Click me for more photos

GOLD $1,000

SILVER $500

BRONZE $100

Memberships are still available for Silver and Bronze.

Put your “Economic Stimulus Check” to good use, become a Friends and Family member today!

#  

                                                       Click here to contact us

FIRST RACE IN THE BOOKS

 

May 10, 2008    Murphy's Law was in full effect this past Friday as the Chief Motorsports Team came home with a 10th place finish and a lot of work to do.

 

There were several late-night thrashes to finish the car yet again before the first race. A new alternator was installed after fabricating several  brackets.  The routine maintenance for this car is darn near a full time job!  I have never seen so many loose nuts and bolts on a race car. On Friday I changed a blown header gasket and we loaded the car for the ride to the track.  It was an ugly day and I wasn't even sure we would be racing. But by the time we arrived, the sun was out and it started to warm up.

 

The first practice session revealed another leak somewhere in the firewall/floor pan as I was again covered in track debris.  D. W. made a few chassis adjustments and we went out for the next round of practice. The car was not “turning in” like I wanted and it seemed to lack power.

Tim arrived and after much discussion we found the ignition timing was wrong and we corrected it. We also made another front end adjustment and missed the last practice session. 

 

It was on to qualifying. This was the first time it counted on the big 1/2 mile oval.  Our best time was 21.486 which put us 9th out of 12 cars.

 

We started 2nd row inside for the heat race and the car in front of me was very slow so I let everyone else go on by at the start. I then tried to catch up and follow the fast cars to see the line they took through the corners, etc.  As I was about the make a pass in turn one ( I was actually going to pass a car!) I felt the back end slide. I let off the gas and the car swung violently the other way. I tried to steer into the skid which brought the car around the other way.  It must have looked like the tail wagging the dog out there. I finally realized something was wrong and pulled off the track.  In the pits it was apparent that the left axle had pulled out of the bearing which holds it in the rear end. . How it didn’t come completely out I’ll never know.

 

Tim removed the bearing and axle and then re-installed them, placing a weld on the bearing to the axle.  We were back in business just in time for the feature. 

 

We were placed on the outside front row which would normally thrill me but the way our luck was running It could wipe out the whole field behind us.  But we are racing with the “Big Boys” now so it was time to get down to business.

 

As the green flag dropped, the car just didn’t seem to accelerate and the starter waved us off. On the second try we got the green and going into turn one I had the lead.  As I entered turn three, the inside mirror came loose and dropped down so I could not see anyone inside me. I was credited with leading the first lap and then I had to let everyone go by because I had no idea where they were in the corner.  I settled into place behind some faster cars and had a cushion of cars behind me so I concentrated on driving a good line, finding brake and throttle points when Mr. Murphy paid another visit. As I entered turn 3,(on lap 13)  the brake pedal went all the way to the floor and the car headed straight for the wall! As my foot seemed to touch the race track, the car did slow down enough to turn. I tried pumping the brakes but it was no better in the next turn. I was resigned to pulling off the track yet again when the caution came out for a spin.  I thought that maybe the brakes were just hot and rode around under caution hoping they would cool off.  On the restart I had full pedal and figured everything was OK.  By the next lap they were back to the floor and by now I figured it was the rear brakes and that it was probably a damaged line from the axle incident. I tried to shut off the rear brakes using the proportioning knob but it didn't help much.  I finished the race in 10th place.

 

Post race inspection revealed the rubber brake line that feeds the rear was cut and I was pumping fluid out. We loaded up and went home. The car was in one piece, my guys never gave up and  We survived!

 

We have the next week off so we need to fix what is broken and replace the fuel cell to fit the rules. We will also replace the radiator because it’s the only thing we haven't replaced.

 

I am trying to get photos and will post them when they are available.

 

Until next time...