Excitement Continues: COOLANT CRISIS

During the big pit stop we had an unexpected problem: our radiator hose was spurting out coolant. That is a race killer if it can not be stopped. We scrambled looking for any kind of hose or pipe to fix it with. We checked everything short of the plumbing in the bathroom. In the end the best we could do was to duct tape it and send it back out. We now see how long it holds. Steve is now in the car.

Major Pit stop preps

We are prepping for the first big pit stop of the day. Here Scott uses a sign to communicate with Driver Troy to bring the car in on the next caution flag. While in the pit we will change drivers, check the tire lug nuts, check oil, check the air pressure in the tires, and check other parts of the engine that we are worried about and have been monitoring closely. This is all hands on deck, all team members have assignments.

1st Driver change

9:57am we trade Todd out for Troy in the drivers seat, so far all is well. We have moved up to 25th place in spite of getting on the track too late for any warmup.

2 minutes to spare

We got the car started at 8:48am. It took 'till 9:05 to get it adjusted and running well enough to put on the track. The rest of the cars were already on the track running warmup laps. We then had to drive to the fueling station and fill up. We finally got on the track at 9:12am, and the green flag fell at 9:14. Todd, who is driving the first shift had one lap to warm up, then it was full-on racing.
We are off. We start the day in 39th place, continuing to slowly move up in the standings.
When you fuel you need 2 guys in full fire protection suits. Todd is in white putting in the fuel, Carl stands by in blue with the fire extinguisher. Here they are fueling under pressure, as the rest of the cars are already on the course, circling waiting for the start.

Day 2 Drama-Will we race?

We arrived at the track on Day 2 and are in a bit of a drama. The second day of racing starts at 9am and we started trying to start our car at 8:30am when the drivers left for their morning meeting. When the Drivers returned at 8:45am we still had not gotten started. All mechanics on Deck.. John, John and Steve are trying every trick they know.

Day 1 over

Steve, John, John, Troy & Bill watch the night racing. What looks like streaks of light in the sky are the lights of the racecars on a hill out on the track. Only the front straightaway is lit, so you see your car streak by, then about 1:45 later it comes by again. All you can see on the rest of the mile and a half course is headlights, so you never can tell how your car is doing. Whenever a car spins or comes off the track you don't know if it is your team or not, you have to wait and see if it shows up on time at the front straight.

Day 1 is over, we are checking over the car, and stowing it for the night. We have not gotten standings yet, they will be posted later.

8:20 Driver Change

Another car flipped on the course, so they stopped the race for about 10 minutes. Carl pitted, and Scott jumped in for the final driving shift. If luck holds we'll end the day in fine shape. Above I am working at my blogging stati0n. It is a laptop sitting on top of a toolchest on a flatbed trailer. I flip the tarp over the computer when I am not on it to keep it dry. Notice my breath, it is cold out here.