Racing Bloopers

[Despr8dave]

Originally posted by planet6racing@Oct 5 2005, 07:26 PM
I know you all are waiting for me to respond.

So, I'm goinig to keep you waiting!

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I was there too , but didn't know what actually happened until I saw the in car video. I had to watch it 4 times before I could get my jaw off the desk......scary as hell and amazing you didn't destroy the car or get hurt. Thank goodness you were on the straight instead of the turn you just came out of. I've had it happen sitting on the grid that unnerved the hell out of me, but never at speed like you where!!!
D

[Greg Gauper]

Last month at the Runoffs.......

I arrived at the Honda tent and proceeded to unload the car from the trailer. After I get the car unloaded I attempt to start my Suburban but it fails to start since my starter doesn't like to engage after a heat soak from a long tow. Normally it starts fine after cooling off for about 20 minutes. Since I was partially blocking the lane, I decided to pour some cool water on the starter to help speed up the cooling process. After pouring water on the starter I jump in the cab and hit the starter....Success! It fires right up. Now I'll just throw this empty water bottle in the trash before I drop my open trailer off in the trailer park and.....oh sh!t don't let the door shut........you know how GM's automatically lock the doors when you start the engine? :119: :119: :119:

So for the next 20 minutes, fellow Honda racers Bill Hunter, Jim Wessel, and myself try to break into my locked vehicle that's idling away using coat hangers and pry bars and lots of swearing.

We caught a lucky break when another crew member from from somebody's team walks up with the correct tools and manages to snake one of those flexible metal rods over the window to trip the power lock switch. Yay!!!

On my way home one week later, it suddenly dawns on me that I have one of those GM credit-card size emergency spare keys in my wallet and I could have unlocked the door with it at any time.....if I had remembered.


Several years ago I was racing my old Honda in SSC at Road America. On the second lap, I'm heading down the long straight into turn 5 trying to catch another SSC car when an SSB Dodge Turbo Colt goes past with his rear hatch open. Somehow his hatch popped open on the first lap but he didn't know it. Now those cars were normally rockets in a straight line, and I'm thinking "Gee, I wonder if I can catch a draft off of him to tow me up to the guy I'm racing with"

So as he goes by, I wait for him to clear and then I tucked in behind and suddenly, my car acts like somebody lit the afterburners and I just drill the guy in the rear bumper. As I found out the hard way, those cars punch a BIG hole in the air when their hatch is up, and I never expected the draft to be that strong. I mean it felt like I was behind a semi. I felt like an idiot for hitting him, but I was caught completely off guard by the effect of that draft.

Fortunately the damage was confined to couple of scratches on both our bumpers and I talked to the driver afterwards and appologized. We both had a good laugh over it. He couldn't figure out why he suddenly lost 10mph of top end because he didn't know his hatch was up.

[Anubis]

Wayne, that is pretty good although I saw one slightly better. Was working Turn 1 at Road Atlanta for the Monsoon National a couple years ago(only 1 full dry and 2 semi-dry session all weekend, rest were in downpours) and the winner of the SRF race drove off drivers left. Luckily the mud was so bad it steered him back on course, but was funny to watch.

A few years ago for the promoter test day one of the WCT came out of hte pits and headin up the hill his hood flew up, he pulled off drivers right between 2 and 3. They spend a few hours searchin for a new windshield, get it, install it. So heads back out again... and guess what, WHAM! hood flies up and trashes the windshield. The driver is absolutely livid, asks the marshall who responded to him the first time if he could be his crew for the weekend. And his job, and only job would be to ensure the hood pins were in fact prior to leaving the pits.

Another cool down lap one was at Kershaw a few years ago, had a T2 spin on the cooldown. Turns out his diff wasn't in great shape prior to the race and got really bad on the cooldown. Suppose its better on the cooldown then the last lap of the race.

[7racing]

"I WAS SEVENTH!"

Not me, but that was pretty embarassing, or will be when that guy becomes more famous.

As for my worst moment, which my racing "friends" continue to bring up (I'm looking at you Dick/Grant!). It comes during a rain race during my first year of racing. I was running an ITS RX7, not one of the good ones, mind you, but the first gen GSL-SE version. It was a pretty impressive rain storm, the kind that is often referred to as monsoon. I was at Lime Rock Park, I think it was my 2nd or 3rd race EVER. But I came prepared.

In my vast list of spares was my secret weapon. High performance snow tires mounted on stock wheels (no longer sponsored by said tire manufacturer, so their name will not be uddered here. That and I forgot what brand tires they were). I came to grid prepared, ready and out for the race of my life.

Well, 8 minutes, 3 laps and 4 spins later I was in the pit lane. Not wanting to look like the fool that I really was, I had my crew rush around the car. They made sure everything was fine and out I went.

