the chucker didn't fare to well, but the team did. here is a brief play by play.
Friday afternoon the transmission in the car is trash from sitting full of water since last race, apparently. We swap in the spare in 45 minutes. Done. One driver takes a 20 minute stint on Friday night after tech and declares victory.
Saturday morning we get two drivers good and done, and we're doing well. Just a three lap deal for a flat tire (razor in the tire) The car handles incredibly and we were much faster than we had any right to be, faster than a lot of cars.
We send out the third driver.
He comes back after three laps "NO PEDAL!"
We pour in brake fluid, "pump it!!"
::pump::
::fire on caliper::
::pump::
::fire on caliper::
::pump::
::fire on caliper::
::pump::
::fire on caliper::
"STOP PUMPING!!!!"
The brakes were toast. The piston welded itself to the backing plate. The chicane kept our speeds down last year, as did having one rear wheel off the ground 40% of the time.
We swap to the spare caliper. and bleed the brakes - one hour missed.
"DON'T TOUCH THE BRAKES!"
We only have one spare set of pads. They're half worn.
The third driver goes out and it's my turn. Great, first time on track, no brakes. I followed the Merc driver for three laps because he drove like he was 87 years old on the way to bingo, swerving all over the straightaway. Then got passed him and a crown vic (#60 maybe?) passed me WAY too hot into a corner, locks up all four, and I go passed easily. He does it again at the end of the long straight, but this time pitches it sideways. I have nowhere to go, I drive in the grass, black flag for me, and driver change.
The next guy goes out and does OK. We all had contact, but fairly minimal. End of the race day with no more issues.
The spare caliper was half frozen, so we swapped pads for even wear, rotated the tires and ate and partied.
Sunday morning our driver goes out and sets some serious fast laps (1:08 ish) before getting black flagged for something. He comes in and says "it was ticking on the last lap".
We wait out the short black flag, and I suggest pushing it back to the pits to check the engine before firing it up again.
All fluids are great, hit the starter!
::click::
breaker bar can't turn it, starter can't turn it. Oil gets poured down all cylinders. PB blaster gets sprayed everywhere. Oil gets poured over the valves. Nothing.
We get the new engine in and running in about 2 hours.
"GO GO GO!"
He spins out after 10 minutes and gets black flagged and hit hard after spinning. We replace the spindle in about 30 minutes.
"GO GO GO"
New driver goes out. Engine smokes from there until the end of the race while producing about 20 hp.
It was a fun race. We need a new engine now.
-Brian