Diary of a 2004 Open Track
Challenge Team
2004 OTC Image index page,
click here.
To say we are excited about
OTC is akin to saying Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were excited about going
to the moon. ;)
History on how we ended up
@ OTC:
24 March 2004: While in
SoCal on a business trip, I had dinner with Ryan Flaherty, and the
right-honorable JWL at a cool brew-house type joint. Talk naturally revolves around NASA, CMC, AI, racing in general,
etc. The subject of OTC comes up - I
mention wanting to go. JWL and Ryan
manage to convince me that OTC would be a blast, and that I have to
attend. Tough sell.
Lot’s of thinking that
night – this OTC is in honor of Paul Mumford.
Worked his way into professional racing, won his first race, then died
in a plane crash shortly there after.
How could I miss the 2004 OTC?
After dinner with RF and
JWL, I start making phone calls to Texas - gotta find a co-driver/tow vehicle
driver. First call is to a very good
friend, Bud Sharp. However, we realize
that's the week before the Mustang 40th in Nashville, to which Bud has already
paid his entrance fee. Crap - gotta
find a backup driver that can fit in my car.
Next up, I call Lewis Tanner.
For some reason, I heard drool hitting the phone as I explain the deal.
Notice, I didn’t say
anything about calling my lovely wife.
As I’m still 3 days away from coming home, I need to manage that
delivery in person.
Bud can't get out of the
40th w/o losing his entry fee, so he's obligated to go ( not to mention he's
been looking forward to attending it for 7 months ). LT is the co-pilot.
27 March 2004 ( Sat
): Complete a RFTO form with my company to take a week of vacation, and
email it to my supervisor, with crossed fingers.
28 March 2004 ( Sun
): Decide to gently break the news to my lovely wife. Well, it flies about as well as a lead
balloon. We “discuss” the matter for
nearly 2 hours, with the clear understanding that ALL costs associated with
this adventure at to come out of the racecar account, she grudgingly
agrees. My wife isn’t thrilled about me
leaving for ~10 days to go racing…..lot’s of sucking up, foot massages, and
working on the house “to-do list”, and so on.
She’s still not happy, however…..
Now to talk to my two boys
( Cody 10, and Seth 13 ). Seth is my
biggest supporter when it comes to racing.
He is such a blast to have at the track with me – always ready to help
work on the car, strap me in, set the window net, turn on the camera, wave me
out on track….you name it, he’s there.
This would be easy if he was coming with me…..and he can’t. No way can I take him out of school for a
week, especially since he’s in 6th grade. Too much schoolwork that he’ll miss. Boy, do I get the cold shoulder after telling him I’m going to
OTC, and not racing in the upcoming TWS race. He feels a bit better once I explain that we ( he and I ) will
still attend the race ( I’m the Asst Dir for CMC and AI w/NASA Texas ) to
handle my race duties, but not actually racing the car that weekend ( need to
save $$ and the car for OTC ), but I’m still not 100% off the hook here. Cody is more disappointed that I’ll be gone
for a week – he’s not into the racing thing as much as Seth is. Both boys do, however, support my decision
to go.
The next few weeks are
spent working out schedules, costs, parts to buy, finding a way to pay for all
this shit, etc. Seth continues trying
to convince me to take him out of school for a week so he can go with me. It’s a killah to tell him no – he’s the best
pitman a dad could ask for.
29 March 2004 ( Mon ): CMC #05
goes to CSD Custom Auto ( http://www.csdcustomauto.com
) to have a few things done before our track adventure - tow hooks welded on
the car to make it easier to tie down, hood painted to accept Chad's new
company logo ( he's my primary sponsor ), new FRPP aluminum drive shaft. Beg supervisor to approve my week of
vacation. He does.
30 March 2004 ( Tues
): Find out Carroll Shelby is hosting a dinner/mixer for all the OTC participants
at his LVMS shop. Wow….I’ll have to
bring some nice clothes! ;)
31 March 2004 ( Wed
): Parts ordering begins. Thank
heavens for our tax check. Brake duct
hosing, new radiator ( as a spare ), 2 shaved Toyos ( spares ), used Hurst shifter…..man,
the money is fly’n outta my race account.
