Administrators Bill Strong Posted May 21 Administrators Report Share Posted May 21 Saturday's Oklahoma Grand Prix at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit winner was car 998, Wheels America Racing! The A-Class 2001 Mazda Miata beat out some heavy hitters. They were protested for fuel capacity in impound, and after a pump out, they were found to be compliant. A full report will be posted next week. Official Saturday and Sunday race results: https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/2215391 Photos: https://hallettfotoshoppe.com/ https://www.racingstrongllc.com/2023-ChampCar-Oklahoma-Grand-Prix-at-Hallett/ 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fetterhund Posted May 23 Report Share Posted May 23 (edited) Made it home from Hallett Motor RacingCircuit last night (just about 16 hours straight thru) after a pretty disappointing and tough race weekend. Had rain most of the drive to Tulsa. Friday practice day was rainy, and we fought an alignment issue. Made an at the track fix, but heavy rain didn't allow for more testing. Although at least everyone got some semi-dry seat time. Saturday started out looking good. Checked over the car, fired right up, and got to start the race on pole. Leading the field to the green flag was such an awesome experience! But, bad luck soon found us. In-tank fuel line came off the fuel pump before we finished the first lap. Took us a few hours to finally locate that as the problem. Fixed it, got back on track. Then, right rear axle broke. That ended Saturday, we finished putting the new axle in right as the checkers dropped. Sunday, we were starting dead last, but it was going to be our day. I started the day upset with myself because I discovered in getting careless with my wallet in the craziness of Saturday, 300 bucks went missing. Nothing to do but race. Fired the car up and got fuel. Came time for Travis Tucker to get in the car. Car didn't start. Tried different things, nothing worked, then after missing the first four laps, car fired up like nothing was ever wrong. It is a 7 hour race, and we had good strategy, we felt confident. After two hour Travis came into the pits after moving the car from 28th up to 9th overall and 3rd in class. I was pretty excited getting in the car. Then... The car didn't start. It would fire up, then immediately stall. Get towed in, and once in the paddock, car fired right up. Go back out, stalled at the exit to pit lane. Towed in for the 4th time. Back in the paddock, fired right up. Went back out, and got going. A great finish was out of the question, but maybe a top 10 was possible. Started turning laps, and had a real close one with the #17 when it's oil cooler fitting failed and dumped oil and went for a right just in front of me. My windshield was almost entirely impossible to see out of and oil was all over the front. I pit under caution and get my windshield cleaned. A couple caution laps later, just before we go green, the in-tank hose came off the fuel pump again. Tow #5. Any shot of anything was out the window. Get the car fixed and was about to call it a day, but a conversation with one of the people who run the track and encouragement from Travis and I decided we should get on track. Mike Browning graciously yielded his seat time so I could go out for the final two hours. Car fired right up, and as I drove out to the track almost every team gave us a thumbs up. Car ran flawlessly for the final two hours and got some good racing in. We finished 19th overall out of 28 cars entered. Drive home was smooth, outside of the Loves by Holbrook having its pumps out of service, and so I made it to the next station in Winslow with just 1/2 a gallon to spare (about 6 miles when towing) and found a tumble weed had gotten into the breakaway cable and had it pulled just shy of triggering the brakes! Will be posting video and pics later, but for now... The track apparently appreciated our drive, tenacity, and "never give up" attitude and gave us a special trophy. And yes, this is going on my trophy shelf. Edited May 23 by Fetterhund 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Bill Strong Posted May 23 Author Administrators Report Share Posted May 23 Can you share your Tow Hook design as it seemed to work really well. Too soon? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fetterhund Posted May 23 Report Share Posted May 23 (edited) 2 hours ago, Bill Strong said: Can you share your Tow Hook design as it seemed to work really well. Too soon? It might be super cheaty, I mean, how could a simple strap hold up to that use, must be something that needs a new VPI assessment. Edited May 23 by Fetterhund 1 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55mini Posted May 24 Report Share Posted May 24 @Fetterhund man nothing worse than fuel line or pump issues when they are in the tank. Glad to hear you continued to fight the battle. Been there and done that myself many times. Hope to see you at High Plains! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattGent Posted Friday at 03:57 AM Report Share Posted Friday at 03:57 AM On 5/20/2023 at 9:24 PM, Bill Strong said: Saturday's Oklahoma Grand Prix at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit winner was car 998, Wheels America Racing! The A-Class 2001 Mazda Miata beat out some heavy hitters. They were protested for fuel capacity in impound, and after a pump out, they were found to be compliant. A full report will be posted next week. Report on protest and compliance check? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Bill Strong Posted Friday at 12:08 PM Author Administrators Report Share Posted Friday at 12:08 PM https://champcar.org/web/pdf/2023_protests/Hallett_2023_Protest_Car998.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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