July 2008 Firecracker Run at CMP by BTR #380

Weekend Recap:

FRIDAY:
6.5 hours for me on the road means no enduro this time. I did show up in time to catch the end of the race and hear the lies from everyone about their motorsport prowess as usual. I knew it was going to be a good weekend when I started hearing about the MLT enduro award party favors...I mean c'mon, who dosen't like live chickens, malt liquor and fireworks? Sign me up!

SATURDAY:
Race was awesome. very intense, hard fought and a lot of fun. I qualified 10th but got a DNF for aggressive driving, doh! (would have been 4th but woulda, shoulda, coulda right?). Im fine with taking the DNF, it was completely my own fault. Ill post video as soon as its done uploading.

We had a standing start and I dropped the clutch with a few too many RPM's and spun the tires through first and most of second gear. Once the tires hooked up I was shot right past M3Bill on the outside and clear into T1. Lots of close racing ensued with R. Allen, R. Patton, Al Taylor, S. Canterbury and probably a few others.

I do want to apologize to Robert Allen again for running him off track. I feel really bad about that because it could have been a bad incident. Luckily Robert has great car control skills and managed to get the car back on track without hitting anything.

I botched T14, hit the rumble strips and then had to down shift into second. This gave R. Allen a good run on me and he went to the outside. As we approached the start/ finish line in a true drag race he was gaining. if all went as it should have we would have been side by side at turn in for one and I would have had the inside, no big deal. But since I was feeling racey, I wanted to practice some of what Ive been taught in my few races thus far.

As we went down the straight I started to take a line to the out side of the track to one, get a better approach into T1 and two, squeeze Robert to the edge of the track to defend T1. As I did so, I went a little too far and hit Robert right before the start/finish line. My passenger door hit his front wheel and he got sideways and went screaming off track in a cloud of tire smoke and dirt. I continued on but did feel terrible. I really didn't mean to hit him and it was a stupid thing to do. That was near the end of the race, and you can see it in the video.

I finished the race but was called up to Timing & Scoring to get a talking to and receive my DNF. I didn't argue.

Sat Race>>>http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8262836003680570314&hl=en

SUNDAY:
Sunday was a great race also, Qualified 7th, started 3rd and finished 6th after all the cheaters got by me. ;)
See video for action!

Sun Race>>> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7184612890027446906&hl=en
Of course there was some drama Sunday morning. As we made our way through the grass pre qualifying to take a team BTR photo with all three cars, I heard a loud clunking coming from the right front. Didn’t hear it on track but the front end felt a little funny when I ran through the kink, a 100+ MPH turn that you use a lot of curb in. When the front end would "land" after hitting the curb the car would bounce a little.

It turned out that the gland nut holding the strut in place was completely loose. Seems these have a way of working themselves loose. This left me with no right front shock, only a spring and my anti roll bar. Disassembled the front end, screwed the gland nut back in place and all was good once again. Seems the same thing happened to JP's car and Jim Robinsons the event prior. Will have to add this to the tech check before race weekends.

Congrats to R. Allen for a great Qualifying (2nd overall), and a great race (2nd place finish)

OFF TRACK HIGHLIGHTS:
1. Found out chickens can fly...sort of. and they will sleep in a tree.
2. Heard some of Travis' top shelf game for the ladies...pretty solid.
3. BRE Luke likes to have live chickens in his trailer at bed time.
4. Bicycle > pit bike...again.
5. Scott Mc can draw a kick ass possum on anything.
6. IndyJim has a generally negative disposition.
7. SC does have some laws that will be enforced...who knew?
8. Turnip can wreck anything with a motor.
9. As suspected, Sasha and Geeger are confirmed nancies.

Thanks for reading the blog, tune in for more accounts of the weekend and look for the 24 Hours of LeMons, should be ....interesting....

Brian- Car #380