Topic: Endurance racing advice

The fun is in posts 6-8:
http://corner-carvers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34677

Some useful info, too.

Near-Orbital Space Monkeys
#528 BMW 528e 121hp Black "Saturn 5" Rocket car with orange foam flames. Sold.
#71 Yellow Fox Mustang. For sale.

Re: Endurance racing advice

EvergreenDan wrote:

The fun is in posts 6-8:
http://corner-carvers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34677

Some useful info, too.

The most useful:

"Tip 5: If given the choice of colliding with an overly agressive fuckhead in a Miata or careening across a cow pasture at 90 miles per hour, choose the fuckhead every time."

http://www.ducttapemotorsports.com/
http://www.teamdfl.com
"I can see it now, a pile of nickels and all the glory of being a real race car driver."
Prepping the Red wReck for the 24 Hours of Lemons

Re: Endurance racing advice

Tip 4: Make sure you route your fuel cell vent near the exhaust outlet, nothing keeps a driver on his toes like a fire. Bonus points if your car actually catches fire, but only if it happens on the practice day. Double bonus points if your driver is able to put the fire out on the back straight


sounds like this guy has been to the south race

Re: Endurance racing advice

Good tips. I like to duct some vent air down into the footwell and tape a bottle of those pop-up wet wipes within easy reach....seems to help sharpen you up a little during a long yellow to wipe the back of your neck...I take a single 325 aspirin about 45 minutes before my first stint, and a second 5 or 6 hours later....don't know if it helps.. or maybe I need to look at the exhaust...

Jim "Endo" Anderton
30 years of racing and still not Brambilla.....

Re: Endurance racing advice

I'd check with a doc before taking an anti-clotting drug like aspirin before hopping in a car. Sounds like a good way to have to learn to count on your fingers again. Tylenol maybe?

Near-Orbital Space Monkeys
#528 BMW 528e 121hp Black "Saturn 5" Rocket car with orange foam flames. Sold.
#71 Yellow Fox Mustang. For sale.

Re: Endurance racing advice

EPIC!!!

Tip 1: Finish building the car at the track, the Friday test day before the 25. Bonus points if it sits at the cage shop for 2 months with no work done to it.

Tip 2: Use your first stint to measure your fuel consumption. Bonus points if you run out of fuel on track. Double bonus if the crash crew drags you across the front straight within 100 yards of oncoming traffic.

Tip 3: Make sure the seat is positioned so that your helmet gently thumps the cage halo padding with every bump. After 45 minutes of this you will have a migraine, and the pain will keep you alert for the rest of the stint. As a bonus the migraine response time drops with each repetition, so by the final stint it only takes about 10 minutes.

Tip 3: Make sure you have at least one exhaust leak inside the car. Nothing helps keep you awake like asphyxiation.

Tip 4: Make sure you route your fuel cell vent near the exhaust outlet, nothing keeps a driver on his toes like a fire. Bonus points if your car actually catches fire, but only if it happens on the practice day. Double bonus points if your driver is able to put the fire out on the back straight

Tip 5: If given the choice of colliding with an overly agressive fuckhead in a Miata or careening across a cow pasture at 90 miles per hour, choose the fuckhead every time.

Tip 6: Bring a welder. Bonus points if you use it more than 3 times in the course of the race. Double bonus points if the shit you weld on during the race weighs more than the parts that fell off after not following tip #5.

Tip 7: Only bring enough food to last half the race. Bonus points if some of the crew (always the hardest workers) and drivers don't get any food at all.

Tip 8: If one of your crew says "That ain't right!" ignore him. There is plenty of time to replace a loose bolt once it falls out completely.

Tip 9: Don't worry about flaky driving lights. When they fail, you can see just fine with the 55 watt apex lights which are aimed at 10 and 2 o clock. Don't wire up your stock headlights as a backup. Having functioning lights is just extra drain on the alternator, and that robs power.

Tip 10: If anyone on the crew decides to stick a sponsor sticker on the crash truck, make sure to put it on the brand new vinyl stripes where it is nearly impossible to remove without damage. Don't put it on the paint, where it is easy to remove. Jerry won't go berserk, honest.

Tip 11: If you are entering an EVO, make sure you have at least 3 street cars you can rob parts off when they break.

Tip 12: (Gary can confirm this) If you are using a fuel rig, don't check the length of the fuel hose, you can always move the car closer to the rig during the first stop when you discover it is too short. Well, once you locate and reinstall the steering wheel.