3-4 April 2004 ( Sat
& Sun ): Attend our CMC and AI race @ TWS. Some folks already know I’m not racing this
weekend because of our trip to OTC. I
catch all sorts of grief. J
5 April 2004 ( Mon ):
Begin route mapping for the
entire trip – holy crap, it’s ~4000+ miles!!
Start looking over CMC #5 even further to make sure we don’t miss
anything. Begin handling many work issues
so nothing is left hanging while we’re gone.
Complete all overdue expense reports, interdivisional timesheet, set up
several servers to test, etc. Lots to
get done before we leave on 15 April!
8 April 2004 ( Thurs
): Posted on a website that I’m looking for parts ( T-lok, valve covers
). Get a PM from Matt King – HRM writer. He’s got a T-lok he’ll let go for free, and
can meet us at one of the LA events ( WSIR and/or BW ). Also offers us another once-in-a-lifetime
offer – the chance to be interviewed by HRM!
Wow!!! The idea is he’s going to
cover a few of the stops as a spectator, but is interested in interviewing a
participant(s) for an inside perspective.
Naturally, we accept!
Pick up 4 rims and tires as
spares for the trailer - $20.
9 April 2004 ( Fri ): LT came
over to help do a brake job on the tow vehicle - new front rotors, bearings,
pads, and a full brake system flush.
Fixed the crank system for the spare – van has to be in tip-top shape
for this whole thing. Chad comes over
to install new logo on the hood, LT and I fix the gas pedal to allow proper heel
and toeing. Install Hurst shifter in
place of stock unit. Missed 2
downshifts @ MSR in March, and didn’t want that to happen again. Realized the shifter handle is just too far
away when going into 5th gear ( which we’ll use @ LVMS, and possibly
a few other tracks ). We do some
garage-ghetto fab work, and install a set of ~3/4” spacers to move the handle
closer to the driver. Much better.
Matt King w/HRM calls to
discuss what he’s looking for, when we’ll meet up, etc. LT and I are completely jazzed to be
considered for HRM.
Begin process of
inventorying the spares: spare
distributor, spare radiator, spare driveshaft, spare tires ( a total of 8 rims
and 10 tires for the race car ), 4 rims and tires for trailer, spare front
hubs, spare ignition parts ( cap, rotor, plug wires, coil, Duraspark box ),
spare fluids ( case of Valvoline Racing 50w oil, 2 spare oil filters, spare
diff lube, spare tranny fluid ), new 5 gallon jug to hold water, 3 bottles of
WaterWetter. Sheesh….we are gonna weigh
a ton with all of this!
10 April 2004 ( Sat
): Tried to work on the car this weekend, but the family is having none of
that. Kids have a 4 day holiday (
Easter ), and insist we do something together before I head out of town. How can I refuse my boys?? J
13 April 2004 ( Tues
): Kill a bunch of trees printing out driving directions, and track
maps. We are getting offers from all
over the place:
- From a fellow Texas racer ( CMC/AI director
Todd Covini ) to stay at his hotel.
He’s going to be in SanFran that whole week on business, staying in
Concord. That allows us to sleep
in a nice place the night before SPIR – warm comfy bed, shower facilities,
the works. Whooohooo!
- From Doug Hayashi ( fellow OTC participant ) –
if we need help, go find the Pulp Racing trailer.
- From Cosmo – works for Griggs Racing @
SPIR. Gives us his cell and work
number. Says to call if we need
something.
Making a list of other
items to take, as we’ll be sleeping in our tow vehicle. Oh, did I mention I took my wife’s van to
use as the tow vehicle?? Yeah, throw
salt in the wound. J It’s not
like I left her with nothing – she’ll be driving my ‘95 Ford F150.
At any rate, we need towels
( shower at the track ), regular toiletry items, large cooler w/ bottled water
and much Gatorade ( my drink of choice at the track ), sunglasses, hat, chairs,
EZ-Up, blankets, pillows, trashbags, 5 gallon resealable bucket to hold oil
during oil changes on the racecar, yadda, yadda, yadda.
