Road America - Sunday

[WinkTimber]

Many purveyors of adult beverages in the Elkhart Lake area were beneficiaries of Chump change last night.

Several teams that were not around at the finish Saturday spent the evening and late into the night prepping for today.

#32 Punisher Caprice Wagon - Replaced the transmission. It works in forward AND reverse.

#01 My Little Pony Mustang - Back together and ready to go.

#18 Danish Flash Mustang - Cut off the crash damage to the left front with a plasma cutter. The car is on all four wheels in the paddock but couldn't find a team member to verify that they will be racing.

#21 Eggboy Racing SHO - Worked on trying to rectify electrical gremlins. Still not sure they have the problem solved.

#30 Chump Faces BMW - The transmission had a complete disconnect between input and output. It has been replaced with a gearbox from a flood car.

#90 Single Malt Alfa Romeo GTV6 - Found a clutch and it has been installed. Hoping to make more than 5 laps today.

#81 Team Party Cat Miata (EC) - Replaced a clutch.

#24 Bear Patrol Lexus SC400 - Gulping gas like it was free. About 5-6 mpg. They have to make extra fuel stops as a result.

[WinkTimber]

Less than a half hour into the race and we already have several cars behind the wall.

#18 Danish Flash Mustang has turned in their transponder. The car goes but is all "boowoogity".

#20 Saturn Art Car may have smoked a transmission.

Under a full course yellow due to fluid dumped many spots around the track.

[WinkTimber]

OK fans (all three of you) here is the 11:00 am update.

1. #51 BAR BMW - 34 laps

2. #30 Chump Faces BMW - 33

3. #99 Cheap Shots BMW - 33

4. #24 Bear Patrol Lexus - 33

5. #98 S.H.O. Time Chevy Cobalt - 32

6. #33 Tubby Butterman BMW - 32

7. #49 Slugworks Honda - 31

8, #15 NNM Motorsports Neon - 31

9. #70 Iron Oxide Alfa - 31

10. #88 JAB Motorsports VW -

This changed a minute or two later as teams have been making their first pit stops.

Fastest lap: 2:58.793 by #24. No other cars have broken 3:00 ... yet.

#4 BMW may be in the mix, but they are having transponder issues. Working to correct that now.

#83 Miaro broke a LF motor mount. Now holding the engine in place is a section of 3/8" chain.

[WinkTimber]

We have been pointing the radar gun at cars just prior to the turn 1 braking point.

#21 Eggboy SHO - 112 mph

#32 Punishers Caprice Wagon - 107 mph

#49 Slugworks Honda - 118 mph

#33 Tubby Butterman BMW - 118 mph

#24 Bear Patrol Lexus - 119 mph

#30 Chump Faces BMW - 120 mph

#12 Launcha Splatos Fiat X-1/9 - 121 mph

[WinkTimber]

At 12 Noon, the standings are:

1. #30 - 52 laps

2. #51 - 52

3. #99 - 51

4. #24 - 50

5. #33 - 50

6. #90 Single Malt Alfa Romeo - 50

7. #36 Ambitious But Rubbish BMW - 49

8. #00 URA Tool SHO - 49

9. #22 SS Racing BMW - 48

10. #88 JAB VW - 48

11. #29 Maximum Autodrive Neon - 48

12. #11 Lowered Expectations Acura - 48

13. #70 Iron Oxide Alfa - 48

[WinkTimber]

#49 Slugworks Honda had to replace brake pads, after going through a set of pads in one driving stint. The repair time has dropped them about 12 laps behind the leaders.

#98 S.H.O. Time Chevy Cobalt in the paddock with a broken LF suspension. The casting on the spindle has split in two. Trying to locate a replacement but no parts stores open.

Tom Moran of North Loop Motorsports says of their #27 BMW: The 540 is for sale at a special price if we don't have to tow it home.

[Guest Russ3]

Tom Moran of North Loop Motorsports says of their #27 BMW: The 540 is for sale at a special price if we don't have to tow it home.

$500?!

[WinkTimber]

At 1:00 PM, three hours remain:

1. #51 - 70 laps

2. #24 - 69

3, #99 - 69

4. #33 - 68

5. #30 - 66

6. #36 - 66

7. #90 - 66

8. #00 - 66

9. #88 - 65

10. #70 - 65

Fastest lap times:

#51 - 2:58.603

#30 - 2:58.392

#33 - 2:58.113

[WinkTimber]

The 2 PM report

1. #51 - 92 laps

2. #99 - 90

3. #33 - 90

4. #24 - 89

5. #90 - 87

6. #36 - 87

7. #00 - 86

8. #30 - 85

9. #88 - 84

10. #70 - 84

[WinkTimber]

Also out with clutch failure is the #68 BMW, Bavarian Mustache Werks. BTW, both #4 and #68 lost their hoods on Saturday due to hood pin failure. On #4, the hood struck and cracked the windshield. The hood flew clear of #68 and landed on the front straightaway.

