Race Prep
After coolant system pressure tests, coolant system dye and blue light leak tests, engine
compression tests, flow tested the PWR radiator, rewired the coolant pressure switch
warning light, installed a new water pump and gasket, increased the height of the coolant
breather tank, installed 2 new Greddy 1.3 bar (18 pound) radiator caps, replaced the banjo
fitting with a straight line at the FP turbo oil filter, fabricated more sheet metal
housing for efficient airflow, changed the motor oil and filter, changed the tranny fluid,
bled the brakes and changed the pads, bled the clutch, re-torqued all the suspension bolts
and nuts, changed the right front Hoosier tire, cleaned all the hot tire rubber globes
that accumulate on the inside of the rims, cleaned the body and paint touch up on the
front fascia, purchased another 40-gallons of VP race fuel, loaded the car on to the
trailer, loaded the truck with spare tires, parts, and tools, the car was as ready as it
would ever be for the TCRA/HSR California Speedway race in September.
Event
HSR (Historic Sportscar Racing) was holding its annual California Speedway race and
invited TCRA (Touring Car Racing Association) and POC (Porsche Owners Club) to help with
the astronomical costs of renting the facility. They were expecting 300 entries and 5000
spectators.
To The Track
It was a perfect 70-degree Southern California day when we arrived mid-morning on Friday
to set up in our garage. The “Flying Banana” looked good, sounded good, and was
ready for a weekend of fast laps and a podium finish.
After we were settled in we took a walk around the garages seeing some of the most stellar
racecars ever built. One that caught my eye was the Dan Gurney team Mark-3 prototype that
was built for the 1992 24 hour of Le Mans. The car was way ahead of its time with a
complete carbon fiber body that looked like a jet fighter. Amazingly, it was powered by a
Toyota 4-cylinder single turbo charged motor that made 1000 hp at 12000 rpm.
The event schedule called for a Saturday practice, timed qualifying, and then an actual
qualifying race for the main trophy race on Sunday. Sunday we’d get an early morning
practice and then the main race at 1:15 PM. I was running with the TCRA group that
consisted of BMWs, Porsches, Acuras, Audis, Lotus Elise's, and some vintage stuff like a
1958 “Devin Special”. This car was tube framed with a fiberglass body powered by
a modified 475 hp Corvette engine. It couldn’t have weighed over 1500 pounds and
reminded me of an original Shelby Cobra. All in all it looked like a good group of
somewhat competitive cars.
Saturday
We arrived at the track at 8am ready for our 8:30 drivers meeting. A hundred and forty
drivers crammed into the Fontana drivers’ lounge where was discussed how great it was
to be there and how everybody should be careful. The meeting was so short and layback I
don’t know why they even bothered. The only good thing about the meeting was Tom
Dixon showed up there to help us with the car over the weekend.
With the meeting complete we prepared for our practice laps. I started the car and it
seemed to stutter. It was idling erratically but I figured it was cold and needed to be
warmed up.
My run group that consisted of over 40 cars was practicing with another group of 20. The
simple math of it was over 60 cars on the track at the same time. The Cal Speedway Le Mans
configuration is 3 miles, but even so with 60 cars at the same time that was a little
cramped.
I ran a couple of mid speed warm up laps getting the tires hot and re-orienting myself to
the track. Lap three I picked it up and passed quite a few cars. Lap four I let it rip on
the front straight of the oval and as I came to turn three onto the road course I noticed
my water temps began to rise above 220 degrees. I finished the road course at slower
speeds and took the car back to the garages. We let the motor cool and discovered we were
having the same low water levels that we had experienced at the last race at Willow
Springs. We also noticed that there was a fine mist of water and Water Wetter on the top
of the tranny. Through further inspection we deduced that the new Greedy radiator cap wasn’t
sealing properly. We pulled a rubber washer off one of our half dozen spare caps and
placed it in the seat of the thermostat housing. When we re-installed the Greddy cap it
seemed to be a better seal. We had timed laps coming up so that was the opportune time to
test our fix.
Back out onto the track I began the same scenario of getting the tires warmed up and
focusing on my driving form. The motor was still idling poorly in the pits but once out on
the track the power was insane. I was ready to do some quick laps as I pulled onto the
front straight of the oval. My run group was less the other 20 cars so there was some
breathing room to get up to speed. I blasted through turn one then turn two came into
view. I ran low on the track and could feel the g-forces via the incline of the oval
pushing me down like I was on rails. Turn three came up real fast as I down shifted to 4th
then 3rd. It’s so nice to have all the extra power in third gear that I don’t
end up revving real high at slower speeds. My water temps were 210 and holding and I felt
like we had the problem licked. I blew down the back straight toward a hard braking
right-hander. This equates to 120mph straight to a 30mph buttonhook turn. After I braked
and began to accelerate through the turn the rear end of the car swung around a teacup
carnival ride. I immediately pushed in the clutch so I wouldn’t stall as I ended up
facing the opposite direction on the track. Fortunately there were no oncoming cars so I
was able to get back into position. I glanced at my water temps to see 220 degrees reading
on the meter and I went directly to my garage.
We had two hours before the qualifying race so the hypothesis discussions began. The
tranny was dry so the Greddy radiator cap was sealing. A Porsche mechanic who had been
interested in the car since Friday suggested that we might be creating some sort of vortex
at the radiator and ending up heat soaking. We thought, “what the hell” and
removed one of the radiator fans. Tom rigged up a hose extension to the expansion tank,
running the end up to the front windshield. That way if we were pumping any water out of
the tank I’d immediately see it prior to any overheating.
Qualifying Race
It was 1:15pm with track temps of about 80 degrees. My race group of 43 cars were out on
the track behind the pace car doing our warm up lap. Even with my spin out, my lap time
put me in the 26th position for the qualifying race. We made it through the last turn out
onto the oval and the pace car pulled onto the hot pit lane. We grouped up into our tight
side-by-side starting fashion awaiting the swing of the mighty green flag.
Green, green, green, I powered from 2nd to 3rd gear. I took a high line toward turn one
and immediately passed eight cars. I shot down the track toward the apex of the two
increasing my momentum by two fold. I could see the cars in front of taking a wide entry
into turn three onto the road course. Their tires were billowing smoke and I knew I had
the braking power to take me through the inside of the turn. I set my course and went for
it. The car responded like an F-15 as I gave just enough brake pressure to set me up for
the quick and hard left right turns. I passed another five cars.
That left four cars to go as all my attention was on getting to the front. I had the
entire road course to go to catch up. My Hoosiers stuck to the track like glue as my next
victim came into sight. I was on the back straight after turns five and six coming up fast
on this Speed Touring AWD turbo Audi. I was right on his ass at turn nine, a slow and hard
right handed button hook, when water from the expansion tank began pumping out onto the
windshield. “CRAP!!” I finished the road course and went directly to the garage.
We jacked the front end of the car up and I noticed a huge puddle under the car and it
wasn’t water… it was tranny fluid. Tom hustled down there and discovered two
holes the size of his pinky finger in the tranny case. I have no idea how it happened, or
even if it’s external or internal. Our weekend was over.
At the end of the race at least a dozen people came over to see what happened to the car.
All their comments were, “Man that car is fast!”
It could have been a great weekend…
