[Racer Duck]

As I stated previously, we have decided to scale back our Late Model competitions. Though the high fuel prices have influenced our decision, the primary reason is the total cost of competing with out a primary sponsor.

But we're still gonna be racing!

There have been ongoing "discussions" with our friend who's keeping his racers and race "stuff" at our shop about running his Modified. Monday we rearranged the cars (all 4 of them) in the shop so the Modified is in the "active" (#1) bay and the Late Model is in the #2 bay. And we've begun getting it ready to race, which means we're fixing and straightening the body from the wreck caused by the blown engine last time it ran (we've already power washed it, so it's not as dirty as it was, but still needs a lot of "shining".)

Our Late Model engine has a minor oil leak that can only be fixed by pulling the engine so we're gonna do that, probably tomorrow. But, instead of putting it back in the Late Model, we're gonna use it in the Modified (since it's legal for that class.)

Today we secured the services of a long-time friend and racer who has extensive Modified experience, both as a crew chief and as a driver. He'll help us get the car set up (we've never fooled with Modifieds before so it's a new world) and will crew chief it. We may even have him drive it to see if our driver is up to par (this was entirely my son's idea, and since he's the driver, I can only agree ) He's also gonna help us on the Late Model.

The big benefit of Modifed racing is we won't be buying tires every race .. in fact I understand most folks get by with as few as 3 sets for an entire year (12 races.) At $500 a set, that adds up quick. Plus,we should use less fuel (at $8 a gallon) since the car is lighter.

But, never fear, we still intend to race the Late Model, just not as often.

And as time goes on, we're refining our plans for the Super Late Models (ours and our friend's) since we're now focused on running Alabama-Georgia-Florida with them. "Long distance racing" requires a completely different mindset, as well as more equipment that we don't have...

[Racer Duck]

Just realized I hadn't updated everyone on the results of the Modified outing.

Now, I'm going by what I've been told 'cause I was at a family reunion (required since I had planned it!) instead of at the track.

First off, a couple things: the car is too small for my son; his knees hit the dashboard and his head touches the roof without his helmet on! Still he tried and did pretty well .. considering.

There were only 8 cars in the field, he qualified 5th (not bad for the first time in that type car.) About 9 laps into the race the panhard bar broke, ending his day. He said up 'till then he was just riding .. half throttle, no problem catching the guy in front of him .. just waiting for the laps to tick off before he made a charge.

Back at the shop found several other things that had "gone wrong" (loose ball joints, etc.) But, my son said he wouldn't race that car any more. It was just too uncomfortable.

************

On a different note. As we were getting the Modified ready to race, we were still taking some things off the Late Model that needed fixing, rebuilding, etc.. But we couldn't get the LR axle out. It seemed to be frozen in the rear end. We put it off until we could spend more time on it.

Over the past weekend, we took the rear end out and split apart (it's a quick change and everything bolts to the center section.) Had to drive the axle out of the locker with a hammer. Axle was split, lengthwise, about half it's length. After tearing down the locker we found the cause: an internal gear that the axle goes into also had split and froze up, causing the axle to split and twist in the gear which prevented it from sliding out like it should have. A little more investigation and we knew why: seems the manufacturer's instructions for the torque setting in the locker says it should never be more than 140 ft/lbs. -- ours was reading over 240 ft/lbs!!!

We took another rear end apart that we had and disassembled it's locker (they're the same kind), but it was pretty badly worn. So now we're searching for another gear. Just haven't had a chance to check the manuracturer's website. Also turns out the other locker needs some major pieces replaced because of wear. We had already decided to sell the 2nd rear end because it was a differnet brand that's wider than everything else we have and we would have had to buy more axles to get it narrowed up enough to meet the series specs. Since we have a 9" Ford laying around, we're gonna use it instead of buying another quickchange.

Our next race should be July 26th so we have plenty of time.

We've also secured the services of another racer to be our setup specialist. He said as long as he doesn't have to crawl under the car he'll do it (sounds kinda like me, doesn't it?)

