Had taken the car back to the builder for him to straighten the frame, which was severly bent. He did a remarkable job straightening it.
Got everything put back in it, and had to replace the right lower a-frame and brake line (cut during wreck). Also had to straighten the sheet metal on the right side. Re-strung the car, and had to move the rearend over about an inch to the right. Three of the four rims were bent from the landing, replaced the right front rim and decided to go with the other two bent.
Noticed when I checked tire pressures at the track that the right rear was losing air. So I set it a pound higher than normal for the heat.
The track was extremely wet, to the point of being unraceable for the heat. A lot of modifieds didn't help pack, and the track owner got mad and decided to make a point, and so made us race first instead of last (as usual). I was getting out of the throttle at the flagstand, and the car seemed to be setting up for the corners automatically whenever I did. Seemed to be handling fine, but it was really too wet to tell. A couple of cars wrecked, a couple of cars crashed out, and I made the A-main by finishing 4th (they took the top 4 to the A-main).
I checked the right rear tire pressure, and it was down 2 lbs after the heat race. So I put another extra few lbs. of pressure in it for the feature. I opted to start last, 20th, since I hadn't run the car at speed on a decent track (the heat race was virtually useless to help tell what the car would do).
We ran a few laps, and the car was handling great. I had worked my way up to 11th or 12th by passing 4 or 5 cars and a few more wrecking in front of me. Then we had a VERY long caution, in which there apparently was a fight and a car going the wrong way down the front stretch. It was parked by the time I got back around there, and I probably passed it a dozen times under yellow.
I had to restart on the inside, and got pinched down a little in turns 1 and 2 and lost a few places. Also, I could feel the car was a lot looser than previous, and the right rear was bouncing roughly. I figured I had lost a lot of air pressure there and the tire was either flat or almost flat. So I backed off a little to try to finish the race.
We had another caution, and ran another couple of laps before we got the white flag. Even with the problem with the right rear, I was staying with the pack, and made about a 75% effort to pass a few of the cars on the last lap....but didn't. I did finish the race without hitting anything nor being hit.
The first thing I did when I got out of the car was to check the right rear. It had plenty of pressure in it....about the same amount as when the race started. It had lost some air, but because the pressures increase as the tires heat up, it had only lost about as much pressure as the heat had built up in it. About then I noticed the bottom bolt on the right rear shock had come off....so I had been effectively running with no shock on the right rear....the shock was there, just wasn't attached on one end and so wasn't doing anything.
Which explains why it got both loose and bumpy.
After it was all said and done, I wound up 13th.
And in the pits, watched the guy parked in front of me get tackled by two cops and hauled off to jail. Apparently he was the one in the fight on the track. Nice guy, but as temper management issues....
A successful week for CMA racing. Nothing torn up. Just need to replace the shock bolt and figure out how to secure it better. Car handled fantastic prior to losing the right rear shock, and even then handled well enough to run competitively. That was really the best news, as no one was sure how it would handle after being bent so severely.
Well, after a week off...the high dollar hotshots were in town....I took the car back out to the track.
Noticed the right front shock only had about an inch of travel, so I raised the weight jack about 6 rounds.
The water truck had broken, so the track was dusty. I started in the back of my heat and couldn't really see going into the corners. The car was a little loose. I don't recall were I finished, but I had to run the B-Main.
The fuel guy had left for some reason, but I was able to buy some fuel from a fellow racer.
I put 4 more rounds into the right front to raise it up a little more.
I started the B-main in 19th place out of 19 cars. And the car was on a rail. I could run high, or low. Most people were trying to run low, and I passed several cars running the high line on the outside. I worked my way up to 7th, and they had a yellow.
They cheated me on the restart (not uncommon), and I restarted 11th. Worked my way back up to about 6th, and we took the white flag.
They were taking the top 8 to the A-Main, and coming down the backstretch I passed a couple of more cars. Out of turn four...and I didn't push it too hard (I had a transfer spot anyway) and let the car on the outside of me get 6th.
