Battered Metal

#28 NorthSheds Mustang @BarrieSpeedway. Learning to race a stock car one mistake at a time.

[batteredmetal-blog]

Race Night Nine: NASCAR Support

Barrie Speedway has been hosting a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series for several years now.  Due to travel for work, this would be my last race of the year, but it sounded cool to run "in support" of the NCATS.

The "local" classes (pure stock and thunder car) run early in the afternoon and only have one heat and no practice.  NASCAR is really protective of the track integrity.  At the driver's meeting ahead of time they also called out there would be a black flag mechanical for anyone even with a hint of smoking.

The #50 took several days of work by Rusty  be in shape for this race.  The #2 was also an option but I chose the #50 since I'd never driven it at Barrie and there was no practice.

Heat one was a solid run for 6th.  For the feature I got the pole.  As I went out for the feature, I could not find 2nd gear.  Tried several times, but nothing.  I briefly considered running in 3rd gear, but decided it was best to pull off into pit lane.  After the fact it turned out the gear linkage had broken (no actual transmission damage).

One thing I didn't consider was the pay out - not taking the green meant I got a "no start" which meant $15 instead of $35.  I probably should have done one lap around the track at the back of the field and pulled off.

A bit of a disappointing end to an unexpected and fun race season.

[batteredmetal-blog]

Race Night Eight: Welded Differential

The next day after Race Night Seven there was an invitational race at Sunset (that really means anyone can come with a car that is legal at their home track).  This was part of the 50k shootout run on several Sundays in 2011.

The problem however was that the #50 was a mess and not raceable. Rusty offered up the #2 car however, a 1996 Honda Civic:

Of course I took him up on that because this was a step up from the "learner" #50.  The biggest difference with this car is that while front wheel drive, it has a welded differential.  A welded diff made me feel like the car is turning itself as you accelerate through the corner.  This is because it gives you more grip in certain circumstances.

The fuel pump acted up a bit in practice, so I scratched in Heat 1 because it was a new car and the fuel pump problem.  Drove around and kept getting used to the car, putting the left front off the pavement into the grass a couple of times, because the car grabs and turned better than I expected.

Right after that however, was a deluge.  Rain out.

[batteredmetal-blog]

Race Night Seven: Big Wreck

Heat one saw me start and finish well back.

Heat two had a bit of an exciting finish.  I was racing the 3 (Randi Seguin) car for 5th on the last lap when a faster car came underneath me (I think it was the 57 of Ryan Toon), and then underneath the 3 in turn three.  I dropped down to follow the 57 and get a run for the checkered flag.  The 57 cleared, but I hadn't when the 3 car moved down the track exiting turn four.  With it being the last lap I kept my foot on the gas for the checkered flag, turning the 3, but I was able slide below and finish 7th.  Possibly I should have tried to move down almost to the grass or tapped the brakes, but it was also the last lap.

The feature was very short.  I started out in 3rd place, indicating that I was getting better in the handicap rankings.  The 3 car started on the pole in front of me.  On the first lap the 3 car went sideways in turn two and I nearly t-boned her, but she made a quick move and drove it down pit lane.  Lap two I was still up front when I got tapped by the 89 (Cory Horner) coming out of turn two.  I managed to save the car after shooting towards the inside back straight wall but got tapped again and shot up into the 27 (French Harpin - his own car, but running out of Rusty's shop).  He went into the outside wall and I spun down into the inside wall and nosed it.  The front end was pushed in and I couldn't shift into second gear, so my night was done.  The 27 was also messed up.  Rusty himself in the 2 broke a rotor trying to avoid the accident.  Three Rusty based cars, three DNF. Six or seven cars were involved and four put out.

There was another major wreck on the restart from this incident plus a black flag for rough driving after a driver took exception to being spun out.  There was not a lot of patience in the early laps tonight.

[batteredmetal-blog]

Race Night Six: Sunset Compare and Contrast

Since the Gary Reynolds Memorial was on a Thursday and there was no racing on Saturday due to a music festival, the following Saturday was an opportunity to go to Sunset Speedway and race for the first time.  A number of other Barrie cars made the same trip.

Sunset is generally a symmetrical 1/3 mile oval.  It has three grooves through the corners, which have progressive banking.  I say generally symmetrical because there is a slight incline coming out of turn 2 that you really have to "dig" out of. 

Sunset has a different entry fee procedure as well, the driver is free, the crew is full price ($25).  Barrie is $10/person for everyone with a NASCAR license (or $25 for the pits without). 

