Our 2003 diary begins below.  If you want to view the 2002 entries, please click 2002 Racing Diary.  Thanks for stopping by!
 

Diary written by:  Cindy Howe (unless otherwise specified)
check back often for updates!
Most current entry is at the bottom of the page. 

November 19, 2002
Tuesday

We started preparing for our 2003 season even before our 2002 season ended.  We've got several major projects underway and will be bringing you details shortly. 

Our "Behind the Scenes Diary" seemed to go over quite well this year, so we have decided to archive the 2002 season diary and begin the 2003 diary.  We'll also be bringing you an off-season report as to what's going on in the Howe Extreme shop!  So, check back often because we're always up to something!!!

November 25, 2002
Monday

Howe Extreme has become a two car team!  We purchased a brand new "Hot Chassis" in September and have been buying parts here and there.  With the exception of dropping in a motor, the Huff car is ready for 2003.  On Sunday, November 24th we officially (and literally) drug the "Hot" out of the trailer and onto the lift to begin assembly.  I've begun a "project" page, which will contain pictures and commentary as Winter progresses and the car comes together. 

Stay tuned...for those that read last year's diary, you know the "project" will probably be quite comical and get REAL interesting!

December 26, 2002
Thursday

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!  We've got our engine back from the engine builder.  The engine builder highly cautioned us on running the Modified in the Hangover Race on January 1st at Sandusky Speedway.  As cold as it is, we have to agree.  So, instead of running the Modified, we're going 4-Cylinder racing January 1st. 

We've added a "Classified" section to the website today.  I've listed a few items already, but we're going to inventory our parts and see what we can and can't use anymore.  So, this list will grow over the next week or so.  Please keep checking back.

February 3, 2003
Monday

We picked up several items at Dave Poske's "Dave's Gone Crazy Sale" last month.  The new car is coming together nicely. 

AMRA has made updates to their Road Warrior schedule.  We're planning on hitting all the RWT races again this year in hopes to improve our 16th place 2002 finish.  We've applied for AMRA and UMP licenses this year, so we may do more traveling than usual in '03.  Most tracks haven't released their '03 schedules yet, but we'll update our schedule once they're out.  We hope to include a racing trip to Vegas, NV and Charlotte, NC this season if things progress nicely.  We'll see...

April 15, 2003
Tuesday

We kicked off our 2003 racing season this past weekend at Midway Speedway in Crooksville, Ohio.  We thought we'd be able to get a little track time to test the new chassis and accumulate some AMRA points.  We were quite surprised to see the overall car count in the 150 range...31 of which were Modifieds!  The field was Extremely competitive.  We weren't the only ones hitting the track for the first time this year with new equipment.  Several of our friends had mentioned to us that they just wanted to shake their car down and stay out of the way. 

I drew a really good number for our heat lineup, but we opted to take the tail since we didn't know how the car would handle.  That turned out to be the right decision.  Hot laps were wet and the car was all over the place.  The car and setup wasn't as much of the problem, but the power steering was coming and going.  Just as Jay would muscle the car around the corner, it would start working and he'd almost crash!  Not cool. 

Heat races went well.  The track was drying out and starting to black over.  From what I've heard on Hot Chassis, that's the type of track that the car excels on.  The rumors appear to be true.  The dryer the track got in heats and into the consi, the better the car hooked up.  We didn't advance to the Feature, but that was okay with us.  We learned a few things about the car and have already made a couple adjustments based on the weekend shake down. 

With the exception of minor cosmetic damage sustained by a car running into us during a caution (figures), we came out of the weekend in good shape.  Weather isn't looking too promising for racing this weekend, but you never know.

Stay tuned for future updates...

May 9, 2003
Friday

Since Jay has to work Saturday morning, we decided to go to Lakeville Speedway to get some practice laps.  Lakeville isn't running Modified's as a division, but they usually let us tag on the back of a Limited Late Model class for some laps.  It had rained quite a bit on Friday, so we were doubtful that Lakeville would even run.  However, the rain apparently didn't hit the track too bad and racing was on.

We rolled into the pits and paid extra to get a paved spot for the night.  Unloaded the car and checked out the track.  Things didn't look too hateful.  Track looked rough, but I've seen worse. 

We warmed up the car and then Jay headed out for some hot laps.  The car seemed to be handling really well.  We probably missed the gear ratio for the track, but it wasn't a big deal because we weren't there to really "race" anyway.  Jay's corner entry and exits were very smooth.  I was pretty excited that we finally had a car that would hookup.  All of a sudden Jay exits turn 4 and dives into the infield.  Great.  Now what?  Flat tire, I assume.  After a few seconds....long enough for Jay to drive thru a huge swampy area, he jumps back into the groove and gets back on the throttle like nothing was wrong.  He completes a couple more laps and then the yellow comes out ending hot laps.

I meet Jay back at our trailer and walk around the car checking the heat in the tires.  He's got mud absolutely everywhere from his detour in the infield.  I asked him what had happened.  Here's one for the books..."I came off the corner and tried to turn right towards the upper part of the track and I couldn't turn right.  It just kept going left.  Then all of a sudden I see this big puddle and I try and try to turn right, but I can't.  I looked down to see what was going on and my seatbelt was stuck in the steering wheel!  Once I got it undone, I was fine!" 

When I check the left front tire, I feel a greasy substance on one of the bars.  Great...I know it's oil.  But why?  Jay and I pull the hood off and see oil all over the place.  The front breather is soaked.  It's definitely coming out of the breather.  The engine builder just happens to be at the track.  I start pulling off the valve cover as Jay searches for Reedy. What do we find?  Oil mixed with water...AGAIN!  We pull the heads and intake.  These are the only two items that we didn't change from last season (we had the same problem last year and missed half the racing season because of it).  Heads were checked for cracks 3 times last year!  We load the heads and intake into the engine builders truck, load our car into the trailer, and go watch the races. 

May 11, 2003
Sunday

The engine builder called.  They tested the heads again and didn't find any cracks.  They theorize that the fuel pump ruptured and dumped a bunch of fuel into the engine.  Instead of water and oil, it might be fuel.  They want to see the fuel pump. 

We pull the pump from the car and drive it to the engine builders shop.  They test it while we're there.  It's fine.  That theory is eliminated.  We had also brought the oil filter that was on the car.  They check it.  They don't detect alcohol and go back to assuming it's water and oil.  Why?  They still don't have an answer to that one.  They want us to bring the whole car over Monday so they can tear parts of it down and run tests.  They also made plans to test the intake for cracks.  Here we go again...

