Onto the Next Race (Hair of the Dog) January 4-5

Well, we are at it again. Like last year and with some luck, we were able to register the Z into the Lucky Dog Racing League race at Laguna Sec, this coming weekend. This is a short turn around and with the Holidays, it has been a little busy.

For this race we will bring just the Z. Lugnut and I will be piloting the Z, so it will be a busy weekend. Torch, Queen, and Picasso will also be there running in their Turbo Miata car #56, Schmatz Spatz Racing.

We have had a chance to go over the Z and found a small laundry list to work on. Rear left traction bar Rod end replacement, radiator cap replacement, clutch system flush, and oil exchange. There is a New Year's, day work party schedule to finish up the punch list and with luck will have the car track ready for loading on Friday.

In the meantime time Happy New Year to All!

Finish of the 2019 Arse Freeze Race

Wow, I did not know we left you on a cliff hanger. Sorry about that.

Just as Sparky finished updating the blog, the Z began to have brake troubles. I was driving and at first though I notice the break peddle change. After a few more laps, it still was not right, so I brought the car. From there it sent us down a path of testing parts with a driver being sent out to see if we fixed the trouble after each change. It start with a simple brake bleeding. That was followed by pads and rotor exchange. Followed by a master cylinder exchange. After all that still no reliable brakes, so the car was brought back in. Then while lift, it was noticed that there was play in the front left wheel. After rummaging in the suspension tote a front hub and knuckle assembly was found and exchanged on the car. From there it took several more attempts, but finally the break lines clear and the brakes work again. This whole process took about 3 hours.

In the meantime the D was run with various adventures and the weather gradually dried. I think we racking up 3 black flags for various, spins, agriculture events, and contact with the obligatory repairs needed after such transgressions. We did get everyone through the D as planned.

Officially the D came in 61st and the Z 90th. In the end, with a lot of hard work, the D and Z finished with two checkers. A win in my book for the team.

Driver order

So far, everyone is staying clean and putting in nice laps. 

Here is the driving order for the day. 

Green flag

They got the race started right at 9:00 this morning.  Both cars are running. Normally we would think cold and wet is a rough start but after all the rain yesterday, only cold and wet is a nice improvement. 

Day 2

We are off to a foggy start this morning. Forecast was for the rain to stop around 7am and then stay away for the day. We hope so as the cars are really not set up well for the rain at this point. Everyone did an amazing job just keeping them on the track and competitive (at our level of competitive anyways). 

Getting ready for day 2

Checker flag

It was a very busy day. It rained pretty much non-stop until the final driver change. 

The D is definitely worse for wear today having taken a few too many hits.  I think each corner had cosmetic/or fewer issues. After a final trip to the wall, Torch brought it in and we thought we were going to park it for the day.  We started looking at what was wrong and after finding no major destruction causing the severe toe issue, we quickly gave the tie-rod a turn and sent Muddy our to try and finish the day. We had limited success in terms drivability, but good results for getting a checker. Lugnut is adjusting now and Picasso is prepping for paint. 

Green flag

My phone is running the data today so photos will be few and far between. Muddy is out in the Z and Picasso is out in the D. It is wet but not pouring.  It is wet enough the muddy is having a hard time getting past a CRV and making it stick.  It has the advantage of being on mud and snow street tires. 

Here is the driving order for the day

Video update

If all goes well, we should be streaming data and video all day.  We've tried this before and had only OK success with this setup, but many bug fixes and updates later, I think we are ready to give it another try.

The video will stream live to youtube.  Whenever the car is on, it should be at the following link

https://youtu.be/FiKBSEew978

We are just streaming the pits right now, but all seems good.

The other place to watch the race is Race Capture Podium.

https://podium.live/events/24hrs-of-lemons-arse-freeze-a-palooza-2019-sonoma

or if you just want our car 

https://podium.live/events/24hrs-of-lemons-arse-freeze-a-palooza-2019-sonoma/device/137-seize-z-um

That gives you a like to all the cars in the race, and following the link to 137 Sei-Z-um will get our dashboard during the race.  You may need an account (I haven't checked, so if the dashboard doesn't work, the video on youtube is the best way to go. 

Have fun

Soggy start to race day

On of the ez-ups decided to turn into a swimming pool last night, but the cars stayed dry and that seems to be the only casualty of the night. 

Forecast today is for rain all day, so today is all about staying on the track and out of trouble. 

Practice day

The heavy rain stayed away while everyone got a chance to have a run on the track. The D was running great. We also got the new data system running (I hope) on the Z. We’ll see for sure tomorrow. 

We have a new smoker going, and the bacon wrapped sausage is the appetizer tonight!  Imm definitely gaining weight this weekend. 

Video for the session

We are going to try to get the video in the Z working again.  For now the link is here, I'll update if it changes tomorrow.

https://youtu.be/Jl0CAIzUkD0

Both cars have arrived

The second half of the team just arrived and we now have both cars squared away. Tech opens at 11 so we plan on running over there right at the start. We have our drivers tags for today as well. 

So far a good start to the weekend. But then fresh banana bread on the drive guaranteed it would be a good start. 

