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Day Three -
Thunderhill Raceway
"Over and Over"
Morning came far to
soon today. For once, Dave and Steve got up on time and got
moving. I was struggling pretty hard still fighting the cold
and was the last one out. It was cold and windy outside and a
short, scenic drive to the track.
We roll in with
plenty of time to spare and start unloading. I'm feeling
pretty wasted so Dave will go out with the first run group while I
try to get with the program. At the drivers meeting, they
remind us that it's been raining recently and the ground is soft and
sticky. It's not the kind of terrain you want to go off on.
The guys in the green Cobra are here and the car is running.
It seems they swapped a lot of parts last week and forgot to tighten
a motor mount. It came free on the track and pushed an oil
line into contact with moving parts. That was the cause of all
oil and smoke. The Mini guys found that another of their
lightweight wheels got bent so now they're running on two stock and
two lightweight wheels.
Dave headed out with
our run group so Steve and I went to the back of the paddock to take
pictures. After about fifteen minutes, we see the red flag
waving and the emergency crews rolling at high speed onto the track.
All the cars come to a stop and we hop a ride to the other end of
the track so we can try and see what's going on. Nothing is in
view so we head over the bridge and hoof it up the hill for view of
the back section of the track. From on top of the hill we can
see the carnage. To protect those involved, no names or
specific car information will be posted at this time. One
driver was showing his passenger (and co-driver) the line and got
loose in the kink after turn five. He tried to save it (which
might not have made any difference in the outcome) and then went off
the track into the mud. The car hit a ditch and the nose dug
in. The car flipped end for end three or four times, coming to
rest on it's wheels. The car had stock seats and belts.
The driver was unhurt and the passenger had some back pain and was
taken to the hospital. He later came back and was okay as
well. I expect they'll both be sore for a few days. The
car was a total loss. The front and rear were smashed and the
engine suffered serious damage. The suspension and wheels also
suffered significant damage. The air bags did not fire.
The passenger compartment was in excellent condition with no
penetration. Very impressive. An accident like this
shows how wrong things can go, even at a track with tons of run off
room like Thunderhill. There is no way to know what might have
happened if the driver had not tried to save it and had just put
both feet in and steered straight. He probably would have been
traveling slower when and if he exited the track. Still, it
could of ended up as a roll instead of a flip, there is just no way
to say. Still, it's worth remembering that trying to save the
car if often the wrong course of action.
After they cleaned up
the track, I went out and tried to remember the lines and hills.
I ran slow and steady, only turning a best lap (if you can call it
that) of 2:38. Still, there was no drama and I gained a ton of
knowledge. Only the second session would show if I was
learning anything.
We checked out Doug's
Flamemobile NSX at lunch. It's been living up to it's name
with too fires in he back so for this week. After the first
fire, they attached a hot dog to the rear bumper to see how well it
would cook. The hot dog is looking pretty tasty but the wire
ties holding it in are starting to melt. Erik Messley stuck a
durometer in and its still pretty soft. More on this important
story line after
Buttonwillow!
After another hot dog
for lunch (usually safe), it was time for Dave to take his second
run. Steve went along for his first trip in the car.
Dave was getting in tune with the track and started putting down
some good laps, passing a number of cars in our run group. His
best time was 2:17 which is a big improvement and placed us
dead center for the session.
I went out last and
just tried to continue my improvement and knowledge of the track.
I put in what I thought was some decent laps and then got a strong
whiff of gear oil. I had just been passed by an Evo but I
decided to play it safe and pit. Dave checked the car in the
hot pit and the right rear axle seal was leaking (again). We
pulled the car into the paddock and got ready to take a look.
My gut feeling about my lap was right... I ran a 2:30, which
is an eight second improvement. I still have a long way to go,
but I'm going in the right direction.
We jacked up the car
and pulled the right rear wheel. There was a decent amount of
gear oil on the suspension and brakes so we pulled off the caliper
and rotor to get a better look. I doesn't look like to much
really came out so the gear oil smell must have been from the Evo.
I don't know what I'm going to do with this stinking rear axle.
I know the seals are installed correctly and the gasket was coated
in a ton of RTV as well. There's nothing to do at this point
except change the seal or goop on more RTV and cross our fingers.
Being tired and lazy, we go for the latter. I cleaned up the
end of the axle tube and added another think coat of RTV. It
probably won't work, but I think I'm going to have a shop look at
the seals so I don't want to go through all the effort of changing
one now. I took apart the brakes, cleaned up the caliper and
pads, then put the whole thing back together. We checked the
gear lube level on the housing and it seemed fine so we'll just keep
an eye on things and see how it goes.
It's already late so
we get the truck loaded and hit the road. The drive to Novato
is only a hundred and fifty miles so it shouldn't be too bad.
We make a quick stop at the Wal-Mart for supplies and get rolling.
We're in full road trip mode now, packing in doughnuts, Slim Jims,
etc. We're so busy eating we miss our freeway junction.
We got off at the next exit and after consulting the GPS, head out
over surface streets to make our connection. The area is
really nice. It's green and hilly with the occasional cow or
sheep. The views are terrific and the sunset is spectacular.
All in all, a nice place to drive.
We get to the hotel
at 9:00pm, just in time for dinner at the Chinese restaurant in the
hotel. I wouldn't figure that the restaurant at the Days Inn
Novato would be anything special, but the food was outstanding.
Dave filled up on doughnuts so he went right to the room while Steve
and I pigged out. Because of Wednesday night drag races at
Sears Point, we're starting an hour earlier so we have to be at the
track by 7:30am at the latest., Ugh!
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