Most teams have made their final pit stops and are working toward a successful finish.

#24 Bear Patrol has made four stops due to excessive fuel consumption. That extra five minutes adds up to nearly two laps.

As #22 BMW came into the pits for their final stop, the front brakes were aflame. A quick shot of fire extinguisher and out.

I watched as the leader, #51, made their stop. They had the next driver belted in, car fueled, fluids and tires checked, and ready to go back on course in well UNDER four minutes.

[WinkTimber]

Now in the final hour of competition. Skies have clouded a bit, but temp remains at 50 degrees.

1. #51 - 108 laps

2. #99 - 107

3. #33 - 107

4. #24 - 105

5. #90 - 103 (An Alfa in the top 5!?!?)

6. #88 - 101

7. #00 - 101

8. #30 - 100

9. #70 - 99

10. #25 North Loop BMW - 98

[WinkTimber]

At the checkered flag:

1. #51 British American Racing BMW 325 - 128 laps

2. #99 Cheap Shots BMW 325 - 128 (-1:55)

3. #33 Tubby Butterman BMW 325 - 128

4. #24 Bear Patrol Lexus SC400 (despite running out of gas on the final lap). - 123

5. #30 Chump Faces BMW - 121

6. #00 URA Tool Motorsports SHO - 121

7. #88 JAB Motorsports VW Golf - 120

8. #70 Iron Oxide Alfa Romeo - 119

9. #25 North Loop BMW - 117

10. #90 Single Malt Alfa Romeo - 117

#24 Bear Patrol had an on track incident with #27 BMW with a few laps to go. Both teams were called in on black flag for consultation. #24 ran out of gas on the final lap.

[gsmith2424]

Any updates as to what happened to the #91 Saab? (its the old rbankracing.com car)

[Eman911]

Team Quadrifoolio reporting in. Thanks to John and the rest of the staff and workers! Thanks to all you Chumps who helped show us the ropes, and a great big thank you and manly hug to all those that helped keep us on the track Saturday! I wish to assure you that any asshattery you witnessed on our part was unintentional and due to our complete lack of experience, none of our drivers has any wheel to wheel racing seat time. After this weekend I can attest to the fact that real racing is still alive!

[Boy Blunder]

Tim - Thanks again for the reports.

I find the regional differences interesting. Two races in a row with BMW's running 1-2-3 and east coasters would all be up in arms about "cheaty BMW's" and the series turning from a Spec Miata series into a spec BMW series. You mid westerners sure seem laid back about it . No complainers in the crowd? No trash talking? No calling anyone out? You guys are just too civil!!

[mphouli83]

OK fans (all three of you) here is the 11:00 am update.

1. #51 BAR BMW - 34 laps

2. #30 Chump Faces BMW - 33

3. #99 Cheap Shots BMW - 33

4. #24 Bear Patrol Lexus - 33

5. #98 S.H.O. Time Chevy Cobalt - 32

6. #33 Tubby Butterman BMW - 32

7. #49 Slugworks Honda - 31

8, #15 NNM Motorsports Neon - 31

9. #70 Iron Oxide Alfa - 31

10. #88 JAB Motorsports VW -

This changed a minute or two later as teams have been making their first pit stops.

Fastest lap: 2:58.793 by #24. No other cars have broken 3:00 ... yet.

#4 BMW may be in the mix, but they are having transponder issues. Working to correct that now.

#83 Miaro broke a LF motor mount. Now holding the engine in place is a section of 3/8" chain.

OK fans (all three of you) here is the 11:00 am update.

1. #51 BAR BMW - 34 laps

2. #30 Chump Faces BMW - 33

3. #99 Cheap Shots BMW - 33

4. #24 Bear Patrol Lexus - 33

5. #98 S.H.O. Time Chevy Cobalt - 32

6. #33 Tubby Butterman BMW - 32

7. #49 Slugworks Honda - 31

8, #15 NNM Motorsports Neon - 31

9. #70 Iron Oxide Alfa - 31

10. #88 JAB Motorsports VW -

This changed a minute or two later as teams have been making their first pit stops.

Fastest lap: 2:58.793 by #24. No other cars have broken 3:00 ... yet.

#4 BMW may be in the mix, but they are having transponder issues. Working to correct that now.

#83 Miaro broke a LF motor mount. Now holding the engine in place is a section of 3/8" chain.

The chain worked we finally ran an entire race without stopping for repairs WOOHOO. What a great weekend.

[Guest AWiley1953]

The report on the Opel. It went 3 pace laps and 2 race laps and went up in a cloud of smoke. The oil filter got loose (and yes it had been tightened). We then discovered holes in the bell housing. After a 4 hour thrash of replacing the clutch, we sent the car back out where it got to turn 11 and ventilated the block from the number 1 rod. We are currently re-evaluating our program.