[wingkey1]

Excerpt from RD post: "First off, a couple things: the car is too small for my son; his knees hit the dashboard and his head touches the roof without his helmet on"

RD, ya gotta find another series/sanctioning body/whatever yesterday. I ("We" for those concerned with the mouse) have served on the inspection/safety/governing body contingent at/for more than one class of sanctioned motorsport competition. There is no friggin' way in Hates that your son or anyone else would ever see the track with the described situation existing. Ever ---- ever. When a team presented a driver/equipment with anything approaching conditions such as this we would make special and focused effort to help them see that were they to take personal responsibility for things like this, we (the sanctioning body) could better spend our time.

Disturbing.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by wingkey1

Excerpt from RD post: "First off, a couple things: the car is too small for my son; his knees hit the dashboard and his head touches the roof without his helmet on"

RD, ya gotta find another series/sanctioning body/whatever yesterday. I ("We" for those concerned with the mouse) have served on the inspection/safety/governing body contingent at/for more than one class of sanctioned motorsport competition. There is no friggin' way in Hates that your son or anyone else would ever see the track with the described situation existing. Ever ---- ever. When a team presented a driver/equipment with anything approaching conditions such as this we would make special and focused effort to help them see that were they to take personal responsibility for things like this, we (the sanctioning body) could better spend our time.

Disturbing.

Not as bad as it seems, just not made for a guy 6'4" 200 lbs. The owner/driver is only 6'1" and about 150 lbs and the cockpit was custom made to fit him.

When my son decided to try to race the car, the first thing he did (or tried to do) was get in the car .. but the driver's door window was so small he couldn't wiggle thru. But we took that body off and replaced it with a different one with bigger window openings. We also moved some switch panels and brackets that were rubbing on his right knee. But the way the rules are written, there's nothing can be done about the roof height. We did shim the rear up about an inch to give some extra clearance (the roof is attached to the cage halo at the rear .. no rear posts) - though I fear we exceeded the allowed roof rake in the rules. And, I understand they taped a towel on the underside of the roof to keep his helmet from getting scratched by the roof skin.

Anyway, like I said, my son said he's not gonna drive that car again so no problem with not fitting in it. If we decide to go modified racing again, it'll be with a different car .. one that fits. They're dying for more cars and I'm sure we can find one laying around that we could use... Some of these guys have 2 or 3.

[clutch]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

Not as bad as it seems, just not made for a guy 6'4" 200 lbs. The owner/driver is only 6'1" and about 150 lbs and the cockpit was custom made to fit him.

When my son decided to try to race the car, the first thing he did (or tried to do) was get in the car .. but the driver's door window was so small he couldn't wiggle thru. But we took that body off and replaced it with a different one with bigger window openings. We also moved some switch panels and brackets that were rubbing on his right knee. But the way the rules are written, there's nothing can be done about the roof height. We did shim the rear up about an inch to give some extra clearance (the roof is attached to the cage halo at the rear .. no rear posts) - though I fear we exceeded the allowed roof rake in the rules. And, I understand they taped a towel on the underside of the roof to keep his helmet from getting scratched by the roof skin.

Anyway, like I said, my son said he's not gonna drive that car again so no problem with not fitting in it. If we decide to go modified racing again, it'll be with a different car .. one that fits. They're dying for more cars and I'm sure we can find one laying around that we could use... Some of these guys have 2 or 3.

Thanks for the updates RD........6'4" bloody hell

[Bob Tanner]

Hey Duck... Are you guys coming over to run one of the Miller Lite Super Late Model races? If so, give me a shout...

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

Hey Duck... Are you guys coming over to run one of the Miller Lite Super Late Model races? If so, give me a shout...

If "we" ever figure out what we're gonna do, and decide to head that direction, I'd just that. We still have the SLM engine sitting on the engine stand in the "engine room". And we still need to replace those parts that were "borrowed" to make the Late Model work (like the seat, rear end, transmission, shocks, and a few other "minor" parts.)

