Indy Wrap-up

We'll I spent all of yesterday afternoon in the back of a squad car, but I did make friends in Indianapolis however, and today we got an escort to the track.

While I initially thought 7:00 AM was too early to start, I was told it takes about 3 hours to get from downtown to the track on raceday. We made it in 10 minutes! That was some of the most exciting driving I've ever done. Wrong side of the road, red lights and stop signs were not problems. Not many happy drivers in the other lanes as we went past however.

We made it in plenty of time to visit the museum and then find our seats.  I had a request for more Rose pictures so here she is with the 1955 winner the "Pink Zink". 

The only bad news about the Flat Tire racing T-Shirt, was it was the exact same color as the Danica Patrick t-shirts being sold at the track.  While she did well, I was rooting for Tony Kanaan.  During the drivers autograph session, we had a chance to see all the drivers, and Rose decided Dan Wheldon was the best looking and he was the driver to follow.  She did much better than I in picking drivers whatever the criteria.

Happy to take one for the team!

Penske vs Flat tire

In the hall with all the winning cars, I'll be good today and not get thrown out again. Lemons Flat Tire Racing with 5 winning Penske cars.

Thrown out

Ok muddy, I tried to get into the hospitality area and this is where I ended up. I got a 'free' ride to the homeland security station.

Lemon's invade indy

This should work better for you Muddy.

Get out of jail

Ok muddy, I'm still trying to get your get out of jail card. I'll find a good spot for a lemons shot at the track. Until then this will have to do as I'm sitting up front at the Indy 500 drivers meeting.

Debrief Party

Alright, it sounds like the June 4th will not work.

Can anyone make a Sunday, June 5 starting around 11:30? The kids will around, so I am sure I can turn this into a barbecue for the families as well.

As for the car there is some work to be done. Here is a list that Rod had sent to me:

From: Rod Howden

Just thinking...


Fluids
- Oil change
- coolant change
- look for leaks

Ancillary stuff
- Remove lights
- remove window tint
- set mirrors so us tiny people can see what's behind us, too
- Seat shim overhaul - make with lateral support
- paint/bodywork repair

Engine evaluation
- Compression test
- alternator output test
- water pump condition
- fan belt condition
- hose/fuel line condition

Exhaust repair
- bend up new pipe
- new mounts

Suspension evaluation
- strut evaluation
- steering linkage evaluation
- ball joint evaluation
- strut perch/bearing
- axle shaft inspection
- frame stiffing

Wheels
- brake evaluation (back to the softer pads?)
- tires/wheels (bigger?)
- rear well adjustment for large tires
- wheel bearing inspection
- Brake duct

Debrief

What a great weekend!  That was an awesome track and the car was well prepared and set up.  Thanks Muddy.

I propose that we get together in the shop and have a celebration.  Since I'm inviting myself to drinks in your garage, I figure we should at least let you pick the time and maybe we should do some work too.  While working on the contents of the shop fridge, it is the perfect time to let the suggestions flow about what we need to do next since ZAE is a bit worn out after this race.  I can start the list with tires since the set I picked were a little sketchy.

Also, here are some photos of the weekend in no particular order.  Enjoy

Running ahead of the Geonome into the hairpin

Our best weapon at BS inspection

Great crew enjoying fine food and sunset

Those are very green shirts, with no dirt, so it must be the start of the weekend

Getting ready for our first night practice

Too much back-pressure in the exhaust, no problem -- we have the Sawsall

Running at night, where does the road go?

Not Done Yet

Well, the saga is not done yet. Xo, Cindy and I are home, but the Z is not. On the Benicia Bridge the trailer experienced a tire failure. We slogged through, sand storms, snow furies, highway stop and go traffic, and a clogged toilet, but a tire failure stopped us cold.

After rummaging arround looking at 18 spare tires that are on the truck, trailer, and RV. None have the right bolt pattern or size. So, being that it was 10:00 o'clock in Martinez next to a Shell oil refinery, we started looking for a place to shelter the trailer. Low and behold in Martinez there is a friendly Walmart. After buying a lock and having a strange talk with the store manager, we were able to leave the trailer and Z on a flat parking lot surface. We then left our fallen solider and pushed on home. At 12:34 we got home and found a bed. My first real sleep for 41 hours.

Today the plan is unloading the RV, cleaning the RV, leave the tire rim for the trailer to be mounted with a tire, returning the RV, get home to pickup the truck, pickup the fixed tire, drive up to Martinez, have some nice words to say to the Walmart employees, replace the tire on the trailer, drive the truck and trailer home, unload the trailer, drive to Tracy, have some harsh words with the Travlyn Toys employees, return the trailer, and finally drive home.

What could go wrong??

Stuck...

The pass is closed at Donner Pass. We've pulled over at "Burger Me" in Truckee to figure out what is next.