Rusty recommended to stay in the 2nd or 3rd groove through the corner and not to switch grooves in the corner.  I eventually started to get the hang of this, but I definitely had the habit of going right to the bottom of the track in the apex.

Practice is structured at sunset by time, which is available on a printed sheet when you enter.  If you want to practice, you line up and they send you out 10 at a time.  Once on the track you can't leave, unlike Barrie, all you can do is pull into the infield.  The back straight at Sunset I was able to start hitting the rev limiter occasionally.  My initial response was to lift on the throttle, but it was too early often.  You can go faster through the corners at Sunset as well.

My first heat I drew the pole, which was surprising.  Turns out the car itself was registered at Sunset and they allow you just to be seeded.  At Barrie if you miss two weeks in a row you have to start scratch (at the back of the pack) for a week.

Having drawn the pole I tried to figure out where the expected start point was.  Sunset has a restart line at the entrance to turn 3, where as Barrie its basically the start of turn 4.  In theory for the start of the race (at any track) you have the option to go any time.  I got bumped in turn 3 because I didn't go at the restart line.  Every track has its implicit start spot and I was too late at Sunset - though in theory its my option as the pole sitte.

After placing way back in the heat, I was started near the back for the features, as were all the visitors.  I fell back quickly with the 07 as I was braking too hard on corner entry to start.  Eventually I got some pace and raced the 07 hard until we got lapped with a few laps to go and I had to pull back into line after catching and starting to pass the 07.

While it was great to try a new track, my technique at Sunset needs a lot of improvement.

[batteredmetal-blog]

Race Night Five: Rubbing is Racing

Three weekends in a row before I raced again due to rain outs.  By this time it was the end of August and it was a Thursday night for the Gary Reynolds Memorial, a 100 lap Limited Late Model invitational race.  Pure Stocks and Thunder Cars were running a regular points night.

I focused on getting a little more aggressive in my driving.  I pushed the 89 car up the straight on the start and kept on the throttle when the 23 moved up on me out of turn two, almost sending him into the wall.   The speedway moved back to two heat groups instead of three and I finished fairly well back, with the rear end settling hard on the right rear suspension going into turn three.

I started well in the feature up front, but after about 7-8 laps I fell steadily back as something broke in the right rear suspension, so the car was tough to drive in the corners and the weight didn't transfer back.

A mediocre 15th place finish.

[batteredmetal-blog]

Race Night Four: The Top Ten

Earlier in the week I was out to practice.  I observed some drivers with hand positions other than the classic 10-2 for street driving.  In particular a 9-12 and a 12-3 grip.  This got me thinking about my hand position as I was tight in the car and my left hand often had to re-grip clock-wise on the steering wheel as I went through the car because it lost leverage against my thigh.  In theory the 9-12 was for right handed people, but because of the leg issue I tried the 12-3 grip so that as I turned through the corner my left hand didn't get down to my thing and cause me to re-grip.  That felt a lot better.

Employing my newly learned hand positioning I headed out for a new race night.  Two solid heat where I was racing people and able to make a pass landed me in the handicap zone.  Being the slowest car in the handicap zone I ended up in the pole position. 

The pole position caused some investigation with the officials as I was trying to understand where exactly when I was supposed to get up to speed.  In theory on the race start exiting turn 4 when you can see the flag is when you can go, however the reality is anytime entering turn 4 is when you go, just like on caution flag restarts.  If you don't go, you'll get hit from behind.

I got passed almost immediately by the outside car, but then lined up with the 19 car and we raced side by side for 5 laps, basically blocking the faster cars behind us.  Caution hit on lap 5 and we lost touch in the line up.   On the restart I continued to race hard and stick to my line, inside of the corner out to the wall on the straights, making each person earn the pass.  There was only one other caution I believe the rest of the race and that caused the cars to get strung out, meaning the faster cars had more distance to cover.  I got passed slowly but surely, including exiting the last corner to the checker, but unbelievably...  10th place!  A top 10!

[batteredmetal-blog]

Race Night Three: The Wonder and Tragedy of Setup

We weren't able to practice the Thursday following my first wrecks because the car wasn't ready, so we arrived early on Saturday to get in practice (and pick up another $50 in payout).

I had been thinking about how I could give feedback on the car setup all week.  After heat one I was pretty sure the car was tight because I had to turn the wheel a fair amount and cross over my right hand to make it turn.  Talking to Rusty seemed to confirm this.  You should need no more than a quarter turn of the wheel on this track.   Rusty changed the tire pressure in the left front, dropping it four pounds and I went out for another practice.