Today we were talking about what we're gonna do to the SLM .. have pretty much decided to put a new front clip on it. Discussion was whether to stay with rack & pinion or go to standard steering box (after all, if standard steering box is good enough for the Cup cars, why not the SLM?) Our local Lefthander dealer (and fellow racer) will probably do the re-clip and he thinks there's no advantage to the rack. His son, Colt James, is running one over in the southeast and doing real well with it. The advantage to us is we can setup the SLM to convert to Late Model rules with just an engine change so we'd be able to run just about anywhere (on asphalt, that is.) That is very attractive.

Meanwhile we're getting the Late Model ready for our next race on the 26th at Kyle. Took it out last Fri nite for a little practice and the engine went sour and started acting like it was gonna sieze up (this after 8 laps!) It looks like the valve springs are shot. They're supposed to read a minimum of 140 lbs, but the best we could get any of them is 130, with several around 80. And there were some broken also. We have a car show Saturday (at a local shopping center) so whether it runs or not we'll be ok. It might take longer to get the springs than that, but we'll definitely be ready to race the following week.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

If "we" ever figure out what we're gonna do, and decide to head that direction, I'd just that. We still have the SLM engine sitting on the engine stand in the "engine room". And we still need to replace those parts that were "borrowed" to make the Late Model work (like the seat, rear end, transmission, shocks, and a few other "minor" parts.)

Today we were talking about what we're gonna do to the SLM .. have pretty much decided to put a new front clip on it. Discussion was whether to stay with rack & pinion or go to standard steering box (after all, if standard steering box is good enough for the Cup cars, why not the SLM?) Our local Lefthander dealer (and fellow racer) will probably do the re-clip and he thinks there's no advantage to the rack. His son, Colt James, is running one over in the southeast and doing real well with it. The advantage to us is we can setup the SLM to convert to Late Model rules with just an engine change so we'd be able to run just about anywhere (on asphalt, that is.) That is very attractive.

Meanwhile we're getting the Late Model ready for our next race on the 26th at Kyle. Took it out last Fri nite for a little practice and the engine went sour and started acting like it was gonna sieze up (this after 8 laps!) It looks like the valve springs are shot. They're supposed to read a minimum of 140 lbs, but the best we could get any of them is 130, with several around 80. And there were some broken also. We have a car show Saturday (at a local shopping center) so whether it runs or not we'll be ok. It might take longer to get the springs than that, but we'll definitely be ready to race the following week.

It was trials and tribulations such as your above which, decades ago, made Bobby decide that he'd make either a better driver or a fan than an owner/mechanic.

Since I was pretty much a horse-crap driver I decided being a fan was my role in the racing world. So far it's fitted me well. I'm a guy who knows his limitations.

I won't wish you "Good luck," because, obviously in your case, relating your mechanical progress to "luck" would be an insult. Instead I'll just say, "Do it to the best of your abilities and you'll succeed."

[Racer Duck]

Time for an update.

WARNING: this post might get pretty long winded .. but then most of my posts are, so what's new?

First, the car show.

We showed up bright and early on Saturday and by the time we had unloaded both cars (our friend's SLM and our Late Model), pushed them into place on the parking lot and setup our EZ-UP tents, we found out it was a 2 day show! By early in the afternoon we finally decided we would come back the next day (so smiles all around from the organizers.)

Turns out this deal was bigger than we thought, and not at a shopping center, but put on by the largest grocery chain in Texas (HEB Food Stores.) Here's what they had on the agenda for Saturday:

• the car show presented by Thunderhill Raceway (8 race cars: 1 SLM, 2 Late Models, 2 Super Stocks, 2 grand stock and 1 pro sedan),
• a Tai Kwando exhibition,
• 3 different BBQ trailers (Meyer's Sausage, known around here as "Elgin Hot Sausage" and Shiner Sausage & BBQ - both dispensing samples - and a plate of BBQ provided by HEB, complete with pie, ice cream and cold bottled water) - all free!,
• one of those bouncy things kids love to jump around in,
• the Austin Police had a patrol car there for folks to look over and crawl in and out of (they were pushing a learn to read program for kids) plus a couple of their motorcycle units (who lit up the afternoon with their flashing lights and sirens several times),
• the Austin Fire Department showed up with a big "ladder" truck which, as I understand it, was pretty unusaual because it not only had a ladder but also a 1500 gallon water tank .. and
• the big draw: Earl Campbell signing autographs inside the grocery store (boy has he gotten chubby and grey!)

