24HL, Thunderhill '08

Things of course melted down into a frenzy of activity during which there was no longer time to photograph or blog anything. But here area few observations and ideas regarding the 24 Hours Of Lemons 12-08 Thunderhill event:

Getting to the race early is great. The Snowspeeder was well prepped, giving us time to relax, meet other teams, take photos, check out cars, run some test laps, etc. Don't underestimate how much this improves the entire experience of a 24HL.

If the track has good facilities, camp. This is economical and looks fun. So far I'm finding track town motels cost about 200% what similar accommodations in similar hick-towns. If you book early you can take the edge off. Teams were grilling, drinking, hanging out, playing Gran Turismo... I think it would have been a blast to camp at the track.

We had great pit neighbors. Free Range Racing, another MR2 team on one side, and Eyesore, 24HL veterans known for great cars, competition, and themes, were on our other side. Being able to rub elbows, swap tools, and share snacks with both of these teams raised the experience another bar.

There were 5 first gen MR2s in this race:

• 12th place, Lil' Smokey and the Bandit, 77.
  
• 16th place, Nerd Herd, 08 (with a spiff 20 valve JDM 4age motor).
  
• 17th place, us in the Snowspeeder, 03.
• 19th place, Pole Position, 3.
  
• 70th, place, our pals with Free Range, 80.

People are figuring out what great cars these are. Funnest on the track I'm sure.

Our race went well, but black flags were our weak spot. We only had one mechanical issue, a minor cooling problem that was resolved during a penalty. The only thing that kept us from a top-10 finish was our 4 black flags. Randal and Joe were both very clean this race but each managed to attract one flag. I had 2 flags with a little contact jockeying for position day 1 and I spun right off the track on day 2 after a tire chnage. We pulled a great fuel/driver change under a course-wide stop and we were able to keep the car rolling nearly constantly for most of day 2. Our fueling system is very effective. The car was fast and reliable. We didn't have any major repairs. Everything was pretty much dialed. I expect Joe and Randal will be a top 5 car at Reno in May.

Chart of our position by number of laps. The gaps were black flag penalties. Brown was Randal, red was me then Randal but couldn't tell when the driver change took place, green is Joe, and purple is me.

As always, the race was extremely entertaining to spectate. I witnessed a car veer of course then come back across the front straight on 2 wheels and hit the wall, the Faster Farms Chicken car flip completely over coming to rest back on all fours, a 944 Porsche over-cook a chicane spin off course at about 90 MPH, I missed the flames but saw the driver scramble out of a smoking VW Scirocco that had caught fire, and countless other exciting events.

We had 2 entertaining penalties from black flags. Randal got the "Bob Ross penalty". He got to wear an Afro wig and paint a landscape on the hood of the car. After spinning off course I earned a three-legged hike the entire length of the paddock and back with another deviant driver, made worse with the fact I was past due to urinate.

There was an incredibly cheap dyno service at the track and Joe got the Snowspeeder in just before close for one pull. After all the work on the engine we had high expectations, but the results were a only 93 horses. Randal tweaked the valves a bit more and we ran without really know the final effects, but what it comes down to is that the car has more than enough power to go spinning off the track if you're not careful.

The Thunderhill course is a blast. After only two previous races on the Altamont (RIP) bumper-car ring, T-Hill's vast stretches of wide, fast, curves, plus the stomach-lift as you dip out of turn 5 were fairly daunting. Test day and the first part of my first leg of driving I was pretty conservative. After about ten laps under a yellow flag though, I finally loosened up and let the MR2 do it's thing. The whole first half of the track is very MR2 friendly. It sticks to the big smooth sweepers and could usually inch past heavier cars there, and on the tight elevated turn 5 we could usually just go in hot and out brake everyone on which ever side they weren't. I had a grin-cramps when I turned the car back over to Randal.

This is the first time I wasn't too tired and busy at 24HL to goof off a bit Saturday PM. We had a few beers while we cleaned up, then bumped into the Eyesore team at pizza.

My leg is sore. Joe's brakes could use a tune and I guess I was really romping down hard on the pedal. My lower right leg is very sore and painful when I put pressure on my right big toe.

This was my favorite race so far. Great people, track, and event!

Here are my photos of the trip and event.

Here is the race summary on Jalopnik.

2009 McLaren SLR Stirling Moss

Things got just a bit brighter for the incoming Detroit Auto show. Mercedes-Benz will officially showing what will surely be one of the most attention supercars in exhibition hall, the new 2009 McLaren SLR Stirling Moss,a supercar for year 2009. The boldly styled Merc will be the last vehicle built under the partnership with McLaren, at a cost around €750,000 Mercedes should have no trouble finding buyers for the 75-car allotment. The feature of this super car will full carbon fiber bodywork wrapped over the standard version, a 650-hp supercharged 5.5-liter V8 and the five-speed automatic transplanted from the SLR 722. Despite lacking any sort of roof or proper windscreen, the Stirling Moss can still achieve a top speed of 217 mph and can reach 100 km/h in just 3.5 seconds. Other unique features include swing-wing doors, a retractable air brake that can be operated manually and a two-piece tonneau cover that can cover the entire cockpit or just the passenger seat.

ToyoBaru RWD Sports Car delay until 2012

A smart project of Toyota and Subaru to working together on a rear-wheel-drive sportscar with “wonderful styling” have been replaced by rumours that the car has been put on hold.

The future and superb drift machine, regarded by many as the potential successor to the now legendary AE86, is believe to be based on the current Subaru Legacy platform and powered by a boxer engine putting out around 200hp through a six speed manual transmission.

The original plan is due in 2011,but, according to Nikkei, the car has been delayed to at least 2012 or more. But with things set to get even worse around the globe, 2012 may just come and go without any trace of a Toyobaru RWD sports car.

A Big Day

Not much time for a thurough post. Here are a few pics though:

Started early but it was a good thing we did. We needed all the track time we could get and were working well after dark in the pits prepping for tomorrow.

We had planned for very bad driving conditions, but after the first pass from Ashland Oregon, it was smooth sailing to Willows California. Further north conditions were much worse and one team from Washington rolled their rig en route. Everyone was OK, but they are out a truck, trailer, race car, and obviously won't be joining the fun. :-(

Gorgeous day!

They had a test day so we were able to put some much needed break-in on Joe's newly machined engine.

Elevation makes turn 5 very tricky. Very fun. Apex is at the top of a hill and you can't see beyond it.

Joe playing with his new 'size matters' lens.

Our buddies from Portland, Free Range Racing, had much more difficult trip, but had time for a bit of Gran Tourismo at the end of the day.

Fastest Street Legal Super Car arrive at Europe...

Show up at any track with a car less than ordinary and you’re bound to get smirks of both disgust and pity. Some people don’t let it affect them, some pack up and go home in search of mummy, others give chase and some blow the competition away. That’s exactly what happen when the took his 1407hp Pontiac Trans-Am to the Papenburg track where the AMG boys from Mercedes

were testing their new models.

With a brisk 8.9L V8 producing a whopping 1407 HP, The top speeds of 300km/h in his warming laps. After driving a couple of rounds around the track, to see what his road machine would do! And after pressing the pedal to the metal the when the technician came over with his laptop computer with a big grin. Here we have the official numbers: 407.134 km/h.

You may say well the 9FF team drove 409km/h in an extremely rebuilt Porsche 911 at the same track; this speed was recorded with their own equipment and therefore can be fixed and therefore is not recorded as an official speed record. Bugatti Veyron 407km/h is also recorded with their own equipment.

As the Papenburg track is to small for the Pontiac to reach its potential top speed of 435km/h and Volkswagen’s test track costs 25.000 Euro an hour to rent.

Pucker up.

Randall has the Snowspeeder ready for the track and loaded into his trailer. He and Joe are both off for some forced-family-fun for X-mas. I declined the invite from the girlfriend-in-law's family celebration to catch up on channel surfing and balancing my bank accounts. Holiday dinner was leftover road-chow of crackers and cheeze-wiz.

While I was enroute from Utah I hear Joe and Randall sneaked the Snowspeeder out to some back-road to try to get some break-in on the engine. On the way home they had a nice chat with the sheriff. Randall BS'd them out of a ticket or impound. Would have been grumpy after paying a share and dragging my ass out here to find the car was confiscated.

This weather has everyone spooked about transporting the car tomorrow. Our buddies in Portland, Free Range Racing, report that they are so snowed in that they couldn't get their trailer out of their neghborhood and had to scrounge another truck. Another team from that area has bailed from the race. Currently it's snowing again and passes could be closed tomorrow.

Here's my holiday wish list:

-We get to the track at all.

-We get there in time to race the entire race.

-We get there in time to break-in and tune the engine.

-The engine and car last the duration of the race.

-Top 10 finish?

We plan to leave at 4 AM.

I want to thank Jay Lamm for scheduling the Thunderhill race for 2009 in November.

As nutty as a third testicle.

[Northern California, X-mas Eve]

(As posted to the 24HL mailing list)

As if 24HL is not crazy enough in concept alone, I have to say the fiasco surrounding this '08 Arse-freeze is more than extra-silly. This should have occurred to me before waking up from a nap shivering in my truck at 1 something AM Christmas Eve at a rest stop in BFE Nevada as I try to sneak through a break in the storms between Salt Lake and Ashland Oregon to hook up with my brother's team.

Maybe it's the holiday spirit, or maybe because I'm still a bit drunk this afternoon after a night at a non-Utah strip-club, or maybe it's the much improved weather forecast for Willows CA, but reading about the travel hardships and spousal wrath everyone is enduring just to share a weekend driving around and around with a bunch of other cold unshaven men has me feeling a little gay.

I love you guys. Merry X-mas.

Do you know "Super Car"?

Supercar is a term generally used for high-end sports cars, whose performance is superior to that of its contemporaries. It has been defined specifically as "a very expensive, fast or powerful car with a centrally located engine",and stated in more general terms: "it must be very fast, with sporting handling to match", "it should be sleek and eye-catching" and its price should be "one in a rarefied atmosphere of its own",but the correct usage of the term is both subjective and disputed, especially amongst enthusiasts. The use of the term can be dependent on the era; a vehicle that may have been considered a supercar in one decade may not be considered the same in another. The term supercar may refer to factory-built, street-legal sports cars.Some vehicles referred to as supercars include features required for race cars such as roll cages.

Deficit

Ever bit off more than you can chew? Every race I think it will be easier, its not. There is a sinking feeling at a certain point in the car prep where the math involving money, time, skill and relationship capital seems only to pencil out to massive deficits.

Jay Lamm is a bastard.

We got motor back from the machine shop yesterday... about a week late. Randal and I put in about 7 hours in yesterday and another 7 or 8 today. The motor is in the car but I'd say we still have about 5 hrs worth of work hooking up the myriad of shit before we can fire it.

I keep finding more stuff we need to do or buy. I keep remembering stuff we need to do buy "before the next work session" promptly upon entering the "next work session" I haven't done a lick of Christmas shopping. I think I've barely said 200 words to my girlfriend in the last 72 hrs. I'm thinking this is not the ideal time to tell her I'll be doing three races next year.

do / buy:

Mirrors
Overflow bottle / cap / dohickie
Gear oil
Harness
struts
weld lid on the car
finish installing the motor
log 200 miles on the car to find problems
christmas shop

Stick Figure Racing

Bender has his new team blog up: Stick Figure Racing.

MR2 Methodology

I've run a first generation MR2 in 3 lemons races now and managed to not win every single time!

Here is what I've learned:

The MR2 very likely one of the best handling cars in history. It will certainly handle better than all but a few of your competitors on the track. You will be amazed and what you can do with it by the end of the race. Need to jam on the brakes mid corner? Just do it, you'll probabally be ok. Need to take the outside line and hold it at speed? No problem. Need sneek in to a 4' gap between the 67' buick and the inside of the track, no worries just stick stick your fender against their rear quarter panel... which brings me to-

Durability:

The MR2, while very small is actually built like a tank. the radiator is set back in the car about 2'. It's mid mounted engine is forward of rear bumper about 2.5 feet. The fuel tank is in the very center of the car. Everything is pretty well protected from impact, so let your bumper car urges free to the extent you are unafraid of getting black flagged. During the oct 07 Altamont race, often referred to as a demolition derby by lemons veterans, hitting people was pretty much my SOP when passing. (In accordance with the stricter contact rules, I've repented of my contact sins since the Oct 07 Altamont race) Tie rods up front are vulnerable to impact so try to avoid driving over course marking tires and use caution when passing from grass to asphalt. Cut away wheel wells and add some structure to protect your front wheels, as part of your car prep.

Driving:

Give yourself 2-3 hours to learn the capabilities of the car. At the start of our rookie race we all thought our car was slow... in fact its was one of the best cars on the track, we just didn't know how to drive it yet. As you drive ask yourself "should that '67 buick be able to pass me on a corner?" This will help you figure out if you are driving the car to its limits. After owning and driver several MR2's I thought I new how to drive. I didn't.

To pass large, high power/high torque cars: hang with them till you approach a corner, pass them as they brake for the corner.. inside is preferable but outside will probably work.

To pass lightweight front wheel drive cars: Choose medium sweeper, drift around them on the outside as these cars almost always hug the apex and generally can't drift.

To pass a medium weight rear wheel drive car (BMW): good luck.. be

persistent and little lucky.

Cage:

I strongly recommend cutting away the entire sunroof "hatch" it will give you more head room in the car. If I were going to do my cage over again today I'd cut holes in the roof of the car and form the top of the cage above the roof.. more head room, I'm 6'2.

Performance:

Don't worry too much about power, go for reliability. Winning won't be so much about speed ( the MR2 is fast enough) as keeping the car on the track as much as possible. If you have good compression and your engine is reliable, don't bother to open it up. If you need a head gasket, go ahead and try to find some cam timing gears while your at it. A performance header won't give you more power unless you change a bunch of other stuff in the motor also.... sum of parts kind of thing. the stock header is fine up to pry160+ hp. Just be sure to cut off the stock exaust just before the cat and put cheap, high flow, muffler to meet sound requirements.

Pit Procedures:

Keep the car on the track. Keep the car on the track. Keep the car on the track. All the performance mods you can dream up are outweighed by having good pit procedures. If fueling takes you 20 minutes (which is easily possible @ t-hill) shaving 10 seconds off you lap times doesn't really matter.

Suspension:

Suspension is going to be one of the best performance mods on the track. Anti-sway in back I don't think came on these cars except in 1985 and on the supercharged versions. The mounting points are there so buy, steal or fabricate one. We get better handling when we increased the stiffness of our rear sway bar by bending and welding an additional bar to it. Our struts are shot. We haven't taken the time to properly cheat some new ones on to the car or find some better ones in the junk yard. We desprately need to.

TIRES:

Buy good tires and wheels! Have a full set of backups if you can.

TEST:

Go to a track day somewhere and try to run your car for 3-6 hrs as continuously as possible. Try to sniff out a problem before race

day.

COOLING:

Read & execute proper coolant changing procedures and adhere to them when draining/refilling your anti-freeze/water. The car has a great cooling system but it will overheat if you have air in it. I recommend bringing a spare ignition coil. I had one develop a heat related intermittent problem which cost us about 1hr 20min tracking it down and fixing it.

Track record:

07 Altamont: worst postion: about 80th best postion: 14th place finished:18th place Bent steering rod (driver error), suspect clutch behavior, over hot inginition(toward the end).. all told pry about 2 hrs off the track poking proding and fixing shit.

07 Thunder Hill: Worst Postion 55th Best postion (4 hours later) 3rd place, finished: 13th Broken steering rod (driver error), over hot ignition, horrible fueling stops.. About 1.5 hrs off the track wrenching.

08 Altamont: Started 38th place ran to 10th place in 10 laps. spun a rod bearing=end of race. DOH!!

Off Again

Nevermind. After looking at the calendar are realizing the December race probably means transporting the car from Salt Lake on Xmas day, my new team understandably had to decline. 

Joe and I are both chomping at the bit and trying to figure out how to get at least one of our cars to Thunder Hill and racing together.

I'm excited to see the Kiel brother's new lemon. It will be fun to have another MK1 MR2 on the track.

Good to hear V-ram is at it again, Andy and I won't be racing this winter (Money)
but we will be back at it in the spring. We put a new/used motor in our car and it's officially
road worthy. It will be interesting to see how well an automatic does Vs a Stick.
Our Team name will be "Knights of the round track" hope to be competing along side you guys in the spring. We will post pics of our toy as we get closer to racing, Good Luck! Bender

Back at it. (12 weeks until race.)

Time to dust of the Beater-Car Blog and start tracking progress toward the 2008 Arse-Freeze.

Our team from the May race has disbanded. Jerry had only ever planned to race once and the Kiel brothers now have their own lemon they are prepping. It's another mk1 MR2 and I know with their mechanical ability it will be a serious contender.

I've rallied a new team. My neighbor Brent and his buddy Mark have been pretty enthusiastic about the project all along. Along with Mark Senior, we have a new team. Welcome aboard guys. Our first meeting is tonight

We've got some residual task from the previos race and several new requirements for Thunder Hill. So lots of work and 12 weeks to do it. October is here and snow has already frosted the peaks above Salt Lake. Working in my driveway is going to be cold and dark in a few more weeks.