Paddock space claimed

Easy drive and we are now set up in about our usual spot next the the grandstands here at sears point. 

We have a new driver this race. We’ll have to work on a nickname, so let’s see how the weekend goes. While we were offloading the D, we sent her out to drive the paddock.  

At one point there was a ‘proud parent’ bumper sticker on the car with ‘not proud this is my dad’s car’ written in sharpie next to it. I think the feeling is changing. 

Ready to roll

Packing went very smooth yesterday so we actually got to bed at a reasonable hour with everything prepped and ready to go. 

A foggy dawn is greeting us as we wait for everyone to wake up and hit the road. 

Packed and Ready to Lunch

With a great effort from the team we got everything packed by 6:30.  So we are ready to lunch tomorrow into the oncoming storm of both racing and weather:

Hotel Reservation for Arse-Freeze Apalooza 2019

Courtyard Vallejo Napa Valley 1000 Fairgrounds Drive Vallejo California 94589 USA +1-707-644-1200 Thank you for booking directly with us, Mr. Muddy. You're ready to move forward. Fri, Dec. 06, 2019 – Sun, Dec. 08, 2019 Confirmation Number:  98278605  2 x 2 Queens                                       98270200  1 King                                       98275863  1 King (Senior rate) Check-In: Friday, December 6, 2019 03:00 PM Check-Out: Sunday, December 8, 2019 12:00 PM

Race Weekend Schedule for Arse-Freeze 2019

The RV, truck, and trailers are load ready to go to the track.  My plan is to get there by 8:00 to find a spot and setup near the Grandstands.  Here is the basic schedule for tomorrow:

   8:00 am   Setup the pits
 11:00 am   Tech and BS both cars
 12:30 pm   Practice Start
   4:30 pm   Practice Finishes
   5:15 pm   Mandatory Rookie meeting for some drivers.
   6:30 pm   Dinner

For the drivers here is the proposed schedule:

Practice
D
Start	Finish	Pilot		Notes
12:30 AM	1:12 AM	Driver	1	Estimated     12 laps
1:24 AM	1:52 AM	Driver	2	Estimated       12 laps
2:04 AM	2:31 AM	Driver	3	Estimated     12 laps
2:43 AM	3:11 AM	Driver	4	Estimated       12 laps
3:23 AM	3:50 AM	Driver	5	Estimated     12 laps
4:02 AM	4:30 AM	Driver	6	Estimated       12 laps

Day 2	Race Session I
D						Z
Start	Finish	Pilot		Notes		Start	Finish	Pilot		Notes
10:00 AM	10:45 AM	Driver	1			10:00 AM	11:12 AM	Driver	1
10:57 AM	11:57 AM	Driver	2			11:24 AM	12:36 PM	Driver	2
12:09 PM	1:09 PM	Driver	3			12:48 PM	2:00 PM	Driver	3
1:21 PM	2:21 PM	Driver	4			2:12 PM	3:24 PM	Driver	4
2:33 PM	3:33 PM	Driver	5			3:36 PM	4:48 PM	Driver	5
3:45 PM	4:45 PM	Driver	6
Day 3 Race Session II
D						Z
Start	Finish	Pilot		Notes		Start	Finish	Pilot		Notes
9:00 AM	10:00 AM	Driver	1			9:00 AM	10:23 AM		1
10:13 AM	11:21 AM	Driver	2			10:35 AM	11:58 AM		2
11:34 AM	12:42 PM	Driver	3			12:10 PM	1:33 PM		3
12:55 PM	2:03 PM	Driver	4			1:45 PM	3:08 PM		4
2:16 PM	3:24 PM	Driver	5			3:20 PM	4:43 PM		5
3:37 PM	4:45 PM	Driver	6

Half-Life Racing Plead For Residual Valve for Arse Freeze Apalooza

Judge Phil,

I hope your Thanksgiving goes well.

After stuffing ourselves, we at Half-Life Racing are preparing our two cars for Arse-Freeze.  We last ran these cars previously at Sears Pointless earlier this year.

For that race the cars ran well (for us) with both cars finishing.  They saving grace was the rain.  That likely minimized speed and contact damage.

Then, we initially planned to run in Days of Thunderhill, but the date shift to Memorial Day made that impossible.  So, now we are now looking forward to Arse-Freeze.  To get ready we have inspected the cars, and found several items that we would like to fix, so would like to plead a fair residual value.

For the D this will be the 24th race over 7 years.  

When we looked the car over, that age showed.  The most notable trouble was the radiator hoses were a bit crunchy.  We would like to replace the Upper, middle and lower hoses at a cost of $28.43.  With a wash, paint, and grease we should be good to go.

For the Z we found some wiggling in the front left and right rear.

Looking into the front left we found the trouble in the lower king pin bearing.  This bearing was hard to find, but with the power of E-bay I did find a surrogate from a Skyline for $24.82.

For the right rear, we found the traction bar rod end got elongated.  Replacing that is cost $9.99.

In the end I am pleading that for the D the residual value to be $471.57 allowing us to cover the cost of the hose replacement.  For the Z, the plead is for $465.19 to cover the cost of the suspension parts.  With that we would be good to go, and look forward to running in a few weeks.

Muddy