Topic: 2022 B.F.E. GP Recap – Flat Face Racing and Coin-Op Racing

TLDR: we took the green and checkered flags with two cars (Scrappy the purple Miata and a rough silver E46), had mechanical issues and black flags all weekend, got in a lot of laps anyway while having a blast, can’t wait to come back for the true 24 in September


Thursday:

It was busy day from start to finish.  The first half of the day was packing, packing, and more packing.  The second half was traveling and unpacking, unpacking, and more unpacking.  There was also working on the E46 which was a few items short from being able to pass tech. 

The brake lights weren’t turning on and the kill switch wasn’t installed.  At some point I took the E46 out for a couple of test laps and concluded that we were going to have a sloppy good time.  Blown stock suspension with 200TW tires for the win!  The E46 also wasn’t in the mood to maintain idle but out on the track the engine managed to run just fine. 

Because it’s Lemons we stayed up far too late chatting with other folks and thus got far too little sleep on Thursday night. 


Friday:

The morning started slow with me walking around the paddock with coffee taking pictures of the pretty Lemons cars. 

Our drivers soon began to arrive and we spent some hours hovering around the cars until Alvin arrived with needed junk yard parts.  After some Alvinizardry the E46 had working brake lights and a functional kill switch. 

I had paid our entry fees later than most which had our tech times at 3:00 (Scrappy) and 3:30 (E46).  Both cars were scrutinized in tech and both cars passed without any issues. 

As per normal we heavily bribed on Scrappy’s behalf with copious cans of beer and were rewarded with Class A and zero penalty laps (a victory in itself).  For the E46 we had no bribes and instead just bounced the car up and down to show how floppy the suspension was.  Apparently the BS judge felt sorry for us and awarded the E46 Class A with zero penalty laps (another itself-victory!). 

I wasn’t necessarily going to test Scrappy but decided it best to go out for a few laps.  I found the car felt wonky.  I figured some of the cardboard aero around the fuel cell was falling off so got the rear off the ground to take a peek.  The problem was actually the rear passenger axle nut had backed itself off, leaving the wheel dangling just a bit.  This same thing happened several open lapping days ago and my solution was the same this time, to retighten and re-punch the nut. 

Narrator: “This turned out to be the incorrect solution.”

The Coin-Op Racing team spent much of the time before and after tech buttoning up the E46’s interior via zip ties and putting in some test laps around the track.  The E46 was deemed rough but raceable. 


Saturday:

Race day started off well-enough with me in Scrappy and Alvin in the E46.  I was caught flatfooted on the green flag but otherwise the start and subsequent laps went fine until they didn’t. 

I inadvertently pushed the E46 (driven by Steven) off of turn six about and hour and a half into the race.  Far too late I had radioed that I was taking his inside line and it resulted in Steven acquiring a black flag.  Totally my bad.  Coincidentally Scrappy immediately began to feel a bit floaty.  I would twitch the steering wheel and the back would do an out-of-time shimmy. 

Narrator: “And for the sin of pushing one’s teammate off the track the racecar gods punished Flat Face Racing.”

I came back to the carport figuring the axle nut had backed off again.  I was wrong; it turned out the bearing itself had failed.  I had a spare knuckle to swap in but Scrappy was down for 30 minutes while Alvin wrenched.  This took away any chance of an overall win so we shifted our focus to just making sure everyone got plenty of fun seat time. 

I wish I could say the rest of the day’s race was uneventful (except for the fun parts) for team Flat Face Racing but it wasn’t.  Jeff acquired a black flag and, towards the end of Ryan’s stint, the transmission decided it wanted to permanently remain in third gear.  We tried yanking the shifter this way and that while stationary and then whilst being dragged around the paddock to no avail.  Of course, I had spare transmissions but, of course, they were at home over an hour away.  Thus ended Saturday’s racing for Flat Face Racing. 

Coin-Op Racing’s day was similar as some drivers accrued black flags (corner workers were far stricter than normal) and the E46 was back in the carport several times for repairs.  The team had no intentions of greatness with the E46’s first outing and ran one-hour stints to make sure all the drivers got a chance to race.  They also performed most of the driver changes off of the hot pit lane so they could check fluids and whatnot.  This was a good strategy as problems abounded with engine issues and a transmission that decided to blow fluid out its top. 