Every hour or so we'd start the cars up, make a lot of noise for a couple minutes then go back to a less noisy affair. Of course, lots of kids (and a few that were past kidhood) got to get into the race cars, look (and touch) almost everything on them (no starting them!) from bumper to bumper, take pictures and talk to the racers and crews.

One of the motorcycle cops was a lover of any kind of race or muscle cars and spent almost the entire day talking to us and "memorizing" every detail of our cars. He really wanted to hear the SLM run, but we hadn't come prepared to start it (it had a dead battery.) We promised him we'd be back Sunday and would have the car capable of starting. He wrote us a traffic citation. (go to our website; in the "Gallery" are pix of the car show and our "citation".)

Sunday came and only 5 cars showed, Shiner Sausage went home, the bouncy thing didn't come back and I don't know if Earl made another appearance or not, but I never saw him. The motorcycle cop showed up in his bathing suit & t-shirt with his family in tow (they were on their way to a family shindig involving swimming in San Antonio) so we started the SLM so he and his 12 year old son could hear it. The cop's eyes glazed over and he didn't want to leave, but I think his wife convinced him the ramifications of
staying were way beyond what he was capable of withstanding!

Just as we were getting ready to start loading up, a young couple wandered by: he was a devout NASCAR fan and his favorite driver is Jimmy Johnson. (You'd be proud of the Duck: I said nary a word against HMS nor their drivers.) Turns out this guy does custom paint jobs on cars and motorcycles plus has a decal making machine. I showed him around the car and invited him to come to the races Saturday .. gave him some 2 for 1 discount coupons for tickets we'd been passing out. He started talking about doing decals for our car for, basically, free! Naturally I was interested. All he wanted was to be able to put his small logo somewhere on the car. I got his card and we said goodbye. When we got home I told my son about this guy and what he'd offered.

Monday, my son came home from work and asked me about the decal guy. I said I hadn't called him, but would if he needed something. Turns out our engine builder had just repainted his race truck and needed numbers. He was also racing in Corpus Christi on Saturday, but leaving Friday morning to spend a day at the beach before the race. After several phone calls, some emails and a trip to the decal guy's house, we got a set of numbers for our engine guy .. Friday. But we had a plan: another truck racer (the guy we'd bought the Late Model from) was going to race in Corpus Christi also, but had run into a problem: he needed tires and there were none available (the track had told the truck guys they weren't able to get any tires, so the racers would have to bring their own.) Turns out we had some used ones in the shop. We agreed to let him have the tires in return for using his pit stall at the track Saturday and taking the decals to our engine guy. After taking the Late Model (with the race trailer) to the track Friday evening and parking it, we went by and dropped off the tires and decals, thus killing several birds with one stone, so to speak.

Saturday:

We got to the track about 10 AM. And discovered our trailer had been moved .. to a better spot! Turns out we had parked in a "long" stall (the 2nd racer's grandfather actually had leased 3 stalls side by side) which was needed by a team with one of those 40 foot trailers. It kind of complicated us getting setup since they hadn't pulled our trailer far enough into the stall but we borrowed another racer and his truck to move our trailer farther back into the stall .. our truck was on it's way to the track. It was a really good stall: fully paved, right next to the scales and tech area and the other end of the stall housed the pit concession stand and restrooms! We finally got everything moved around and setup.

At 12:30 was an "open practice" that we were determined to make. And we did .. for 1 lap. The "legal" transmission we had gotten wouldn't go into high gear. (Grumble, grumble) So we pulled it out and put the old "illegal" one back in. By the time we were done, only 5 minutes were left in the half hour open practice .. so we blew that off: we had 3 more practice sessions coming up during the afternoon.

Our new crew chief arrived and we began implementing a plan of action to make the best use of our remaining practice sessions. I was in charge of tires. It was then I discovered we didn't bring an impact wrench with us. We finally got that worked out.