I couldn't believe how much different the car was with this simple change.  The car felt like it was "floating" a little more, but it turned through the corners really well, basically it "loosened" up.

All was good for a few laps, but then coming out of four I was in a tight squeeze with a car moving up and I hit the wall with the side of the car.  I immediately headed for the pits because the right front did not feel good.

Crew checked it over and it looked good until they pulled the right front tire.  The lower control arm was wrecked, in particular the ball joint was no longer seated properly.  Hence began a mad scramble to fix it before the heats, in particular the ball joint needed to be welded in place properly.  We couldn't find a torch in the pits, but one of the late model guys was very kind and sent us to his shop with his son (just around the corner).  In went the control arm and out I went (scratch since the car was just fixed and totally out of alignment) for heat one.  Got the car up on the trailer and used the toe bars to align the wheels.  Went out for a second poorly performing heat.

With two low finishes in the heats I was out of the top 18 "handicap" zone, meaning that I was way at the back to start.  Normally in the handicap zone you start in reverse order, ie the best car is 18th and the worst car is first.

I ran ok, but made a bad mistake in turn for during a restart, spinning out the car and nosing the the pit wall making the car handle even worse.  I limped home in 17th.

Race Results

[batteredmetal-blog]

Race Night Two: Wrecking

A whole $50 in payout this time.  Drew a number this time when registering the car because I wouldn't be "scratch" (starting at the back).

Out for practice which felt ok, except I was scrubbing off too much speed in turn one.  I was turning into the corner too sharply and getting a poor angle into two for getting on the gas.  Worked better to come in about 3-4 feet off the rumble strip instead of right beside it in the second practice.

Out for heat one, first night not starting "scratch" so I was mid-pack.  Got a push up the front straight from the car behind me, but he left off before turn one so I got through fine.   Finished second last.

Heat two produced my first real wreck.  Entering turn four on the third lap I got hit out of nowhere in the left rear and spun around. I was sitting facing the wrong way on the track wondering what happened (a car drove way too fast into the corner and hit another car up into me).  Car seemed ok, restarted and drove a bit more aggressively than heat one.  I was able to keep pace with the 63 and 57, though I nearly wrecked the 63 when he moved up the track without clearing me.  He shot down the inside on the back stretch but saved it from the wall.  I finished 6th.

Finishing 6th put me in the "handicap" zone which meant I was in the re-ordering for the whole field and I drew the pole for my first real feature start.  I had to go check the start/restart line rules with the track crew.  Essentially for a start you wait for the green flag to go, but really you cheat a bit and are on the throttle near the end of four.  As I was on the pole, I got to control the cheating a bit - but when the flag flies its a go no matter what.  For restarts there is a white line painted halfway through turn four that is the "restart" line to go.  If you are leading the field for a restart you must be going by then, but again you can cheat a bit and go by the end of three.

Checked the damage in the left rear, the spring had popped out of its pocket and and the spindle was a bit wobbly.  Rusty and crew couldn't really do much with it, but as it held for the heat, off we went for the feature.

Rolling through the warm up laps for the feature, I was getting a big grinding noise in the left rear.  I pointed out the window to my crew but they couldn't see anything wrong.  Apparently the track crew heard the noise too because they waved off the start and the corner man in three looked hard at my corner.  Nothing obvious so we were ready to start.

I got on the throttle good, but the 91x outside me was a much better car and beat me into turn one.  I held my own for the first three laps, slowly giving up spots.  I had dropped back to 6th when I was hit again in turn four.  Left rear again.  Spun around.  Couldn't get the car restarted, so the push cart came out and moved me to the infield.  Getting out to inspect, the left rear was crush and the wheel was no longer turning.  Watched the race from the infield.

Getting the car hooked up to the tow truck was a pain because the rear end had been crushed down and there was no access to the tow chain.  Removed the trunk and hooked directly to the bars for the car structure.  Getting the car on the trailed was a trick, rocking it forward as the boom arm on the tow truck extended.

Rough night, but that's racing.

[batteredmetal-blog]

Road to Race One: The Show

Despite parking the car the previous Saturday I got 15 points and $35 for showing up, which was surprising.  I headed out for two practices, which included some awkwardly placed cones taking away the inside line in the corners.  This is apparently to rubber in a second groove on the track to allow for more practice.  Main problem though is in heavier traffic its hard to let faster cars past.

