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Despite the Rain, The RAC Racing Team Finishes Well
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Atlanta (RAC) - As we left Memphis on Wednesday there was not a cloud in the sky...until 20 minutes into our trip where it started to rain and it didn't stop until Sunday morning. This would be one of those experiences that will become invaluable the next time we race on a rainy weekend. To say the weekend was wet is much like saying the Sears Tower in Chicago is tall. It didn't just rain it poured. We learned first hand that weekend how much water can play havoc with the cars electronics...from disabling a power window motors to knocking out the cars computer. Fortunately we we could disconnect the window motor and we used a hair dryer to dry out the ECU. Man those things are tough!
In the first sprint race, we had just taken over a 3rd overall position when our car completely shut down. This had already happened to us once this weekend so we knew what we had to do. After finally getting back to the pits, which is another story detailed on our blog, we quickly removed the ECU and after drying it out again, we wrapped it in a clean white garbage bag and then secured it back in the car...and never had another problem with it. In the second sprint we managed a 2nd place in-class finish and a 3rd place finish in the sprint race Sunday morning. For Sundays enduro we took a fourth place in-class finish with a last minute turn 12 pass that moved us up one position as the checkered flag fell. It wasn't the race weekend we would have designed but the RAC Racing team came away with a lot more experience and some great racing.
Don't forget, you can read more about each race day from our blog.
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RAC Starts Strong at Daytona but Ends with Mixed Success
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Daytona (RAC) - The End of the 2008 racing season for the RAC Racing Team ended with less than spectacular results. The gremlins at Barber continued at Daytona, however the beginning of the weekend showed signs of promise. With the rear suspension repaired after Barber, we headed south for the 3rd annual Oktoberfast PCA Club Race, sponsored by the Florida Crown PCA region. We arrived on Thursday morning anticipating a great weekend.
Friday we woke up and were at the track early. Our first session was as at 8:30 and we had a 7:30 drivers meeting to attend. As we prepared ourselves to go out on the track the car was ready and we were ready. We would have two warm up sessions, a qualifying session and a 30 minute sprint race to make the best of Friday. As we progressed through the day, we were seeing our lap times come down; 2:21, 2:19, 2:18…and the RAC Racing Team got more and more competitive. During the qualifying session the top 5 competitors were within 0.3 seconds of each other, ranging from a 2:18.208 to a 2:18.533. We were ready for a race and at that point it was anyone’s race to win. However, it was during this race that we had begun to have our engine difficulties.
As he weekend progressed, nothing we did seemed to help. We continued to go slower and slower and resigned ourselves to make the most out of the weekend by working on our line and racecraft. Finally during the enduro we decided to park it and hoped that the engine wasn’t harmed too much.
While we went home less than thrilled with the weekend results, I continued to work with our driving coach, Michael Gomez, to maximize our success and learn everything we can about our sport and how to find our success for the future.
A special thanks goes out to Tommy Reinheimer from the Florida Crown region and to Keith Davis of the Mid South Region for filling in as part of our pit crew during the enduro.
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RAC Wrestles with Mechanical Gremlins at Barber
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Birmingham (RAC) - Returning to Barber we expected to improve over last years win in a staggered start race with some good heads up racing in this years race.
Friday started out as we had expected and we were able to get three sessions in, but something didn't feel quite right. We brought the car back into the pits and begin examining the suspension. Upon inspection, we found a upper trailing arm bushing that had worn well beyond what we suspected would be safe to operate in a racing environment. Speaking to Eurasian Auto Service and Pat Williams Racing, we confirmed that the safest and best plan was to park the car for the weekend. However all was not lost....
Michael Gomez who was co-driving that weekend, volunteered his 85 911 E Class Stock Racer for the 60 minute endurop on Sunday. We worked to make it race worthy all day Saturday and Sunday morning. We put on a new set of driver side tires and by the start of the race we were ready to go. Michael would start and we would divide the driving duties 50/50.
Since this was our first event for the weekend, we would start at the very back of the field and would have to work our way through. The flag was thrown, but our progress was not what we had hoped for. We didn't have time to properly evaluate our setup and we had started off with a setup that hindered our progression throught the field.
Michael came in to switch drivers but as he did, they threw a double yellow which negated our pit stop. We took the opportunity to make a tire pressure adjustment and sent Michael back out. By the time he was able to make it back in, 40 minutes had passed so we took our mandatory pitstop and Don Adams took his place. Soon we were back out and taking a 8/10ths lap before he pressed harder. As Don made the rise over the tunnel between turns 12 & 13, there was a loud bang from the back and soon discovered that he had no drive in the car. He was able to pull it off to the right and into the grass between turn 13 & 14 and was sidelined there for the remainder of the race.
Upon further inspection, we discovered a sheared left axle held on only by the brake caliper. We were lucky that that the car had no damaged and we were able to safely bring it to a stop.
Our next race will be in Daytona Beach Florida for Ocktoberfast PCA Race.
...and yes thats blue painters tape we are using to number our car. |
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The RAC Racing Team Endures Rain and Cold for a 4th Place Enduro Finish at Road Atlanta
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Atlanta (RAC) - The RAC Racing Team endured a weekend of rain and cold temperatures to race to a 4th place finish in Sundays Peachstate 225. This annual race presented by the Peachstate Region of the PCA is a popular event with over 200 cars in attendance.
A cold wet morning greeted the RAC crew, never the less we were determined to make the most of a not so perfect condition. Using the warm up session to evaluate the track we adjusted the set up to compensate for the conditions and gridded the car. At the start of the race the track was very wet and slick but at least the rain had stopped. There were a few incidents of carnage with drivers severly underestimating conditions, but we managed to (literally) steer clear of such events.
The RAC Team's next race is in June at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham Alabama.,
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RAC Takes a 3rd With a Last Lap, Last Corner Pass at Daytona
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Daytona (RAC) - After a spin in the Bus Stop in Saturday’s sprint race that pushed the RAC team from an 8th overall spot to 12th, Sunday’s enduro more than made up for it.
For Saturdays sprint race RAC had qualified 11th in class and started 22nd over all out of 47 cars. For the next 45 minutes we worked every opportunity, and drove as quickly and as strategically as we knew how. Late in the race however, while in an 8th place overall position, we spun going into the Bus Stop but recovered for a 12th place over all finish. However, all was not lost as we finished 4th in class and had lowered their best lap time to 2:15.6.
Sundays Enduro was a 90 minute marathon of speed and stamina. The RAC Racing Team started off in 22nd in a combined stock class 60 car field (6th in class). The weather was perfect and we were expecting the best. After having made a couple of parade laps, we were given the green flag and all 60 cars rushed for Turn 1. For the first 60 minutes we drove like it was a 30 minute sprint race trying to take every advantage we could. We made our mandatory 5 minute pit stop and were back out on the track once again. With about 5 laps to go, having just made another pass, I set my sights on the car in front of me about half way down the track. With each lap the distance between us got shorter. Until, on the final lap, I had caught up with him going into the Bus Stop. As we exited, we drove to maximize my exit speed and tucked in behind him. Finally as we entered turn 4 we successfully took the passing opportunity and crossed the finish line with 0.9 seconds to spare for 3rd place.
The weekend was a resounding success for our first trip to Daytona. We lowered our best lap time to 2:14.5 and placed 3rd in our enduro wildly exceeding any expectation we brought with us to Florida.
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