1 (edited by Bricoop 2021-09-28 07:46 AM)

Topic: CYBERFUKD Steps On Their **** Again

Tldr:  Truck was fast.  5 lap class lead after 8 hours of racing day 1(we would have been 2nd in B class out of 66 cars).   Day 2, 1st driver someone spun and stomped on the brakes.  He hit them pretty good.  Mostly body damage and a broken ignition ground wire was a quick fix, but took 25 mins to come in on the hook.  I had a clean run as the second driver.  3rd driver clobbered the slobra.

A little background about the truck:

First race was Buttonwillow 2020.  Ended up 5th in C class after a comedy of errors.  Too many black flags to count.  Most from putting myself on the marbles trying to stay out of peoples way.  Lost an alternator mid-race.  Full race report here: https://forums.24hoursoflemons.com/view … p?id=39475

Then came Sonoma 2021.  Had a 5 lap lead after Saturday.  Alternator let go Sunday, finished 2nd.

3rd Race Buttonwillow 2021:

A couple months before the race I saw someone on the forums asking if they could shadow a team.  Given we are a 3-man crew, we reached out and invited him to a be one of our crew members, gratis.  Best case scenario he would be an asset, worst case scenario we’d just tell him to not touch anything and just observe.

The Saga begins 12 days before the race.  The new transmission is in, everything is buttoned up and it’s time to do a test drive around the neighborhood.  That’s when we discovered we had clutch issues.  We spent multiple days trying to bench bleed the master, only to find out it was likely a bad check valve in the master. 

Normally not a big deal with so much time until the race.  However, we are calendar challenged and the 2 teammates who wrench on the truck both booked separate vacations to Hawaii the week before the race, unbeknownst to one another.  We have 3 days to fix the truck, so we order parts and pay for the overnight shipping.  Of course storms in the mid-west ensured the parts didn’t show up until we were sipping Mai Tais.

Dave gets back on Wednesday before the race and is able to install the new master cylinder after about 5 hours of cursing on Thursday.  I ended up landing from Hawaii at 1am Friday morning.  Spent the rest of the night packing up our supplies.  The clutch issues stole our prep time.  We loaded up and were on the road by 5am.  About 2 hours into our journey a couple of motorists let us know our sleep deprivation got the best of us.  A ratchet strap came loose and we lost a wheel and tire on the highway.  We never found it, thankfully no cars were hit (we went back and checked).  Call up the Buttonwillow tire shop, they have a tire that will fit.  $200 stupid tax is charged. 

We met our new crew member, Steve.  The 3 drivers are all in our 30s.  Steve started wrenching professionally 15 years before any of us were born.  It was an interesting dynamic, but turned out great.  Steve was an absolute asset to the team, as will be shown below, and a pleasure to be around.

We test Friday, come to find the alternator isn’t charging.  F***  How can we be having so many alternator issues?  This one was brand new out of the box.  We go buy a new one from NAPA, install it, and it’s not working either.  WTF.  After many hours of troubleshooting, we figure out it is not a self-exciting alternator.  We fabricated a harness, that went to a switch on the dash that needs to be flipped on and off every time the truck starts to “excite” the alternator.

Dave goes first Saturday.  Has an epic run.  We are setup in the pits ready for our teammate.  Unfortunately 2 cars ran out of gas and decided to park and wait on pit lane for over 10 minutes.  A miscommunication on our radio and the truck was in the pit lane a car-width away from the wall.  Big no-no.  A trackworker told us to backup to get next to the wall and we did.  Another big no-no.  A stern talking to and we learned a go-around is much faster than a chat with Mental. 

I’m up next.  Curious how my session will go with all my black flags from the previous race.  I ended up putting in a clean run and set the fastest lap of the team.  During my run, exiting Phil hill, the 708 and another car forgot the race can’t be won on Saturday.  The second curb on the left (the tiny one before the straight) is very unforgiving. The 708 had no room and took the whole curb.  It launched the 708 into the air and then their tires caught.  The rear wheels of the 708 were at least 2-3’ off the ground, if not more.  That was wild to be a spectator to.