Practice #1 went as planned. But after practice, our brand new jack locked up! We finally got it working again.

Practice #2 also went as planned, but had very high oil temperature. (Alarm bells ringing! Last time this happened we lost the engine.) Well, we'll just charge on and try to get a good qualifying effort. Put some extra tape on the grill (to raise the water temp - it was hanging about 170, but the engine won't make power until it reaches 200.) As we were taking the car off the jack stands in preparation for the next practice, it slipped off the jack crunching the driver's door.

Practice #3 also went as planned. Even though we were following the plan and seeing results, our lap times were staying the same. Oh well, add 5 gallons of gas, put on the new tires and wait for qualifying.

Oh yeah, rogue gusts of wind came thru the pits several times and sent unattached hoods flying and all but destroyed EZ-UP tents. We had 2 tents .. both damaged, but we repaired one with a couple broomsticks and soldiered on.

The Duck had to find a cool, quiet place. The heat was getting to him, that and the pain in the back from bending over all afternoon. 2 bottles of ice cold water and a large gatorade later he was feeling like he'd live. Felt even better after a helping of chili cheese fries around 3:30 (first thing I'd had to eat since breakfast - not good for the diet, but it did make my tummy feel better.)

Oh, yeah. By now my son (our driver) is completely stressed out wondering what else is gonna happen and getting pretty grumpy...

Qualifying .. we were around 10th in line, about halfway thru the field. We did pretty well, a provisional 5th. But by the time the fast guys got thru we were shoved back to 15th. Still, we'd improved our lap time from our first practice by almost a whole second!

The race starts and we are on the outside .. heading quickly for the back. Finally stop the slide at 19th and run there for a while. Then several wrecks (which we miss) and an irritating driver who kept banging on our rear bumper and almost spun us once, who we finally let by (and decided not to return the favor 'cause we didn't want to be sent to the back cause by then we were around 14th.)

Some more wrecks and a couple passes and we're running 10th. Two laps to go and ... caution. Restart in 10th .. white flag .. oh no, the engine's acting up .. maybe it'll make it .. turn 4 .. BAM! it lets go .. we coast across the line .. 11th .. lots of expensive Joe Gibbs racing oil pouring onto the track. The wrecker has to push us back to the pits. A big hole in the side of the oil pan .. we can see the crank shaft and where a piston rod should have been - that rod must have been the sparks we saw under the car when the engine let go .. debris on the track!

Post Race "Celebration": the decal guy and his wife were our guests at the race. He is now a sponsor. He's gonna repaint the car (all new colors) and do the graphics so we have the "Best Looking Car at the Track" (his words.) Within an hour of getting to the track he was already working on sponsorhip ideas. Turns out he's got lots of contacts in lots of places that can help us. For one of them we need to change the nose from a Dodge Challenger to a Chevy Monte Carlo, cause it's a big Chevy dealer where he used to work (top Corvette Salesman in Texas!) We said,
"no problem". After the races he wanted to meet the track owner, so I introduced him. Now he's gonna repaint victory circle and a Budweiser sign that's gotten pretty faded for the track!!! And he already has deals working to get more involved in the local racing scene. (We're hoping it's all true 'cause the guy seems really sincere and appears to be a real go getter, but we're not holding our breath...been there, done that!)

Post Post Race Celebration: Races were over at 11PM. About 1PM, after lots of bench racing and generally relaxing/winding down, we loaded the car. Then most of the crew and the decal guy and his wife went home. We stayed a little longer .. finally left at 3AM .. having made more contacts within the racing community that have offered to give us information/suggestions/help...and having consumed way too much beer (gosh I hope all those people remember what they promised....)

Good thing the highway patrol was elsewhere 'cause we would not have
passed a breath-alizer test though we made sure to drive straight, on our side of the highway, 5 mph under the speed limit.

The dogs were glad to see us as they hadn't eaten since Friday evening! But then they're always glad to see us .. they're dogs!