May 13, 2003
Tuesday

Engine Builder came over with his leak down tester and checked the block for cracks.  After thoroughly testing it, they've decided the block is fine.  Great, now what?  Of course....back to the "it's the fuel pump theory".  Okay, Jay and I aren't not buying this theory at all.  But, moving along...

May 14, 2003
Wednesday

I pick the fuel pump up from the engine builder.  I still don't buy the theory, so I take the pump into the shop where I work.  I work for Bullet Motorsports, which is a drag racing team.  I hand the pump to one of the mechanics of Bullet's Pro Stock car.  Nick has been around racing for years, both as a driver and as a crew member on World Champion Drag Racing teams.  I value his opinion.  Nick takes the fuel pump apart and checks it out.  He tells me there's nothing wrong with it.  He points out different areas to me and explains why it's good and what to look for to see if it was ruptured or a problem.  It doesn't take much to convince me because, like I've already said, we didn't believe that was the problem anyway.  Nick puts the fuel pump back together and I take it home.  Of course, I call the engine builder and tell him of Nick's findings so he can think of new possible problems.

May 15, 2003
Thursday

Jay and our friend Chris put the heads and intake back together last night.   They put the fuel pump back on and set the valves.  We're pretty much all ready to go racing...hopefully.  We wait until Thursday to fire the car up.  That should give everything time to seal and cure.  Jay dumped Alumaseal in the radiator to see if we can seal whatever is leaking. 

We fire the car and let it run for about 20 minutes.  Sounds good and strong.  We've decided to go to Lakeville Speedway again tomorrow for some more practice.  We don't trust the engine, so we don't want to drive a long way and find out we're broke still. 

May 16, 2003
Friday

Lakeville got some rain today, but not enough to rainout.  So, we pack up and head to the speedway.  Unload the car at the track and Jay decides to check the oil and see what color it is before firing the engine up.  Milky!  Un-freakin-believable!  He's mad, I'm mad.  We fire up the car anyway and go take a few practice laps.  He comes back in and both our friends Roger Miller and Chris Mullinex are at the track with us.  The car cools down a little and they pull the oil filter to look at the oil.  Horrible.  Milky and runny.  Great.  Roger pulls the cap off the radiator.  The Alumaseal hasn't circulated yet, it's still visible in the radiator.  We borrow a oil pan from a late model driver and I get oil from the track parts truck....$2.50/quart!  That's the last time I go to the speedway without a case of oil with us!

Anyway, we put the new oil in and send Jay back out for some laps.  He comes back and we all cross our fingers when we pull the valve cover off.  Oil colored oil.  Amazing.  Roger pulls the cap off the radiator and the Alumaseal is gone.  We theorize the Alumaseal fixed the problem. 

Feature time...Jay can't "race" with the limited late models, but he can get some laps in with them, as long as he stays behind them.  He goes out for the feature and runs maybe 10 laps.  A caution comes out and he's wandering around under caution.  All of a sudden as he approaches turn 1 (still under caution thankfully) he goes to the infield...then we see a wheel continue on around the corner, up to the upper guardrail and then roll back down into the infield.  Of course, it's Jay's. 

Chris panics (he was the one that put the front tires on).  Roger tells him he's going to get an earful when Jay gets back.  Chris tells us he even used the impact gun, he can't believe the tire came off. 

The wrecker drags Jay back to the pit.  We meet him at the trailer.  When we look at the right front of the car, we're ALL surprised to see there's no threads...the spacer/adapter came off with the wheel!  All the bolts backed out and the whole thing just came off and rolled away.  That's a first for us!  And hopefully a last.  I didn't pack the bolt buckets, so Roger borrowed some bolts from a friend.  We put a wheel on and load the car. 

We make plans with Chris and his family to go to Midway Speedway Saturday and race.

May 17, 2003
Saturday

Jay and I work on the car in the morning.  He fixes the adapter.  I wash the car and we check the oil.  Still oil colored, so we load up.  We're outside of Wooster when Jay says "did anybody check the weather"?  Nobody did and the weather starts looking cloudy and dark.  I call 4 people trying to find someone to go online and check the weather.  Finally, I call our friend Jim Long in North Carolina.  I get a hold of him and he checks the weather.  50/50 for Midway.  We ask about I-77 Speedway in WVA.  Jim says, no way, 70% chance of rain.  I hang up with Jim and call Midway.  "We're cancelled.  It's been raining here for the past 4 hours."  Great.  I call I-77 as Jay turns us around.  Answering machine....rained out. 

Jay suggests Wayne County Speedway.  It's close to home, we're having a Modified Show there on June 7th.  Maybe they'll let us practice.  We call them and they say okay, come on over.  When we pull in the gate, the track owner and the announcer, who is a friend of ours, Chuck Griffith, are there.  They tell us we can get some laps.  They give us a ton of practice laps.  We were surprised they gave us so much time on the track.  The car handled well and they got the opportunity to use us as a promo to the June 7th show.  So, it worked out good for all of us. 

Oil stayed oil color!  We were going to be able to get some more laps with Pure Stock heats, but unfortunately the rains finally came.  We loaded up and headed out.  We're ready to race next weekend.

May 20, 2003
Tuesday

Went to the shop to do basic maintenance on the car.  For some reason, Jay decided to fire up the car.  It puked oil ALL over the garage.  I mean literally POURED out of the thing.  I crawl around under the car avoiding the dripping liquid, and check things out.  There's too much dripping to locate a source.  I strategically place myself under the car out of the way and Jay fires the car again.  It's Waterfalling off the side of the oil pan from the driver's side.  I, of course, am on the other side of the car.  Jay kills the engine after about 3 seconds of being on.  I reposition myself and he fires again.  It's erupting out of the oil filter...blew the ring on the filter. I can see the ring hanging on the side.  There's probably 6 of 7 quarts of oil pooling under the car.  We finish off a bag of oil dry on it and go home.  We're out of oil and out of oil filters. 

May 21, 2003
Wednesday

Jay bought oil, oil filters, and oil dry today.  He added the oil and the new filter.  Our friend Roger Miller stopped out to the shop tonight.  They fired up the car.  No problems.  Sweet!  Ready for the weekend!  Our first AMRA Road Warrior Race for 2003 is Saturday at Elkins, WV. We've never been there, but are looking forward to it.  It's a long drive down...like 5 1/2 hours, so we're planning on leaving early Saturday morning.

