Race update.
Barber can be summed up as "plagued by difficulties." Upon arrival we were dejected to see that there were NO practice sessions scheduled. We hadn't seen the track in 8 years or more, and our first time out would be qualifying.We run in two separate groups since the cars are so different.
So, on troutty old tires I still managed to qualify mid pack. The guys with more money had better and newer Hoosiers. We had to spend our tire money on rebuilding the engine from last season.Hopefully, I'll have new tires for next season.
We had done much more work on dad's car, so he sucked it up and simply tested the car during qualifying. Meaning he didn't qualify well at all for his group.
So next was my first race........and with 5 minutes to go before start, my car wouldn't crank. The rest of the field was already out on it's pace lap, when the car finally fired off. So I had to start from pit lane (essentially the back of the field.)
To play catch up, I was hopping curbs and other not so smart maneuvers that eventually ripped part of my exhaust off. This resulted in exhaust in the cockpit burning my eyes a little. So I had made it back through about half the field (where I qualified
Dad's first race: He started off strong, and even though he'd qualified poorly, he was moving up the field. Then he disappeared and I didn't see him anymore. The heat from his engine caused the welds in his header to fail. That caused the rear portion of his exhaust to vibrate off, and wedge itself in the chassis bracing. His race was done.
So not a good Saturday. We spent the rest of the night repairing the cars, and getting mild amounts of sleep.
Sunday morning qualifying. I was still on my old tires, but the guys I was running with had switched to even newer Hoosiers. They ran about 3-5 seconds a lap faster in qualifying. This was not looking good. I just couldn't get the car to stick. I qualified close to last.
Dad's qualifying session had rain, so we pulled out our 8 year old rain tires (are you seeing a pattern?) and sent him out. The tires had grip through puddles on the straights, but didn't stick well in corners.
For my race it was still raining. This actually made me sort of happy. I'm not the best in the rain, but I seem to be faster than most. So we put the 8 year old rain tires on my car and hoped for the best. The race went pretty well. My windows began fogging up, and for some reason the Fog-Ex I used wasn't helping. I made it up to 5th or 6th. Nothing amazing, but I did a lot better than I would have in the dry.
By the time dad's race came around, the track had dried. So he could run his slicks. Even though he qualified poorly, the car was finally getting dialed in. He worked his way through the field pretty well. He actually took the over all lead for the majority of the race, but was passed on the last lap. Still second place in a car that's only on it's 4th race is good. I think we'll have a pretty strong FProd car here in a year or two.
So, it was fun. I think the two improvements I need the most are new tires (obviously), and simply more seat time. It's been a long time since I've had a chance to race regularly and I need more practice.
A family member took some pictures of the other race (the one from two weeks ago), and I'll try to post those once I get them. If anyone is interested.
Reply With Quote
That's a sweet thought, but there's a lot of better things to make a donation fund for. I'm just having fun.
streme Wheelie
Originally Posted by fire_of_avalon