Test fitted the rims and tires
I bought for the trailer…..and discovered they don’t fit. Shit!!
No spare for the trailer is a very bad thing……gotta find something…..
14 April 2004 ( Wed ): Take one rim from trailer to Northern Tools ( a
40min drive from the house ). Not only do
they not carry the rim, they don’t carry a spare hub/bearing set for it. Turns out, the rims from the late model
F150’s are now metric, and the trailer has some old 5 on 5.5 bolt pattern. They direct me to Joe’s in Plano ( 5 minutes
from Northern ). They have the
hub/bearing ( yeah! ), but no rim.
Crap. I buy the hub/bearing
set. They direct me to Plano Tire (
another 5 minutes away ). They have the
rim I need…Whooohoooo! After talking to
the guy, I ask if he’s interested in the 4 Ford truck rims I have….does an even
swap for the rim and tire I need.
Doesn’t cost me any additional money ( other then the $20 I spent on the
4 rims/tires ) to get a spare. Damn,
that is a load off my mind, and it saved me a few bucks! I love horse-trading. J
Got home, and I had to
spend time with the family before leaving.
Kids are still a bit upset that I’ll be gone for a week racing. Kathy isn’t thrilled, but over the past few
weeks, my foot massaging technique has improved, thereby helping the overall
situation. We went out for dinner, Cody
and I played for a while, and then I worked on the racecar until 9:00pm. Seth insisted we play Tiger Woods 2004, so
naturally, I stopped to play. It’s one
of my favorite PS2 games. Went to bed
around 11:00pm, beat.
15 April 2004 (Thurs ): Woke up @ 5:00am w/o the alarm clock ( very unlike
me ). Too excited to sleep. Finished installing the brake cooling ducts,
ignition and alternator wiring. The car
still doesn’t shut off when you turn the kill-switch. Damn it!! We’ll have to
figure that out on the road, but I have an idea to fix it. Covered too many work things so the boss
doesn’t get mad at me. Have to go to
Houston the week I get back from OTC….wife not happy about that – it’s the week
of my birthday.
Brought the trailer out
from behind the fence…..flat tire on the passenger side. L Went out,
got a replacement used tire for $20, bought lots of Gatorade, pretzels, and a
Box of Rags from Sam’s. It’s 2:30pm,
and I still haven’t started packing the trailer!!!
Had another idea about the
kill-switch – ran a ground wire thru the second set of contacts to be sure the
relays drop….fired up the car, flipped the kill switch…SUCCESS! The car dies when the kill-switch is flipped. Sweet.
Cody came home from school
while I was packing the trailer…..man, he’s my bud. Talked for a bit, then I went back to loading. For 2 nights, I stressed over things to
remember….last thing I want is to be ~2000 miles from home, and need some small
tool/part. Got all my tools loaded, put
a bunch of items inside the Mustang, then loaded it up on the trailer. Shit, I’m tired already. Finished loaded many other items ( EZ-Up,
boxes of spares, blahzee, blahzee, blah ).
Once all that was completed, I had to cut and edge the grass, clean and
shock the pool…..otherwise, Kathy will be very upset with me. LOL.
Finished the house stuff,
packed my clothes, then took a shower.
Hung out with my boys….they are the best a dad could ever hope for. Cody was still making me feel guilty for leaving…”When
are you going to be home Dad?”…”A week from Saturday, pal.”….”Awwwww…I’m gonna
miss you.” Man, that kills me.
Stayed in the family room
for the rest of the evening, just hanging with the clan. Put the kids to bed @ 10:00pm, and then
headed for the van. Kathy walks me out
with tears in her eyes….she’s scared because we are leaving at night ( I have a
bad tendency to fall asleep at the wheel when it gets late ). Give her a big hug and kiss ( lord I love
kissing that woman… ), and insist we’ll be fine.
Drive to LT’s place – he
was going to drive up here, but he cracked the oil pan in his BMW the other
night, again, so he can’t drive it. After loading up his shit, taking a few
pics, and getting gas, we get on the road at midnight.
By ~1:45am, I’ve had
enough, so I pull over to let LT continue on.