Tip 13: Make sure you use the cheapest shitty radios you can find.

Tip 14: Ensure anyone acting as a spotter is blissfully unaware of the concept of brevity, or for that matter how to talk on cheap shitty radios. Have them talk quickly with lots of unnecessary detail, so they sound exaclty like Charlie Brown's teacher.

Sons of STIG
Judge Jonny, "So, what's the next formerly thought to be immune from winning that will steal the nickels?An MR2? A Fierro (ha ha ha)? A Datsun/Nissan Z? A Camaro?"

7 (edited by jimeditorial 2009-11-12 09:10 AM)

Re: Endurance racing advice

EvergreenDan wrote:

I'd check with a doc before taking an anti-clotting drug like aspirin before hopping in a car. Sounds like a good way to have to learn to count on your fingers again. Tylenol maybe?

Good point. My doc thinks this is OK given the small dose and ONE additional tab 5-6 hours later, but no more. I understand that if somebody is having heart attack-like chest pains, a single 325 aspirin is a good idea anyway! For me it's about the tension headache from clenched teeth while driving close to the Size Matters Fury....BTW enteric coated aspirin is good if your stomach lining is 47 years old....

Jim "Endo" Anderton
30 years of racing and still not Brambilla.....

Re: Endurance racing advice

jimeditorial wrote:
EvergreenDan wrote:

I'd check with a doc before taking an anti-clotting drug like aspirin before hopping in a car. Sounds like a good way to have to learn to count on your fingers again. Tylenol maybe?

Good point. My doc thinks this is OK given the small dose and ONE additional tab 5-6 hours later, but no more. I understand that if somebody is having heart attack-like chest pains, a single 325 aspirin is a good idea anyway! For me it's about the tension headache from clenched teeth while driving close to the Size Matters Fury....BTW enteric coated aspirin is good if your stomach lining is 47 years old....

Pit-manuever and pass him... headache solved...

Sons of STIG
Judge Jonny, "So, what's the next formerly thought to be immune from winning that will steal the nickels?An MR2? A Fierro (ha ha ha)? A Datsun/Nissan Z? A Camaro?"

Re: Endurance racing advice

#1 was our team exactly for Nelson ledges.  We didn't finish getting the seat installed until 90 minutes before the race started.  Never again.

Jer / Schumacher Taxi Service
2010 Spring CMP I.O.E. winner
2010 Sebring overall winner
1996 Miata, 1991 BMW E30, 1987 coROLLa (retired), 1984 Citation (retired), 1993 Miata (retired)

Re: Endurance racing advice

Jer wrote:

#1 was our team exactly for Nelson ledges.  We didn't finish getting the seat installed until 90 minutes before the race started.  Never again.

Yes, we did the same thing in Houston - we passed tech about an hour and a half before the race.

Josh Poage
Poage Ma Thoin Racing - 1981 Fiat Brava #09 - 2009 Yee-haw It's Texas
Prison Break Racing - 1986 325e #27 - 2010 Gator-o-Rama
Poage Ma Thoin Racing - 1981 Fiat Brava #09 - 2011 Heaps in the Heart of Texas

Re: Endurance racing advice

Riktor wrote:

Tip 14: Ensure anyone acting as a spotter is blissfully unaware of the concept of brevity, or for that matter how to talk on cheap shitty radios. Have them talk quickly with lots of unnecessary detail, so they sound exaclty like Charlie Brown's teacher.

Loved this one -You have to do a few events with a shitty radio in order to really appreciate this one. 

We've come full circle and ditched the radios.  There's really nothing you need to know / say.  If the car is running - keep going. If the car is falling apart or running out of gas - come in. All other communication is unnecessary.  You certainly don't have to worry about lap times.  Just keep driving.   Your drivers penalties or broken parts of the car will certainly degate any 'advantage' you try to gain from squeezing of some quick one.  Just drive and don't come in.

I asked one of our drivers if he thought we should get some proper radios for next season. His response - 'no thanks, I like to peace and quiet'.

Remember, it's never too early to start embellishing the past.

"so there I was, 90mph, sideways on the brink of death ..."

Re: Endurance racing advice

haha. the radio died about half-way through my longer stint at nelson ledges and my dad & bro thought i had completely lost my mind after about 3hours and no response on the radio. there's actually some nice benefits to them, but I think I'd rather have a headset on a trakfone than anything else!