May 23, 2003
Friday

We've decided to load the trailer tonight and then load the car in the morning.  Jay decides he wants to start it "just one more time" before we go though.  As much trouble as we've had, I suppose he just wants a piece of mind that it's okay now.  I'm loading the trailer.  The car starts....then stops.  Well, okay, that's not long to get a "piece of mind".  I walk in the shop and Jay's shaking his head.  There's a puddle of oil under the car.  You've got to be kidding me!  I'm furious!!!  I don't say a word, just crawl under the car and feel around the oil filter.  Blew another seal.  It's a new filter...not the same one as we blew earlier in the week.  It's even a different brand, the good Napa one's that we usually use.  Great!  There's more...oil is milky.  How???  We push the car back and throw down oil dry.  Our friend Mike wanders into the shop to see how we're doing.  He shakes his head at the site of our milky oil. 

Our friends Chris and Heather call on the cell phone and Jay tells them the saga.  They tell us they're on the way to help.  We call our friend Roger too.  He's on the way now too.  Unbelievable.  We ran tests and theories and decided to pull the intake.  They ran more tests with the intake and then re-siliconed it and put it back together.  We worked on the car until almost Midnight before calling it a night.  We can't fire the car until tomorrow to give the silicone time to cure.  Besides...we're out of oil again!

May 24, 2003
Saturday

Okay...here we go again.  It's O-Dark-Thirty when we arrive at the shop.  If we've got a shot at going to Elkin's we've got to be outta here by 11am.  Our plan B is Midway Speedway.  That'd give us up until a 1pm leave-out time.  Roger meets us at the shop and we put oil in the car.  Cross our fingers and fire it up.  We let it run for 10 minutes or so and pull the valve covers.  Water mixed with oil still.  Not good.  Forget Elkins...not gonna happen. 

Roger gets an idea though.  He's got a spare engine at another race car shop.  It's not fancy or anything, but it'd work.  We head off for the other shop to pick it up.  The guy that had been running it told us he had a miss, but found it was just a pushrod that was bad.  Okay cool.  We have to head to Roger's house to put the heads and intake on though.  So, off we go to Roger's.  We know we're not going racing today, so we're not against the clock anymore.  Now we're doing rain dances directed to Elkins, WV  :-)

Roger doesn't want to use our heads or intake in case one of those is our water problem.  So, we use his cast heads and one of his spare intakes.  It doesn't take us long to get the heads and intake on and set.  I decide to go in the house with Roger's wife while the boys adjust valves and finish getting ready.  It's not long and the boys come in the house with a Cam-in-hand and a "don't ask" look.  Of course...I ask.  "Now what"?  Well, the "miss" wasn't a pushrod.  When the guys were adjusting valves, something wasn't right.  They ended up taking it all apart and pulling the cam.  It was shot!  Six lobes were wiped!  Unbelievable!  Luckily, Roger has an Off Road & Performance shop.  He's got 4 cams in his shop.  One will work for this engine, so they replace it and re-do the heads, intake, etc.  They also found the lifters were trashed.  They literally had to pry some of the lifters out of the engine.  Sheesh.

Finally, it's ready to drop in.  However, we've been at it for about 9 hours today, so we decide to take Roger and his wife, and our friends Chris and Heather out for dinner.  We'll resume the "project" tomorrow!

May 25, 2003
Sunday

Just wait til you read today's entry!  Okay, it's...I don't know what time, but it's early.  We head for the race shop to drop Roger's extra engine into our car.  I've always had an "issue" with the electrical end of racing.  I don't mess with the things that are going to zap me.  Jay knows this and as we get started preparing to switch engines, he tells me he's disconnected the battery.  Okay, good.  Now, my idea of "disconnecting the battery" means at the battery end of it.  Jay's idea isn't always the same. He often disconnects at the solenoid, which I'm convinced is only to make me mad.  However, this time......as he says "hold this" (fuel regulator) we brush the braided line against the so-called-disconnected hot battery cable off the solenoid.  It sparks and yes, oh yes, it ignites.  Jay puts out the fire, but the hose is toast.  This is soooo not how I want to start the day!

Now last year's car was a piece of cake when it came to pulling engines...we know...we did it enough times!!!  This new HOT chassis is a different story.  It's so tight that we can't even pull the right side headers out with the engine in place.  So, we're not looking forward to doing the switch.  To add to the situation, we have to pull sensors and bits and pieces from engine "A" and put them on engine "B" to get it to work.  Basically, what took an hour last year, took 5 hours this year.  Even though it took longer and we ran into small problems here and there, we made the switch.  The only "major" engine components that stayed the same between engines are the carb and the fuel pump.  Before we fire the car, Roger says, "okay, now we know that this is a good engine, so if we have problems still, then we know it wasn't the heads or intake."  Okay...remember...this is the same engine that had a trashed cam, trashed lifters, and an assortment of rocker arms less than 24 hours ago.  I laughed at the thought as they fired the engine. 

Hey....guess what?  Yep, water mixed with oil!  I kid you not.  Hmmm, okay, well if the carb and fuel pump are the only things the same...then maybe it's alky and not water?  That's logical isn't it?  Jay and Roger pull the fuel pump out.  Roger is looking to see if there is excess fuel in the block.  If there is, then it's the fuel pump.  If not, it's probably the carb.  They check it out...clear.  Hmm, must be the carb then, right?  Okay, lets try a new test.

Roger dips a paper shop towel in the oil/water or oil/alky mix.  If you light it and it catches fire, it's oil/alky.  If you light it and it doesn't catch, then it's oil/water.  All evidence points to oil/alky, right?  The towel doesn't ignite when Roger places the match to it.  It's oil/water.  We all sit down and look at each other.  How in the world can it be water in this engine too? 

Roger wants to run some more tests.  He wants to fire the engine again and let it cycle.  Okay, what do we have to lose?  It runs for a good 10 minutes or so.  Roger pulls on the throttle rod and it revs up fine.  It's definitely got a miss though.  They turn off the car and pull the valve covers.  Other than the oil/water, it looks okay on the right side.  One of the rockers is cocked kind of sideways on the left side.  Roger decides that's the problem with the miss and tries to readjust it.  While attempting to do that, he discovers the rocker is busted.  The whole bottom part pretty much blew apart.  Great. 

Okay, it's like 3pm now.  We haven't had lunch and it's almost time for dinner.  We have no extra carb or rockers for this engine at the shop.  So, we make plans to go get food while Roger gets food and brings back his carb, extra rockers, and a couple valve cover nuts.  We agree to meet back at the race shop in a couple hours. 