We stop at a McDonalds by 8:00am the next morning – LT is looks
toasted. Eyes all bloodshot. We have breakfast, then I take the
wheel. We switch later on that day, and
while I’m sleeping LT decides he wants to stop at some big-assed fucking hole
in the ground – Meteor Crater. Ok,
we’ll probably never get back thru here again…$12 per person to get in and look
at some huge hole!!! Damn!
16 April 2004 ( Fri ): The drive is
relatively uneventful, until we eat in Flagstaff. Ate a bean burrito and a soft taco @ Taco Bell, then head back
out. Within an hour and a half, I tell
LT to pull over – fast. Hop out, and
puke for 20 minutes. Shit, this isn’t
gonna be good. Take a breather, drink
some water, but man I feel like death warmed over. Get back onto the road…..and get to the Hoover Damn. Have to stop for a police checkpoint ( since
9/11 ) so they can look inside the van and race car. We get thru that, and stop twice to take pics.
Head into LV…..and I tall
LT to pull over again, fast. Puke again
for 10-15 minutes. Fuck! This really sucks. Huge props to LT for being the threshold brake man that he is.
Get to LVMS around ~8pm
local time. Drop off the trailer, go to
Walmart so I can shit my brains out.
Picked up some Pepto, and drank it.
Like drinking chalk.
Get back to LVMS, and pull
a bunch of stuff out of the van so we can sleep. Within an hour, I’m back out next to the racecar, puking. And again a few hours later. Man, this sucks. Keeping control of my butt is an exercise in futility. Need to change my shorts.
17 April 2004 ( Sat
): Finally got some sleep…woke up around ~6:30, got up, checked the board,
and email. Time to pack up our shit,
and get into the infield of LVMS. I
need a shower too!
Well, it turns out the road
course isn’t actually in the oval – it’s outside, right next to the NASCAR
track. Packed up our gear, drove over,
and parked next to cheating bastard Doug Hayashi and the infamous
Flamemobile.
Unloaded the car and
gear. Gave LT a once thru on the
car…and discovered the cooling fans quit working. Do some checking…found a bad ground. Fixed, and everything works fine. LT drove the car up and down the pits….had a bad rub on the
driver front tire. The lower portion of
the fender is rubbing. Ghetto flares
are done, with a set of Channel-lock pliers.
No more rubbing.
Did a lead/follow with Doug
to help learn the track.
Holy shit are we are so far
behind the other racers – they know these tracks….I feel all thumbs out there
trying to learn the line. Nearly looped
the car on a mod-section decreasing radius left hander….car got wayyyyy
sideways, but I recovered and drove on.
Came into the pits to let LT go out in this session…..Doug’s rear bumper
cover caught fire from an overfull oil catch-can.
Yikes. LT heads out…..but the session is
flagged. He’ll go out in the next
session.
I managed to bubble a Toyo,
ending our day.
I get 2 sessions, LT gets
1. We decide it’s time to fix the gas
pedal to allow proper heel and toeing.
Run to AutoZone, get a set of bling-bling AL pedal covers. We install.
I’m feeling better after
that burrito felt it necessary to expel itself from 2 out of 3 orifices of my
body. Ate 2 plain English muffins @
Mickey D’s, which helped. Still
crapping a bunch, tho. Drinking lots of Gatorade. Fuck, I need to take a shower!
Mixer held at Carroll
Shelby’s race shop. CS isn’t there, but
the showroom is full of new and old CSX cars, a Series I, Mustangs, etc. Cool shop.
Doug Hayashi gave us the
card to his hotel room so we could grab a shower – it felt so nice to get
cleaned up. Tried to go to the Bellagio
for a dinner buffet but LV traffic was terrible, and we were tired. Drive back, got a bite at some joint, got
back to the track, and slept – very good.
I run a 2.16.xxx, LT a
2.20.xxx. LT is bitch boy for the day.
18 April 2004 ( Sun
): LVMS, OTC day 1.
Doug gives us the card to shower up again. Come back, fix the lower rad hose, clean/flush out the rad, fill
it up. I go out, and feel a tad better
( both in the car, and in the gut ).