On the road

We are all packed up and on the road.

Great weekend. The car has some definite new issues that we'll have to address but it was well sorted out and ran great the full 24 hours.

Checker flag

Claus had rain for the start of the run, and then as things dried up he really started turning fast laps.

Ended up in 17th place, including picking up two spots on the last lap. One car spun and he reeled in the other. Very exciting finish.

1 hour to go

And Cindy has an awesome breakfast ready to go.

And Now Xo went offroad

We are almost up to the 23rd hour and the packing crew had an "Opps". We didn't have much room to get the truck to the trailer and Xo put a wheel off into the ditch and the truck was stuck. We put the whole crew on the tailgate put to adjust the weight and had just enough to get it out of the hole. No harm done.

2 hours to go...

And Kirsten was hit coming in to the second to last corner before her pit stop and switching drivers.

A quick trip through the penalty box and counter to the general all-fault rules (also known as this is lemons and we all suck rule) they let us drive through and sent us to the pits to check for damage.

The hit was to the rear quarter panel and it spun Kirsten around. She manage to save it and kept the car on the track and there was no damage beyond replacing some tie wraps and some new paint we'll need to apply. Claus was on the track in less than 10 minutes.

We are now in 21st place with 5 or so cars within 5 laps ahead of us so we may yet move up to a top-twenty finish.

Go Claus.

Good morning

We are almost up to 7 am with 3 hours of racing left. I came out of the car at 6:30 after dealing with rain, snow and dark for most of my drive and a broken wiper stuck halfway up the window.

That said, it was a fun drive as most of the teams slowed WAY down and I drove a little more aggressively. Passing is way more fun than being passed.

The pits stop was quick. The wiper problem was a wrench dropped in the channel the wiper motor sits
in. Remove that and replace the fuse and the car was good to go.

Kirsten is now in the car zooming around and the plan is to put Claus in to finish the race out.

3:20 am

Claus ran after Rod and ran almost to 1 am. He had a fast run, but he only got about 6 laps during practice so I think he was itching to go set fast lap. He ran clean and went about two hours an then Doug took his next turn.

Doug was fighting high winds when an another car hit the wall and shut down the track. It took until 2:00 am to get the track live again, so Doug came out of the car and Tony went in. Big milestone as that gets us past the 16 hour mark and this is now the longest we have run in a weekend.

With Tony on the track he should be there till 4:00 am and then it is my turn again. Current standings- we are running in 26th.

Another long pit stop

Rod came in from his stint and the driver change was going smooth until we realized we have a cracked front rotor. We do have spares this time, but we woke the crew up and Rod jumped from the driver's seat to the mechanic seat. He swapped both front rotors in 30 minutes.

We also have an issue where we are bottoming out the suspension and the right front tire has an extra groove in it. A sledge hammer made some more fender space so that was a quick fix.

Just as we finished though, they announced that they were black flagging the track because of a timing issue in HQ. Big bummer for us to be off the track for 30 just before they closed the track (and it was killing Claus who has waited ALL day for his turn).

At this point we are past the half way mark and at last check we were in 28th place. Spirits are high.
They just announced the track is live again, so Claus is off for his first stint.

I get a cookie

To cut down on the number of black flags we used to get, we have added a new incentive. If a driver doesn't get into trouble, they get one of Cindy's homemade cookies when they get out of the car.

I started around 5:00 tonight and ran till just past 7:30, and I earned my cookie.

We put new tires on the car before the stint and the tires I found in Reno are not up to the abilities of the ones we usually use. The first couple of laps were pretty scary. The pit crew suggested that I slow down, but that was advise I did end up following. They should have promised a second cookie. In any case I had a long yellow flag session while they changed corner workers and the tires improved a bit with wear and then I could settle into a nice run.

The sun is down and Rod is in the car now turning his laps. After that we'll put Claus in and we should be at the halfway point of the race.

Race update

Doug ran a very long stint after we let him back on the track and got into no more trouble.

Tony hopped in the car at 3:00 and immediately picked up our first black flag for passing under yellow. The penalty was a stop and go and he is back on the track and I'm sitting on deck.

Back on the track

It was a 30 minute pit stop to get the car back on the track. The exhaust had been pushed off and with what was left of the tubes was pointing at the rear brakes. That was quickly solved by cutting off the exhaust past the mufflers so that was left of the tubes was pointing down.

The longer job was swapping out the front ball joint which was also taken out. From there we re-aligned the car.

We lost a headlight somewhere too (just the glass, not the bulb) so clear tape fixed that.

Finally, the video had been hit, so a minor repair there too.

With all the sorted out, we sent Doug back on the track with a stern "calm drivers get a cookie, crazy drivers don't" message.

