My buddy Dave and I comprise Scuderia Ignorante, but as of yet our car is unfinished (or technically, unstarted), and so we beg, borrow or buy rides in the show. Last race in Dallas we were signed up with Blue Oval Cult and we helped build a SHO-powered Mustang that made all of 3 laps before going BANG! Dave and I finished that race with the Dirty Some Beaches in a Hawaiian-themed Honda.
For Houston we had higher hopes. The ShoStang had a new motor, a new paint job, and several hundred more hours into the build. Even better, garage buddies/teammates Los Bastardos de la Lemons were bringing out the much anticipated Renault Dauphine. The 1957 model French car is dropped over a custom built tube frame and powered by a Mercury Sable V6 front-wheel-drive setup, now mounted behind the driver and powering the rear wheels. Radical is precisely the way to describe this car.
The teams had trouble getting to the track (sunk trailers, bad bearings, etc. etc.) but did make it out on Friday. Dave made it in about midnight from San Angelo. I had server troubles at work and then crashed, and so ended up leaving at 2 AM and never did make it to the hotel that night. I rolled into the paddock about 8:30 AM after dropping Ash with her friend in The Woodlands north of Houston.
Neither car had made it through tech yet, so I helped Bill work on the Renault while the ShoStang was getting a brake job. Wiring, foam, brake lights, tow hooks, etc. As it happened, both cars made it to tech about the same time, and about an hour or so after the race start. The Mustang got a clean bill of health, the Renault did too after some minor remedial work. The tech inspectors required the Renault be set on jack stands front and rear for a thorough look. After some confused mumbling, they let it go on the track.
Tom took the Mustang out first, and Bill took the Renault. The Renault came back in first, with smoke billowing off of it. There wasn’t anything wrong, though, just a year’s worth of shop dust and build gunk working its way off the car. It was just that Bill was done after working heroic hours to get the car there at all. Driver swap time, and it went back out.
Tom showed up at the penalty box after spinning the ShoStang. The judges decided that a proper penalty would be to repeat his spinning antics in front of the entire crowd, so we went in front of the grandstand and Tom gracefully spun in place to a boombox until the crowd gave him a thumbs up.
So my turn in the car. Unfortunately, Tom is something like 7’3”, and built the car to fit him nicely. I had some trouble reaching the start/kill switch and had to shove foam under and behind me to reach the switches. That worked well, but also ended up putting my head high enough to block the mirror. Fun stuff driving the car with no rearward visibility. I was –slow- due to not knowing the car or track, and couldn’t see the fast guys coming, but it was a good time. The car handled wicked, and we found out why later.
I ran for about 45 minutes and had to come in. It was really hot, and we didn’t have the time to put in a cool suit unit or any hydration equipment.
After my turn Dave went out, and he had some good laps too. After about an hour the heat got to him too, and he spun the car. We didn’t see any black flag, but he pulled in anyway.
When our next driver tried to go out, we were informed we had 3 black flags and were on a mandatory 3-hour hold (with 2 hours left in the day). After some discussion at the judging table, it turned out we had picked up 2 black flags on the same lap that Tom spun on, and we just didn’t know it. Add those to Dave’s and we’re done for the day.
That let us focus on the Renault, which had been on and off the track. Several folks had driven it and all loved the car, but it was having teething issues. Specifically, it was puking transmission fluid and melting plastics in the engine bay. Bill and Randy and everyone else dove in and worked on it to make it better. The heating problem was eventually traced to the exhaust not exiting the engine bay (fixed with a sawzall), and the transmission fluid problem was reduced with Lucas Oil miracle stuff and tightened clamps. There was also a fuel delivery problem – as in, there was no fuel to deliver. Oops.
Sunday was more of the same, thrashing on the Renault (now with periscope-powered driver cooling). The Mustang had the custom-built clutch disk come apart in the first stint, but it was handling much better once Randy reminded us to check the air pressure in the tires. 48 in one rear and 26 in the opposite front makes for ‘interesting’ handling. Chuck pulled competitive laps, and he feels the car will actually be a contender when the bugs are worked through. It certainly sounds great and has good power and balance.
The team decided to park the Mustang until the closing laps and then have Tom get out there to finish the race. It would shift by rev matching, it just had to be started in gear. Mara and Randy and Bill and (Bill’s brother) got to drive the Renault on Sunday.
I had to leave before the end of the race to get back north. Dave and Tanner headed west to San Angelo. Judging from the time sheets, Tom did get the Mustang back out to finish the race.
In the battle between the teams, the Mustang won with 59 completed laps with a fast lap of 2:08.8, and the Dauphine made 54 with a fast lap of 2:06.1
Good times! Thanks to Blue Oval Cult and Los Bastardos for letting me hang out.