You know, we are consistent.  Our luck doesn't end at racing.  My 16-year-old stepson did a load of laundry while we were home.  As he tosses his clothes in the dryer he says, "ummm, I think the washer is leaking."  You've got to be kidding.  After 30 minutes of fussing we find the leak.  We pull the part off and decide we'll go to Lowes or Home Depot tomorrow.  Sheesh...can it get any better than this?  On that note, we leave for the shop. 

We're exhausted, we've all been at this for hours and making very little to no progress.  Roger shows up with his carb just after we get ours pulled.  We had already drained the oil...yet again.  We get everything ready and fire the engine.  It runs for 10 minutes or so and then the real test.  We pull the valve covers.  Surprisingly....no water. 

So, how does our carb cause water problems???  The final conclusion is:  Our carb is dumping too much alky into the engine on the bottom end.  This creates excess condensation in our manifold, which then mixes with the oil.  When the engine gets up to temperature, like 180-200 degrees the water evaporates.  Which is why we didn't notice the problem after our first (and only) race this year and after those intense practice sessions.  The excess alky and the cool weather hasn't allowed our engine to come up to temperature very quickly either.  We have been putting cardboard in front of our radiator to help get heat in the motor, but it still wasn't building very well...that's why. 

Okay, that's the explanation.  Although we're 99% sure, Roger asks us to let the engine cool overnight, and put our carb back on tomorrow.  If we fire it cold and let it run for 10 minutes or so, it probably won't build much heat and we should have water in our oil.  If we do that and we don't have a problem, then our theory was just shot. 

May 26, 2003
Monday

Since we've spent 3 solid days and nights at the shop, we plan a day full of other things, however, we still need to test yesterday's theory.  We play 9 holes of golf in the morning and then head to the shop.  We check the oil color before firing the engine for 10-15 minutes and pull the valve covers off again.  We've got milky oil now.  We're satisfied with the theory and pull the carb.  We plan to overnight it to the guy that built it and I make a few phone calls trying to locate a backup carb...or at least a carb to get us through next weekend if the guy doesn't get it back right away.  We leave the shop and head for Mansfield (to look for that stinkin' clothes washer part).

After our Mansfield trip and catching the new Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston, Catherine Bell movie, "Bruce Almighty" (great movie, by the way), Jay decides to call our friends Chris & Heather.  They went to Mansfield Speedway to watch the races.  Roger raced there tonight, so we wanted to see how he did.  They tell us he came out of the race early.  Are you ready for this?  He had engine problems!!!  Worse yet?  He thinks it's his carb. 

May 27, 2003
Tuesday

The fun continues.  Roger tells us he has a hole in his piston which caused his engine problems.  He still thinks he has carb problems too.  Wayne County Speedway has open practice from noon to 8pm, so Jay and Roger plan on taking our car (with Roger's spare engine and Roger's carb) over for some laps.  The original plan was for them to get there around 1pm and practice all day.  Well, Jay fought with a hitch for over an hour and Roger ended up coming to the shop and pulling the trailer to the track.  They got to Wayne County around 4pm or so. 

I was at work still, but apparently Jay made about 7 laps in the car before pulling off the track.  He said it was running pretty crappy and had a vibration.  When they pulled the valve covers, they found another busted rocker!  Does it ever end?  I usually get off work at 5pm, but was running late today, of course.  I was walking through Bullet's race shop to go home at 5:20 when I got the call from Roger and Jay.  "Where are you?  We need parts!"  Great.  It's a good 30 minutes to Roger's house from Bullet and another 20 or so to the track (add 10-12 more minutes when you screw up and miss the exit while talking on the cell phone).  I arrive at the track and it starts sprinkling...no surprise here.  The boys put the rocker in and adjust the valves then head back to the track.  It sounds pretty rough to me.  I tell Roger as much, but he thinks we're just used to higher powered stuff and thinks were okay.  Jay takes two laps, not impressive, sounds horrible.  He pulls back into the pit.

Jay tells Roger to climb in and take some laps.  Roger does and is back off the track in a lap and a half.  He concurs.  Engine is definitely messed up.  Okay, it's broke too.  We were using Roger's carb, and suspect that as part of the problem, but we all think there's more to the problem than just that.  So much for, "we know this engine is good."  As they say..."famous last words."

We load up and leave for the race shop.  When we get back we unload and start pulling parts off and draining fluids in preparation of dropping our engine back into the car.  I've got a carb on order, we've got a friend that's going to lend us one, and ours should be rebuilt and back by the end of the week.  Crossing our fingers, big time, since we're 0 for 3 in the engine department success stories. 

May 30, 2003
Friday

We got our carb back today.  We aren't 100% sure what Woodruff did to it, but we're hoping we've got the problem solved now.  We weren't too sure about going racing today because Jay works in the morning.  It's tough going to Cannonball and getting back at 3:00 am and then going to work a few hours later.  However, the weather isn't looking too good for racing on Saturday.  So, we decide we better go Friday.  Our friend Roger Miller wants to tag along too.  That's definitely a plus since we're not real sure how the engine will perform.  We've got an extra fuel pump, an extra carb, and the carb jet kit....just in case. 

We get to the track and the guys unload the car while I check us in.  On the way back it starts to rain.  Great.  The sky is black, but it looks like the worst of the storm is going to miss us.  It doesn't rain long, maybe this is a good sign.  The guys put the carb on and fire the car up.  Guess what?  We forgot the rod that goes into the carb for the air filter.  This is bad.  I head for the parts truck while Jay asks a few guys.  No luck at the truck, but I find one from another Modified driver, Jess Hartman.  Jay had already borrowed one from the guy beside us before I returned though and was all set when I got back.

Jay heads out for hot laps.  Car doesn't look too bad, but it's too wet to really tell much.  He decides to re-jet the carb before the heats though.  There's 22 cars and Jay starts 5th in the 2nd heat.  He heads out  for his heat race.  We watch from the hill.  The engine is performing horribly.  Now what?  After a few laps, Jay falls to the back of the pack and comes off early.  We meet him at our pit.  We're all very very frustrated.  Jay tells us the fuel pressure light and the oil pressure lights were both coming on.  The engine was falling on it's face, there was just nothing there.  The oil pressure problem is one we've had for 3 years.  Even though the engine has "supposedly" been rebuilt twice with all new parts...that problem has always been there.  The gauges are all new this year, so that's not the answer.  The oil pump is new, bearings are new, pickup distance has been checked...who knows.  I suspect oil pan, but nobody else seems to.

