Race done, 2 checkers.

Doug brought the Z home in 55th place out of 178 teams and Claus brought home the D in 48th.

15 minutes to go

Rod and I took turns in the Z and D respectively. Another pair of clean runs for the day. Even better, we have sun out and the track has dried out.

It has been a very smooth day. I came in and swapped out for Doug, and Rod came in and Tony got into the D to run some laps.

So far, so good, although there has been a lot of napping today as everyone is tired from yesterday.

Tony came in with 50 minutes to go to give Claus a turn in the D and Doug and Claus should be hammering away to the finish.

First driver change

The track has a dry line now an speeds are up significantly.

We brought Brendan in an swapped in Kirsten. Then we brought Tony in and we are finishing up the pit stop and sending Claus out.

Tony got a black flag for passing on yellow, but we got in and out fast.

Day 2

With hopes of a dryer day, the cars are cleaned up, the sun is poking out, and we are heading out to the drivers meeting.

Tony will be starting us off in the Z and brendan will start us off on the D.

Engine swap

In spite of my whining about driving conditions, at least we were driving. The 944 next to us blew and engine early, and spend a day in the rain tearing down their engine and all night building up a new one. It is now installed and they might fire it up soon.

Good luck

Day 1 recap

Conditions went from bad to worse as the day went on yesterday.

Both Rod and Claus had safe drives. Claus came in early, and I spelled him in the Z.

Conditions were awful. On top of the rain and spray, the window would fog up so it was really a game of follow the leader, finding someone who was driving close to your speed that you could just follow.

Rod came out of the D and Doug went in and we had about an hour left. Once the pit was clear, I came in to get the window wiped down to hopefully drive out the day.

It helped for a while, but shortly the visibility died again and it was back to driving blind.

Doug and I finished out the day with a pair of checkers and no black flags. We'll see if they had just given up on penalties and were just writing them down to deal with today as my drive resulted in one crushed fender and a couple agonizing slides and yet no black flags.

At least we ended up better than the myriad of teams that ended up in the various walls, and have two cars running. Photos are from earlier today when you could actually see the track.

More fuel problems

The track is stopped as the rain is really coming down now.

We have had the z in several times, and we realized the last time the fuel pump control computer was under water. Oops

We drilled a drain hole and hot wired the fuel pump to just work on/off. Cross you fingers, Claus is back to the track.

The track has been shut down for a while after a messy accident so we were able to do most of our work on a cold track.

Still lots of rain

Kirsten and tony both had nice clean runs. Tony came in on a tow when the car stalled and wouldn't restart. It only took 9 gallons of gas but we sent Claus out. Claus came back the next lap and we diagnosed a clogged fuel filter. Guess the fire during rebuild may have left some crud in the tank or fuel lines. new filter and Claus has been driving good.

Kirsten had no issues and just smooth the whole time and moved the car back to 54th.

With all the rain, I'm sitting in the rv and it looks like lamb chops!

Well......

The good news is Brendan had an awesome run and stayed out on the track running nice and clean. He had an early pit to fix a wiper and remove the plastic side cover we used to try and keep the driver dry. Other than that he pretty much moved up each and every lap.

The Z however has had three trips through the penalty box. Doug spun and got a drive through penalty. Unfortunately he was back two laps later and they were not amused to see him again and forced a driver change on us.

So in the car I went. I was still fining my way around the track when I collided with a car that came across my front end in the Carousel. The two of us ended up in the grass and consequently in the penalty box.

Needless to say, coming two laps after Doug was thrown out, they were even less amused. We did another driver change and now Tony is in the car turning very calm laps.

Doug and I had as a penalty feeding another team that was serving their penalty doing some graffiti art. Given the quality of our menu, they were thrilled to get the hot meatball sandwhiches and of course the cookies that Doug and I lost.

30 minutes later both Kirsten and Tony are still on the track safely driving.

5 min to go

The just announced over the PA five minutes to go and the first car is being towed off the track.

It is neither of our cars as Brendan is out in the D and Doug in the Z. The goal is 1 hour for the D and 1:45 for Doug. Kirsten will get into the D next and I'm going to take my turn in the Z

Good morning from Sears Point

The forecast today is for rain, rain and more rain. So we thought it might be a good idea to test the wipers.

The Z still requires turning off the wipers at the right time since they don't park right. I looked through the wires and after poking around for a while we decided we were in danger of taking a good enough situation making it worse so we put it all back together and said 'done'.

When we ran the wipers on the D they made it to the too the top of the arc and stopped. Poking around we had a blown fuse. After checking the wiring I had a 5amp fuse feeding the 20amp wiper circuit. Oops. Simple fix thought which was nice.

