As you work your way up the HPDE ladder with NASA, your lap times aren’t really that important. What is important is learning new tracks, recognizing flagger stands, and knowing what to do with your hands. However, as you progress through HPDE4 into Time Trial, then lap times actually do matter. And to get a lap time with NASA, you need to have a transponder and that transponder has to be mounted somewhere on your car.
For Time Trial, where you mount a transponder on your car doesn’t matter much, as long as the signal can get from the device down to the track surface where the sensors are at the start/finish line. In road racing, you want to mount the transponder as far forward on the front of the car as safely possible. I once lost a podium position, which my eyes told me I won, by.001 seconds. This occurred because my transponder was mounted rear of my radiator when my competitor had his mounted just behind his front bumper. As we both crossed the line “bumper to bumper” with me thinking I was ahead his transponder signaled first and I lost. “Excuses, excuses,” I know.
For Time Trial, it could be argued that the rear of the car is the most advantageous place to mount a transponder because you are trying to capture your fastest single lap on track during a session. That generally is later in the session where tires are nice and warm, you have dialed in the course and you aren’t accelerating for the first time down the straight from a lower speed. Based on that you want to be moving as fast as possible before the transponder registers at the start/finish line which means the rear of the car is the better location. Sure, I may be splitting hairs here but remember, Time Trial is a game of milliseconds and every millisecond counts.
Once you have decided where you want to mount your transponder, front or rear, next you have to find a way to do it. The most common thing I see at a lot of NASA events is a simple zip tie on a tow hook. I don’t recommend this because when the tow truck comes, they are going to connect to your tow hook, which could damage a costly transponder. Instead, I recommend using the transponder mount AMB designed to hold the device in place. And, for simplicity’s sake, I came up with a super easy and inexpensive way to mount it to your Time Trial car.
Since every street car already has two holes drilled into the rear of the car for a license plate, why not use those available holes to mount a transponder? This is a very easy solution to the, “How and where do I mount this thing?” question. I grabbed a four-hole license plate frame from a local auto parts store, an AMB transponder mount from I/O Port Racing Supplies and some small nuts and bolts from my local hardware store. That was everything I needed to build my own portable and removable transponder mount.
After I had all my parts, not including the transponder, this entire project was going to set me back less than $40. I took the time to mark on the license plate frame where I wanted to bolt on the transponder mount after mocking things up on the back of the car. I made sure there wouldn’t be any issues with my rear tow hook location or the exhaust and that the transponder signal would have a clear shot to the track surface to ensure all of my laps counted. Once I had all of that dialed in it was time to start drilling.
I initially was a bit impatient with my handy cordless drill and thought I could quickly blast two small holes into the license plate frame. But when the drill bit kept walking all over the license plate frame, scratching the finish and not penetrating the metal, I remembered it pays to use a punch to indent the metal before drilling. I chose to drill one hole first, bolt on the AMB transponder mount and then drill the second hole to ensure everything lined up like it should. This is just DIY projects 101.
Once the first hole was successfully drilled, I used a short bolt and a nylon lock nut to affix the AMB transponder mount to the license plate frame. Then I drilled the second hole and used the other bolt and nut to permanently attach the mount to the frame. Once the transponder is charged for the weekend, I just pop it into the mount. When I arrive at the track, I use a screwdriver to replace my license plate with my homemade transponder mount. It takes me about 40 seconds to do it.
With this easy-to-use transponder mount I can spend less time worrying about where my transponder should be mounted and more of my time focusing on faster laps around my favorite track. The transponder signal allows me to compete against my friends among the different NASA Time Trial classes to see who is the quickest regionally and, if I’m feeling speedy, eventually nationally.
Rob Krider is a four-time NASA Honda Challenge 4 National Champion, the author of the novel, “Cadet Blues,” and is the host of the “Stories and Cocktails” podcast.
