crash
10-04-2022, 02:50 PM
We are racing a 4.5 hour endurance race this weekend.
It has been a tough season for us. Let me recap and maybe answer some people's questions as to why we have not raced more this year.
Here is a recap of the season so far...
Feb 12th Willow Springs 2.5 hour. Had a brake issue mid way through the race. Got that fixed but finished almost last because of time lost in the paddock.
March 26th Auto Club Speedway (Fontana) 3 hour. Dry sump pump failed at hour 2. Finished almost last.
June 11th Auto Club Speedway 4 hour. I did not want to risk the engine that lost the dry sump pump so I put in a new crate engine. Was dynoing that engine on a chassis dyno the day before the race and the #7 and #8 pistons decided they did not want to play nice. Blew engine on dyno. Later found out that GM has had a lot of issues with crate engines lately. This had the number plate indicating it was one in the bad batch.
July 29th Utah 6 hour. I tried to get another crate engine that was not part of the bad batch, but after getting mixed feedback about what would be a "good" engine and what would not be (I still don't know for sure) I decided to just bite the bullet and ordered a Katech long block. Could not make this race.
September 19th Laguna Seca 6.5 hour. I ALMOST got everything done for this race. That was the plan as there were actually three races that weekend. A USTCC event combined with Indy Car, the NASA National Championships, and then the 6.5 hour race the day after the Championships. We wanted to run in ALL of those. The car was ready but I could not get the required chassis dyno time to verify everything was working properly. As this new engine is not a crate engine and the costs involved are significant, I opted to wait, miss that weekend, and get a dyno session in before running it on track. This was really a downer for me and the team as this was likely a once in a lifetime triple race weekend. Very tough decision.
That brings us to this weekend. I did get the dyno session in and it was a good thing I waited as there was significant tuning to be done.
The new engine was not just a new engine but pretty much everything from the firewall back that relates to the engine has been replaced. Cooling system, oiling system, wiring, and fuel system. We are talking serious performance upgrades here.
This weekend will be the big test to see if there is even a chance that we run the 25 hour race this year.
If anyone is interested in joining us at Button Willow the first warm up session on saturday is 8AM. Race starts at 4:30PM and will end at 9PM
Of course, I will post results early next week.
It has been a tough season for us. Let me recap and maybe answer some people's questions as to why we have not raced more this year.
Here is a recap of the season so far...
Feb 12th Willow Springs 2.5 hour. Had a brake issue mid way through the race. Got that fixed but finished almost last because of time lost in the paddock.
March 26th Auto Club Speedway (Fontana) 3 hour. Dry sump pump failed at hour 2. Finished almost last.
June 11th Auto Club Speedway 4 hour. I did not want to risk the engine that lost the dry sump pump so I put in a new crate engine. Was dynoing that engine on a chassis dyno the day before the race and the #7 and #8 pistons decided they did not want to play nice. Blew engine on dyno. Later found out that GM has had a lot of issues with crate engines lately. This had the number plate indicating it was one in the bad batch.
July 29th Utah 6 hour. I tried to get another crate engine that was not part of the bad batch, but after getting mixed feedback about what would be a "good" engine and what would not be (I still don't know for sure) I decided to just bite the bullet and ordered a Katech long block. Could not make this race.
September 19th Laguna Seca 6.5 hour. I ALMOST got everything done for this race. That was the plan as there were actually three races that weekend. A USTCC event combined with Indy Car, the NASA National Championships, and then the 6.5 hour race the day after the Championships. We wanted to run in ALL of those. The car was ready but I could not get the required chassis dyno time to verify everything was working properly. As this new engine is not a crate engine and the costs involved are significant, I opted to wait, miss that weekend, and get a dyno session in before running it on track. This was really a downer for me and the team as this was likely a once in a lifetime triple race weekend. Very tough decision.
That brings us to this weekend. I did get the dyno session in and it was a good thing I waited as there was significant tuning to be done.
The new engine was not just a new engine but pretty much everything from the firewall back that relates to the engine has been replaced. Cooling system, oiling system, wiring, and fuel system. We are talking serious performance upgrades here.
This weekend will be the big test to see if there is even a chance that we run the 25 hour race this year.
If anyone is interested in joining us at Button Willow the first warm up session on saturday is 8AM. Race starts at 4:30PM and will end at 9PM
Of course, I will post results early next week.