Run the whole first session, came in with a cooling issue – out of now
where, it will peg the gauge. ?? Get the car to a personal best of
2:14.xxx. LT runs a best of
2:12.xxx. I’m bitch boy for the day.
On my last session, warm up
lap, I break the go-pedal off. Pull
into the hot pits, loosen my belts, find the pedal, toss it out the window, go
back out. Pushed HARD into 1, lifting
the pass rear tire.
The whole session is a
waste, as I can’t drive well – gotta put my foot WAYY out to go WOT. Pulled in.
We figure that we can work
on the car for 1.5 hours before having to leave for WSIR. Yank the pedal assembly out of the car,
drill a new hole, get a bolt from some fellow racers in a yellow S4,
reassemble, and it’s much better.
Load up, tow to WSIR. Got in around ~11:30pm local time, tossed a
few things out of the van, and slept.
19 April 2004 ( Mon
): WSIR, OTC day 2.
Scored a garage as we pulled in.
Yes!! Get unloaded.
I gear up for the 1st
session, and do a lead/follow with Jack Hidley. Manage a respectable 1:48.xxx.
Cooling issue resurfaces. Gas
pedal ok.
LT heads out, and pulls a
1:44.595. Bastard. Comes back in, running out of gas. Opps.
Fill
up, grab a bite to
eat. Put more water in the rad, as it’s
using allot of water each session.
Suit up, head out to follow
Jack again. I REALLY like WSIR – very
fast track. Much easier to pick up then
LVMS. I manage to pull a 1:44.xxx – 4
seconds a lap faster. We also manage to
kill what’s left of the Auburn – so, it’s time to call in a favor. I make a phone call to Cosmo w/Griggs
Racing. I tell him our dilemma – what
will he charge us to swap the dead Auburn ( which isn’t rebuildable ) with our
recently-acquired T-lok. Some silence
on the phone…he comes back as says as long as we come in after hours ( ~6pm or
so ), he’ll do it for free. We are,
needless to say, shocked at his offer.
Come in, full up with gas
and water. LT heads out…..and manages
an astonishing 1.40.xxx. I am bitch boy
for the second day now.
Matt King w/Hot Rod mag
meets us @ WSIR, gives us the T-lok. He
takes many pictures, covers my car w/a fine toothed comb ( He’s building an ’84
Mustang CMC car ). Still fighting
cooling issues.
One of our competitors,
Jack Hidley, splits his motor in 2. We
now have a solid 3rd place in UAGT.
20 April 2004 ( Tues
): Thunderhill, OTC day 3.
Wow, what a track. 2 major blind
hills, a blind off camber right hander, a few nice sweepers. Very nice track, owned by the SF Region
SCCA.
I go out in session one, do
a lead/follow w/Doug. Best time is a
2:21.xxx. Lt goes out, and pulls a
2:19.xxx. My second session…..a
2.16.141. LT’s….a 2.15.941! We are a .2 off from one another. LT has a nice 4-off going thru the front
hill. No offs for me, but a few nice
slides. Car running good, but still
experiencing a cooling issue. Having a
blown rear isn’t helping things much in the lower speed stuff. A friendly rivalry begins between us and the
Cobra guys ( 2 CSX cars that put down 500+ hp to the wheels ). We try to find ways to keep them on the
trailer….leaking fluid, track to slow for them to bother going out, that kind
of stuff. J
A white Evo has a serious
off @ T8 – cartwheels his car during his first session out, and completely
destroys it. Not a straight piece of
sheetmetal anywhere. Street car, no cage. Driver and passenger basically walk away
from the accident. Driver will be
paying for a dead Evo for quiet some time – insurance will not cover the
damage.
LT gets black flagged twice
for fuel spillage from the fuel cell vent line. It’s been a modest problem before, but we’ve never been BF’d for
it. L
Each night, LT and I sleep
in the van, camping out. It’s small,
but comfortable. It makes the whole
adventure that much more of an experience.