Honda RA108

The Honda RA108 is a Formula One racing car with which Honda Racing F1 will contest the 2008 Formula One season.

The car was unveiled at a test in Valencia on 23 January 2008, a week before the car's official launch, driven by Rubens Barrichello


Rubens Barrichello driving the RA108 at the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix, clearly showing the "elephant ear" nose winglets introduced for that race.





Jenson Button driving the RA108 at the 2008 Malaysian Grand Prix.

Video And Photos From The Race

I'm starting to get settled after the trip and I'm getting images and footage online.



All my photos from the race are online here.

My video footage is here.

There should be a more and better footage coming from Joe, his friends, Paul, and Judy's cameras.

Life, Death, And Racing.

Someone died on the track this weekend. Reports are that Court Summerfield fell unconscious at the wheel for unrelated health reasons and slammed the wall head-on. This weekend's death cast a sober mood on the rest of the race and gave us all something to consider.

As soon as you get on the track among all the machinery, power, and Newtonian physics, you become quite aware of mortal frailty. Not strapped into a steel cage, a human body wouldn't survive even briefly exposed to the forces of racing. It seems crazy to some. I really do consider the risk of death or even minor injury to be very low at these races. All the necessary steps have been taken to assure safety.

I raced the first time to fulfill a dream. I continue racing for the same reasons anyone pursues any passion: Because I love it. I love the thrill, the accomplishment, the comradeship...

You've heard it often but I'll say in my words: A life cut short is of course tragic, but every one of us goes some day and we better have done something worth celebrating. Life without passion isn't living.

I celebrate the life of Court Summerfield. A life lived.

Before / Aftermath

For now, some before before (as purchased), before (prepped), and after (raced) pics that tell a tale:

Day 1 Of Altamont

OK, I need to be in bed, but here's a quick summary and photos of day one.

Team V-RAM is having a ball, but we've been baffled by an over-heating problem we now think may have resolved with a new radiator cap. [duh]

The Snowspeeder was one of the fastest cars on the track for about 2 laps but, they had some wrong bearings on their rods after their rebuild and they are out of the race with and engine disassembled in their tool trailer. Bummer.

The race is hilarious. Here's my pick for best in show.



Our car looks great with a bunch of fresh bashes on it. One team kept rear-ending us and gets my vote for the crusher... I forget the number. Mercury Sable though.

The Day Before The Race

We're here. Car is dropped at the track. Done with dinner. The whole Salt Lake crew is drained and ready call it a night. I'm going the hang out with Oregon guys.



The trip was mostly fine. The big events were a May snow storm over one of the eastern Nevada passes, and the first In-N-Out Burger I've had since last October.

Oh yeah, Joe delivered my '89 Supercharged MR2 I bought. No pics yet, but I'm excited about it. Going to pop the tops now and go hang out.

2 Days... Ready Ready To Roll.

Car is decalled and loaded. We roll at 5 AM tomorrow. I'm almost done packing.

Required Reading for the Snowspeeder Pilots Association Team!!

First: We better freaking win.

And finally: We better freaking win.

Driver rotation:

Joe

Randal

Or…

Randal

Joe

I can’t seem to remember which.. I figure we’ll toss a coin sometime before the race.

Keep the car on the track till the first yellow after 1.5 hours or until the motor starts cutting out due to lack of fuel.

If the car gets hurt: Randal will fix it.

Remember our strategy: If they don’t get out your way, dive to inside, grab the apex and hit them when they come across. This will result in a perfect "pit maneuver" or bounce them off the track. Trust the diminutive size of the car to create an aura of innocents, thus avoiding black flags.

Hitting barricades is ok as long as you knocked someone else off the track in the process.

-Your fearless leader

Mc JOE!

As Your Team Capitain, I Adivise You To BLAH BLAH BLAH.

[This is the email I sent out to the team regarding the upcoming race.]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm starting to lie awake at night anticipating the race. I'm sure that won't make it any easier to get up and hit the road at 5 AM Friday. If anyone wants to drop stuff off for loading Thursday night, feel free.

Weather is looking great for the trip and race.

Remember our priorities:
1- Safe and fun.
2- Everyone gets a turn.
3- Finish the race.
4- Compete.


At the track:

Altamont is in the middle of a giant windmill farm, so be ready for windy, dusty. weather. I wore a mask most of day 2 last year. I also wore ear plugs spectating and driving.

You'll want a comfortable chair.