[clutch]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

Post Race "Celebration": the decal guy and his wife were our guests at the race. He is now a sponsor. He's gonna repaint the car (all new colors) and do the graphics so we have the "Best Looking Car at the Track" (his words.) Within an hour of getting to the track he was already working on sponsorhip ideas. Turns out he's got lots of contacts in lots of places that can help us. For one of them we need to change the nose from a Dodge Challenger to a Chevy Monte Carlo, cause it's a big Chevy dealer where he used to work (top Corvette Salesman in Texas!) We said,
"no problem". After the races he wanted to meet the track owner, so I introduced him. Now he's gonna repaint victory circle and a Budweiser sign that's gotten pretty faded for the track!!! And he already has deals working to get more involved in the local racing scene. (We're hoping it's all true 'cause the guy seems really sincere and appears to be a real go getter, but we're not holding our breath...been there, done that!)

Wow, lets hope that he aint all talk and he is able to deliver.......that will be fantastic!
Good you were able to coast over for 11th after the engine let go

[Racer Duck]

Thought I'd bring ya'll up to date.

The sponsor thing didn't work out. We did have another one interested, and they did a partial for one race, but it didn't work out either.

So here's the latest concerning the racing part.

In practicing for the August 30 race, we blew our engine and were unable to even make a qualifying run. It was not a good weekend for us, to say the least.

Hurricane Ike blew in and caused the September 13 race to be postponed to the following weekend. Though there was not much wind nor rain around here, that was OK .. we were never so happy to see weather disrupt racing plans as it allowed us to finish getting the new motor together (our new parts were slow .. more like a week late .. getting to us) and to finish some of the other things we had not completed the week before.

(Isn't it strange when you think you have enough time, you don't .. and when you don't think there's enough time, there really is?)

Our new motor seemed to run fine but had us worried because of high oil temperature. After consulting our engine builder and another prominent engine builder in the area (who happened to be at the track), we decided to continue with our racing plans, paying special attention to the engine, ready to shut it down at the first sign of problems. As luck would have it, nothing happened! Boy were we relieved. Well, not exactly nothing . but the engine worked like a charm.

We were having a problem with the front end acting strangely and couldn't locate the problem. In discussing our situation with another racer, we decided we needed to take a special look at our shocks and finally decided the culprit was the left front shock. But we didn't have a proper replacement for it so took one that was close and put it on for qualifying.. That 3 laps confirmed we were on the right track. However, the brakes were also giving us some problems and we had to pull out of impound to address the brake problem (ya can't race with no front brakes!) That turned out to be the new (to us) calipers we had just installed on the front. Further collaboration with the other racer revealed we were fighting a problem caused by the new brakes being too big!!! The solution was to swap them with the back brakes, but, again, there was not enough time to do that before the race. We did make some adjustments that helped the situation, but only barely.

In the race we were doing pretty good, moviing up thru the field when a serious vibration started .. after a few laps discussing the problem on the radio, Cory pulled into the pits so we could check the engine to make sure the harmonic balancer hadn't come loose. It was fine. Since the oil temp was still high, but not as bad as before, we left the hood off for additional cooling. A few laps after he returned to the track our air cleaner came off, but the engine ran better!!! A wreck near the end of the race left debris on the track that wasn't cleaned up. We picked up a piece in our right rear tire and the tire slowly went flat .. but the race ended before it went flat enough to cause problems even tho we suffered a couple squirley laps at the very end.

Somehow we had dodged several bullets at last week's race. We're hoping our luck holds for the big 2 day, end of season show this coming weekend.

[Racer Duck]

Figured it was about time to give a little update.

After going thru 3 engines, we think we found the culprit: the block had a worn area by the cam gear that allowed the cam to move too far back which was putting the distributor and oil pump in a bind which resulted in the engine timing changing (loosing power) and oiling problems (ka-boom!)

Now we have a new block, and almost all new parts in side it. We've got a new "super" intake manifold (just on the market - our speed shop got it for us), the carb has been overhauled by the speed shop expert, the car was scaled Wed nite and the radios are charged. So we're off to the races. Tonight is practice and tomorrow we race.

The major problem right now is the heat .. it's been over 100 degrees for weeks and no letup in sight. In fact at 9PM last night (just dark) the temp was still in the mid 90's as we loaded the trailer.

