Guest village idiot Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 There's been a bunch of flack about one car or another. I'd like to point out some of the good stuff I saw going on throughout the cold dark night.In true racing fashion, when one car went down, other teams banded together to keep them racing. The Partridge Family Neon lost all spark, someone from another team called their shop and found out how to hot wire the car to the battery. We loaned a battery from our car to the Mustang (a miata battery in a ustang? Heck if it works bring it back at the end of the race. Turns out their starter had broken and was flopping around inside the engine bay.) The Fiat found a throttle return spring from God knows where but they finished the race so they found something that they could use. A honda was searching for a v-belt and I think they finished so I think they found one. There were several cars in the parking lot with big hunks of car missing to try and keep the race cars going.That was just stuff I saw from one end of the hot pits. I'm sure that stuff was going on all the way down the line. We got plenty competitive on the track and gave each other a hard time in the pits. At times we grumbled about car A or B or whoever happened to be driving it on a given stint but remember the finish. Everyone came out to the wall and cheered for every car that was still running.Nice racing fellow chumps. I'd do it again in a heartbeat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest schwank Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Yeah there were many cars using parts from street vehicles or fellow racers. When the squirrels were out of order in the Nottro, we kicked down brake fluid. We also used a fuel pump out of a street car when our backup turned out to have failed seals. Saw several street Miatas up in the air. And I know the Subie used a trans out of a street car after talking to one of their drivers.Overall the vibe this weekend was incredible. We honestly did not hear much complaining at all the whole time... just had a ball! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andychump Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 We arrived with a socket set, a hammer, a jack and some lights, expecting (hoping for) perfect reliability (as we previously had from an Acura we raced at Lemons). 10 laps in from the start, we got stuck in 3rd....crap! We called around for a gearbox but apparently they were all different and you needed the right one which no-one had, etc, etc. Crap. With our limited experience of this particular car (Golf) and limited tools, we considered throwing in the towel. What a waste that would have been in terms of time and effort and money though, and disappointing to the people who came down to watch and cheer us on. After 2-3 hours of fussing around and getting no-where, I decided to make one last effort to make it work by asking the Squirrels of Fury for help. I hate asking for help - it shows a lack of preparedness and it puts other people out, which I don't like to do, but I was desperate to make one last attempt to salvage something from the weekend, so we asked the Squirrels of fury if they had a gearbox and their answer was "yeh, I've got a gearbox on the truck that'll work, but you'll need the clutch, which I have and you can have". Not only did they let us use the gearbox, they also let us use their tools to do the work - this was right in the middle of all their engine changes and collisions and everything else that they had to deal with. They even came over and helped us pull off the gearbox when we got a little stuck figuring out how to wiggle it free. Can't thank them enough for getting us from a complete dead-end situation to bringing us right back in to the game, and never getting frustrated with our many questions (they never showed it anyway!). In the end we were out for 10 hours with all the head-scratching, headless chicken fussing around and learn-as-you-go engineering, but we got it back together and got back in the race and ran for the whole rest of the event, and we gave the squirrels some seat time too! Everyone was SOOOO friendly - everyone had an amazing attitude. My wife and her parents (who came to watch) were also amazed by how nice everyone was. Twice people came to out pit to apologize if they had in any way caused one of the few spins we had or were responsible for minor contact - in all cases it was 50/50, if not just us over-driving the car a little. Anyway, a MASSIVE thanks to Squirrels of Fury, and we can't wait for next time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Methius Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 While we are on the topic, I would like to say a huge THANKS to the Pole Position team for allowing us to butcher one of their running DD's to get a shift linkage c-clip. We had some serious trouble in the wee hours of the night and needed a permanent solution... the zip ties were melting Also, thanks for the team that borrowed my cherry picker. Not only did they put it back on the trailer, but they strapped it down with the same straps I had used in the beginning. They also left me a bottle of ChumpWine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TroubleOnWheels Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 I love the entire Squirrels team(s). If anyone personifies the spirit of this race, they are it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
04 Rabbit Man Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Thanks for the kind words that means a lot to all of us. I would have liked to help more but when one car was out the other was in like clock work. Glad we built two cars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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