Topic: Corolla Extra Class C win at Road Atlanta, A Very Long Season
(from L to R, Sean Glover, Jesse Moore, Keith Wilson, Neil Martin(Capt), Baylor Jennings)
Well, we finally did it. One year ago to the date we started out racing Lemons. Atlanta was our 4th race since we started. 4 engine changes and several smoked wheel bearings later we were finally able to win class C. This is the first race of ours that we didn't blow an engine. I found the key to not blowing up is to keep the fluids in it. (duh)
We blew a head gasket on our first engine at Road Atlanta last year because the alternator belt rubbed a hole in the radiator hose. We got it fixed, then it dropped an exhaust valve the next day. We re-powered the car from the old pushrod 3TC to a more modern fuel injected Toyota 4 banger. CMP spring we seized the engine after 14 min on practice day. It turns out that sugar in the gas tank and 2 qts of rubbing alcohol in the oil is not a good combo. We swapped the motor at the track, ran great until the oil drain plug fell out on Sunday and we smoked that one. CMP fall we had a hose leak and blew a head gasket, no gasket on hand so we did another motor swap.
Road Atlanta wasn't without issues either, but not as major. On Saturday as the car first hit the track, we had to bring it in after the first few laps because the windshield was so fogged up. We had defrost, but no heater core, as we damaged it putting the last engine in. We applied rain x anti fog, but no joy. We also tried shaving cream during a fuel stop, but that didn't work either. All of Saturday the windshield had to be wiped down by hand every lap for visibility. I bought a new heater core for I don't know what, from the parts store. Saturday night we cut the blower hose is half, and taped, zip tied and rigged in the heater core. It was pretty shady and half ass but it worked great on Sunday.
One of our guys spun out and got stuck in the grass on Saturday, he eventually got out on his own but that killed us in laps with a trip to the penalty box.
Late Sunday we were neck and neck with the AMC Gremlin. We were trying to stretch the car's legs and starved for fuel a few times, luckily the car made it back to the pits. In the last hour or so we gained P1 but still needed a pit, and knew the Gremlin did too. We were up by a few laps with about 30 min to go when the Gremlin had to pit again because they were out of oil.
We called the win at 4:53 pm when we knew if we blew up we still had it.
The feeling of joy was overwhelming. It was surreal. The entire drive home we still coudn't believe we had done it. I don't think the judges thought we could do it either with our track record. I think maybe that's the only reason we were in C to begin with.
We made a lot of new friends and besides the shitty weather, we had a great time.
To all the haters out there, no worries of us being back in C class from now on!
'83 Toyota Corolla #5
Winner, Class C, Yokohama Good Try, Road Atlanta 2018