I was very happy, and trying to get off the track, but we kept circling. A few cars went into the pits, and then came back out. The flagman had thrown a YELLOW, not the checkered.
That is NOT supposed to happen.
So, we made many laps under yellow trying to get lined back up. They again screwed me on the lineup and I started 11th. Got a good restart and cut under a couple of cars that pushed up the track in turns 1 and 2. Down the backstretch passed another one and we again got the white flag. Passed another one thru 1 and 2, and got another one down the backstretch.
Out of turn four was under another car when all of a sudden out of the dust and dirt a car appeared 3/4s sideways right in front of me at about the flagstand. I tried to go below him, but struck him almost full speed with my right front and the right side of the car got airborne and I veered towards the inside wall. The right front came down, and I managed to spin it away from the wall sliding to a stop as two other cars slid headfirst into me at the entrance to turn one.
One of them was the car I had just hit, and it's entire driver's side sheetmetal was gone.
So, I'm a bit sore right now. Car is bent fairly bad on the right front. Appears to have bent the frame up and back some. Several support bars are badly bent, a few are broken loose, and the right rear trailing arm sheared completely through the mounting bracket on the frame. Bent lower A-frame, upper A-frame virtually pretzelized, sheetmetal damage, and who knows what we'll find when we get to look at it in the light of day.
I made the A-main, but my car was not capable of being driven in it. Prior to the crash, the car was handling PERFECTLY.
Oh well, it looks raced-in now. It'll take a while to fix it...may be out for the rest of the season.
Well, we finally got the car to the track today. But not after working on the brakes most of the morning.
I had a bleeder valve that needed replacing, and had to go into town and get one. Of course, wasn't sure of the exact size, so I bought an assortment. One kind of fit. Kind of in that it screwed in.
Unfortunately, it also kinda not fit. Kinda not as in brake fluid was pouring out of it. What to do....
So, we tapped out the caliper so a bleeder we had WOULD fit. Keep in mind this is a 2 dollar part.
Then, we bled the rear brakes, and began bleeding the front brakes.
Unfortunately, the front calipers were on upside down. They don't bleed well that way. And no, I was not the one that put them on upside down. So we took them off, put them right side up, and bled the brakes.
I decided it might be good to test them, so I was going to drive around the yard a bit before loading the car onto the trailer.
But it wouldn't start.
Closer inspection revealed...out of fuel. And we didn't have any methanol just lying around. So we pushed it out of the shop, and winched it onto the trailer. We would get methanol at the track and hope it fired up.
We then showered (individually) and watched the last few laps of the ARCA race. If you call falling asleep watching the last few laps. Somehow Frank Kimmel won. He always wins it seems. When I began dozing, he was in 3rd.
We went to the track, and just my luck. A neighboring track was rained out. So we had some cars from there come to the track I run at. A total of 31 cars. Got the car fuel and it fired right up.
I didn't hot lap, and since I (nor anyone) had driven this car at speed (or more than 10ft), I decided to start the heat on the back in 10th place, and just get the feel of it. It felt good, handled good, and I wound up 7th....necessitating me running the B main.
There were 19 cars in the B main, I again started last. They would take the top 8 to the A main. I drove a little more aggressively, and after several laps there was a caution. I was in 7th place. On the green I got bumped from behind as the cars in front of me kind of checked up a little. No spin, but the guy who bumped me did get inside of me all squirrely, and I decided it was best to let him go. Besides, I was in 8th and that would make the transfer to the A-main. Yes, the bump put a dent in the rear bumper.
I finished in 8th in the B-main, making the back row of the A-main. Rain was threatening, and it showered just a slight bit so the track was really rushing through the various feature races for the classes.
The car again ran and handled great, I avoided a 3 car pileup, and passed a couple of cars, and I finished a very cautious 16th place.
A finish I was extremely pleased with. Nothing was torn up, the car handled good, I got a decent feel for it. Now, we can check everything over at the shop to make everything is still tight etc...