point and roll rate is how the car moves side to side.
At first glance, the roll rate trace looked surprisingly similar between the 2020 and 2025 laps, but with subtle differences. While some of the reduction in roll activity could be attributed to slightly slower corner speeds in 2025, that doesn’t fully explain the difference. The 2020 trace shows sharper and higher roll rate peaks. The 2025 car, by contrast, shows slower, more muted transitions, indicating that the 2020 car reacted more crisply and settled into the turn quicker. The lower and flatter peaks of the 2025 trace (pink), indicate the car takes longer to roll into the corner and isn’t as responsive to inputs. It just reacts more slowly, which explains why it felt vague and delayed in transitions.
Pitch Rate Trace
I think it is safe to say that the data indicates that the car does not drive like it used to. And soon we need to discuss solutions. But first, lets look at the pitch trace as the final piece.
The pitch rate trace tracks how the car tips forward under braking and backward under throttle and it revealed some of the most subtle but important difference, showing a clear shift in behavior between the 2020 and 2025 laps. In the 2025 trace (pink), the car exhibited larger and more abrupt spikes, especially in braking zones and corner exits. That means the car is diving harder under braking and squatting more aggressively on throttle, compared to the 2020 trace (blue) which pitched more smoothly and predictably.
Not only does it pitch more abruptly now but it also shows more noise and jitter throughout each phase. That suggests that the car isn’t just diving or squatting harder, it’s constantly adjusting and reacting underneath me. Or never fully settling.
Addressing the Issue(s)
Now that I can quantify the fact that the car does not drive like it used to, what next? And that is where I am running into a crossroads of sorts. From day one returning to 944 Spec I knew the car was off and I have been working diligently to get it where it needs to be. I have replaced the struts, realigned, and balanced the car. (Multiple Times) I have checked every bushing, joint, and everything that moves.
I know that there is a slight power issue but if I can’t fix the handling issue, I’m definitely not throwing money that way. And that is why I am left with a conclusion that is a bit difficult to deal with at the moment.
The 944 Spec Chassis is Tired
I have 8 seasons on this car and it was a track day car before that. And racecar chassis do have an expiration date. The fact that I have swapped suspension components, verified alignment, and corner balance, and I am still fighting the car every step of the way is a tell tale sign that the chassis is fatigued and flexing under load. The data and my feel support that.
And that’s a problem. I simply don’t have the resources to start from the ground up and rebuild the 944 Spec. There are a couple issues at play.
Issues to Continue in 944 Spec
First, I no longer live on a nice, flat, open 4 acre piece of land where I can work on multiple cars and store spare chassis. In fact, to successfully campaign at the front of 944 Spec, you need at least 2 944’s. One to race and one to pull parts from to keep the racecar going.
I now live on 7 acres of wooded, mountain terrain. Cry me a river, right? But the thought of multiple chassis around here is not an option.
Second, Porsche 944 cars and parts are becoming increasingly expensive and more difficult to find. I simply don’t want to spend my time and energy tracking down overpriced parts. Hell, I wanted to try a new DME at NOLA and spent three weeks looking for one within 300 miles of me for less than $1000 and gave up. The easier solution is to buy a non running parts car which again, see issue one.
And third, I outgrew the series years ago and returned to race with my friends when the series began to come back. Unfortunately, I am not having fun. I am too competitive to run at the back. And the car needing a 10k refresh to make a run at a national title is not that appealing to me anymore. Especially considering the other equipment I have to focus on. (The 944 is taking away from my forward movement in other series.)
Solutions
I have three paths I can take and a bit of soul searching to do.
- Continue as is, driving my ass off and running mid pack. And feeling disappointed every time I set out on the track.
- Go all in on 944 Spec and build/rebuild a national level car. Knowing full well the series could go away again just as fast as it came back.
- Move one to a faster and more capable platform. Continuing to build along the way.
I already know which way I am leaning but I am going to sit with my decision a while.
What Comes Next?
There’s something bittersweet about reaching the end of a chapter, not because you’ve failed, but because you’ve changed. The car didn’t quit in a blaze of glory or explode in a last-lap crash. It just … aged … quietly. And now I’m left deciding whether to invest in rebuilding a legacy or pivot toward something new. The data gave me closure, but it also raised a bigger question: do I want to spend my energy chasing ghosts, or building what’s next?
