VIR 13 HR, or for us, 1HR !
This was our 3rd. try at the 13 hour race. In 2004 we crashed out in the first 30 minutes. In 2007 we ran a very smooth and controlled race and if the hood had not opened on track after our last pit stop we were looking at a 2nd place finish not 3rd.
A little background, my dad and I run an ITB mustang. As I wrote last year it was a dream come true to run in a long race with dad and do so well. This year we wanted more. My dad's old race engineer from the 70's in the IMSA series was brought out of retirement to help jump start our engine program. I had always felt that we were making good power but something was missing.
Tom ( the engine builder) and I set out to do all the little things right in the motor. We degreed in several cams from the various years of production until we selected on one from the early eighties that showed promise of a better torque curve. That worked well with the d-port head and closed chamber that it came with and we built form there. Properly tuned headers and pipe that matched the cam were also built. A ring package from Total Seal with very low , I mean very low, drag was ordered. In fact we went through several orders until we got just what he wanted. The real trick was in oil control in the bottom end. A proper teflon crank scraper, windage tray, baffle system, and new oil pan is where we felt added power could be found.
Boy did it work! Please understand that we are at the top of the compression ratio allowed, everything is maxed out. Several sets of rod and crank bearings were looked at until we found the best set etc... Tom is manic about measuring and measuring and measuring to insure everything is right and more importantly legal. We even took the car to a chassis dyno on Tuesday to break in the motor and tune it in. The numbers were not off the charts, but we felt we had something to race against Kirk and the Troxell family.
During qualifying we were 5 seconds, yes 5!, seconds faster than we had ever been there and only missed the lap record by .8 seconds. It was so fast that I did not believe the data that was being flashed up on the dash for lap times and had to call the crew to confirm. But Qualifying for a 13 hour race fast means nothing.
The race started without fanfare, the car was strong and easy to drive and I felt I could maintain a pace of 2:25 to 2:27 for my stint. The car would leap out of the turns, that is the best way to describe the torque that Tom had produced. About 40 minutes into the race going through turn one the low oil pressure light pops on and the pressure has dropped to 15 psi. As I exit it returns to 55psi and is good through the next 2 left hand turns. As I make the right heading toward the uphill esses it does it again. For the next few laps I drive by the oil pressure gage and watch it drop on every right hand turn. I talk it over with the crew and we decide to press on. Big mistake. I should have come in right away and had the oil level checked. I caught up to the Troxell golf and got inside of him in turn 1 and held a really tight line all the way around and that was it. By the time I reached the oak tree I was at 5 psi and the oil temp was at 250, we were done.
Sorry to the Troxells, I was trying to wave him by up there and I think he thought there was something in front of me so I held both of us up.
We will have the motor apart in the next few days and I will report what happened. Our guess is that the oil pickup has broken and that is why we were sucking air in the right handers. As a driver I did a poor job of telling the crew how bad it was and should have pitted right away, dumped in 2 quarts of oil and seen if the problem went away.
We are really pleased with the car. We also got an overhead fuel rig/ dry break system, and had 2 friends on the crew that work for Synergy racing to help us improve in the pits. We were coming after the Convover Motorsports team and the Troxell family.
But as they say " To finish first, first you must finish" and we didn't finish. We will be back, so watch out.
Ron