Jay re-jets the carb back to where it was before the Heats while Roger changes the fuel pump.  I decide to go check the board to see where we start in the feature.  When I get to the pit tower, I find that they're only going to run 18 in the feature AND that there is a Modified consi REAL soon.  I quickly head back to our pit where I find Jay holding carb pieces and Roger holding a fuel pump.  I inform them that they need to hurry because suddenly we're in a consi.  Jay gets the carb back together while Roger tightens down the fuel pump.  No problem, right?  Wrong.  Roger tells Jay to fire the car up.  It tries, but won't fire.  Roger dumps a cap full of alky into the carb and Jay tries again.  It fires and then stops right away.  The fuel isn't getting to the carb.  I hear the announcement for Modified Consi line-up.  Roger tells Jay to get in the car and get strapped in as he begins to pull the fuel pump back off.  The pump wasn't in right and the rod is bent.  Great.  Roger works fast to get the pump set properly and to get Jay to the consi.  Jay fires the car and finally gets it to run.  It's sputtering and NOT acting right, but he takes off anyway.  We walk towards the track and the sounds coming from the track do not sound like compacts to me...they sound like Modifieds.  We don't even make it to the hill before we see that we missed the call.  We see Jay coming back up the lane and we walk back to the pit.

Will our luck ever end?

May 31, 2003
Saturday

It's been raining all morning.  Might as well, we can't race anyway.  The new carb I ordered came in today at least.  Rupert Performance Products built the new carb. After Jay gets off work he heads for the race shop.  I'm still mad and frustrated about the engine problems.  I tell Jay that I'm headed out to the old engine builders to pick up the parts that we have out there.  Two years ago, we gave him a block, crank, pistons, and some other misc parts to begin a backup engine.  He has yet to begin that engine and I've had enough.  The guy that builds the Sportsman Drag Racing engines where I work has told us he'd build the engine.  I'm pretty excited about this because Mark is very particular and builds incredible high performance engines.  They're just flat-out "Bad"....hence the name "Bad Man Racing Engines".

June 1, 2003
Sunday

Jay took the car out to Roger's house.  They decided to put it on his overhead rack and pull the oil pan, dissect the pickup tube and the oil pump,  and maybe change the bearings.  I still suspect the oil pan, but hey, what do I know, right?  I've had enough engine fun for the weekend and decide to stay home.  Guess what Jay says when he gets home?  "We're ordering a new oil pan.  We think that's the problem with the oil pressure."  Really?!

June 2, 2003
Monday

Today is Jay's birthday!  Happy Birthday Hubbin!

And now...for the bad news...Roger called.  Yes, the car is still at Roger's house.  He had the opportunity to tear the engine down after he had a bad feeling about something.  Then he found that the bolts that held the cam in had sheared off.  He also wasn't 100% sure that the cam was ever locked down properly.  Apparently if we would have hit another bump, the cam would've dropped and toasted the whole engine. 

More bad news?  Roger also called the manufacturer of our oil pan.  He told them of our problems.  Their response was "do you use screens in the upper part of your block?"  The answer?  "Yes.  And we have for the past 3 years."  Coincidence?  Who knows...but they've encountered this problem before with people that use screens.  I guess it restricts the oil flow and doesn't allow it to travel to the bottom of the pan fast enough. 

We still ordered a new oil pan, but the screens, needless to say, are history. 

Okay, so "maybe" it's not the oil pan.  Of course, we've changed everything that it could possibly be (I think), so we'll never really know what the "problem" was.  But, if it's fixed, then I'm happy.

June 3, 2003
Tuesday

Jay and Roger replaced our bearings...even though, they didn't really look like they needed it.  They also put the new cam in and began putting the engine back together.  They're still waiting on a new oil pickup and the new oil pan, but it looks as if we'll be ready for the Road Warrior Race at Wayne County Speedway this weekend.  That is, if the weather holds out.  I've been watching it closely and it keeps changing between partly cloudy to rain showers. 

June 7, 2003
Saturday

Good news, looks like the rain is going to hold off.  It's sunny and warm.  That's a shocker for Ohio!  Jay heads out to fire up the car and get it loaded.  He's planning on stopping back here in a couple hours so we can eat and then take off for Wayne County Speedway. 

It's not long before my cell phone rings.  It's Jay.  "Umm, don't get too excited about going racing.  We've got a problem."  Me:  "What Now??!!!"  Jay:  "Think the worst."  Me:  "Oh no.  What happened this time."  Jay:  "Well, I fired the engine and oil puked out of the oil filter again.  So I shut it down really quick and I heard a loud POP."  Me:  "hmph, you're kidding right?"  Jay:  "There's more....I pulled the filter and there's A LOT of debris in the oil filter screen...I mean A LOT!"  Me:  brief silence.  "I'm on my way."  Where's the stinkin' rain when you need it???

I arrive at the race shop and Jay and I pull the oil pan to check out the lower engine area.  Hmm, appears clean.  Good sign.  Also, no debris in oil pan.  Another good sign.  Still don't know where the junk came from....silver and bronze slivers and flakes, some gasket pieces, and some fuzzy stuff.  We put the oil pan back on and leave a second message on Roger's answering machine. 

We add more oil, cross our fingers, and fire the engine again.  Sounds okay.  No popping noises.  No oil leakage.  We look at each other and shrug.  We pull the heat gun out and check the exhaust.  Number 8 is burning 100 degrees cooler than the rest.  Hmm, that's not good, but we decide to load the car and hope for the best.  The winch jams as we're pulling the line out.  It unravels to the top of the ramp though, so we push the car up enough to hook on then load it.  Maybe these are all signs that we should stay home?  Nah, we go home to grab lunch and the kids.

Roger finally gets our messages and calls us at home in a panic.  Jay tells him "we're sick of this, we're going and if it blows, it blows."  Roger tries talking rationally with Jay about not risking the engine and all that money we have in it.  We can still save it...etc.  Jay listens to him and considers options.  I talk to Roger and he tells me some things to check.  He tells me to check the valves, especially number 8, because maybe the cam didn't seat right.  He also tells us to pull the distributor to see if the gear is being chewed on.  If either of those things indicate problem, don't run the engine.  If they're okay, he wouldn't risk it if it were him, but use our best judgment.

We arrive at Wayne County Speedway WITH our race car.  The valves and distributor look okay, we're going racing.  I told Roger about the fuzzies from the filter and he wonders if the debris and fuzzies came off a rag that they used to wipe stuff down.  I see our friend Chuck Griffith as we enter the gates at Wayne County.  I tell him we figure we have a 90% chance of blowing our engine tonight.