One of our sponsors gave us a 7KW Onan generator so we can run the A/C in the trailer while at the track (sometimes track power is marginal, especially when it's wet or hot.) And I heard he's bringing his motorhome to the track so I have a place to go lay down and cool off.

And, for those who don't know, we've been turning times in the Top 5 in practice, even with our engine problems. In fact, the dad of the guy who's winning all the races, who also has a race car setup service, can always be seen at the fence timing us when we're on the track. Makes us think if we can get some consistent performance out of our engine we'll be in the thick of it for podium finishes...

[Racer Duck]

Well, we did OK .. sorta.

We decided after Friday nite practice to make changes to the car so we'd run as an "Open" motor rather than a "2 bbl" .. basically that meant adding 75 lbs of weight and putting on our good 390 4 bbl. Not only did it pickup the motor, but it ran lots cooler. Our major problem was we had so much power we were having trouble getting it hooked up.

We qualified 8th (out of 12) .. at the drop of the green the guy in front of us turned right coming out of 4 and hit the wall ending his night. That moved us up to starting 6th. We were doing OK, but a couple crashes later, we'd dropped back to 8th again (no, we didn't crash, but a couple other guys had their nights ruined.)

By the time the checkered waved 50 laps later, we'd managed to finish 7th. But the thing we were most proud of was we had no scratches on the car, the engine ran fine, no overheating, and we ran every lap of the race! But we're pretty sure the rear tires are completely used up so the next race will require new skins (that'll set us back $500 in addition to everything else!)

We'd initially thought about heading for Houston next weekend, but decided there were enough handling issues that we needed to overcome that it would be better if we spent the week addressing them and then verifying we'd done right with a night of practice, then going to Houston 2 weeks later. After all, we aren't in the points hunt, so there's no reason to bust our rear ends trying to make a race when we aren't ready...

If you're interested, you can find the race stats at MyLaps.com || Race and practice results powered by AMB i.t. transponders .. we're Pro Mod #61.

[Racer Duck]

The 8/1 Houston race is history. And it was.....

Well, why don't you decide? I've titled it "It was a bad day and then..."

Grandson Justin and I got to the track (Houston), with the racecar in tow, Fri a little before 7PM and the track appeared to be closed! Nobody was at the entrance gate. Then we noticed the sign that said they opened on Fri nights at 7PM .. we had 15 minutes to wait, so we did. At about 5 'till a pickup drove thru the gates and went in to the pits or somewhere back there. 7PM came and went and no-one showed, then we heard a racecar engine start. So, decided if one was in the pits, we'd make it two! But when we got there we found out it was more like a dozen!

After setting up the trailer and unloading the car and getting started changing the rear gears (we had a better ratio to put in) the rest started arriving (my son, Cory, the driver, Cory's wife and our crew chief.) We finished the gear change and got the car ready for practice.

Oh, I almost forgot .. actually, I can't forget it .. I did this for a dramatic pause .

The weather was stifling!!! Temp in the mid to high 90's, and the humidity just under 100%!!! Not only were all our clothes dripping with sweat, I was having trouble breathing outside due to the humidity and had to spend a lot of time in the trailer with the A/C. Actually, I could breathe OK until I tried to do some work, then I was good for about 3-4 minutes before I had to make it to the fans and A/C.

That went on all weekend. Almost ruined my weekend .. almost.

I got the job of "spotting" during the practice so all I had to do was sit down and run my mouth. The most effort I put in was going to the top of the stands and then back down. But all that running (actually slowly walking) back and forth was tiring so I just stayed up in the stands until we had a long break and they called me back to the pits. Worked out good, there was a refreshing breeze up there .. and shade! And a big ole sea bird was up there .. looking for eats. But I was bigger than he wanted so he gave me a wide berth.

We seemed to be fast at times and then way off at others. We discovered our right rear spring had a habit of not seating properly when we took the car off the jack, so we made a mental note to check it every time. And we did .. mostly. We finally got the car handling about where we wanted it, so put it away and headed back to the RV to cool off and have some supper. That was about 11PM. I had consumed what seemed like 10 gallons of water and juice .. but it all "leaked" out...I was soaked, but cooling down...