A few minutes, a few more laps and many more spins later I came back into the pits. But this time I had a plan. I called my brother over to window, he asked how the car was. With a gleam in my eye, I shouted ever so eloquently"IT SUCKS!" However, we can make it better......if he lets some air out of the tires. Surely, this was the cause of all my angst.

So, there he was with 2 other willing participants in my ruse to let air out of the tires. However, since it was raining out, we didn't want to get our tools wet, so no tire pressure gauge in the pits. You need to picture 3 people in pit lane letting air out of tires of a very non-competitive RX7 on high performance snow tires with their fingernails!

I went back out and I think I spun in the 2nd turn out of pit lane. Needless to say, the plan did not work. I was never so thankful for a checkered flag.

[dlg208]

A friend of mine borrowed my ITB Pinto for a few laps at Beaverun. He didn&#39;t come around for a while and I was wondering what happened to him. Finally he pited with a really disgusted look on his face.... The steering column pulled out when he jerked on it to slide his seat up on the back straight. No crash, just some seriously panicked in flight mechanic work. <_<

[seamus88]

"I WAS SEVENTH!"

Is that online? I need to show it to someone.

[lateapex911]

Originally posted by dlg208@Oct 11 2005, 08:51 PM
A friend of mine borrowed my ITB Pinto <_<

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That says it all..................







Ok, the rest was funny too...

[zracre]

Originally posted by seamus88@Oct 11 2005, 10:40 PM
"I WAS SEVENTH!"

Is that online? I need to show it to someone.

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http://www.specmiatavideos.com

[Despr8dave]

Originally posted by seamus88@Oct 12 2005, 02:40 AM
"I WAS SEVENTH!"

Is that online? I need to show it to someone.

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LMAO.....................LOL.............
David
ya gotta watchit!!!

[gsbaker]

I saw that shortly after it was posted. What a hoot.

[Willisbe]

I just completed the two schools this past spring. We went up to the Glen for my second race on my permit. Scared to death being out there ...as a newbie....and on a new track...
Sat. morning practice went w/o incident. During the race that afternoon, the car started acting funny...it would not rev up. A few laps later, the car was missing and sputtering. I was bound and determined to finish the race so that I could get my novice permit signed. I barely finished the race and when I was about to park the car back at the van, the car died.
We spent a few hours that night trying to figure out what the problem was, while the guys consumed "brain juice" to help solve my problem. The car finally started and we just chalked it up to PFM. During the practice on sun. the car just died after the "bus stop" . I coasted into the grass on the inside of the track and stared at the corner workers not remebering the signal for rope tow all the while yelling at my crew chief over the radio because he didn&#39;t know either. The only signal I could remeber was the thumbs up to signal that I was ok.
After getting towed in, my crew chief found the fuel pump relay sitting on the oil pan. Two zip ties around the relay cover and I was ready to for the afternoon race.
During the race the car started missing again right after the bus stop, so I threw in the towel and pulled in. Upon inspection we find the relay had seperated from the harness about a 1/4 inch. I didn&#39;t even finish the race. Now the relay is zip-tied to the harness and I don&#39;t think I will forget not to run over the curbing.

[Mark LaBarre]

Here&#39;s a couple...

1). Sliding off track on the pace lap (Yes, you heard right, the pace lap ) and smacking the dirt berm with the left front, pushing it a foot to the right. There was cool video of the crash, back end jumped 2 feet int the air! THat&#39;s the last time I watch "The Dukes of Hazzard" in front of the car.

2). Driving the race car from the shop up to the garage , realizing just as I&#39;m pulling into the garage that I&#39;d never bled the brakes after having the brake lines apart. Profuse swearing ensued (oh, s@&t, OH, S@&t... OH S@&T!!!!), just before a "slight" thud as I hit the wall. 2x4 stud walls are waaaaaaaay stronger then you&#39;d think...

3). Hit the concrete wall during the 2nd lap of qualifing. Hmmm... now that I think about it, there seems to be a pattern. Some one has telekenitic powers and is forcing my car to do things against it&#39;s will. Yeah, that must be it.

[bullydog]

losing a lower radiator hose on turn 11 at Sebring...
in my best Homer Simpson voice.... mmmmmmm slippery.......

This isnt TOTALLY my fault, but....
not tying down a friend&#39;s car (upper deck of trailer) and taking a 10 hour cruise.


THIS ONE IS THE ULTIMATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Telling the wife how much it actually costs to go racing!!!!!!!!

[Geo]

Originally posted by bullydog@Oct 13 2005, 01:23 AM
THIS ONE IS THE ULTIMATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Telling the wife how much it actually costs to go racing!!!!!!!!

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WINNER!!

