1 pass and 1 crash

Muddy pointed out that the k-rail and the D definitely should not try to share the same space.

I must apologize again to the team as I made a LOT of work to do and for the most part all I could do afterwards is make sure everyone had a beer in their hand.  Taking a sawzall to the subframe is definitely outside the realm of electrical work that I normally live in.

Thankfully, with a lot of work, the car ran the next day and even posted the it's fast lap of the weekend.  And after Picasso did his work, the fender now looks a lot like the rest of the fenders, and I'm sure after it is filled with foam it will really look like the others.

Unfortunately there is video. So I cannot blame it on another car nor claim it was a miraculous bit of driving where "I almost saved it".  The mantra of in a spin, both feet in should have applied here as I failed to save anything.  At least I didn't take out any other cars.

Arse Freeze Finishes in a Team Victory

Tow completed his run and quickly turned the D over to Lugnut to finish the day.  After the calamity that befell the Z, Torch was able to finish his stint.  Muddy was happy to even get the stint, and jumped in with an hour left to run.

Muddy entered the track right into a pack of cars.  Hidden in that group was the D.  Lugnut, seeing an opportunity pushed hard and the battle was on.  After several laps, Lugnut managed to finally get behind the Z going into turn 6.  With full pride on the table, both went screaming through the carousel (maybe not the brightest idea in wet conditions).  Muddy in the lead managed to get through traffic, stretch it out going into turn 7 and mostly disappeared from there.

However, Lugnut in the D still lurked.  With intermittent rain, a lot of tow truck action was needed to get other overdoers out of the mud.  With about half the stint completed a full course yellow bunched everyone up.  When the green flew again, Lugnut was able to find his quarry, and the chase was on.  Lugnut put down several flier's and in the process logged the quickest race lap in the D for the weekend (a 2:09.543).  His efforts was rewarded by getting under the rear bumper of the Z going into turn 3.  Muddy having none of it, throw caution to the wind, and dropped the hammer.  By the time the Z got through 6 the D was 5 car lengths behind, and the encounter was effectively terminated.

The race finished with both cars running and getting the checkers.  In the end the D placed 80th and the Z 60th out of 179 cars who log laps.  Good on that score.  The true victory was everyone got their allocated drive, with 3 stints each for the weekend.

That is a "W" to my goals, and it only happened with the team's hard work. Thank you!

Race update

We were running well.  Even after the repairs the D turned some good laps.  There are clear issues, but we are running.

On the Z side we had a scare.  Torch running on the back stretch was running along and bang, the gear shift drops and a whole lot of racket ensures.  First thoughts, transmission failure. Upon review, the bracket holding the gear shift failed.  After a quick fabricating of a bracket, the gear shift fixed,  and were back into the fight. 

Two driver changes done

We have made it through two drivers in each car. The weather is off and on rain so conditions on the track are changing fast. After starting first based on our lemons aid work yesterday.  We did lose Picasso and the Z to a black flag spin on turn 1 after the green flag and a report of the track being very slick.    Getting ready for the lunch round of changes and keeping the cars on the track.

Happy News to Start the Day

With a bit of effort from the team (thank you), both cars hit the track to start today. After that all bets are off come it rain, wind, or other possible driver calamity.

Day 2

Everything is back together now and we are ready for day 2. We lost 15 minutes of track time and the two cars are 50 something-th and 70 something-th 

We changed the oil in the Z's transmission and no parts came out today. So for it it was pretty much oil changes, clean the windows and it is ready for Sunday. The new control arm and bushings held up great so we did the same on the driver's side.  

The D took a lot of hours to repair. The chassis is bent and the suspension was pointed decidedly to the right after hitting the wall. The first attempt was to unbolt the subframe, move it, drill some new holes and then reattach. That didn't work so we ended up welding it back to the chassis. While that got that left wheel pointed in the right direction, the right was still off.  So we cut the lower control arm, shimmed it until the toe was right and welded everything back together. 

What could go wrong?

Still no idea if there is any damage we haven't seen so we'll do a parade lap to start the day and then bring it back in for an assesment. 

No chance we could deal with the body damage, so pulled it away from the tire and Picasso painted it to mostly match. 

