my essay from the race

The race:

During test n tune, had a broken radiator inlet.  Of course, the first item on my list of spare parts to bring-  Radiator.  Did we bring it?  Of course not.  Steve drove an entire turbo coupe to the race, and we'd need the whole thing.  John was up to 4th after his first stint, when driver change/ fuel was finished, we fell back to 11th.  I lost 1 spot to 12th during my stint, if I recall correctly, and we had a red flag.  Of course, I was booking on a long straight, then had to come to a complete stop.  Rotors warped.  Felt it immediately after we started back up.  We had a few other issues during the day, minor ones. Turbo to I/c hose cut from overtightening, VAM to turbo had a small hole, and turbo to I/C at different points in the race.  Steve's car provided us w/ all necessary parts.

We did get one black flag, Chip spun going into T1 on his first or 2nd lap.  When asked what happened by Jay, he replied, "I need to take out about 1 lb on the right rear, and a couple of turns on the trackbar."  That's what I remember hearing, anyway.  Jay had a puzzled look on his face, and said, "does anyone care to translate?"  I jumped right in, "What he meant to say, your honor, is that he ran out of talent at the end of the straight."  This explanation satisfied him.  Chip got a verbal pat on the bottom and was sent on his way.

Oil was a non issue, used 2 1/2 quarts or so over the race. Water leak was a minor issue, and it was in a tough place to repair with a hot engine.

We had a 40 minute period where we hadn't put gas in it, got a water leak, refilled water, then would not start. Steve theorized some sort of vapor lock (winter gas?). We put 5 gallons of cool fuel in, she started right up.

Exhaust/ clogged cat (?) replaced before the race. Found our lost power, but still didn't boost over 11 psi. The upside is we had the only t 2.3 that didn't blow a head gasket (out of 3).  If either of you t 2.3 teams read this, could you share your boostage w/ me?

Finished 17th out of 71 cars. The non scheduled stop and the 20-30 minute water refills in the last 3 hours really pushed us back in the standings. We were as high as 4th, and before the water problem were running solidly in 11th or 12th. Of course, there were faster cars that broke saying "what if" too, so we won by finishing once again.

On a side note: Aside from the 600 HP camaro, we had plenty of power. We were one of the fastest cars on track Sunday, passing almost everything at will. We passed the great handling cars in the straights and the v8's in the turns. I was passed by the winning Alfa, the topless Supra, and the 200 sx (w/ the flux capacitor disguised as a giraffe) and 1 or 2 others in my 90 minutes.  The hanling (rh turns)went away in the final 30 minutes of my stint, and when I came in, about 30% of the tread was gone on the lf tire.    New neg camber helped immensely around turns, although the LF tire took a beating. The track was mostly RH turns, and only 10 turns over 2 miles. Lots of high speed through corners. Looking for stiffer springs (>500 lbs/in front/ ??? lbs/inch rear, used of course). This should really get us cooking.  The team consensus is that we're stopping for driver changes too often  we changed every hour the first day, the 90 minutes day 2.  The guys want to go single 120 min shifts day 1.  This should get us around 15 laps. 

Going over all hoses for next season. Should also check gas, hard brake lines, etc.

As usual, great show by the staff, and everyone I met or saw was friendly and helpful.  A great party where we get to drive fast for a while.  I learn new stuff every time out watching other drivers and admire the tenacity you all show, even when everything has gone to shit.

Thanks to all of you, as well as my co drivers:  John, Chip, and Steve.  To Mario for managing the chaos, and my good friend Tom (Hop Sing).