[JeffYoung]

My very first race weekend after school was at VIR in March 2003. I had just finished trying a case that week (we won!) and got no sleep the night before as I had tons of car prep to do. I mean NO sleep. I went up for the test day and the litany of mistakes I made...unbelievable:

1. I purchased a HUGE tent from some online place that I then had to put up myself. I mean HUGE. 4 cars could fit under it. It was immediatley named the "VIR Hilton" by my buddies, until it blew away later that year (thank God). Lesson: biggest is not always best.

2. It had rained like hell the week before the test day (which dawned bright and sunny), and the Dan River was way up. I mean WAY up. We could see a guy in a pontoon boat over at the end of the front straight. If you know VIR, the Dan River runs along the front straight but is usually not visible because of the trees. Well tha weekend, March of 03, the water was up to within 30-40 feet of Turn 1, which you enter at about 120 mph in an ITS car. Normally, there is plenty of run off room if you overcook it. You see where this is going....

I went out for lap one of the test day with my brand spanking new Toyo tires (I had run onold hard R1s at school0 and went into one. Hmm...felt sticky....lap two......hmmm....REALLY sticky...lap three, I think, let&#39;s go in a bit deeper.

Typically rookie driver mistake. I go in hot, feel like the car is not going to turn, and don&#39;t even try. Just take the car off straight. Normally, not a problem at VIR. This time......well, when I hit the water, th corner workers said I put up a splash about 30 feet high. Water was over the hood and in the car up to my knees before I could get unbuckled. I had to crawl onto the trunk of the car to stay dry.

The corner workers pulled me out and hauled me back to the pits where I proceeded to dry the car out. got the car dried out and...lap 3 of the Enduro...splash same thing. Really dumb. Twice. Now, other cars had gone in the deep end as well, on ITS Alfa all the way up to its roof, but nobody was stupid enough to go twice.

My car, No. 44, was known as U-44 after that. Or the UnderseeTR-Booten.

[StephF]

OK, I&#39;ll bite.
This happened several years ago at Summit Point. My husband and I ran our ITB Opel Manta in the 12 hour endurance race. We trailered out with the usual assorted crew members and one person who usually wasn&#39;t with us: my sister. (no not Karen for the NER folks, there are actually 3 of us )
So, Ed and I shared the driving for the entire race, doing three hour sessions (lesson #1: Use the bathroom before you go out!!!!!! h34r: ) without any major difficulties.
However, we almost had a major blooper about 2/3 of the way through the race.
We were running radios in the car with strict instructions: only talk to the driver when he/she was in sight. As any of you can testify, it can be a bit distracting to suddenly have a little person in your eardrums bellowing at you as you are concentrating on the apex.
Well, I had been dicing with some Volkswagens throughout the race, and my sister was joking around about it in the pits. In her best Elmer Fudd voice (and she does it very well, I might add) she was singing, "Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit." ala the Saturday morning Bugs Bunny cartoons.
So here I am, in the seat, and I&#39;m about 90 minutes into my shift. I&#39;ve been racing close with these two Volkswagens for several laps now, and I&#39;m trying to find a place to push my way through. We come down the hill, hard left into 5, and through the carousel. They are side by side with me right on their tailpipes. We come into the esses on the backside, and I see my chance. The car to the inside grabs the line and hugs tight on the curb, I&#39;m right against his outside rear fender. The car on the outside bobbles and goes wide, <span style='color:red'>WABBIT, KILL THE WABBIT!" :119:
SONOVA*^#!* :angry:
The two Volkswagens squirted away from me as the backend of the Opel got squirrley. I pressed the push to talk button down to kill the babble in my eardrums, swearing as an acre of racetrack opened up between us.
Um, needless to say, someone else worked the radios after that!!!! <_<

[racer14itc]

Originally posted by JeffYoung@Oct 14 2005, 04:39 AM
My very first race weekend after school was at VIR in March 2003. I had just finished trying a case that week (we won!) and got no sleep the night before as I had tons of car prep to do. I mean NO sleep. I went up for the test day and the litany of mistakes I made...unbelievable:

1. I purchased a HUGE tent from some online place that I then had to put up myself. I mean HUGE. 4 cars could fit under it. It was immediatley named the "VIR Hilton" by my buddies, until it blew away later that year (thank God). Lesson: biggest is not always best.

2. It had rained like hell the week before the test day (which dawned bright and sunny), and the Dan River was way up. I mean WAY up. We could see a guy in a pontoon boat over at the end of the front straight. If you know VIR, the Dan River runs along the front straight but is usually not visible because of the trees. Well tha weekend, March of 03, the water was up to within 30-40 feet of Turn 1, which you enter at about 120 mph in an ITS car. Normally, there is plenty of run off room if you overcook it. You see where this is going....

I went out for lap one of the test day with my brand spanking new Toyo tires (I had run onold hard R1s at school0 and went into one. Hmm...felt sticky....lap two......hmmm....REALLY sticky...lap three, I think, let&#39;s go in a bit deeper.