We leave T-hill, headed to
Griggs Racing. Cosmo is waiting for us
when we arrive – car gets unloaded, and immediately put on the lift. Within 30 minutes, the dead Auburn is pulled
from the car. Cos finds one new set of
bearings, rebuilds the T-lok while I head out to get 2 large pepperoni pizzas
and 2 six packs. When I get back, the
whole rear is reassembled, brakes/axles installed, ready for fresh Mobil
1. We fill the rear, change the engine
oil and filter, install fresh front pads, tie wrap up the loose brake
ducts. Cos finds a ~5ft section of fuel
line to replace our too-short fuel vent.
We coil it up around the cell to stop our venting problem. I try to pay Cosmo for helping us out, but
he refuses. Without a doubt, he saved
us about $1000 in labor and parts. A
great guy, and a great shop.
Considering our trouble, we might not have gotten any further without
their help.
Todd Covini is staying in
NorCal this week, and allows us to crash at his hotel for the night. It was great to stay in a regular bed, but
the camping thing has been such a blast, I kinda miss it. Many of the other teams have nice motor
homes, or stay in a hotel. LT and I
both think they are missing something by not camping the way we do at the
track.
The camaraderie among ALL
the teams/drivers is fantastic – something I really enjoy. The good-natured ribbing, jokes about the
cars, lap times, you name it. All the
competitors are great people, as well as all the organizers.
21 April 2004 ( Wed
): SPIR – rain. We
get to the track, late. Missed the
drivers meeting. Rain starts to
fall. Try to fire up the car….and
discovered I left the master switch on all night. Crap…now we need a jump.
Guy in a sweet ~68 Camaro comes to our aid, and gives us a jump. I debate switching to full treads, but we
figure the track still has some traction.
Wrong guess….I go out following Doug, trying to find the wet line. Well, I find it, and the dry line, causing a
spin within ~4 laps.
I run the whole session as
recon. Come back in, put gas in, and
change to full treads for LT. It helps
– he smokes a 2:25 vs. my lousy 2.55.
Rain subsides, and it looks like the track is going to dry. Todd Covini shows up, and we go out with him
during the HPDE sessions to help learn the line.
We break for lunch, head to
Griggs Racing to BS with Bruce Griggs – we want him to come to Dallas for an AI
race. Grab some food, head back to the
car. With 8 minutes before my session,
we swap to dry tires. Good choice – I
manage a decent 2:04.xxx! LT goes out
for the last session, and soundly beats my ass with a string of 2:00.xxx’s.
Each night, I call home to
say hello to the family. And, each
night, Kathy sounds less and less thrilled.
I stop telling her how things are, and just tell her we are ok. She has no desire to hear about our
racing. LT thinks I’m crazy for calling
her 2-3 times a day, but it’s something I’ve done for a long time, being I
travel so much for business.
We begin packing up to head
for BW – have to be out of the track by 5:00pm. The drag racers are starting to show. We also pick up a new team member:
She is left in our care
from another OTC Touring division team, with strict orders not to lose
her. We strap her into the car for the
tow to BW. We get lots of stares, some
good, some not so good. J
We arrive @ BW around
~8:00pm – early, compared to other nights.
One of the RX7 teams is
hard at work replacing the motor in a garage.
LT and I get the van ready
to sleep. I fire up the laptop, get the
cellphone hooked up as the modem. Check
email ( work has been going nuts since I left – my phone rings no less the 5
times a day with folks wanting to talk to me ), check the board, then shut
down, and catch some ZZZZ….tomorrow is the last day of OTC. L
22 April 2004 ( Thurs
): Buttonwillow – last day of OTC.
My mom, dad and sister arrive to cheer us on. My sister’s ’74 Trans Am draws allot of attention. We get ready for the 1st session
– fuel, water, and replace a squashed brake duct. We put the pass front tire back on…..and I forget to torque the
rim. Thankfully, it stays on for my
session. New rules – car gets a torque
check before going out from now on.
I go out, trying to learn
the line. Manage a respectable opening,
but LT beats me yet again. Lunch with
my family is fun – it’s great to have them at the track seeing me race for the
very first time.