I was of course scratching to start the heat race.  A bit of nerves, but I staged in pit lane and it was easier to read the flag man in turn 3 who marshals the cars than I thought it would be - when catch up, when to close up into double file (crossed flags) and how to line up again (motioning with hands to create space between cars and then a point and thrust of a single rolled flag forward to the car needing to go into that space).

First heat I dropped back quickly but an early caution caught me back up.  I was better able to keep pace after the restart, but I was still at the back.  I was definitely braking longer and harder than in practice, particularly in turn 1 where it was causing me to get loose.  I also got too focused on catching two cars in front of me rather than just hitting my marks and I went around all by myself bringing out a caution by braking too deep into turn 1.  Ended up second last.

Second heat out I was also over braking and being a bit more cautious, not wanting to spin out all on my own again.   Mostly drove around by myself, but didn't get lapped, which was good because it meant i wasn't too slow.  Ended up second last again.

For the feature I started second last, I'm on the outside here.

The feature itself was a mess in the first 3 laps.  There were 2 restarts before even one lap was in the books.  At Barrie there is a full restart if no laps are in the book and with 24+ cars it takes a long time to line everyone up again.  I had to get used to crawling the car along by slipping the clutch because there was a lot of crawling along while the order was corrected.  Next 14 laps were clean.   I started getting lapped with the blue flag/yellow stripe across it being shown to me, so I stayed down low and let the leaders go by on the outside, focusing on keeping my line.  My final nail biter was when I was lapping a very slow car with leaders lapping me, I had to basically cut him off on the front straight as I was blocked and I couldn't see any other way around it.  At lap 17 I think I was lined up incorrectly with the lapped cars after a cauation, last instead of first of the lapped cars, however I re-passed several of them and ended up 17th. 

There is a lot of attrition in a race, just surviving seems to get you a top 20.  Overall a great day, I can survive out there.

[batteredmetal-blog]

Road to Race One: Practice for the Show

With my first attempt to race a bust, I was anxious to get in the car for practice and try again.  The following Thursday I was up at Barrie Speedway to practice the 50x.  Its the 50x instead of the 50 now to avoid number conflict at the speedway.

I got in three full sessions and it felt great.  I felt right on the edge of what the car could do, the tires had a little bit of squeal but I could hold on to it.  I was breaking less and getting on the gas sooner that my previous practice session.  In addition when the car got loose a couple of times I was able to save it.  I even had enough confidence to blast out of turn 4 with the sun in my eyes, unable to see at all for a second or so.

As a final kicker, the last session was actually two cars and I was able to make ground on the other car so my lap times weren't totally incompetent at least.

[batteredmetal-blog]

Road to Race One: The Mechanical

With the practice rained out on the preceding, I was looking forward to practicing Saturday night before the race.  I'd watched the practice before and it seemed like a good place to get comfortable in traffic with 2-4 other cars at a time.

Went out for the first practice with a couple of other cars.  After about 5 laps the car lost power and died completely.  I coast through turn 3 and turned it down into the infield.  The push cart came after a few minutes and pushed me back to the pit (first push cart).

Rusty was crawled all over the car after asking me if it had backfired first (it hadn't).  Eventually he found a blown fuse.  This is apparently a good indication of a short in the electrical system.  He bridged it with a short piece of wire so that the short would be obvious and went to get a fuse from the parts trailer.  I headed out for practice #2.

One lap into the second practice I got a puff of smoke from under the dash and I immediately headed for pit lane.  Rusty and Brad were all over the car again and eventually found the short.  Of all things the light behind the oil pressure gauge had come loose and grounded it self, blowing the bulb and causing the short. 

With only 6 laps and none in real traffic, I was pretty uncomfortable with how prepared I was.  Rusty was good enough to leave the decision to me and I decided I was not comfortable enough to get out on the track and called it on account of mechanical.