The crew also built a cover for the D since 2 days of racing in an open car seems like too much punishment.

Breakfast of course was awesome. Many teams are standing around eating pop Yates in the rain and we are sitting in the RV with a hot breakfast. Awesome.

Post Tech

We got through with the normal amount of hazing. Both Cars got placed in class A (whatever that really means). Also both cars got through without penalty labs. The only thing we got hit for was a 2" fender washer needed for the seating harness on the D. Sparky is heading to the track now and will stop on this way in, so it "should" be a quick thing.

In the mean we do a strange thing at this time at the track. We wait and enjoy the last bit of sun we will get for the rest of the weekend.

Tech inspection

Just getting into Tech now.

At the Track

We just landed. We are near where we were at the last Pointless Race.

Cars should get on the track in about an hour.

Work List For Sears Point 2012

With a week to go I thought it would be good to get out the punch list. Yes, it looks long and a lot of work. Well you're right. So, I will have the shop opens both days to work and drink beer. If you are in the neighborhood feel free to stop by.

Here is the list:

2012 Sears Pointless
Electrical Systems			Status
		Items	300Z		Type D	Comments
	1	Power Disconnect switch
	2	Dashboard			Done
	3	Alternator Light			Done
	4	Descuzzify wires
	5	Battery Box			Done
	6	Cyclopes real Light			Done
	7	Rear wire connection			Done
	8	Tack reinstall			Done
	9	Main Power Battery Hookups
	10	Install Traqmate			Done
	11	Battery Charged
	12	Check charging system
	13	Check ECU Error codes
Engine and Driver Train
		Items				Comments
	1	Engine compress test	Done		Done	Z: 1- 185, 2 -180, 3- 180, 4-180, 5-180, 6-175 D1-180,2-180, 3-180, 4-190
	2	Spark Plug	Done
	3	Replace oil filter				Filters in hand
	4	Replace oil
	5	Check transmission oil				Have Gear Oil
	6	Check Differential Oil				Have Gear Oil
	7	Check Clutch Fluid
	8	Inspect Timing Belt				D-Have Plugs
	9	Inspect Water and Alt Belt				D-Have Belt
	10	Rework Air Box	Done
	11	Check and add Water to Radiator
	12	Inspect and replace throttle Cable
	13	Wipers			Done
	14	Run engine to temperature
	15	Test Drive
Suspension and Brakes
		Items				Comments
	1	Check strut and tighten				Have parts
	2	Inspection Ball Joint	Done			Have parts
	3	Check Wheel bearings	Done			Have parts
	4	Front Sway bar mount				Have parts
	5	Check rear and front bushing
	6	Replace rotors	Done			Check D System
	7	Check Brake Pads	Done		Done	Z- DT-10 Hawk pads
	8	Bleed brake lines			Done
	9	Check bias
	10	Alignment
	11	Tires and Rims				D- 1 sets ordered Z- 1 sets order
	12	Check Tire Pressures				40 PSI
	13	Strut Tower Support	Done
Safety Systems
		Items				Comments
	1	Install Fire Extinguisher	Done		Done
	2	Install and Check Seat			Done	check bolts
	3	Install and Check Back Rest			Done	ordered back rest
	4	Install Seat Harness			Done
	5	Install Mirror			Done
	6	Roll Bar Pad			Done
	7	Install Tow Hitch				Label
	8	Cover Remaining Glass	Done		Done
	9	Secure Roll Cage			Done	Complete cage
	10	Arm Restraints / Driver Net
	11	Fire Wall Inspection
	12	Battery Manual Disconnect
	13	Rear Fire wall	Done
Pit and Logistics Systems
		Items				Comments
	1	Hotel room confirmation and number of rooms confirmed	Done		Done	7 Room at Best Western Inn (two rooms taken)
	2	Reserve tow truck	Done		Done	Daws
	3	Reserve trailer
	4	RV rental	Done		Done	RV pending rental
	5	T-shirt printing
	6	Team Hats and jackets
	7	Menu
	8	Residual value memo to Jay
	9	Check Radio harness				In Each Car
	10	Determine Jack Points			Done
	11	Ear Buds for radio
	12	Radio				7 Radios
	13	Drivers Schedule
	14	5x5-gallon carboy				Review
	15	Fuel Storage	Done		Done	55 gallon + 5x5 gallon
	16	Pump	Done		Done	been order
	17	Spare Parts
	18	Pack for the track
	19	Test drive
	20	Binder				Start D & edit Z's Binder
Décor
		Items				Comments
	1	Car Number			Done	Have 11x17 label
	2	Team Logo				Review
	3	VLE Logo			Done	Have 11x17 label
	4	Paint				Unless you liked gold