Before the racing was finished for the day, Jeff was shuttling me back to my house in Parker to pick up two transmissions (couldn’t be too careful) and then up to O’Reilly’s to purchase incorrect BMW parts.  Susan had thankfully saved us a couple of bowls of our Cheaty Chicken Chilly (our team’s potluck contribution) as we didn’t get back to the track until after 7:00. 

The rest of the evening was dedicated to working on Scrappy, drinking alcoholic beverages, and chatting with roving bands of Lemons people.  While installing the bellhousing bolts, Ryan discovered one of the lower ball joints had come loose.  In the end the ball joint was swapped out as some important threads were thrashed.  By the time I finished pumping gear oil into the transmission it was almost two in the morning and the paddock was largely quiet. 


Sunday:

Compared to Saturday, Sunday was super easy, barely an inconvenience.  Scrappy ran well besides a wire coming off the recently rewired kill switch, temporarily disabling the car, and no longer having power steering.  The E46 ran better with new injectors and a DIY fix to keep the coil packs in place.  The E46 also didn’t have power steering and later had third gear issues of its own, though they were just of the grinding-variety.  There were more black flags but everyone got a lot of fun laps behind the wheel.  I elected to give up my second stint in Scrappy and instead took a turn in the E46.  It was a hilariously sloppy good time.  That car has potential; I can feel it. 

Susan and I felt a bit victorious when Turbo-Encabulators won overall driving the yellow Miata we’d sold them last summer.  Jeff and Sean are great guys and their team ran a perfect race (they had also fixed a multitude of problems that came with the car). 

The award ceremony was its normal good time and it’s always fun to cheer on the deserving victors.  With the help of our teammates we managed to not be the last folks leaving the track (another itself-victory!) and went home for my lower back to decompress from the long weekend. 


Our Thanks:

Big thanks to all of our drivers who piloted our cars safely (generally) around the track.  Bigger thanks to our drivers for helping Alvin and I work on Scrappy and the E46 through much of the weekend.  Special shoutout to Jeff Lee for taxying me back to Denver for parts (sorry about the gear oil in the bed of your truck) and Ryan Dussex for extricating the old transmission and performing much of the installation of the new one.  Despite many mechanical issues both cars managed to put in a lot of laps. 

Thanks to the multitude of Lemons people who hung out while we toiled away on Scrappy.  The company truly was nice to have.  Also thanks to Matthew of Budget Bugeye who jumped in to help work on Scrappy and stayed up far too late to commiserate as our efforts continued.  Thanks to Drew from Petrosexual for letting us borrow your alignment tools and buy spare gas. 


Notes on some of the other teams:

Turbo-Encabulators (#314 – the winning yellow Miata) – obviously a great team with a great car, so awesome to see you win overall!  Great job Jeff, Sean, Will, and the other guy! 

Sew So Fast (#41 – the speedy 318) – you put on quite a race and it was fun to see it end so close, your team runs a tight ship, sorry we didn’t get to talk much this weekend

Volatile RAM (#801 – the MR2) – great job on the Class B win, welcome to Class A!

Savage Orchid Racing (#613 – the only Ford Escort) – I thought you might get the Class B win this time, always hilariously difficult to pass the car on the straights

Conquest Motorsports (#510 – the Datsun 510(ish)) – seriously quick car, easily could live and win in Class A

Smokey and the Bandit (#101 – the black NA Miata) – good job guys and thanks for the gracious point-by David!

Secrets of Slow (#48 – the only Audi) – it was a smoke screen behind you when the green flag dropped, nice job making it to the end and placing in the top 10!

Orange Crushed (#321 – the orange (duh) Miata) – I thought it would be a battle between us but when differentials explode what can one do?  You may have beat us in laps but we beat you in mechanical problems! 

Flog Maet Racing (#42 – the Golf) – nice driving, great job on your first outing! 

Rusty Thunder Racing (#900 – the wrong-engined Fiero) – congrats on the Class C win, welcome to Class B!

The Froot Loops (#21 – the colorful old 5 series) – Dirk from Coin-Op Racing had a blast duking it out in the last stint, great fun!  Now you need to slot your top hats! 

CKT Racing (#707 – the repainted Gembesties E30) – good job getting so many laps and, holy smokes, that car is fast, can’t wait to see the E46 when it’s finally running, perhaps you should rename yourselves the “Formerly of the CU Boulder Racing Team”

Re: 2022 B.F.E. GP Recap – Flat Face Racing and Coin-Op Racing

Thanks Max! We too are very much looking forward to September smile

Fløg Mæt Racing #42

#42 FLØG MÆT Racing