I go out in Session 2, and
manage a 2:15.xxx. I’m not happy with
this time, as typically, I manage 4-5 seconds off my best time from session 1
to session 2. I pull in, hop out
quickly so I can take Aimee’s Trans Am out for a few laps in the HPDE
group. I take her out for ~4 laps, then
have mom climb in for a few laps. They
both had a complete blast running with me on the course.
Last session of the day….LT
heads out, and gets moving. Doug
Hayashi fixes his suspension setup in just enough time to get out and run his 3
fast laps. He beats Dearing in U1.
I watch as LT gets faster
with each lap….2.16….2.15…..2.11. He
kicked my ass yet AGAIN. After DH came
off the track, there are 3 cars left running…..the 2 CSX Cobras, and my little
CMC Mustang. Within a few minutes, the
green CSX car blows a HG, and is told to pull off. Final laps of the 2004 Paul Mumford Memorial OTC has 2 cars still
running on the track – the maroon CSX Cobra belonging to Kevin, and my CMC
Mustang with LT at the helm. An awesome
showing for a first time team.
The OTC organizers held a
beer-fest after the last HPDE session for all the participants. I said goodbye to my family, as the awards
ceremony was being called. We took 3rd
in UAGT, being 21 out of 35 overall.
John Dearing won the PMUM award, to which he then donated back to the
Mumford family. I don’t think there was
a dry eye in the room when he did that.
Packing up was….
depressing, at least a bit. We just
spent the past 6 days racing at a new track every day, with a great group of
people. And it was over, except for the
long drive back to Dallas. We took our
time packing everything up, cleaned out the van to make it more livable for the
drive home, and got ready to go – I think we were one of the last people out of
BW. We thanked all the corner workers
for their hard work and help – can’t do this road race thing without them.
We left BW, headed east for
Big D. I drove until about midnight,
and let LT take over. We were supposed
to stop at some point to grab a hotel, but I awoke around 8am CT to find LT
still driving! He decided to drive
straight on thru without stopping. So,
we just kept on going. I pick up
driving duties around ~7am. About ~4-5
hours from Dallas, the driver side front trailer tire disintegrated in
spectacular fashion, wrapping the tread around the trailer axle. We stopped, changed tires, and were back on
the road in ~30 minutes.
In Bowie, TX, we hit a
serious storm. Since I’d been driving
for ~13+ hours, I let LT take it the rest of the way to his place. I got home around midnight on Friday
evening. Got the race car unloaded and
into the garage just as it began to rain again.
The boys go nuts now that
I’m home. Even our dog, Honey, is
jumping up and down, thrilled for me to be home. The wife treats me to a nice evening…..maybe I should go away
racing more often. ;)
Slept in until 10am on
Saturday and Sunday – we were pretty damn tired. I awoke, thinking about what track we were going to be running on
that day……only to realize OTC was over.
Back to the age-old grind stone….cut and edge the grass, clean and shock
the pool, fix things around the house, go back to work. I love racing, but it’s so nice to be
home with my family.
Looking back, our budget
was so much smaller then the other teams – one Evo team had a dealer replace
his blown engine overnight, at what had to be a huge cost ( I’m guessing
). Doug ran his NSX hard ( as always
)….but had a motorhome, F350 tow vehicle, and very nice 5th-wheel
style trailer. Most of the other
participants also had motorhomes…..all very nice. But, I think sleeping/camping in our van made this whole
experience so much more enjoyable.
Our carnage list:
1 bulged 255.50.16 Toyo
RA-1 tire
1 set of Cobalt Friction VR
front brake pads
1 Auburn rear
1 front brake duct
1 trailer tire
1 gas pedal
1 300w DC-AC inverter (
mounted in the van ).
LOTS of gas – about 60-70
gallons for the race car, and approximately 300 gallons for the van.
6 video tapes for in-car
video
8 quarts of Valvoline 50w racing
oil
1 oil filter
3 quarts Mobil 1 75w90 gear
oil
All in all, it was one of
the most memorable racing experiences I’ve ever had. The camaraderie between all the racers, and the organizers was
just fantastic. I truly believe we all
have a common bond now, one that can never be broken. For those that know what the OTC is, know what I’m talking about.
Are we ready to do it
again….hell yeah!