[ChumpStang]

We are currently re-evaluating our program.

Keep the Opel and borrow a Yamaha from Krek. Hehe.

[Andrew D Johnson]

Tim - Thanks again for the reports.

I find the regional differences interesting. Two races in a row with BMW's running 1-2-3 and east coasters would all be up in arms about "cheaty BMW's" and the series turning from a Spec Miata series into a spec BMW series. You mid westerners sure seem laid back about it . No complainers in the crowd? No trash talking? No calling anyone out? You guys are just too civil!!

The 1-2-3 finishes are good teams, with good strategy and good drivers. Those teams have very very fast cars as well, but it takes more than a fast car to podium in a race like this weekends Road America. If you don't see the trash talk, you are reading the wrong boards. You should have looked at the chalk boards at Siebkens and Brown Baer. Our car has has some trash talk on it as well.......but it is all in good fun. We as a team enjoy good competition, and will probably make a 10 hour dive to Brainerd instead of 4 hours to Gateway so we can race against a field that will be over 30% BMW's.......really good running BMW's.

Congrats to all the teams that finished well this weekend. It was great seeing Slugworks running in contention for the podium all weekend also.

[krek]

Just got the word that the #21 car -- EggBoy Racing, Ford SHO -- has lost their clutch completely. The team has requested permission to roll-through Pit-In, as long as the ChumpStaff can put a timer on the car as it rolls-by (permission granted). They will be required to expend their entire 5-minute pit stops in their pit box, then have a team member walk their expired timer to Pit-Out... whereupon they will be given the okay to roll-though Pit-Out before getting up to speed. This should be interesting.

EggBoy only made 20 laps or so yesterday, having catastrophic electrical failure with a faulty alternator that started destroying other key electrical components. Then, this morning, they had a starter go out. Ever have just one of them weekends?

Anyway, we're happy to work with any team that needs a little accommodation to continue racing, as long as its safe...

On behalf of Team EggBoy I can't thank the ChumpCar staff and volunteers enough for the latitude extended to us on Sunday to keep the car on track.

This was the most confounding, frustrating, aggravating, irritating and flat out crappy weekend of racing we've had yet.

Can't wait to do it again!

[DrawingBoard]

Car #4 -- Team Back To The Drawing Board (1989 BMW 325) -- just turned in their transponder. Their day ended when the clutch exploded. While the clutch is toast, the car is now 5.7 pounds lighter!

We're not sure the stock Sachs clutch is toast, maybe the throw-out bearing or fork broke. We'll rip the trans out this week and see.

Sucked for my guys, we put a lot of time into the car this winter, and it seems prettty fast.

[4 cam tbird]

We've never been more preparred for a race, and we've never gotten a worse result in terms of track time for all our drivers. We all got more time on track when then damn car started on fire. I echo the setiment of Egg Boy completely.

[Salna]

Any updates as to what happened to the #91 Saab? (its the old rbankracing.com car)

We sheared wheel studs on the front left wheel Saturday during my driving stint. We fixed it and completed the race. Sunday we were doing well. We were just about to do a driver change and fuel stop when the driver came in complaining of no brake power. Everything looked fine on the front right brake assembly, but we didn't check the other wheel. Told him to try another lap and he came back saying he definitely had no braking. Turns out our cv joint had sheared off inside the wheel bearing hub. So we tried fixing it. We brought about 6 cv joints. Unfortunately, none of them had the outer locking nut on them. We did go ahead and replace the cv-joint because we thought a Saab 9-3 might have the same nut on it, but it did not. The Miata team next to us also told us our bearings were shot and we should not go out on them. So we were done for the day either way. We ate our sorrows away at Lincoln Bar&Grill and came back for the awards ceremony.

Overall it was damn fun and we can't wait to be back. We will probably do Gateway next because it is closer. Bummer we couldn't finish Sunday, but at least we didn't ruin the engine. Final driver was reporting difficulty finding 3rd gear though, so we may have ruined the transmission (not a surprise in the Saab). Being overtaken in corners on the inside was a new interesting experience. Someday I'll outbrake someone on a turn! I personally had some good racing with the taxi cab right before I lost the wheel. Also, Rob noted that the APC gauge was only going to about 50% of where it should be, so we were definitely short on power. Our gearing felt all wrong for Road America as well, we were always in between gears. Maybe with more power we could sit in fourth and fifth.

Thanks to everyone that helped us out, it's great to see so much camaraderie in such a competitive sport.

Oh yea, the outer cv joint locking nut was found on the one cv-joint we left behind in the garage. Sigh. We didn't even know where a cv-joint went on the car before this weekend

[Slugworks Paul]

Thanks for the love tap on saturday Good thing I'm FWD or i would have been PIT maneuvered.

[Salna]

Thanks for the love tap on saturday Good thing I'm FWD or i would have been PIT maneuvered.

Wait, love tap by us? Was it in the final 30 minutes of the race?