In other bad news, we are going through tires at an alarming rate. While we are right by the tire rack center, they can't get us tires until Monday. So I've called every tire shop from here to Reno and Xo and I are now off to sparks to get our backup set.

When you don't have a passenger seat you make do. ... (photo by the team's hippie Xo)

First off road excursion

Doug is in the pits and we have repairs to do. I'll post more when we have sorted out the issues. Quick summary... Lost the exhaust and a ball joint.

First pit stop

1 hour in. We are done with our penalty laps and now in 47th place. Kirsten is out of the car and Doug is getting in.

Green flag

And the race is on

Cars are getting on the track

We had the seat belts set up for our bigger drivers, and the safety check at the track entrance stopped Kirsten from going on the track. We are adjusting the belts now and will get her onto the track soon. 10:00 is supposed to be green flag and 24 hours to go...

Race day

We were first in line for tech this morning (not hard since most teams finished tech yesterday) and sailed though. Now we have our 'good enough' safety sticker and Doug is putting the transponder on the car so it will be ready to go soon.

Sausage and eggs are cooking in the RV so it is definitely a good morning.

We are hoping to run two hour stints through th next 24 hours. Rod's finger is also 'good enough' so we have 6 drivers. Driving order is Kirsten, Doug, Tony, Steve, Rod and Claus. Even if we can't make 2 hour stints we'll hold the order and just adjust.

Night racing

We rotated all the drivers (minus rod who now has a minor injury) and took turns driving at night and practicing.

Everyone did great except me who was having a great run except I forgot where the track went at the top of the hill. I passed a bunch of cars (who were slowing for the turn) and then I realized what was wrong and locked up the brakes and went right off the edge. Opps. At least there was no damage and and I fixed the problem on the next lap. Good thing it was practice, I'll have to behave tomorrow.

We are all off to early bed now to get ready for tomorrow.

Track closed, swapping on new breaks

The track is closed after some lighting strikes. The lighting has stayed away for the last hour so it looks like we'll get in our night practice so we are swapping the brake pads now while we have the time so we can go to sleep Tonight at least.

Weather is getting really windy

All of the easy ups have come down before we lose them and we are starting our last daylight run. We have a little rain, but we are hoping it is just a few drops. Tony and Claus will split the session.

In the RV we have dinner started once we get the drivers off the track we'll feed everyone and the start out night-time practice. We only get an hour for that so we'll suit up all the drivers and practice driver switches every couple of laps.

New drivers

Kirsten just came off her practice stint and had a great run.

Rod is taking his first turn behind the wheel. After all the time working on the car, it has become a good enough car that he is willing to actually get in it.

Tech update and practice

Tech went smooth today. We only have 2 items to clean up, move the fire extinguisher and fix the holes in the floor.

BS tech went less smooth. There was a regular team in Texas the showed up to a lot of races an then finally won one. All the mods from the last 5 races came under scrutiny and we had a lot of explaining to do. The engine from the z32 was the worst part of the grilling. In the end the put us is the A class (a first for us) which means they think we might have a chance of winning. We are choosing to focus on that as a big victory for us. In the end we ended up with 3 penalty laps which is survivable. I bit my tongue and almost asked for 31 to match the car type but didn't luckily.

Doug is out spinning practice laps and I go in next.

At the track

We just landed at the track after a smooth drive from the bay area. The tech line for safety and BS inspection was short so as soon as the car came off the trailer we headed to tech. With the sun here, we did all stop long enough to get sunscreen on everyone.

Race Information on Reno

Several teams have posted some information about Reno in the 24-hour Lemons Forums. One item of interest is that the Owner of the Fernley track thinks the course layout will be similar to what it was in 2009.

Then, Mike of the Tinyvette team have some good pictures of the track like the one below:

Picture from top of The Hoot-n-Holler Hill Climb (or from the map above list as "Big Hill")

More track pictures from Mike are on Forum page:24 Hours of Lemons Forum

The other "fun" one is a good look at how the track could be at night. Chump Car Night Lap at Reno on You Tube

At first I believe the author that this was Reno, but when you read the page it is from a Chump Car race in April. In any chase, Dang!!! it's dark. As Chief Brody might say "I think were going to need bigger lights."

Enjoy

Muddy

Drivers' notes for Reno

As you should know by now this upcoming race will be different then any other we have done. It is a true 24-hour test of the team. The standard format of driver lineups, sleeping arrangements, pit crew, and food will be altered some to cope with the altered schedule.

To begin with, below is the Friday schedule.

