In the photo below you will note three obvious things…
~ A missing 530 Tsubaki drive chain
~ A rear sprocket that has two very chewed up and broken teeth
~ A very ruined Goodridge rear brake line
During the last race Cindy and I were on the pole, waiting for the 1 board to go sideways and the green flag to drop. Earlier in practice I’d been right there with the known fast guys laying down some serious rubber. This race we stood a real good chance of putting on an excellent showing in the final results when the checkers were waving.
Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. Green flag drops, I get off the line like a rocket up through first gear, solid shift into second, wind it out, and I shift into third and wind it on.
Where did all my power go? My engine is making vroom vroom noises, but I’m obviously losing my forward locomotion. I check my mirror and Cindy already has her hand up letting the rest of the pack know that we’ve suffered a mechanical. I flick it over left into turn 1 holding a steady line and let the traffic blow by me. Once I’m sure I’ve let the pack clear me I try my tiptronic shifter. upupup, downdowndown… I’ve got gears, my transmission is intact. I’ve thrown my drive chain 100 yards into the race.
Cindy and I coast around turn 2 and I pick a spot well off the race line to plant the Becker F1 into the gravel and let it coast to a stop. I shut everything down, hop out of the cockpit and walk around the back of the rig. Sure enough I’m greeted to the sight of sprocket teeth where a drive chain should be sitting.
We do the walk of shame up to the corner workers station at the top of turn 2 and watch the rest of the race. Johnny -freaking- Killmore on the Windle F2 is driving like a lunatic. He’s holding off Wade Boyd and Mr. Bill and continues to do so for almost five more laps. Every time he comes around in the lead I’m off my nut jumping up and down cheering him on.
At some point Johnny bobbles just enough to allow Wade and Mr. Bill to slip under him and I’m told it was a photo finish across the checkers with Wade Boyd taking first, Mr. Bill in second by a matter of inches, and Johnny right there in third. Sean Bakken took 4th in my old CSR F1 he’d borrowed from Roy Janes for the weekend with Roy’s regular passenger Gary McEwen in the chair, and Hanz Shultz took 5th with novice passenger Tom Burbank on the back.
How did we do? Well, we got a single point for starting the race… and we got to take a good amount of gravel home from Willow Springs.
I’m sure I’ll be in the F1 with the Shop Vac and airgun for hours getting it out of every nook and cranny before the Portland race on June 20th.
Something else we learned is that we need to buy some white race tape for Cindy’s boots. We used black over the weekend, and with the combination of the 100 degree weather and the speed we’re running these days… Well, I’m going to be a bit busy with the buffer and wax getting things sparkling again.
Sometimes you’re the dog, sometimes you’re the dogfood. It was an Alpo weekend for BCR.
-Mike-