Ran the microstck out for my second race. A lotta of cars did not show up probably because of the chance of showers. Luckily we got to race but only four car showed up. They sent us out with the mini cup cars to dry the track. Fun...til my team mate decided to make a banzai pass and spun in front of me leaving me no where to go but his nerf bar. That was the best part of the day, the rest of the day we chased engine problems on all but one of the three cars. We came with four motors and left with one running!
As for our feature race, there were only three cars in our class one did not start and I limped mine home to second. Second place was both the first and last loser...at least I got a trophy.
The Final Insult: I got in the Jeep to go home and the check engine light came on...sigh... Still a good day because I got a story out of it.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Race Results
I finished dead last!
That's not the real story though, it gets good. Sweaty palms and all I climbed into the car for first practice. As soon as I squirmed into the car and started buckling stuff everything calmed down. Moments later my friends sister cranked er up, I pulled my belts extra tight and rolled out onto the track for practice. Pulling your belts tight is really REALLY important as I would later test...
First thing I noticed was the track was quite slippery, the rear kicked out under caution more than once! I thought to myslef "I'm gonna be a sitting duck!"...GREEN FLAG!
I step it up a bit but take the turns cautiously and still I'm sliding all over the place...I start settling in and just focus on making a good line and not getting all over the track, sure enough I'm catching a junior sportsman car (I later found out a young girl with a stock motor). The girl keeps taking a weird line in the corner, so I take my time, but get passed by my friends cars in the process....I'm a rookie so I wait til the straight to pass her...probably a mistake.
I get 3/4's of the way passed her and she looks at me, I look at her...She cranks the wheel to the left. Not sure why she did this, it seemed agressive, but maybe she was just cutting into the turn 100 feet early. Doubtful, but hey that's racin...
As she knocked into me I thought to myself "I can't believe anyone would...." If there were an upsidedown font I would use it right now "do this... especially under practice".
Yep I got flipped almost twice, 1.75 to be precise. I sat there kinda upside down, kinda on my side and waved to let everyone know I was ok. I did the self system diagnosis and I was shocked that I was ok, not just ok but perfectly fine. "Microstocks really are safe!"...
Then the racer kicked in, the engine was still running, I wanted to go back out there! As the track workers flipped me right side up, which was more jarring then the actual flip, I yelled through my helmet "Can I go again?". He nodded approvingly as if to say "go ahead and give it a try". I hit the gas and nothing happened. Chain was off, tires flat, bent steering etc. Send out the wrecker...
I was bummed because I thought the day was over, I'd spend days pondering whether this was such a good idea and did I REALLY want to be doing this? Of course the answer would be yes but still I needed more track time. This is what I was thinking about as the EMT asked me if I was ok "Yes"...I made some bad joke..."Are you sure you're ok?"..."I'm like this all the time"
I chatted with the wrecker guy and we dragged my car back to the trailer to assess the damage.. "hey I think we can fix it"...Wrenches hammers etc come out and my friends are all helping! Thanks!
Flash forward to second practice and the race. After yanking the sheet metal roughly into the right position I pulled out on the track again. I spent most of my time trying to figure out how to be fast (spinning twice in the process which is why I finished last). But the good news is I finally figured out you really gotta be slow to be fast and started making good laps toward the end of the race! Can't wait to get back!!! What a great day!!!
I later found out flips are really rare in Microstocks, was a pretty freak accident. One guy asid he was racing there for 4 years and hadn't seen one flip! Thanks to everyone who helped make the dream possible! Racers wear all the safety stuff and pull those belts tight!
Enough talk here's the video!
That's not the real story though, it gets good. Sweaty palms and all I climbed into the car for first practice. As soon as I squirmed into the car and started buckling stuff everything calmed down. Moments later my friends sister cranked er up, I pulled my belts extra tight and rolled out onto the track for practice. Pulling your belts tight is really REALLY important as I would later test...
First thing I noticed was the track was quite slippery, the rear kicked out under caution more than once! I thought to myslef "I'm gonna be a sitting duck!"...GREEN FLAG!
I step it up a bit but take the turns cautiously and still I'm sliding all over the place...I start settling in and just focus on making a good line and not getting all over the track, sure enough I'm catching a junior sportsman car (I later found out a young girl with a stock motor). The girl keeps taking a weird line in the corner, so I take my time, but get passed by my friends cars in the process....I'm a rookie so I wait til the straight to pass her...probably a mistake.
I get 3/4's of the way passed her and she looks at me, I look at her...She cranks the wheel to the left. Not sure why she did this, it seemed agressive, but maybe she was just cutting into the turn 100 feet early. Doubtful, but hey that's racin...
As she knocked into me I thought to myself "I can't believe anyone would...." If there were an upsidedown font I would use it right now "do this... especially under practice".
Yep I got flipped almost twice, 1.75 to be precise. I sat there kinda upside down, kinda on my side and waved to let everyone know I was ok. I did the self system diagnosis and I was shocked that I was ok, not just ok but perfectly fine. "Microstocks really are safe!"...
Then the racer kicked in, the engine was still running, I wanted to go back out there! As the track workers flipped me right side up, which was more jarring then the actual flip, I yelled through my helmet "Can I go again?". He nodded approvingly as if to say "go ahead and give it a try". I hit the gas and nothing happened. Chain was off, tires flat, bent steering etc. Send out the wrecker...
I was bummed because I thought the day was over, I'd spend days pondering whether this was such a good idea and did I REALLY want to be doing this? Of course the answer would be yes but still I needed more track time. This is what I was thinking about as the EMT asked me if I was ok "Yes"...I made some bad joke..."Are you sure you're ok?"..."I'm like this all the time"
I chatted with the wrecker guy and we dragged my car back to the trailer to assess the damage.. "hey I think we can fix it"...Wrenches hammers etc come out and my friends are all helping! Thanks!
Flash forward to second practice and the race. After yanking the sheet metal roughly into the right position I pulled out on the track again. I spent most of my time trying to figure out how to be fast (spinning twice in the process which is why I finished last). But the good news is I finally figured out you really gotta be slow to be fast and started making good laps toward the end of the race! Can't wait to get back!!! What a great day!!!
I later found out flips are really rare in Microstocks, was a pretty freak accident. One guy asid he was racing there for 4 years and hadn't seen one flip! Thanks to everyone who helped make the dream possible! Racers wear all the safety stuff and pull those belts tight!
Enough talk here's the video!
Friday, March 28, 2008
First Race this weekend!
This is it, after hours of work, a bunch of bloody knuckles and 10 feet of chain my ride is ready and I'm goin racing... I am running the 12a Microstock at Snydersville Raceway. Hoping I can keep the car in one piece and have some fun.
It Begins
Hello Internet......hello Internet
Echo.........echo
Wild Gar: –noun
a member of a nearly extinct subspecies of men. Intelligent human, Homo sapiens RacinBowlinGeekus Maximus, inhabits Northern NJ Circa 1970-and beyond
Echo.........echo
Wild Gar: –noun
a member of a nearly extinct subspecies of men. Intelligent human, Homo sapiens RacinBowlinGeekus Maximus, inhabits Northern NJ Circa 1970-and beyond
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