Tales of the Washed

Breaking It

After the May 31st enduro race in the rain, I decided that some type of rain tire was definitely in order. So the tire groover came out, the Hoosiers Street TDs were cut, and I had a narrow grooved tire for those "if it is raining like crazy and I have no other choice" races.

Saturday morning at Sebring couldn't be more perfect, just what you have always pictured Florida as being, blue skies, a few white puffy clouds, nice breeze, and in the 80s. The qualifying session was in perfect conditions, except that when I hit the starter, it ran down to click, click, click. Not an appropriate sound for one suited up and strapped in, with no crew around.

I grabbed the generator out of the trailer, fired it up, hooked up the jumpers, and blew out the 20 amp fuse. After stuffing some wire in where the fuse normally lives, I fired up the generator again and let it sit, charging the battery.

My crew shows up and we have lunch, as there is not much else to do. Then the sky in the south begins to darken, like those storms you see in those old westerns that are off in the distance and approaching fast. We changed to the rains.

As we were setting the car back on the ground, the first few sprinkles hit, we jumped inside the trailer, and then the real stuff fell. It fell so hard we could not see the Formula Atlantics and Continentals on the false grid about 100 feet from us. It rained like that for about twenty minutes, while they kept announcing for group 1 to come to the grid and the five minute warning. Finally, group 1 went out behind the pace car, in rain so heavy you couldn't see them. And they raced, we think, as you could hear the motors, but the cars only began to show as the race came to an end, when the rain began to slacken some.

My turn. Don't I feel lucky. I already have pneumonia from the previous weekend and now I get to race in the rain again. I wait as long as possible before going, sitting in the car under a small tarp, as getting to the false grid is not that important, seeing I had qualifying waived and I am at the back of the grid.

We take off and go for the pace lap and as the green flag drops, we could just barely see the flag. Turn 1 takes a few victims as a couple slide to the outside and one slides to the inside to avoid everyone. The pack is thinning and realizing that rain-covered racetracks do not let cars stick as well as dry one. We start taking lap after lap, not being able to see anything behind, due to rain on the mirrors and the rooster tails of spray. The Hoosiers work well, at least as well as any decent street tires, and I move up in the pack a little at a time, finally passing a Gremlin (yes, a Gremlin) on the main straight. I go through turn 1 okay but lose it coming out of turn 2, spinning in the middle of the track with a Gremlin bearing down on me. He slides it back and forth and slips past me as I complete the 360 and go on, only to have him in front of me.

I go like crazy, but I can't get him set up for a pass. I slide too much in the corners to get him and he pulls out of the corners before I can get on him. Finally, I come around and the checker is out, the race is over, and the Gremlin has beaten me to the finish.

Second race in the rain, a second first for doing so. Maybe rain isn't so bad after all.

Sunday morning we are back to the perfect weather. So I get ready to race in the dry, like pull the rains off and mount the slicks. The race in the morning is another short one, an eight lapper. I pull out for the pace lap and the car feels real good, its first time on a dry track. The slicks are warming up and I heat up the brakes, as they are worthless cold. The green flag drops and it is time to race. I take the Camaro next to me, blow into the hole between him and the Capri right behind the Gremlin. It is dry and there is no way the Gremlin will get me now. Back to the right and pass the Gremlin and the Camaro in front of him and then start braking for turn 1. I was a bit worried about turn 1, as the brakes have not been really tested against this new power. Turn 1 and 2 work like they should and I have a Camaro and a Corvette in front of me. I try to take the Camaro before turn 3, but I know I can't, back off to the left, and set up to get inside him in turn 4. Both he and the Corvette are wide in 4 going to 5 and I take both of them. Either there is a yellow flag I am missing everywhere or this car is running like no tomorrow.

Turn 6 I'm in front of them and can see another ASR Corvette going out of 7. If I hurry, maybe I can get him. The car is working like it should, the power seems nothing special but it is eating cars like Lays potato chips. Going through Big Bend, there is a nasty vibration which I think is the clutch, as it chattered a bit in the last couple of shifts or else I have a new problem with a bad U-joint. I can see I am gaining big time on the other Corvette and we hit the hairpin about the same time. He is in front but I take him as we leave, but the clutch is really shaking now and I back out going across the start/finish line on my first lap.

I roll into the pits, where Will asks what's wrong and I say the clutch is gone. We go over to the paddock to work on it but them we have absolutely no clutch and the car will not even move. End of the race. End of the weekend. The SARRC race is up next and I have to watch it from the hairpin. I feel really bad, as Will and Sandy came over Sunday morning and only got to see one lap. I had the race in the bag and the clutch goes. And the car was running so good!

Save the Wave,

The Doctor