40 AMRA Road Warrior Modified's are here for the show.  We're excited to see such a crowd because we're campaigning Wayne County to run us on a regular basis.  This high car count will help our cause.  After finding a parking spot in the back field, we unload and Jay heads for tech.  I help our friends Chris and Heather put their numbers on their compact that they're racing for the first time.  Jay comes back from tech with a problem.  He changed front shocks from Bilstein to ProShocks.  Now our front bumper is 2 inches too short.  He switches the shocks back and heads for hot laps.

Hot laps went well.  Car seemed pretty smooth.  Jay was happy except for the oil pressure light and fuel pressure light that came on.  He re-tech'd and passed.  We pull the oil filter to see if we have debris.  Some bronze specks, but nothing like before.  Okay, bronze suggests distributor, so we'll check that later.  Jay puts a new filter in and the oil filter screen and heads out for qualifying. 

Traditionally, we don't qualify well, but today, Jay was on his game.  Car and driver did an excellent job.  Jay thinks he blew the last corner costing him some time, but I think he did great.  We qualified 20th in a really tough field of Modified's.  We ran 2 whole seconds faster than we did last week practicing here.  I'm very happy with that. 

Jay heads out for his heat race.  He continues to run really well.  Car seems to be handling nicely.  Other than the fact the idiot lights keep coming on, things look good.  The lights still concern us, but we keep going.  Jay doesn't advance to the A from the heats, but makes the B consi.  While the C consi is running, we check our oil filter screen.  Hey, it's clean.  Completely clean!  Cool.

Jay heads out for the B-main.  I'm really excited because he's flying and looks like he may transfer to the A-main.  I see a hint of white smoke from time to time, but figure it's from a small oil leak in the front of the intake.  When we get down to a couple laps left, Jay comes out of turn 2 trying to chase down Danny Dean and he goes up in a HUGE puff of smoke.  "Great, there goes the engine."

Jay comes off the track and back to the pit.  He appears to still be driving the car, but his helmet and the car are just caked in oil.  Hmm...if it was the engine that blew, he wouldn't have been able to drive back, would he?  It's still running?  Hmmm, what's going on?  Jay shuts it down and yells "power steering".  I look and sure enough, one of the power steering lines blew off the AN fitting spewing fluid all over the place.  Of course, we had told a lot of our friends and family that the engine was probably going to blow, so they all thought it was the motor.  Not this time anyhow....

Looks like we'll be able to try the Road Warrior racing at I-79 Speedway, I-77 Speedway, and West Virginia Motor Speedway next Fri, Sat, and Sunday!  Hmmm...are we pushing our luck or what???  We'll see.

June 13, 2003
Friday

The NHRA Drag Racing Team I work for is racing at the National event in Columbus, Ohio this weekend.  That'd be really cool if it weren't for us having races all 3 days.  Oh well, guess I'll miss the Bullet Boys in action yet again.  Well, then again, the way our engine and luck has been running, who knows!

Jay and I both have Friday off.  We've both taken Monday off as well.  We figure we'll be finished late Sunday night and won't want to drive back home.  I've made hotel reservations near all 3 tracks.  I have a really bad feeling about this weekend.  Jay will be the first to tell you, if I have a bad feeling, then we should listen to my instincts.  Before we leave home I stress to him that I think we're going to rain out all weekend.  But, just because Jay knows he "should" listen....doesn't mean he does.

I tell Jay that I want to stop by one of our local grocery stores before going to the race shop.  There's a Verizon Wireless dealer in the store, and I've called ahead to see if they have a media kit for my phone.  It's a slick unit.  It's a USB cable that hooks your cell phone to your laptop.  Then the software allows you to access the Internet through your cell phone.  It uses your minutes from your calling plan, but I've got a Nationwide plan with free nights and weekends.  I definitely recommend this setup to any racer, traveler, or sports enthusiast that owns a laptop and cell phone.  So, we get the unit and head to the shop. 

After we hookup and are headed out, I install my new toy.  It takes me about 5 minutes to get the software loaded and the system  setup and online.  I'm telling ya, it's slick!  The weather is not looking good for the direction we are headed!  Jay makes the decision to go "the long way" to I-79 Speedway.  His idea is that we take I-70 across to I-79.  This way, if we find I-79 cancels, then maybe we can head to Cannonball, which is off of I-70.  Okay, that's logical. 

We departed the race shop around 11am.  The farther South/East we travel, the worse things look.  We've passed Cannonball and are about an hour away from I-79 when I talk to the Speedway for the third time.  "We've cancelled".  I hang up and call Tammy at Cannonball.  "Sorry Cindy, we're rained out too."  Great.  We pass 3 independent accidents in a stretch of about 15 miles.  One car in the median on it's side, one in the median upside down, and one just in the median.  Jay calls our friend Rick Walker to see where they're staying.  Rick tells Jay that he thinks he hurt the engine in his Expedition pulling those hills.  Not good, sounds like our luck!  Rick's family booked a hotel in Parkersburg.  Their hotel is sold out, so we book our favorite hotel in Marietta.  We got the last double room there, so Rick can't switch hotels either.  Oh well.  We'll see them tomorrow.  We detour back to Marietta and arrive sometime around 5pm.  What a day!  Didn't I tell ya it was gonna rain?

June 14, 2003
Saturday

Not too bad of a morning, but we see rain on the radar screen.  Jay's crossing his fingers that it'll miss us.  It looks like it might be close, but I still think we're going to get nailed.  We meet Rick Walker and his family for lunch before debating on heading to the track.  Rick's truck sounds bad.  Real bad.  It's knocking and making horrible noises.  After lunch we gather around the laptop and dial up the weather radar screen.  Ugh.  We all shake our heads and say "we're going to get wet, no doubt about it."  Rick debates on skipping the event and trying to find a Uhaul truck or rental truck.  He's afraid his engine is going to blow.

I don't know what we're thinking at this point.  We all decide it's going to rain.  And we know that Rick's truck is in big trouble, so what do we do?  Yep, we head to the track.  Jay gives Rick the directions and we're going to follow him in case his truck dies.  We get off the exit and Rick misses his turn.  We call his cell, but his phone doesn't have a signal.  Even though Rick missed it, Jay turns and we head to the track.  The sky is black.  Did I mention the rain is coming?  The entrance road into I-77 Speedway consists of a muddy/gravel type steep hill.  The admittance gate is at the bottom.  You stop, pay, and then travel up another big hill to the pit.  The pit is a muddy mess from previous rain.  We find high ground and park.  Ten minutes later or so, Rick makes it to the track.

