My First Race Recap

[Simon T.]

Well my first race was the three hour enduro at the ARRC.

The car was under the wrench all of last week finishing things up. In fact it didn't even have a logbook. I was putting together everything at the last minute as I completely underestimated some of the work I had to do and doing it with no help made it that much more time consuming. Not to mention we just moved last weekend so time and the distance between my new place and where the car was was not on my side.

I got the car ready and completed Wednesday night at around 10PM, Thursday I had planned on doing the test day to get some seat time in race group type run groups having just track day and some kart experience.

Thursday came along and everything was going well, I was in the first group and went out for probably half of the session and immediately felt good. The car was running strong, handled well, the only issue was a heavy vibration under hard braking specifically entering 10A.

The first issue of the test day was a shift linkage bushing popping off. For some reason it decided to do it on my co-driver's out lap his first time in the car. So at the end of the session it was towed in and I rigged it back up then the rain came. We decided I'd go out for a couple of slow laps as it dried out a little and we had no wet tires and it was fine until pulling in pit lane once again it popped off. My girlfriend went to work on it with some glue, zip ties, and duct tape and it wouldn't show any other problems on race day.

Thursday evening it was time to go to tech and experience all of that. I got a logbook and boy did that feel good, a weeks worth of hard work paid off all through a pretty little book.

Friday and Saturday were spent just spectating and hanging out really. I met a lot of other people at the track and went to a social that evening which was truly a great experience, I see why the SCCA is so loved by so many people. It's like a huge family. I also put new rotors on the car Saturday hoping that would fix the vibration for Sunday.

As Sunday rolled around my parents came out as well as some friends. I let my co-driver qualify the car since he had no seat time Thursday and the car ran good the whole session. He qualified third from last but hey no issues with the car!

As the race rolled around we were all ready. I was biting my nails like a mad man, I had been waiting for this for years. Some of you may remember me building an ITC car posting on here when I was fifteen or so. I finally made it! LOL My co-driver started the car and was running well for the first forty minutes or so and then he spun off into the gravel at turn five. He was towed out and continued and we setup for a stop to check over the car. When he pulled in though it was more than just a spin, some gravel punctured the radiator in two places.

At that point I motioned we're done but my other friend who was also going to drive with us decided we'd fix it. I can't thank them enough, everyone who jumped on the car, ran to the parts store, and did everything they could to piece the car back together just to give me a few laps in my first race. It worked too. They put stop leak type stuff in it and it semi-worked. There was no luck on finding an alternator belt. So my friend told me to hurry up and suit up and just go until it dies.

It was a great few laps until the temp started to creep up and I had to slow down dramatically. I also started to get a lot of pick up on the tires. The car stayed running cool though until they told me to pit as they thought they found a belt for it. I made the call after being told there was still an hour to go to call it quits. I didn't want to damage the motor. As much as I wanted to take that checkered flag my brain told me my pockets were already sore from the weekend and didn't need anything else added.

I was really happy to be out there for those few laps, my mom came out who was diagnosed with leukemia two months or so ago and I really wanted to do this for her and she has to go back into the hospital for four months straight or so soon. So that meant a lot to me.

We towed the car to my friends shop a few doors down from the track and I'll fix it there. I did drive the car to the race.

Overall it was a learning experience. Some type of mesh/protective plate on the radiator is a smart thing to have. Always carry a spare radiator and belt, having a good group of friends crewing for you is a massive plus, and racing can be mean but I'll be back and loved every second of it.

I keep going in and out of considering selling the car. I don't really like working on cars, I live in an apartment complex now that doesn't really care for having race cars in their lot, and I don't have a daily driver. lol The thought of spending more and arrive and driving sounds so appetizing but I somewhat like the challenge of fighting with my own car and trying to make things work.

There will be more pictures but here are a few: