The Story of 2017 - from beginning to end - Race 1 New Hampshire

So after an almost 4 month sabbatical from income producing work, I got a job where I used to work and went about planning out my year.  There were no grandiose plans, just time to go out and enjoy racing again. 

The car was still in one piece from last year (2016) and I had only missed the last race due to the wedding of my son and his bride.   I have a fairly large supply of used tirtes, so the goal was to jusy to out and have fun - I thought.

There was little work to be done, but I did it anyway.  Removed the side pods and repainted them, made a new adapter for the steering and misc other minor changes to the car.  So even with 6 months to prepare, the car was on its way to NHMS without a full checklist being done, but almost every part having been touched in some way.

I remember the first practice session as being not exciting, except for almost collecting Ron when he spun in the first turn (Oval).  MY lap times were nothing to write home about, so I contemplated buying a new set of tires. The first race of the weekend was anti-climatic.  I moved up a  few spots but was overdriving the car just to keep up with mid-pack.  Buy the tires.

$800 later, the Sunday morning race beckoned.  Breaking in a new set of tires in a race is a bad thing, but I looked to take it easy and save them for the afternoon race.  Nothing special, a good solid race moved up a little more - still lap times nothing special.

I was ready for the afternoon race.  I was going to check the valves but everything sounded good and the engine was running well.  There was no oil leaks and just a very small top off.  Rechecked the alignment - what could go wrong?

The race started and I began moving up after dropping a few spots on the start.  I was in 6th and closing on 5th, maybe even a top 4 was in sight.  Going into the small bowl I looked down and there was no oil pressure.   Shut the engine off first and think later.  I coasted off the track and on to a back road I knew existed so there was no chance I would affect the race which was just past 1/2 over.  Coasting was so quiet, like flying a glider after a 747..... I had time to contemplate the problem - simple sensor problem?  There was no oil all over the engine that would point to a massive oil leak.  This was a puzzle.

The drive home was a long one - instead of fourth it was 12th.  I had filled the engine with oil and upon starting it the dreaded rod knock was apparent.  I took a valve cover off and there was the culprit.

The gasket had split, and this allowed it to pull away from the edge.  Little by little the oil left the engine.  At the end I might have driven almost a lap with no oil pressure (synthetic oil is amazing).  But is the season over?  Do I pack it in?  Stay tune for part 2 of Chris's Excellent adventure.