Chris was third in the truck and had a clean run.  We finished the day with a 5 lap lead in class.  We would have been 2nd out of the 65 B class cars.  We only had the 63rd fastest lap, but kept it on the track all day and our lap count showed it.  He even showed off the truck’s jumping capabilities:  https://www.instagram.com/p/CURaa2KgOHp … _copy_link

We normally run 15” wheels but decided to use the 17” set that came with the truck for the weekend.  We also made some suspension adjustments since our last race at buttonwillow.  The truck was noticeably slower on the 17” wheels.  We decided to go back to our 15” tires that had 4 race days and 2 practice sessions.  They were whooped, but we were confident they would be faster. 

Day 2 started off great.  Truck running well.  The old 15” tires were 4 seconds faster than the new 17” tires.   15 minutes left in the first driver’s stint he got caught up in another driver’s spin.  It was only body and bumper damage, but the truck wouldn’t start.  Took about 25 mins to be pulled in by the hook.  We quickly diagnosed a broken ground wire and got back on track.  42 mins down saw that 5 lap lead disappear, plus some.  We forgot to change tire pressures during the chaos. 

I went out slipping and sliding for 2 hours.  It was a bundle of fun.  Kept it clean all day.  Near the end of the session I was inside a slower car at the last turn.  The 708 felt 3 feet of curb/track was enough room to divebomb 3-wide through there.  Clearly it wasn’t.  We were black flagged.  The judges had enough of 708’s antics and they were given painting supplies.  I got tire pressures done on the way out and the truck was back on rails for my last ¾ of a lap.  Brought it in for fuel and a driver swap.

The last driver is in the car.  He tangled with the John Deere Diesel pretty early in the run (apologies to them).  We spoke to the judges and went back out.   We were now 3rd in class, 1 lap back.  Within 25 laps he had unlapped himself and we were cruising towards a 2nd place. 

With 21 minutes left in the race he was in a freight train of cars.  He had a run going through the bus stop.  You Mad Bro was held up by a slower car and our driver went for the pass on the exit of the bus stop.  At the same time, about 50 yards ahead, the Slobra 77 and the red focus made contact sending the Slobra spinning.  Chris met the Slobra head on doing about 70-80.  I just so happened to lookup right before the wreck and saw it all unfold.  Ran over to Mental, let him know there was a huge one (of course the tower knew, but just to be safe).  They immediately rolled ambulances and red flagged the race, ending the weekend for everyone.  Both drivers are ok. 

Here is a link to the video of the incident:  https://www.instagram.com/p/CUTfW-TpQZu … _copy_link

The C-Channel is bent on the truck and will be a ton of work to fix, if it is fixable. 

Overall we had a great weekend.  Saw old friends, made new ones, and had a blast doing it.  Shout out to all the safety mandates, the awesome Lemons staff, marshals, safety team, and fellow competitors.  Thanks to everyone that offered a hand, or a tool, or an idea.

We’ll see you at a future race, with or without CYBERFUKD.

Re: CYBERFUKD Steps On Their **** Again

Hello all...this is the driver of the #77 Slobra II at the time of the crash. I too would also like to thank the track Fire/EMT folks for their work out there!
Bricoop....I don't mean to hijack your thread, but it seems fitting to add my perspective here as the other driver.
Our car was among the slowest out there, hence the C-classification, and our 5 drivers quickly became very accustomed to waving our hands around to indicate which side we'd give the faster car a place to pass. I personally did that 2 or 3 times over the two days at the Bus Stop corner prior with success. For this particular lap, I signaled a Miata to pass on the inside (my left) right after that mild left-hander after Club Corner and let the Slobra drift out to the right of the Bus Stop Straight. Miata driver passed without issue. I started my wide turn into Bus Stop as I was too far into the turn after the Miata to make the apex so I was off the gas, no brake, turning left to at least complete the turn without dropping a wheel into the dirt. Then my car just came around on me. I don't recall feeling that the #11 Shartsky & Smutch car tap me, but the posted video appears that they could have and the very abrupt spin would support that. I haven't really even gone into the trailer to do a full inspection, but obviously I will when I get up the will to go look at our smashed up car.
For the record I'm not blaming the #11 driver, racing is racing and I understand that. Maybe they'll chime in with their perspective.