Photographing the track from the pit side of the track is hindered by the chain link fence and RVs parked right against the fence. Theres a small set of bleachers that help get a view above the fence. Photographing from the grand stands may be better. (Let's try to get
footage when the flag drops.)


Rotation:

Driver order will be:
Larry
Andy
Jerry
Pauly

This order is partly because Jerry will be using my shoes (and any other equipment of mine that fits), so he'll needs to race opposite me to give more time to gear up.

We need to keep a clip board to track wipe-outs (think 'video highlight reel') and the times of driver changes. We can download all the data of lap times after the race, but a stop-watch could be useful to gage lap times.

For the first rotation, drivers should hit the pit on the first yellow flag after 45 minutes, or in 60 minutes if there is no yellow. First rotation should be pretty conservative driving. learn the lines. keep the car intact for the next driver.

After the first rotation, try to stay out as long as fuel allows. Of course feel free to pit any time you think it's best for the car, or if you want to end your turn early. Fatigue and mental state have a real affect on your driving. If you feel that your driving sucks, come
in and take a break.


In the pits:

We need at least 2 crew always on deck (in the pit or watching the track) watching for the car to come into pit. One of us can wander off for whatever reason, but get back to the stand or pit ASAP.

During pit stops, one crew start fueling immediately. Next driver mark their start time on the clip board. Drivers assist each other with driver exchange. Driver report any mechanical issues. One crew inspect tires and car, pry out fenders as necessary.

After the car leaves the pit, prep for the next refueling. Put tools away. Next driver gear up. Previous driver take a brake, (hit the toilet, eat/drink), then get back where you can watch the car.

If we get radios (and can hear them), they should be used minimally; to call a driver in, or if someone is clocking laps we can call out a driver's new fastest lap time. ie: "Paul, that was your fastest lap. 59 seconds". If we don't get radios, drivers will need to watch the
clock.

Everyone bring a bag or box where you can keep your gear. Don't let stuff get disorganized.

Let's help the Snowspeeder guys as much as possible. We'll be relying on them for power, welder, tools, and secure storage. They could use a had with fuel and such.


On the track:

Keep an eye on the temperature. Normal is just below half, maybe higher under racing conditions. We should have a fan switch installed before the race. Verify that it is on as soon as you get in the car.

Keep an eye on fuel.

When you go out for the first time, stay wide for a couple laps. Don't let the closeness of the cars freak you out. Once you are comfortable, find a good car to follow. Try to mimic their line.

Remember to yield the apex to cars that are ahead.

Everyone is bound to hit the dirt at some point. Don't make a habit of it. One spin-out costs more than several laps of slow driving.

Don't take risks near barricades. Hitting a barricades is not acceptable by the race officials and less so by the team. If you hit one, come in and switch drivers immediately.

Note the 'lousy driving' section of the official rules. (http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/rules/) They are stern and affect the whole team.

Watch for flags. If suddenly cars become easy to pass, you probably didn't notice a yellow flag. If you realize you have passed under yellow, let the car(s) back in front of you.

The course is dynamic. Oil spills and displaced barricades change the course often.

Don't take anything personally on the track. All opponents are you friends when you are off the track. (You never know who you'll need parts/tools from.)

Paint Done.

The car prep diet seems to be working. I skipped dinner again and finished paint. I'll get some better photos in the daylight but for now here are the different panels.


On the hood is a giant alien from Space Invaders.






From Pacman are red ghosts on the doors,







Pacman wheel caps,







and the face of an fleeing ghost on the rear.

4 Days Before Race. What The Hell Is In The Driveway?

I'm not having dreams yet, but I'm falling asleep and waking up with racing in my brain.

5 Days Before Race. More Real Paint.

Up past my bedtime working on paint. About 9 pm when I thought some dinner may be a good idea, I decided to allow my inner OCD child, who would sneak out of bed to build with Legos in the middle of the night, to take over the hood project. Out came the work lights.

Weather forecast says I have one more day to paint. Thursday I should have our vinyl graphics to finish the car. Then we need to pick up the trailer and load the car after work, then pack. We leave at 5 AM Friday. We really want to get to Altamont in time to drop the car Friday night.

I'm going to bed.

...Right after I pull the mask of the hood.

6 Days Before Race. More Virtual Paint.

After one last trip to the junk yard for a bushing, I started masking graphics today then decided I needed to refine the graphics plan. Here's the virtual paint job I came up with.