Typically rookie driver mistake. I go in hot, feel like the car is not going to turn, and don&#39;t even try. Just take the car off straight. Normally, not a problem at VIR. This time......well, when I hit the water, th corner workers said I put up a splash about 30 feet high. Water was over the hood and in the car up to my knees before I could get unbuckled. I had to crawl onto the trunk of the car to stay dry.

The corner workers pulled me out and hauled me back to the pits where I proceeded to dry the car out. got the car dried out and...lap 3 of the Enduro...splash same thing. Really dumb. Twice. Now, other cars had gone in the deep end as well, on ITS Alfa all the way up to its roof, but nobody was stupid enough to go twice.

My car, No. 44, was known as U-44 after that. Or the UnderseeTR-Booten.

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Jeff, I was there that weekend running the test day as well (in the blue/white GP VW Scirocco). When they towed your car in, my buddy and I made bets on whether you would ever get it running again, being that it has Lucas wiring and all. Bad enough when dry, but Lucas + water = ???

We were impressed when we saw it running again later...but then you had to go and...well, you know.

I will say that your car is one of our favorites in IT! Speaking of oddballs, Dad has an ITA Corvair just sitting in his garage gathering dust. I need to talk him into letting me take it out to VIR one weekend just for giggles. He keeps refusing, saying he doesn&#39;t want it out there with all the SM&#39;s.

MC

[BlueStreak]

Memphis, March 03 (I think), morning qualifier. Right rear wheel cylinder lets go braking for the hard left after the M&#39;s. Somehow dodged the nice fellow in the 944 that I was passing on the inside when the wheel cylinder blew and the pedal went to the floor. Heart rate was way up after finding myself choosing between totaling my RX3 on a 944 or the paddock wall outside the turn. Fortunately I missed both. Took the rear entry into the paddock immediately after and pulled to a stop in my paddock area. I&#39;m sitting there, waiting to settle down from a near crash before I even bother to take off my gear and get out of the car. About two seconds later I realize the car is filling with smoke. I get out in a hurry and find that the right rear brake is on fire (with a little MOTUL as fuel). The right rear brake is 6" from the fuel cell! Grab the nearest fire bottle, pull the pin, aim directly in front of me, and admire the chem as it splats off my firesuit Spin the fire bottle 180 and try again, much better results.

We had zip for time to get the car ready for the race, so my crew chief plugged the line, and I went out and raced with three braking wheels. Worked great until one lap to go when the plug blew - spun off track, leading, got back on track in second, engine braked that last lap to finish second

Oh, there are more and better stories I could tell on myself, but I&#39;ll save them for later!

[nlevine]

I got a couple - in my zeal to get my first race car (ITB 1971 BMW 2002) prepared for my three-day race school, a buddy and I managed to remove all the wiring for the battery charging circuit. Didn&#39;t notice on day 1 (fully charged battery), but when I had to get flat-towed in from JUST off of pit lane on the morning of day 2 because the electric fuel pump suddenly found itself without juice, I realized I had a problem. To keep the car going the rest of the day, I&#39;d have to plug it in to a battery charger between track sessions while I was in the classroom. During the last session of the day, brain fade (no doubt heightened by the stress of car problems during the day and no crew) helped me to shorten the left side of the car significantly at the exit of NHIS turn 10. Fortunately, after an ambulance ride up the road to make sure my neck wasn&#39;t broken, I managed to rent a car for day 3 to finish the school and get signed off.

With the new car, I was at an early-morning instructor training session for the BMW CCA. I had checked oil level and such and then closed the hood. Only after I saw a large amount of fluid dripping from the car did I remember that I had put my coffee on top of the battery when I was poking around underhood.. Fortunately, nothing shorted out, and as I drink my coffee black, there was no milky or sugary mess in the engine bay.

-noam

[MMiskoe]

Here&#39;s a couple from my book.

Hoods without hood pins give no warning before flying up and smashing the windshield.

Sending your wife out on track w/ only 3 of 4 wheels torqued gets remembered for years to come.

Drips in the clearcoat of your backyard paint job can be good for a laugh - provided they are directly under the fuel filler. Ask my crew, I got one of them to even go find a paper towel to try & wipe it up.

If you ever have what sounds like a rod knock, push in the clutch & see if the sound goes away. Check this before building a complete new engine, installing it, only to find that knocking sound is coming from the transmission.

If you share the car w/ your wife (this probably applies to any female) and you&#39;re planning on buying a seat, tread lightly when trying to determine how wide a seat to buy. Asking the question while holding a tape measure is not the way to do it.

Purposely bumping the car in front of you while under caution does not always get them to hurry up. It does however make for an interesting conversation when the driver of the car you were nudging is your father.

Families that race together stay together and we interrupt this marriage to bring you the racing season.