As for the race overall.....one of our Teammates mentioned that they should change the name from Buttonwillow to "Bumpinwillow"! I know we were hit hard enough on Sat. to almost tear the drivers side front facia off of the car, and then later on Sat. rear ended 2 different times going into the Mazda corner! Both of those put the car spinning off track!

We're a new team. Plenty of "baptism by fire" learning going on! A few Black Flags on Sat. for the aforementioned forced off track excursions, and two "driving too fast in the Paddock" warnings. Apparently we need to add a speedo in the car! Sunday was clean until the crash.
This is personally my 5th Lemons race. The 4 previous races with a different team racing a Class A '92 BMW 525 (maybe a real class B car BTW) at Inde Motorsports Ranch in Willcox,AZ and we've never been pushed around as much as this race. Of course the car count was much less, but the track was a little tighter.

In a nutshell, speaking for all of the Charlie's Devils Team, we had a great time! Meeting other racers, thrashing in the paddock and getting a chance at real racing. We'll be back for sure. If the Slobra II is rebuildable, it'll also be back. If it's not, it's soul will be......
Later,
Will

3 (edited by cheseroo 2021-09-29 08:41 AM)

Re: CYBERFUKD Steps On Their **** Again

For whatever reason, the red mist seems to come out in the last 30 minutes as people in 64th place think they can come back from that in the last 30 minutes.  In the past, the judges have pulled some of the slowest cars for their own safety at the end of the race.  The bus stop is one of those choke point places at Butt and it's fairly quick through there.  Not a good plan to try to pass on the inside of the exit corner there like that car did.  Since the corner is decreasing radius and quick, you don't really have time to be looking to see if you are about to be dive bombed because you need to be looking downtrack to make sure you don't run out of pavement.  Cars can be fixed, people less so.  As John said in the driver's meeting....Be Nice.

1990 RX7 "Mazdarita"  1964 Sunbeam Imp (IOE 2013 Sears Pointless) 2002 Jaguar x-type (Winner C-Class 2021 Sears Pointless)
Gone bye-bye
1994 Jaguar XJ12 (Winner C-Class 2013 Sears Pointless)  1980 Rover SD1 (I Got Screwed 2014 Return of Lemonites)

Re: CYBERFUKD Steps On Their **** Again

My car the #745 Volvo Wagon was behind the accident.  I checked my video, but it doesn't show much. I will try and post it up when I can.

Team whatever_racecar #745 Volvo wagon

5 (edited by Bricoop 2021-09-29 01:37 PM)

Re: CYBERFUKD Steps On Their **** Again

Any onboards for the weekend are greatly appreciated.  I know my over-filled greasy tires caught me out a few times, especially in those tight U-Turns.  Probably pretty funny/scary to anyone else who saw it, depending on how close you were.

This is only my 3rd Lemons race, but was easily the most aggressive I've experienced.  The number of bad passes experienced at Phil Hill were unbelievable.  Some people don't understand that exit speed is what is important there.  Numerous times a passing car ruined my and their lap by putting on a pass there. That's fine, as long as it's clean; that's racing. 

One of the fastest cars of the weekend absolutely ruined their weekend by their aggressive driving and messed up others race too.  When I went over to speak to them about it, all I got was snark.  Which is fine, my car weighs twice as much as yours and I'm not going to give you point bys like we do to Dadidas, You Mad Bro, etc who are all fast and pretty respectful about their passing.  Thankfully the aggressive team also gave lip to the AWESOME Lemons Staff, who then made sure they had time to think about their actions.

As an update on the truck, I think it will be fixable.  Tore off a bunch of the body work and bumper last night.  Now we need to start chasing electrical to get the engine to turn over and see if it's damaged.

Re: CYBERFUKD Steps On Their **** Again

I don't think this video will help much.

https://youtu.be/KdzPRB8FiM4

Team whatever_racecar #745 Volvo wagon

7 (edited by Bricoop 2021-09-29 02:27 PM)

Re: CYBERFUKD Steps On Their **** Again

thanks for sharing!

Re: CYBERFUKD Steps On Their **** Again

SLOBRA II status:
We pulled the car out of the trailer last night. Removed the what was left of the radiator to clear it away from the crank pulley. Manually turned the engine over without any obvious bent pulleys or grinding sounds. Turned the ignition on, and it started right up!
So that's an obvious relief!

We're drag racing this weekend here in Tucson so it'll be a few weeks before we can pull all of the body parts off the front of the car, and pull the drivetrain to really see if the front subframe can be bent back into shape.

I'll keep Judge John in the loop as to our rebuild plans.

Later,
Will

Re: CYBERFUKD Steps On Their **** Again

Does10s wrote:

SLOBRA II status:
We pulled the car out of the trailer last night. Removed the what was left of the radiator to clear it away from the crank pulley. Manually turned the engine over without any obvious bent pulleys or grinding sounds. Turned the ignition on, and it started right up!
So that's an obvious relief!

We're drag racing this weekend here in Tucson so it'll be a few weeks before we can pull all of the body parts off the front of the car, and pull the drivetrain to really see if the front subframe can be bent back into shape.

I'll keep Judge John in the loop as to our rebuild plans.

Later,
Will

Good to hear!

10 (edited by Bricoop 2021-09-30 09:27 AM)

Re: CYBERFUKD Steps On Their **** Again

ROFL

https://i.imgur.com/TczuO93.jpg

Re: CYBERFUKD Steps On Their **** Again

I was in the #11 Focus, and it went down just the way Slobra said.  He was giving point-bys and running wide into the bus stop, so I went for it.  I may have surprised him, but we did not make contact.  The angle of that video was enough to make me go check for brown paint, but its clean!

I hope you guys can get everything fixed up, as you have both the fastest old ranger and the fastest cybertruck I've ever seen.  If it makes you feel better, our other focus with our sister team got taken out in the first few laps.  The yellow prelude I had just passed came flying up through traffic to pit maneuver me at the top of Phil Hill, then spun someone else who t-boned me.  But hey, they got a trophy for all their black flaggery! Such is Lemons.

If anyone has a rear driver side door for a gen 1 Focus, holla

12 (edited by Bricoop 2021-10-01 06:59 AM)

Re: CYBERFUKD Steps On Their **** Again

t-balls wrote:

I was in the #11 Focus, and it went down just the way Slobra said.  He was giving point-bys and running wide into the bus stop, so I went for it.  I may have surprised him, but we did not make contact.  The angle of that video was enough to make me go check for brown paint, but its clean!

I hope you guys can get everything fixed up, as you have both the fastest old ranger and the fastest cybertruck I've ever seen.  If it makes you feel better, our other focus with our sister team got taken out in the first few laps.  The yellow prelude I had just passed came flying up through traffic to pit maneuver me at the top of Phil Hill, then spun someone else who t-boned me.  But hey, they got a trophy for all their black flaggery! Such is Lemons.

If anyone has a rear driver side door for a gen 1 Focus, holla

Never like to hear of another car biting the dust.  We had 2 full days of racing, so I can't complain.  Thanks for chiming in!

I was able to get the engine fired last night.  Hoping to be at Sonoma in December.