We had rain overnight, but it has stopped for now. So we are eating a breakfast sandwhiches waiting for the drivers meeting and track time to start. 

Broken miata

You can tell if a car oversteers or under steers based upon which end of the car goes into the wall. With the new diff, the D oversteers.

I hit the wall going into the carousel pretty hard and the frame is bent. We are in the process of hammering the car enough so that we can get the back wheel pointed forward again.  

In better news, Lugnut had a great run and the Z had a completely clean day with no penalties. 

More later when we figure out how much hammering is needed. 

Driver change

So far so good. Both cars running clean and Picasso and Queen had good runs. They have both come in for driver changes and muddy and torch are on the track.

Not sure how I missed this yesterday, but the following parts came out of the Z's transmission with the oil change yesterday. We assume Nissan put them in for a reason....  Muddy is telling us all to just leave it in 3rd and drive. 

Race start

We are doing caution laps while while they make sure the transponders work. As usual, there are a number of cars that didn't make it around the track for a first lap now being towed off. Knock on wood, but we are still circling waiting for the green flag.

Practice time

Track is open and we are starting to turn laps for practice.

The D has a new differential. We killed the last one and so are trying a welded diff today. Lugnut is taking the car out to see how it works and will be back in one lap to give us the thumbs up or down. 

10:10 and through tech

Tech opened at 10:00 and we were for the first time in our career first. Both cars were done in 5 minutes and then we were off to get the gear inspected. Couple minutes later still and we are back at the pits setting up for practice which starts at 1:00.

Both cars ended up with no issues in class A with no penalty laps. 

We have had rain off and on all morning, but it looks like it is clearing and we should have blue sky's this afternoon. 

Day 1

The paddock is waking up and the cars are idling to warm up.

Last nights repair work is all installed. We'll be trying a custom control arm with new bushings in the Z and ABS should turn on for the first time. We also have new tires on the Z so the flatspot issue is behind us for a little while anyways.  The clock also has a new battery since we were losing minutes every hour. 

Z Chef is cooking up something special for breakfast but I'm kind planning on eating leftovers from dinner last night. 

Drivers meeting at 9:00. 

We have a cold overcast morning but it looks like it will burn off and then just leave cold, but no rain. That's the hope anyways.

Welding away

Not much to add, but here is the control arm under fabrication.

Post practice

 The locked differential makes the miata a much more active car to drive. Not sure it is faster, but we have both understeer and oversteer to play with now. It is the diff that we have, so it's what we are running, but we definitely haven't made the car easier to driver. 

A challenge we have is everytime we make the cars faster, we find new parts that anrent up to snuff. We have been going through upper control arms each time we hit the track. Today was no different :-(  We did buy a new beefier one that also had adjustable camber, but it is much shorter that the old one. Lugnut and torch are now cutting and welding to get a beefier control arm the right size. It 'should' work.

Meanwhile I'm trying to get the ABS to work. I reviewed the original wiring I did and I definitely missed some of the power wires, so I got that all sorted out. Now when I turn the system on, it clicked and cycles so I'm hopeful. Give it 50/50 odds I'm done and done have to pull out the oscilloscope to figure out how the circuits are really working. 

For dinner, Cindy has quite a spread. We have tri-tip and ribs, but I'm very excited about the twice baked potatoes. 

Practice time

Track is open and we are starting to turn laps for practice.

The D has a new differential. We killed the last one and so are trying a welded diff today. Lugnut is taking the car out to see how it works and will be back in one lap to give us the thumbs up or down. 

Practice time

Track is open and we are starting to turn laps for practice.

The D has a new differential. We killed the last one and so are trying a welded diff today. Lugnut is taking the car out to see how it works and will be back in one lap to give us the thumbs up or down. 

We have landed at Arse-Freeze

We have found a nice little spot across from the grand stands.  Hopefully making where's Waldo a little easier.

