Aftermath

Well it has been a week and I am still decompressing from the weekend - I am sure many are wondering how I did and the short answer is as good as can be expected, but not as good as I could have.  I had some funny things go wrong - nothing I put together and the race was a typical NARRC Rainoffs, after beautiful weather was predicted for both days, we had on and off sprinkles just before and after the race.  It made for some interesting tire choices, but in the end we all went out on slicks.

I will fill in more of the race story but just to show you how strange it was - in 37 years of racing I have NEVER had this happen - the tach needle broke.  Not fall off, which has happened, or even gotten stuck - this one broke off at the base.  Sorry for the picture, I will change it when I get the car out of the trailer.  If you look closely you can see the needle the bottom of the Tach.  So it made it a little tricky to see if I was making progress in the uphill, but then there was The tire - which I will tell you about next time.....

Race Day 1

Well we made it to the track - got through tech inspection (Thanks Rich Welty fro doing the inspection in the trailer - saved me about a half an hour!) and made on the track for the first practice.

So many things I learned from actually being on the track, like - my trick switch setup cannot be seen, only felt when you are sitting in the car with a helmet on - but it worked perfectly!  Also, the belts cannot be set up right unless you have full driver's gear on.

The first session went well albeit slower that I would like, but nothing came loose or fell off - big relief.

I did a lot of adjustments and went out for the sprint qualifying and despite feeling a lot better in the car - really did not go any faster.  I have a couple of tricks for tomorrow, including a different sett of tires, so let's see what that brings.

BTW - if you really want to follow racing, there is an iPhone app - Race Monitor.  It is $4.99, I think and allows you to see timing and scoring of many of the races around the country.  Most SCCA races are included - right now you can follow the National Championships in Road America along with the local races at Lime Rock.

My race should be somewhere around 1 - 2pm on Saturday - but I have another qualifying race to get through first.

Packed and ready to go

The trailer is packed and the car safely nestled inside.  But there is still a lot to be done.

Right now I am going through all the paperwork I need.  Not just a log book but also a homologation certificate as this car is built after 1985 (I have a car now that is 20 years old - not 33 - can you imagine....?)  That with driver's license (SCCA that is) and I should be all set for tech tomorrow.

Tech involves looking at all the safety aspects of the car and driver equipment. It is done on an annual basis and usually takes about a half an hour. I hope the inspectors will be happy with all the details I have done, to meet or exceed the regulations.  But there is always the chance I have forgotten something.

Next I have to make sure the car is aligned properly and the engine runs correctly.  Starting it on the stand and going back and forth in the driveway is not exactly the test the car needs.

So Friday is practice and qualifying with 2 races on Saturday.  I invite everyone to come out to Lime Rock, not to see me but to take in the beautiful weather and good racing.

I will post more tomorrow night and let you know how the new tires work and how I did.  After the weekend I will post more about what I did right and what went wrong.

Thanks for reading.

Chris Zarzycki

September 18 - Almost there

It is 11 at night and the car is in one piece - not completely finished but good enough to head to Lime Rock this weekend.  Have to get through tech - has the wrong gearbox to run fast, but after all this time I need to get a race under it's belt so I can really be ready for 2014.

More pictures to come.....

9/10/2013 It was one of those days

You might notice there is no entry for the Cheap Date at NHMS.

Well, that is because I did not make it.  Racing is not always a fun and rewarding endeavor, some times it is a real PITA.

Here is the scenario:

Labor Day - 5 days to race.
Wheels attached - car on ground.
Got starter from Steve P (Thanks - found out I made a mistake reassembling my original one - more on that later.)
Rock car to check clutch - not working.
Still need to mount tires and paint tail.
Still need to mount transponder and finish fuel system.
Still need to align and maybe change front spindle.
Still need to mount seat belts and finish seat.
Still need to clean trailer and pack for an away trip
Still need to check loose rivets on pan
Still need to put numbers on and mount mirrors
Get the drift?

Look at everything that needs to be done and most important thing is to get sleep.  Clean up and go to sleep.

Throw in proverbial towel.

A week later with some energy I finish fuel system.  Fix clutch ( car had wrong master cylinder for my slave cylinder.)  Do more body work.  Trying to decide if want to make NARRC Runoffs.

It looks possible - race is nearby and look like low key with it going up against the National Runoffs (whose idea was that?)

So still pushing - still working - will keep you posted (with more pictures soon)

Thanks for reading.

ChrisZ