Friday Schedule

• 7:00am Leave Dublin Base Camp

• Noon: HOD classroom instruction/ Lemons Tech and BS inspection

• 1:00- 2:00pm: On- and off-track HOD instruction Part 1

• 2:00- 3:30pm: Open testing (2 Drivers test)

• 3:15- 3:50pm: On- and off-track HOD instruction Part 2

• 3:50-5:30pm: Open testing (2 Drivers test)

• 5:15- 5:50pm: On- and off-track HOD instruction Part 3

• 5:50- 7:30pm: Open testing (2 Drivers test)

• 7:00ish Dinner

• 7:15- 7:50pm: On- and off-track HOD instruction Part 4

• 8:00- 9:00pm: Open testing (nighttime - 6 Drivers test)

• 9:00- Beer time and then off to the Comfort Inn in Fernley.

For the night test, Lugnut has a great ideal to do some night driving and driver exchange testing. The goal will be to get all drivers a chance to get into the car to see the track at night. Each driver will get a few laps, then come into the hot pits where we will practice driver exchanges unit we get through all the drivers and/or time expires.

Some members of the team have run at this tack before. As a reference here is the track layout. The red indicates how track was laid out the last time lemons was at the track, but there is no guaranty they will do it again that way.

Also, we do have video of the track. Here is You Tube video of Lugnut running it in 2009.

As for the race, driving order will need to be determined. Here is a Gantt chart of the various drivers’ stint if it goes to plan.

If you have a preference of a driving slot let me know, else I’ll fit everyone in. To communicate this at the track I plan on using the covered car carrier as our race operations. It will have a table, chairs, whiteboard and will be lit. I will post a white board in there that we can track future driver times and other notes. So, anytime you have a driver slot questions the board could be consulted and notes reviewed.

As for sleeping on Saturday-Sunday I will have an RV on site. It will have four beds and two more if needed. So, bring what linens, sleeping bag, stuffed animal, and pillows you need to catch some ZZZ when you can. From my count we will have 8 people that will stay the night at the track. So will be hot bunking. Once we get into the night operation, all noisy operations could be taken outside or into the cover car trailer.

Then night operations will be fun. It is important that we have enough people up to address any car issues in the pit or any penalty issues at anytime. The best ideal for staffing the pits I have heard was to plan for a minimum of four people at all times. Here is an order list to be on call:

· Driver in the car

· Next Driver Dressed

· The second driver following the current stint

· Support Crew

That’s it for now. Please let me know if you have any questions or think of something that need to be added.

Muddy

Clock arrived

Muddy, here you go, now all we need to do is install it...

Checklist for Goin' For Broken

Thank you all for the work this last weekend. With 10 Days to go, here is a list of what is left.

2011 Goin' for Broken
Electrical Systems
		Items	Status	Comments
	1	Lights on the car	Done
	2	Light Wiring		Clean up wiring complete grounding tie done wires
	3	Light Alignment		Lower lights need to be looked at.
	4	Dome Light for car	Done
	5	Clock in the car		Clock arrived, need to install
	6	Connect ECU to computer
	7	Look for error messages
	8	ECU Tune
	9	Run car with computer connected to consult monitoring systems
	10	Test Oxygen Sensor
Engine and Driver Train
		Items	Status	Comments
	1	Engine compress test	Done	1- 185, 2 -180, 3- 180, 4-180, 5-180, 6-180
	2	Replace oil filter	Done
	3	Replace oil	Done
	4	Check transmission oil	Done
	5	Check Differential Oil	Done
	6	Removal oil from intake manifold	Done	2 pint Foster cans used
	7	Oil Separator		Secure Foster cans
Suspension
		Items	Status	Comments
	1	Check strut and tighten	Done
	2	Check Wheel bearings	Done	Have parts
	3	Front alignment
	4	Install Gurney strip on spoiler	Done
Brakes System
		Items	Status	Comments
	1	Replace rotors	Done	Rears done, fronts needed
	2	Replace brake line	Done
	3	Replace Brake Pads	Done	Have Hawk 9012 and will replace after First day run
	4	Bleed lines	Done

Pit and Logistics Systems
		Items	Status	Comments
	1	Hotel room confirmation and number of rooms confirmed	Done	5 Room at Comfort Inn (two rooms taken)
	2	Reserve tow truck	Done	Daws
	3	Reserve trailer		Toy-Toys
	4	RV rental	Done	RV pending rental
	5	T-shirt printing
	6	Team Hat
	7	Menu
	8	Residual value memo to Jay
	9	Mount radio wiring harness to seatbelt		New Harness order
	10	Pit Board
	11	Drivers Schedule
	12	Ear Buds for radio		Order 2 more
	13	5x5-gallon carboy		Test Performed with 2.5 gals: Tuff Jug 85 sec Jug with adapter 49 sec Jug with Tube 39 sec Answer: 1" braided tubing has been order
	14	Pack for the track
	15	Replace team logo on Hood
	16	Refresh paint
	17	Test drive
	18	Binder
Safety
		Items	Status	Comments
	1	Go over Check list
	2	Add darkening film to rear window		Review
	3	Adjust driving seat belt Harness	Done
	4	Rules Review