Final Day Work Checklist

Work Checklist for 2015 Arse Freeze Alapolooza
Electrical Systems			Status
		Items	300z		Type D	Comments
	1	Descuzzify wires			Done
	2	Traqmate
	3	Check Clock Batteries
	4	ABS switch				Investigate
Engine and Driver train
		Items	300z		Type D	Comments
	1	Replace engine oil				Check plug and level
	2	Check differential oil	Done			Possible Replace
Suspension and Brakes
		Items	300z		Type D	Comments
	1	Alignment				Z – 3.5° F camber
	2	Tires and rims			Done	Z – Need 1 Rim and inspect tires
	3	Check tire pressures				Z – 29 f 28 r D – 28 f/r
Safety Systems
		Items	300z		Type D	Comments
	1	Go through Lemon’s Checklist
Chassis
		Items	300z		Type D	Comments
	1	Front skirt			Done	Z – Install
	2	Fender repair	Done
Décor
		Items	300z		Type D	Comments
	1	Car number				Remove Black Marks
	2	Team logo				Review
	3	VLE logo				Inspect
	4	Paint				Touch up

Race Weekend Driver's Schedule

If all goes well, here is the race weekend schedule:

Day 1

Practice

D

Z

Start

Finish

Pilot

Notes

Start

Finish

Pilot

Notes

1:00 PM

1:30 PM

Driver

1

Estimated      6 laps

1:00 PM

1:27 PM

Driver

1

Estimated     7 laps

1:43 PM

2:00 PM

Driver

2

Estimated       6 laps

1:42 PM

1:58 PM

Driver

2

Estimated     7 laps

2:13 PM

2:30 PM

Driver

3

Estimated      6 laps

2:13 PM

2:29 PM

Driver

3

Estimated     7 laps

2:43 PM

3:00 PM

Driver

4

Estimated       6 laps

2:44 PM

3:00 PM

Driver

4

Estimated    7 laps

3:13 PM

3:30 PM

Driver

5

Estimated      6 laps

3:15 PM

3:31 PM

Driver

5

Estimated     7 laps

3:43 PM

4:00 PM

Driver

6

Estimated       6 laps

3:46 PM

4:02 PM

Driver

6

Estimated     7 laps

4:13 PM

4:30 PM

Driver

7

Estimated      6 laps

4:17 PM

4:33 PM

Driver

7

Estimated     7 laps

Day 2

Race Session I

D

Z

Start

Finish

Pilot

Notes

Start

Finish

Pilot

Notes

10:00 AM

11:00 AM

Driver

1

Estimated   22 laps

10:00 AM

11:14 AM

Driver

1

Estimated   31 laps

11:12 AM

12:30 PM

Driver

2

Estimated  30 laps

11:26 AM

12:40 PM

Driver

2

Estimated   31 laps

12:42 PM

2:00 PM

Driver

3

Estimated   30 laps

12:52 PM

2:07 PM

Driver

3

Estimated   31 laps

2:12 PM

3:30 PM

Driver

4

Estimated  30 laps

2:19 PM

3:34 PM

Driver

4

Estimated   31 laps

3:42 PM

5:00 PM

Driver

5

Estimated   30 laps

3:46 PM

5:00 PM

Driver

5

Estimated   31 laps

Day 3

Race Session II

D

Z

Start

Finish

Pilot

Notes

Start

Finish

Pilot

Notes

9:00 AM

10:33 AM

Driver

1

Estimated   34 laps

9:00 AM

10:00 AM

Driver

1

Estimated   23 laps

10:45 AM

12:18 PM

Driver

2

Estimated   34 laps

10:12 AM

11:24 AM

Driver

2

Estimated   30 laps

12:30 PM

1:30 PM

Driver

3

Estimated   22 laps

11:36 AM

12:48 PM

Driver

3

Estimated   30 laps

1:42 PM

3:15 PM

Driver

4

Estimated   34 laps

1:00 PM

2:12 PM

Driver

4

Estimated   30 laps

3:27 PM

5:00 PM

Driver

5

Estimated   34 laps

2:24 PM

3:36 PM

Driver

5

Estimated   30 laps

3:48 PM

5:00 PM

Driver

6

Estimated   30 laps

If these estimated number of Laps comes true, we should be looking at 300 laps completed for the D and 298 Laps for the Z.  When compared to last year's Arse Freeze, that would put us on the first sheet which is the top 38.  Last Arse Freeze the Z was 52 with 285 labs completed and the D was 57 with 282 labs completed.  Maybe more importantly best race lap times was 2:03.756 for the Z and 2:08.441 for the D.