Monday, June 17, 2013

A rough time at the Beach

Varney's race was a wash as Mother Nature dumped rain on the whole province.  That allowed some time off for the Pro Challenge drivers.  When we arrived at Sauble Beach, the track was in rough shape.  It was full of dirt, sand and was making teams change the set ups on the race cars.  We did the same, made the suspension softer, added some spacers and that seemed to help the car turn.  In the heat, we made a great last lap pass to get to second place.  The common theme was drivers trying too hard.  The cars were sliding the front wheels across the track every time you tried to go a little faster.  Rusty drivers, a few weeks off and a slippery track made the feature a wild one.
Starting in 8th on the outside, I was cleared to the inside of turn 1 on lap 2.  I moved down and went to work on the car in front of me.  Then on the lap 3.... BANG... I was drilled in the back by the guy behind me.  This sent my car sideways into the infield.  Sliding across the wet grass makes controlling a car nearly impossible.  I managed to keep the slide going until the middle of turns 3 and 4.  That's when I slid into the side of the 02 car and saved myself from wrecking.  I also passed 2 cars in the process.  This is not the way I wanted the night to start.  The 02 car took offence to my body check and proceeded to try and smash the rear bumper off my car.  After trying for the third time, he simply took us out of the race by spinning us out.  I was very fortunate not to hit anything and all the cars missed me as I was parked on the track facing the wrong way.   That is when I was struck by Lightening.  Not real Lightening, the 00 car of "Lightening" Lilycrop.  And that is where it all ended, the right front was completely destroyed.  I started the car to see if it would move, it did but I could not steer it.  On the tow truck hook we went for the ride of shame back to the trailer.  Our first DNF in 3 years.  Back at the shop on Sunday morning I ripped the front end off.  Lots of damage to the suspension, shock, spring, A arms, spindle, rim, tire, bumper and cover. That made for a Happy Father's Day. Ouch!!!!!
Good news is that I have the spindle cut apart and will weld it back together tonight. 
Should be running on Tuesday night for practice if all goes well.
Battle Scars make the car look mean...I just hope they make go fast again too.

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