Answers to your questions:
* 1989 Chevy Cavalier, most definitely not a V8.
* The rest of the team made a rather quick decision (within an hour of the bad news) to abandon the race; rental trailer was cancelled, hotel reservations dropped, etc. I bowed to the inevitable as I couldn't get the car there, and a 1-driver team won't fly. Even my wife hinted that she'd rather stay home.*shrug* I still think we would have had a good time no matter what happened (went to the April race as spectator and had a blast) but that's how it went down.
* None of us are mechanically savvy (although we might get a late-interest mechanic for next time 'round) so any potential fixes would be high on the amusement scale and low on the got-it-working scale.
I appreciate your comments and encouragements, hope to see ya'll next year.