There are half a dozen Modified's parked on high ground along the fence.  None of us are unloading.  Why?  Because we know it's going to rain.  We walk over and look at the track.  Egads, what a mess.  My thought is "I hope it rains soon because I dang sure do NOT want our car to go out on THAT track!"  We go back to the truck and connect the laptop back up.  Several other drivers stop by to check the rain status.  It starts raining.  Half a dozen or more of us back out of our spots and head out.  It hasn't been called yet, but this is ridiculous.  Dave Groves has a big rig and he tells us he needs a running start to get up that hill.  He waves us by to go first.  Ha!  We wait for a good 10-15 minutes because incoming traffic has both lanes blocked.  They're not moving...apparently waiting to see if it's going to continue raining!  Finally one side clears and we lock it in four wheel drive and take a run at the hill.  We slide around, because it's rained the entire time we had been sitting there.  We almost take out a truck at the top of the hill because the guy refused to move out of the way.  When we reached the paved access road, we waited for Rick.  We also get word that the track did cancel.  I don't know if it was the weather or if it was because everyone just left.  Either way, it's cancelled.

Several miles down the highway, Rick put the flashers on and pulled off the side of the road.  The engine let go.  He called a local towing company and made arrangements with them to tow the truck and racecar trailer.  We took Rick's wife and daughter back to their hotel, then headed for our hotel in Marietta.  We should've known better, but maybe the weather will clear up for tomorrow.  Everyone says it's suppose to be nice tomorrow.

Good news?  We found NHRA Drag Racing from National Trail Raceway on ESPN.  Our Pro Stock driver qualified 6th and begins eliminations tomorrow!

I look out the hotel window, and , well, I don't know, the words "torrential downpour" just doesn't quite describe how hard it's raining tonight!  "Flash flood warnings" bleep across the hotel TV screen most of the night.  The weather channel is telling us it's going to be sunny and nice tomorrow.  I went down to the hotel computer and brought up the radar screen from intellicast.com  Okay, I'm no Meteorologist, but when I see rain coming in from the next two states beside us, and it's blowing our way...where's it gonna go?  Alright, I'm predicting more rain...and lots of it.  Hey, but what do I know?

June 15, 2003
Sunday

I still can't believe how hard it rained last night.  West Virginia Motor Speedway isn't that far away, it's got to be a mess there too.  It's not raining at the moment, but it looks like it could soon.  Jay flips on the weather channel.  It's showing lots of green in our area.  (Like I said, where was it going to go???)  Jay starts talking about changing the gear in the car for WVMS.  No way....not til I call the track.  I got ahold of the track on the second ring, "we've cancelled". 

I flip the weather channel back on and look at the radar.  No rain in Columbus, Ohio.  I grab my cell and call my boss.  Dave should start racing around noon in Pro Stock.  Even though Jay's not really into Drag Racing, he knows how much I want to see the team race and doesn't object when I tell him I want to go to Columbus.  His youngest son, Jon (14) has been with us all weekend.  He's never seen a drag race, so it'll be kinda cool for him too, especially since the rest of the weekend was a dud. 

We dropped the trailer at the truck stop and parked in a 4x4 only mudhole of a parking lot at National Trail Raceway.  We were borderline on if we'd make it, but arrived just in time to see Dave's first run.  Dave won his first round, but lost the next.  We took off after Dave's second run and headed for home.  It's been a long weekend.

Happy Father's Day!

June 20, 2003
Friday

Muskingum County Speedway scheduled a last minute Road Warrior Tour race.  That is one track that I basically vowed to never ever return to.  Nothing against the promoter, staff, or track itself, but we've raced at Muskingum half a dozen times over the past 4 years and have had nightmare after nightmare there.  Okay, our luck is never all that great, but this place just seems to bring out the worst for us.  The RWT scheduled event kind of put us in a spin.  Jay wanted to go, I didn't.  Jay was convinced that if he decided to go to Muskingum then for the first time, he'd probably be going without me.  We didn't talk much about the upcoming Muskingum event.  On occasion Jay would mention going.  I wasn't sure if he was serious or if he was just trying to get a reaction out of me.  I recall at some point telling him that if he wanted to go then I would go too, but the decision was going to be his. 

Our friend Jim Long in North Carolina wants us to race at I-77 Speedway.  He hopes Jay can get some seat time in the new car and thinks that too many cars will show up at Muskingum.  We've already got 3 pit passes for I-77 from last weekend's rainout.  They're only good for 2 weeks, so I-77 is a possibility.

Of course, Midway Speedway isn't far either.  That's another option.  I purposely haven't updated our schedule for this weekend because we really have no idea where we're going to go. 

June 21, 2003
Saturday

Roger Miller and his wife Sharon are making the trip with us.  We've eliminated I-77 as an option because we want to drive home instead of spending the night.  Our friends Chris and Heather are bringing their 4-cylinder and following us to the track.  We depart Ashland and head towards Midway Speedway.  The route we take will take us beside Muskingum, and we're not 100% sure of our destination even as we're in route. 

We pass Muskingum and continue on down to Midway.  We're surprised that 22 Modifieds are signed in.  I draw a crappy number...no surprise there.  Jay goes out for hot laps.  We've got fuel pressure issues again.  Great.  Roger and Jay work on the problem.  They pull the regulator and modify it then put it back on.  Jay heads out for his heat race.  The car is loose...big time.  Jay spins out twice during the heat and exits the track.  He still has fuel pressure issues. 

Roger and Jay work on both issues while I check the board.  They were originally going to run a consi for Modifieds, but decided to run everyone.  That's cool, at least one thing is going in our favor.

Jay starts toward the back of the pack and starts moving up as the green drops.  A couple laps later, he loses it in turns 3 and 4 and spins out.  They go green again.  Roger comments to me that he hopes Jay hangs back and gets some practice laps instead of trying to move up in the pack.  About a lap after he makes that statement, Jay commits to passing another Modified.  He's got a clear run on him and is running side by side and pulling forward when the other car comes down into Jay.  The other Modified catches Jay's right front tire and starts to go airborne.  The rear end of the other car swings around and catches Jay's right rear tire, cutting it.  The other Mod went for a wild ride, but was okay in the end.  He cut a tire also and joins us in the pits.  We're done for then night.  We load the car and go watch the rest of the races.

I call Rick Walker, who went to Muskingum, on the way home.  He tells me that the B-main is just going onto the track.  It's going to be a late night for those guys.  We pass Muskingum a little while later and they're still racing.  We're 2 hours from home and they'll still probably be racing when we get home.

