Revenge of the Underdogs - Day 2

Day two started off really well for me. My normal trip to the gas station to fill fuel cans (for the Z car ~60 gallons ) was not needed. So, we head straight to the track. When we got to the paddock little was needed, and we quickly rolled into my track favor breakfast, the Egg Croissant sandwich. Yeah baby!!!

After the quick drivers' meeting I suited and hit the rack again. Again like the previous day the 10 duked it out going into turn one. This time 54 cars and 6 of my Super Dog racing pals went storming into the morning. Again all went well. I found a little more time. This extra speed had me passing a little bit more often than the day before, and I finished my stint with no troubles. Z-mom and Z-dad again jumped in, and we had no troubles getting Lugnut back on the track within the 10 minute allot time.

Lugnut, put in a good stint, with no major troubles. He can in and again with the team jumping in, I was on track within the 10 minutes, accumulating more laps. By this time the car had changes some, the tires were most definitely not at their best. They were still round, but the shoulders had noticeable been removed, so there was little to lean on when we pitch it into the corner. However, we still ran at 2:08-2:06 pace.

I finished my stint, got to the paddock, the team jumped on the car, and we turned the car around within the 10 minutes. Just as the Lugnut left the pit he let me know that we were in 1st place, and we had 30 laps on the next place car. Wow! Ok, Lugnut stint must have been tuff. The tires were done, but drive he did. So, when the checked flag flew at the end of the day, the D was right there.

So, for Day 2 of the Revenge of the Underdogs, I give you the 1st Place in the Super Dog class!

The little D that did.  (Note; by the end of the race only 4 Supper Dog cars were running.)  No matter we got two checkers with not major trouble and in the end there was a lot of smiles on everyone faces.

Success!

Revenge of the Underdogs - Day 1

 Lugnut and I had an easy morning.  The car was placed in Torch and Queen's garage stall, so the rain that morning was not a problem for us.  We enjoyed our Breakfast Burritos, attend the Drivers meeting, and hit the track on time.  

The 10 cars from qualifying was gridded and then the rest staged behind. For Lucky dog they have a rolling start side by side, so charging up into turn 1 can be dicey. We were a bit too far back to make it any additional challenge into turn one, so our start with 87 other cars went well.

This continued for the rest of the stint. Only occasionally was I able to coax the D around other cars. The pit stop went smoothly with the help of Z-mom and Z-dad. The team was able to turn the car around in the allotted 10 minutes, and away we went.

This theme repeated itself all afternoon. The Car keep running, we keep coaxing, and laps were accumulated. In the end of the Day, we landed 2nd in Super Dog. Not that anyone counts this class. We finished the day with a quick checks, oil change, and rubbing marks covering. Within 30 minutes the Stack and Lobbers it the grill and again ended the day with smiles.

Practice and Qualifying

Following the successful enough tech inspection we quickly turn the car around and got it on track. As expected the D performed D like and scooted around the track. It was quite clear that the other cars were not $500 car, but just cars that were 15 years or older.

The time we put down in the D was good enough for the first qualifying. Lugnut took the 15 minutes and put a time of 2:05. If we had all the correct equipment, that would have put us in the lower reaches of the B class. However, since we were not running the series spec tires we were placed in the Super Dog class. For that class we were the slowed of the ruffle 10 cars in that class.

No worries. He had a car that ran. We had little work to prep the car for the next day. So, there were smiles as we enjoyed our Bratwurst and beer.

Arrival at Track and Tech Inspection

We arrived at the track by at 9:30. The first practices was occurring, and we looked longingly at the track. However, we had work to do. Lemon's rules and Lucky Dog rules are similar, but there are subtle differences. The D has been running since 2011, and has evolved as the rules evolved. So, there is a bit of patch work nature to the car. More was now needed.

The most obvious problem was the lack of seat. The seat was pulled two weeks ago for a bolster fitting. We need to wait for Queen and Torch to pick up the seat from Lugnut house and get it on track. The next problem was we did not have a window net. So, a quick trip to the pro shop, we acquired the hardware, and proceeded to install the net.

We did many more changes, however, was left with one that would take us all day if ask. A dash bar to the roll cage. The car does have a stock bar, but to the rules are the rules.  So, once we got of the changes, stickers, and seat in time to tech.