The next morning we finally dragged our tired bodies out of bed about 8:30 AM, had some breakfast tacos and coffee then headed off to the pits. As we were putting the nitrogen into the 2 new tires the track officials ran everyone out of the pits, out to the main gate, so we could all get signed in, pay our entrance fees, get our pit passes and "be counted". That was about 11AM .. the track gates didn't "officially" open until noon. So we stood around, in the heat, waiting. There was maybe a hundred of us .. lots of "bench racing" .. they finally started "processing" us about a quarter 'till and I was glad 'cause I wasn't feeling so good by then (I started to say "hot" instead of "good", but that's really the wrong word 'cause I was exactly that: HOT!)

So after we got back into the pits and finished putting on the new tires, we took the car to Tech .. and failed! Seems we had two problems: 1) not enough roll cage padding and 2) the front of the car was too low!!! We were able to borrow some padding from one of the other racers and made the adjustments to raise the front of the car.

And we took the car out for the 1st Practice. Without having any experience on what was a good time, we thought we were just OK. When they posted times we weren't on the list!!! Turns out they had another name associated with our car number. We got that straightened out and were 11th fastest of 16 cars. About where we thought we'd be. We made a some minor adjustments and went out for 2nd Practice. What a difference!!! We were 7th fastest and had picked up 3/10ths of a second. Our hot miserable day was looking up! They set the Feature starting position by best practice time!

In our Heat Race (the "fast" heat) we took the lead in turn 2 of lap 3 and was pulling away when the Yellow was waved. But when we lined up for restart, we had to drop back to 3rd since that was our position at the end of lap 2. Still good .. all we had to do was maintain and we'd have a good starting slot.

A lap or so after the restart Cory had decided the 2 cars in front of him were way slow so he went outside and had passed the 2nd place car and was almost outside the leader when the leader drove out to the wall then slowed down .. coming out of turn 4. By the time Cory got slowed down, he'd fallen to the back of the pack.

On the last lap there was a spin in front of us (we missed it) and after we got past it the car developed a "thunk" .. Cory headed to the pits. It took us a while to find the cause. Turns out the lower left ball joint had broken loose from the control arm. It needed to be welded back in place .. and there were no welders in the pits .. everyone who had one was in the infield with their pit carts.

Dejected we called it quits for the night. On my way to the stands to tell my cousin (whom I hadn't seen for 40+years and was attending his very first asphalt race) what had happened, I saw our sponsor (Fred) and stopped to chat with him, letting him know what had happened. He also supplies the pace car for the TSRS Late Model Series who were racing that night also. And his car had been pressed into service when the track's pace truck had developed mechanical problems. After I left him to sit with my cousin, he sought out the track owner (Graham), told him our plight, received the keys to the track garage and was told to "use whatever you need." And they did, while I sat in the stands oblivious to what was going on.

After intermission I headed to the pits to see if I could help with loading the car only to find that it was sitting there ready to race!!! Cory explained what had happened. And Fred stopped by for a few seconds .. I almost kissed him!!! ... almost.

And so, we started 7th! As the race got under way we were had gotten ourselves solidly into 5th; then 4th when one of the leaders got blacked flagged. On the last lap the leaders tangled and we were able to sneak thru into 2nd Place!!! And the 2nd fastest qualifier was on our bumper but couldn't catch us.

We couldn't believe it. A couple hours before we had been ready to load the car and go home without even starting the race. Now we have the 2nd place trophy. Cory even got interviewed after the race!

The guy who finished 3rd, who also had the 2nd fastest practice time, said he did everything he could to catch and pass us, but we were just too fast. He'd had an incident that had caused him to loose some positions early in the race and had worked his way up to us by mid race but that's as far as he got.

So now we have a Top 5 car, and it's not a fluke. We were actually THAT fast!!! AND we know there's more speed still in the car!

[Bob Tanner]

Congrats on a good weekend, Charlie. Which track did you run at, the ½-mile with the concrete turns out on the Parkway?

Please watch yourself and that Texas heat.