[batteredmetal-blog]

Road to Race One: Car 50 Shop Status

After hanging around pit lane for the first time Saturday, I was ready to practice again and prepare for my first race.  Unfortunately Thursday rolled around and it was a rain out.  Instead I made a visit to the Rusty Racing shop.  Rusty and Brad had solved the roll bar problem with a horseshoe hoop behind the driver and a cross member.   A new windshield promised as well.  The goal was to practice on the next Saturday before the race to get a feel for traffic since practice before a race 

[batteredmetal-blog]

Pit Lane Lessons

Last Saturday at Barrie Speedway I was mainly just getting a feel for race night.  Things I learned:

Confirm your transponder number with race officials

Turn your transponder on for racing

Missing the driver's meeting will make you 'scratch' start for the night

A new car will make you 'scratch' start for the night

Rookies have a stripe on their bumper

There is an auto parts trailer present in the pit area

The second pure stock heat is staged in pit lane

Aggressive driving will be penalized by back of the pack and allowing the other car in the incident to retain position

Exit in turn 1 on race night

[batteredmetal-blog]

Barrie Speedway Pit Lane

Unfortunately a late unload and jittery valves prevented practice for me last night. However the unload for the two Rusty's pure stocks racing:

And my NASCAR license:

[batteredmetal-blog]

Rusty's Racing

I was working on a spread sheet to summarize the different makes/models/years of cars running at Sunset (looks like a lot of Civics and Mustangs) to get an idea of what a base car should be when I noticed that several cars were sponsored by "Rusty's Racing" a quick Google led to the Rusty's Racing site.  I was surprised to find a mini-stock arrive and drive program with several different cars.  After playing some phone tag with Rusty he graciously answered all my questions, such a "Will I be able to manage a standard?  Yes, its second gear all the way around the track." and "Quality of the cars? Safe, mid-pack/top 10 speed."

He was curious about my experience, so I told him about my late model driving at Barrie last year which was enough to be ok getting in the car.  He is also trying to get a mini-stock school off the ground that will include multi-car racing, flags, lights and everything you need to run for real.  I asked him about practicing because this is something I wanted to do, and he was headed up to Barrie this past Thursday and lets people run practice for a small fee.  Even his full race rate is $300, much cheaper than other rates I'd seen before.  So I drove up and practiced the 50 car.

I signed the waiver and first thing was remembering the 5 point harness hook up.  Next was driving around the pit area starting and stopping to get a feel for the clutch.  I got yelled "Fire" at a couple of times in order to practice escaping.  You do the following:

Hit the kill the switch

Put the car in gear if its not

Pull the fast release on the five point harness

Unbuckle the window net and throw it forward so the back piece comes out of the holder

Get out - don't try and remove the steering wheel

Then into the staging area and on to the track.  Happily the late model line I learned last year works for this car too.  I ran 30 laps in 3 sessions.  I fat footed the clutch instead of the break a couple times which pushed me up the hill in the first session and the first lap of session two.  Then I actually spun the car out going into turn one later in the second session.  Awesome, my first of many spins hopefully, Rusty and several of the others hanging out with him seemed happy I spun out too, because it meant I was pushing the car.  Session three was smooth, thought I need to drive a little deeper into turn 3 and carry more speed through turns 3 and 4.

3 sessions, 30 laps, $40!

My only concern with the car is the roll bar height is a little low for me, but Rusty plans to weld in some more bars to solve that.  Other than that the brakes were good, the picky up was snappy and it handled well through the corners.  At the very least its a car I can't outdrive right now.   A few other things I learned while I was there:

A rev limiter at 7000rpm prevents anything from really going wrong.

Learn welding - there are a lot of bars for repair all over the car

Barrie runs Legends tires

You need a NASCAR License to run at Barrie (but not practice) - $90

You wipe the Lexan windshield with pledge

The sun is terrible at 6pm coming out of turn 4

Maybe arrive and drive where I can work with someone on a regular basis is the right way to go to get started after all.  Next stop is to run multi-car practice before the race this Saturday to get used to traffic.  Target is to race June 25 at Barrie for real!

[batteredmetal-blog]

Haynes Book

Even though I'm not building a mini-stock car right now, as I noted in earlier blogs I know nothing about cars really so I need some practice.  I went ahead and purchased a Haynes book for one of the family vehicles.  The editing is a little rough but its a practical guide and has all kinds detailed information.  Flipping through it gave rise to several useful questions for building a mini-stock too - for instance do you remove the windshield washer fluid reservoir when doing the build?  Next stop is changing the air filter and replacing the rear tail light bulb in the family car.

[batteredmetal-blog]

Sunset Speedway Opening Night

Last Saturday I attended the Sunset Speedway opening night.  I watched for some build details I had not looked for before.  I noted the following:

Lexan windshields seemed to be used on pretty much every car

I didn't see any cars with a stock dash

I also noted a lot of Honda's (Civics, CRX) were running good, as was last year's mini-stock champion Doug Butler in a Nissan SX.  The car makes are handily listed on the Sunset site this year and will required some analysis.