In tech, I had to talk to the race manager, and plead for the change in cars. Then when she took one look at the D she just laughed. "There has to be a good story for this". I was not sure if she was talking about the car change, the theme of the car, or the shabby nature of the whole thing.  When I looked, I think I understood.  The last the D ran was in 2019, and it had an adventure through the fields, and is was still covered in mud (not me for once). With her grace we proceed to talk with the head Tech Inspector.

That started out well, until he looked at the inside of the car with his first words " I am not thrilled". Oh, I knew I had some work on my hands at this point. With a lot of yeses, we are two, this is the car's last race, and this is not what was planned. In the end he did pass us. However, I was not give a new inspection book like new to them cars get, and a curious note on the tech sheet of one time acceptance.

Ok, we can live with that, and it is now time to hit the track.

Well that did not go as planned

Lugnut and I work through the day to get and load the trailer and RV. By about 3:30 we looked round and said "ok lets load the Z". Well, the car would not start. Well... Ok, we then start the checks to figure the problem. We first started with the classic checks, Fuel, Air, and Spark. Well no spark. Also, after a few cranks it was noticed no fuel either.

Ok... historically we have seen this trouble with position sensors. There are two upper cam sensors and one lower crank. The crank, is in an exposed spot, so that was the first one we worked on. No joy. On to the uppers. No Joy. By this time we were getting past my 5:30 planned launch time.

Time to implement plan B. Sparky!!!! What are your thoughts? After another hour, we exhausted what we could do on the phone.

So, Plan C, a visit from Sparky. Looking at the clock if we did not leave by 7:30, we would not make tech. After another hour of Sparky going through many of the system, we still did not have an operating car. As another hour went by, it was clear that we were not leaving that evening. Lugnut and I then took a break for dinner. When we came back, we still did not have a starting car.

Plan D??? Press the D into service. Lugnut and I turned to the D and did the prep need to get the D going. By 11:00pm, we called it quits and plan to leave at 8:00 for the track. In the morning we promptly load the D and headed to the track.

Next Race... Revenge of the Underdogs, February 12-14

Well the December race was a bit of a bust. 24-hour Hours Lemons was forced to cancel the race for the Holiday Covid closures. 

However, two months later, and we are at it again. It still looks like a go for the race hoisted by Lucky Dog Endurance Racing at Sonoma. To get ready we only really need to dusted off the Z, refreshed the safety equipment, and apply a coat of paint (I suck at painting so Picasso you will have a bit of work to recover from my mess).  And with that, I think we are ready.

For this race, there are still a lot of Covid restrictions, so this will be a light affair for the team. Only Lugnut and myself will be piloting the Z. On Friday we will have an extended practice in two sessions, followed by a qualifying session. First qualifying, of the lower half paced cars will be from 3:00-3:45. Second qualifying, will be from 4:00-4:45. The Z should be quick enough to be in the top half, but one never knows until we hit the track.

Then for the race the schedule will be:

Saturday 9:00-5:00

Sunday   9:00-4:00

Now, we will try to run the video for most of this. Sparky will not be there, so it is up to me to see if I can make it work (no guarantees I can get it to run or keep it running). We did perform an upgrade that might help. Sparky added an axillary battery to the system that will keep parts running and connect while we are pitted and refueling. This will mean we only need to launch the system in the morning, and it should run all day. I am meeting with Sparky tomorrow to review how to operate it. I will post the url address in a later post, so you can gain access to the video.

We also have two other upgrades in the rear differential that will get their shake down cruise. 

The first part is the rear differential has been replaced as a result of the catastrophic failure at Laguna Seca last January 2020. This new differential is thought to give a little better speed out of the corners. Two place it should show up, is turn 2 exit and 7B through turn 8A. Out of turn 2, it should give a better feel when you get on top of the hill and the road goes off camber all the way through the exit. For turn 7B the old setup required a lot of finesse on the exit and all the way through 3rd gear. The new setup should get you through with more pedal and thus more speed. In addition to the differential core change, the ring and pinion was exchanged for a Q45 setup. 

This give us a little high gear ratio and should allow us to use more of the gears (i.e 2nd might be an option and look at those nice teeth.  The last ring in there had those as optional). 

So, 5 days to go.