Well that sucked

Back from the first race weekend of the year at LimeRock. How did it go? says the dear reader. On the bright side it didn't rain. But it was fricking cold with a nasty wind all day long. Steve and Bernie found a great restaurant in Torrington with 24 craft beers on tap, and another 50 bottles on their beer list. Harpoon Black IPA. Yummy. I still haven't forgotten how to drive, dropping 1.5 seconds each session, down to a 1.04.2 in the 3rd practice session on crappy tires, enough to get me close to the front once I put decent tires on. But I still haven't learned to listen to my inner voice when it says something is a bad idea. Like doing the practice starts or even going to Lime Rock in the first place.

Al Cohen and his totally refurbed 944

So the practice starts. I had done the 3 practice sessions and was looking forward to the racing the next day. Should I bother doing the practice starts and fun races? They are for the rookies and there's no benefit for me other than putting my car at risk for a 13/13. That's what the little voice said to me inside my head. "But I'm a racer, and this is what I like to do" I countered.

Should have listened.

Dan Ostrower's pretty 944 turbo

There would be 3 practice starts for the rookies to get used to the starts. We would race to the uphill, reform back into line for the next green flag. After the 3rd start, we get a short 5 lap or so fun race. I lined up for the next session and wait for the green flag. I'm toward the back of the pack. When the green flag flies, I pick up a couple of spots on the outside into Big Bend, cross the track so I'm on the outside of turn 2 - the only left hander on the track - but will be on the inside for turn 3. We're still 3 wide at this point, I'm just maintaining my position, not trying to be agressive, figuring it will sort itself out, when .... bang! and I'm going around in a spin. I put both feet in and head backwards off the track as the rest of the field barrels past. WTF? What just happened?

Vito Valentino and his 924S

I didn't hit anything off the track, so I head back and try to catch the pack. They throw another green flag for the 2nd start but I don't really try to go racing, I just want to see if the car is okay. It seems to be missing when I go full throttle. I do another lap and then head into the pits. I'm immediately called to the black flag station where I'm told I have a good size dent in the car, and by the way, here's a bunch of paperwork to fill out, and you need to go see medical, and then the chief steward. Great.

Back in the paddock I look over my car. My right fender, which has been hit numerous times over the last several years is now sporting a bright shiny dent. Very noticeable, since it was mostly bondo, and it all cracked and fell off...

I guess I need to paint it black first, then bondo it, so if falls off it will be less noticeable

An hour later, the paperwork's done, I've been to medical and talked to Bruce the steward. He said nobody's come forward and they're looking for the other car. I really said I couldn't tell him much other than I was motoring along when bang, spin, etc. Nobody was being aggressive that I knew of, and it's only a dent. No big deal and off for dinner.

The next morning I'm about to jump into the car for the morning warmup when a scruit grabs me and says I need to see the steward before I go out. Uh oh, not good. They tell me they found the driver and a video. They say the video looks like I hit one of Lime Rock's wonderful apex curbing and it bounced me right into Vito's rear bumper, causing me to spin. They said I didn't really do anything wrong, but I hit somebody and caused damage (to my car), so I was done for the weekend. No racing for you. Take my car and go home. You'll get your 13/13 letter in the mail. As I leave the office I find Vito coming up. He said it wasn't a big deal, just scuffed his rear bumper a bit, so he didn't bother to come in. It was just racing.

But this is PCA racing. Even though it was my car that got (barely) hurt, I get the penalty, don't even get to race and I'm on probation for the next 13 months. Personally I think the track should be getting the 13/13 as what kind of race track puts up curbing that can bounce race cars back into traffic. But it is what it is. It's PCA's playground and their rules.

They say never say never, but I think Lime Rock is done for me. It's not a happy place for me. I don't think I'll be back. So next time I'm going to listen to that little voice in my head. It seems to be smarter than me.

Getting ready for Lime Rock

First event of the year is looming over the horizon. We going to kick off the 944 Cup North Chapter season with a PCA event at Lime Rock. Lime Rock is one of those tracks that I'm happy to have run there in the past, but given a choice, I don't care if I don't go back. The track is picturesque, nestled in a valley surrounded by hills, a church steeple is visible across from the front straight. One of the earliest purpose built race tracks in the country, the sport of auto racing has a long history here. But along with that vintage history comes a cost. The surrounding area is a haven for the upper classes; prep schools dot the countryside, and development is discouraged. The track is under constant assault from the locals for being noisy, even though it was probably there before they moved next to it. This means no racing on Sunday, and harsh noise restrictions when open. A short (only 1.5 miles) track, one left turn and a 1 noise warning and the next you're gone, dampens my enthusiasm. Not to mention the $100+/night motels with all the charm of a rundown Motel 6. (It's ambiance dear!)

But it's on the schedule, so I need to get ready.

First order of business is a corner balance and alignment, so off to Behe's again.

On the scales and adjusting the corner weights

I had changed my camber plates to use the MantisSport strut hats - a pretty neat piece of trick. This obviously changed my ride height and I was pretty close setting it back but needed some tweaks on the scales to get it right.

Next Jerald and David set up the laser bits for the Hunter alignment machine.

Once done at Behe's, it was back to the garage for the finishing touches.

The body shop repaired the rear quarter, tweaked one fender and hood, and adjusted the header panel to align with the hood. But it was up to me to finish up the front end. I needed to rework the headlight panels to align up, plus the bumper had too many times being hooked to a tow truck and could see some love.

modified bumper mounts - saved 4 lbs on each corner!

I pulled my bumper mounts, did some straightening and added a weld bead where one side had cracked. Did some fiberglass repair to the front air dam and cleaned and painted everything. All updates that I was going to do is done, let's do a race prep.

My race prep sheets

Fresh rotors on front

I needed new rotors up front, but I knew that from back in the winter and had already ordered them. The only major issue that turned up was a dead wiper system. A couple of hours traced it to a dead wiper motor. Luckily I had one from a parts car stuffed in the attic and it was quickly replaced.

With that I'm ready to go. See you at Lime Rock.

Meanwhile, let's crack open that Otter's Creek sampler. Hmmmm, a Black IPA, that looks interesting...