2022 High Plains Drifter Recap – Flat Face Racing and Coin-Op Racing

TLDR: Scrappy took the green and (barely) checkered flags despite blowing up a motor and ripping off a wheel, the E46 got a late start but managed a decent race and a 15th place finish, despite major setbacks and issues we all had a great time

Thursday:

Usually this is a crazy day for Susan and myself with preparations and whatnot.  Not so much this time as most of our packing and loading was already done in the preceding days.  We arrived at the track around 4:30 to find the paddock largely empty which made positioning our trailer with our big ole RV a simple matter.  I took Scrappy out for a few sessions to bed two sets of brakes but otherwise gave the car the night off from driving. 

Friday:

We slept in a little bit as we’d been up far too late the night before.  I walked around to take some pictures of the teams that had already arrived and had a few fun chats along the way.  Our drivers started showing up around 10:30.  Alvin arrived with the E46 a bit after noon. 

Both cars were ready for tech and both flew through without incident or penalty laps.  As per usual, Scrappy required a bit of bribing to get +0 laps while the E46 got its +0 with a mix of begging and judge sympathy for a newish team and car. 

Much of the afternoon and evening had the drivers flogging both cars around the track.  Some drivers were looking to learn the track, some drivers were looking to learn the cars, and Alvin and I were looking for issues to fix before the race began. 

Alvin and his E46 team had problems with failing (new) bushings and terrible headlights.  The end of the night had the E46 up on jack stands with Alvin and Dirk having plans for a Saturday morning excursion to the junk yard. 

I had major concerns regarding the brake pad wear and front bearings on Scrappy.  In the end I decided to run what was on the car and perform a scheduled check at midnight during the race.  My only task on Friday night was to swap out the very used tires for unblemished race-rubber.  This took me far longer than it needed to as we engaged in near-constant chatting with the roving bands of inebriated Lemoners. 

For dinner we ate Cheaty Chicken Chili along with sides provided by other drivers on the teams.  Deandra’s corn bread was simply amazing and worth calling out. 

Saturday morning:

Despite another late night, sleeping in was impossible so I was up relatively early.  I emerged from the RV to find the weather downright gloomy.  The skies were overcast and there was a constant mist soaking the ground.  It was also oh so cold.  100 degrees on Thursday to 40 degrees on Saturday morning.  Craziness. 

After the regular drivers meeting and a rookie meeting several of our drivers were required to attend the racing began!

Coin-Op Racing’s Racin’:

The E46’s issues discovered on Friday night were not resolved until an hour after the green flag had flown.  Once it finally got on the track the E46 performed well.  The team managed two-hour stints and the drivers generally kept all four tires on the asphalt.  The power steering decided to stop working for the second race in a row and the headlights were abysmal at night but otherwise the car was mostly ok.  The team finished 15th overall with 482 laps.  If the E46 had started on time and the drivers avoided black flags it could have easily been a top 10 finish, possibly top five. 

Flat Face Racing’s Racin’:

Scrappy the plucky Miata had a good start to the race.  I took the first stint and made it as high as 2nd place overall before pitting for the next driver, Wade.  Wade acquired a black flag but was otherwise doing well when, towards the end of his stint, the car felt down on power and the motor started knocking.  He limped back to the carport and we let the motor cool down.  We tried adding some oil and the motor seized immediately when cranked.   

Thus began the next 12 hours of our lives. 

Ryan drove me back home in his truck to pick up our spare engine while Wade and company extricated the busted motor from Scrappy.  Along with many other bits and pieces, the oil pan had to be swapped to the new motor and we spent much time cleaning out copious amounts of sparkly bits using water from our RV, several cans of brake clean, and air from the track.  The spare motor was in relatively unknown shape so it was with much trepidation that we finally attempted starting it around 4:00AM.  Thankfully, it cranked easily and fired up right away. 

Game on!

We started the race for a second time at 4:30AM.  Those working on Scrappy were delirious with the lack of sleep and immediately went to bed for a few hours while David and Shad took their stints.  By the time I woke, Ryan was driving and the race was mostly over.
We were waiting in the hot pit lane for Ryan to stop for the last driver change when we received word from Dirk (driving the E46) that Scrappy was on the side of the track and sitting on three wheels. 

Yikes. 

It took time for the track crew to load up and bring Scrappy back to the paddock.  I expected the failure to be with one of the front bearings but it turned out that the driver rear hub had ripped itself in half.  The studs were still in the wheel along with half of the hub while the other half was attached to the axle.  The rotor was largely gone and the caliper was hanging by the brake lines, thankfully intact.  Glenn had to go searching for the wheel (which had impacted the turn five bunker) and, once delivered, we found it had been wrecked beyond usability. 

Using my spare hub, a borrowed wrong-sized rotor, a newly bent bracket, new pads, and a wheel shorn in an old tire we finally got Scrappy out onto the track with five minutes to spare before the end of the race.  Susan was able to take the checkered flag which was the only victory we were looking for at that point. 

Scrappy finished 54th overall with 226 laps.  Besides the engine blowing up and the rear hub failing the car drove spectacularly. 

Our Thanks:

Giant thanks to all our teammates for driving so well!  The E46 had Alvin, Ian, Steven, Dirk, Harrison, and Nick.  Scrappy had Wade, Ryan, David, Shad, Susan, and myself.  Crazy-thanks to Wade, Ryan, and Alvin for their help swapping out the engine and fixing the broken hub stuff.  Sleep before 4:00AM is for the weak, right?  Big thanks to whoever loaned us the engine hoist and Jeff, Sean, and Will for lending us tools along the way. 

A huge shoutout to all of the drivers who raced clean despite the cold and wet start.  Considering the conditions its amazing how few incidences occurred. 

Many thanks to the organizers and Glenn for making the 24 hour race as good as it can possibly be!