MCR77 team pulled out of the shop on Friday morning 5/7/2010 at 9AM to meet up with the other 2 vehicles that are caravanning down to VIR (Virginia International Raceway. We were trucking right along when we noticed the check engine light flashing. We pulled over into a Go Mart in Jane Lou, West Virginia to check it out. We could not find anything so we proceeded to start the truck back up and that's when the starter broke. Just our luck. 2 hours into the trip and we break down.
We started calling everyone we knew to see if we can borrow a truck that is set up to pull a 44 foot goose neck trailer. We got a hold of Bob and he came to our rescue. He said we can borrow his Ford 550 diesel truck, the only issue was he can get it to our shop but then we had to figure out how to get it to us. Thank god for Dad and AJ. They hopped into the truck and they both headed down to meet up with us. In the mean time we called road side assistance and they were sending a tow to come pick up our truck and tow it to the nearest dealer to be fixed. So for 4 hours we were having a West Virginia picnic at a Go Mart in West Virginia. It is funny now that we were thinking about it.
Dad and AJ got back to us and we got all hooked up with the back up truck Ford 550 and got on our way. Only 4 1/2 hours behind schedule. We made it to Danville, North Carolina and checked into our hotel for the night and will go through registration and tech in the morning.
We woke and got on our way and found our paddock space and parked the truck and trailer. We grabbed our gear and books and made it through registration and tech. Started to unload the cars and get them ready for the 1st session.
1st session which was a 15 minute qualifying session, Mark Connolly in his SPU Honda Civic, Larry Mesiner in his SRF was first group. Ron Siegel in his ITE Viper was group 5. Dave Heinz in his ITS Mazda RX7 and Mark Keefer in his ITS Mazda RX7 was in group 6. Dave has been on the track before in the VW TDI Cup challenge where this was Mark Keefer's first time. This 1st session was for everyone get use to the track and learn all the flagging stations and the turns. All the drivers was only able to get about 6 laps in. The track is about 3.27 miles long for the full course.
Mark and Larry was getting ready for their next session which was a 12 lap race just before lunch. They lined up on the false grid. Due to the amount of cars they are doing a split start. Mark's section (EP, FP, GTL, HP, SPU, STU) was going to be the first green and Larry's group (all the SRF's) will be the second green. Green flag flew and the 1st bunch was off and running. Green flag dropped about a minute and a half later and all the SRF's were off and running. Mark and Larry was able to improve on their times from the morning qualifying session. Still a lot to learn about this track. Mark finished 2nd in the MARRS series in SPU with a time of 2.31.188. Not bad. Mark wanted to adjust his alignment and toe on his car since he said it was pushing in the corners. Hopefully that will help him handle the car better on the track for Sunday. Larry finished 9th in MARRS which was last place with a time of 2.38.172. Group 5 which was Ron's group lined up on the false grid to start their race. Green flag dropped and he was off and racing. He improved on his time. He complained that the track was slick. We took his tire pressures and noticed he was not getting enough heat in them. We adjusted his tires for Sunday to see if it is any better. Ron got 1st place in ITE in the SARRC series with a time of 2.21.119. Dave and Mark Keefer lined up on the false grid for group 6. Pace lap under way and the green flag dropped. Both the Mazda RX7's were off and running. Both Dave and Mark were running great. Dave finished with a 2nd in ITS in the MARRS series with a time of 2.21.483 and Mark Keefer finished 8th in the SARRC series with a time of 2.26.354. Mark Keefer did not realize he was suppose to be MARRS not SARRC. Oh well.
We packed up and headed back to the hotel to clean up for dinner. Dinner with great people is always a great combination on a Saturday night after a day of racing.
Sunday we arrive back at the track to get ready for the morning qualifying session. Mark and Larry went out to see if they can improve on their times. The morning was cooler then Saturday. Their times did improve some. Ron went out for group 5 and his times improved. His tires were also getting more heat into them. Dave and Mark Keefer went out for group 6 and their times improved. Dave was concerned about this alternator, so we put the trickle charger on the battery to keep up the charge. The MCR77 team was on a mission to improve and get the hang of this track before we left.
Mark and Larry's race was after lunch. They started to get ready and headed to the false grid. The officials are doing another split start like yesterday. It seemed to work just fine. Pace lap under way for Mark's section of the group and about a minute or so later the second section was on their pace lap. Green flag dropped for the first section. Mark was off and racing. The green flag dropped for the second session and Larry was off and racing. Was an over all clean race except for Mark spinning and going for a ride in the grass from turn 4 to turn 6. Not the correct way to get faster, but oh well. Mark took 2nd place again in SPU MARRS series with a time of 2.29.035 and Larry finished 10th in SRF MARRS series with a time of 2.34.855. Larry did have car trouble from this race. Car over heated and there is front end damage. Larry had metal to metal contact with another driver. It is fix able though. Ron lined up on the false grid for his race for group 5. Pace lap under way and then the green flag dropped. Ron did get faster and finished with another 1st in ITE SARRC series with a time of 2.16.741. Dave and Mark Keefer lined up for their race for group 6. Dave was concerned for his car as his alternator was draining. He was not sure if he had enough juice to keep everything running in the car. I told him no radios or cool suit. Pace lap under way and the green flag dropped. Dave's car bogged down and he was pointing everyone by as he did not have any power. He called over the radio and said he was coming in. He was done. Dave's first DNF (Did not finish) of the season. Mark Keefer came into the pits about 4 laps in and said he lost 5th gear. He was also done. He did not want to hurt the motor any more then it already is. So Mark Keefer also got his first DNF of the season, but did get a faster lap time of 2.25.145 before he came in.
We started packing up everything so that we can get on the road back home. Was an all in all good weekend for racing. We got to try a new track and will probably be back to try again.
We left the track and was on our way around 5:30PM. About 30 minutes into our trip back we heard a loud POP notice and then there was no power on the F550 truck. We pulled over on to an off ramp from the highway and looked under the hood. We lost the inner cooler to the turbo on the motor. No power or boost to get up and down the hills to go home. So the mechanic in Mark go into his tools from the trailer and started taking the nose apart to see if we can temporarily fix the inner cooler. 6 hours later he was about to foil tape the inner cooler enough to limp the truck and trailer to the nearest town which was Greensboro, North Carolina as we were not getting home tonight. Checked into a hotel and got some sleep. We woke and got some breakfast and headed back to the hotel to come up with a plan on getting home.
After calling everyone and every place we could find and think of we finally had a plan. We found out from our friend Vern, that we had a racing friend from the BMW Club that lives in Greensboro, North Carolina and he said we could drop off our trailer and come back for it another time so we could get home. So we dropped off the trailer at his house, headed to Hertz to rent a car and then drop off the truck at the action dealer place. Bob was sending a transport to come pick up the truck and deliver it to New York to be fixed. His brother owns and works for a Ford Dealer. Nice. Once all this was done it was late afternoon and we were once again on our way home in the Cobalt rent a car. We stopped for gas and food and finally made it back home around 1AM. Only 24 hours behind schedule of arriving home.
Talk about a very EVENTFUL weekend. Who would of ever thought not 1 but 2 trucks breaking down on us in a weekend.