June 23, 2003
Monday

Scaled the racecar tonight.  We found it we were way out to lunch on the setup.  We had made some front end changes and shock changes last week and never scaled it before Midway.  After an hour or so of messing around with it, we got the percentages looking pretty good.  I was happy with it and Jay seemed happy too.  Jay's planning on coming out tomorrow to do some general maintenance, greasing, and making sure all bolts are tight and secure.

June 24, 2003
Tuesday

Jay went out to the race shop by himself tonight to take care of the general maintenance.  However when he returned he told me we have to rescale the car later this week.  Apparently he readjusted yesterdays adjustments.  Why?  I don't know and neither does he. 

June 26, 2003
Thursday

Round 2 of scaling the car for the week.  It was way out to lunch again.  Good thing we came in to scale it.  We "should" be ready for Cannonball Speedway Friday as long as Jay doesn't "readjust" anymore!

June 27, 2003
Friday

Took off early from work today so we could take off for Cannonball.  Weather looks good.  Jay's a little nervous because he's unsure of what the car is going to do.  We still don't know if the engine is up to par.  Setup should be close, but we haven't been racing much this year to really tell anything.  It's frustrating.

We get the the track and I sign us in.  I actually draw a good number for our pill draw.  There's 16 or 17 Mod's signed in.  Jay gets the car warmed up and heads out for hotlaps.  It's wet out there.  They only give them 2 - 3 hotlaps before bringing them back in.  Too wet and not enough time to be able to tell anything.  I scrape off several pounds of mud while we wait for heats.

They're running 2 heats, we start 3rd in the second heat.  The track isn't as wet, but it's still not how we like to see it.  Jay does well in the heat even though the track is starting to develop some potholes.  I see white smoke coming off the right side of the car.  It's not too bad, but is probably that mysterious oil leak we've been looking for.  Jay resealed the intake, so that's not where it's coming from.  We suspect the fuel pump area or front of the oil pan...although oil pan seems to be sealing fine and he resealed the area around the fuel pump.  We finish 4th in the heat.

Jay tells me we still have fuel pressure issues.  Great.  We thought we fixed that problem last week.  I'm more concerned about the right side oil leak.  It's all around the fuel pump and at the bottom right side of the engine.  Still can't find where it's coming from though.  Jay's water temp is around 220...too hot.  Extra jets for that carb are in the box with the extra carb....back at the race shop.  Nothing we can do about it.  We leave the hood off to try and help it cool down while we wait for Features.  Track is getting worse.  It's drying out like we like, but it's developing more holes and deep grooves.  I'm not liking that.

Jay's set to start 8th in the Feature.  He's doing really well until he catches the edge of one of those grooves in turns 3 and 4 and it tosses him.  He tried to correct it, but looped it.  3 other cars hit the same groove behind him and spun just after he did.  Jay was the one that actually brought out the caution though and is sent to the tail.  When the green flag flies again, Jay starts moving up the pack.  He's doing really well especially considering the rough track.  He's still throwing white smoke out the right side from the oil hitting the headers and engine, but it doesn't seem to be effecting his performance. 

Jay tries both the inside lanes and the outside lanes carefully avoiding the center area that's causing guys problems.  Unfortunately, another Mod drifted into one of the holes coming out of turn 4.  When the guy got into the hole it threw him into Jay's driver side door.  The impact caused Jay's steering shaft to disengage from the Steering Quickner, which translates to...he had no steering capabilities.  He hit the brakes, but couldn't avoid hitting the guardrail.  The wrecker hooked up and brought us to the pit. 

When the wrecker dropped us off, I immediately noticed the right front tire folded up and the rim shattered.  Upon moving to the driver's side of the car, I see the nerf bar pushed into the door a little and the footbox folded into the driver compartment.  I ask Jay how he is.  He tells me "ask me that tomorrow."  Jay tells me the steering went out and I follow the steering shaft to feel for bends or breaks.  That's when we find the impact pulled it from the quick steer.  Looks like it's easily fixable though.  I'm sure we'll need to replace the right side ball joint, tie rod, and possibly more.  Wrong place wrong time...but what can ya do?

Instead of heading for our hotel room in Cambridge and racing at Midway tomorrow, we cancel the room, load up and head for home.  Maybe we'll go to Mansfield Speedway tomorrow and help our friend Roger Miller.  He's debuting a Mopar engine for the first time.

June 28, 2003
Saturday

Went to Mansfield tonight to watch Roger race.  He was still working on his car last night when we got home at 1:30-2:00am.  He had a couple leaks and fuel issues that he was trying to figure out.  He had no idea how the car would handle.  He started blowing white smoke off the right side during his heat race.  Sounds familiar!  It progressively got worse and the engine was struggling.  Roger finally noticed the smoke and pulled off into pit road when all of a sudden the entire car was engulfed in white smoke.  We all said "so much for the Dodge engine", but he managed to cruise through pit road under power.  We aren't sure what the puff was, but something definitely let go.  There was only a little oil on the right side when he came back into the pit.  The safety crew never had to work on the track when it went up, so no fluids hit the track.  Whatever it was...couldn't have been good.

Oh yea, our friend Chris Mullinex, who races an Escort also blew his engine Friday.  And the drag racing team I work for, broke 3 engines within 4 passes on our Pro Stock car during qualifying.  We're really beginning to think it's our luck rubbing off on everyone we're around.

July 2, 2003
Wednesday

Well, after we got home and got the car washed we started looking closer for damage.  What all did we find? 
Bent rim - unfixable
Cut tire - not usable
Steering shaft pulled out of Quick Steer - fixable...but why did it pop off?
2 bolts sheered off of power steering box - (hence the reason the steering shaft popped off)
Cracked left rear brake hub & brake pads - needs replaced
Left side nerf bars bent in two different directions - needs replaced.
Left side and right side sheet metal damage - some fixed, some to be replaced

A lot of people don't realize how much time and money are involved in racing.  So, here's what our past weekend translates to:
Diesel Fuel for Dually - $40
Ten gallons of alky for race car - $2.00/gallon = $20
2 pit passes at Cannonball = $40
Tear offs for racing helmet - $3.00
Dinner at the track $5.00
Rim - $40
Hoosier Tire - $105
Nerf bar & Brake parts - $135
Bolts and sheet metal - in stock, but approx $20
Total = $408 (doesn't include the 8 quarts of oil we changed, bottle of spray cleaner and bottle of spray lubricant we went through)

Money won - $80

Profit/Loss = $328 in the hole.

Time involved?
Friday
Left work at 3pm - 2 hours early to make it to the track on-time.
5 hours drive time - round trip
arrive at home around 2am = 11 hours

Saturday - Tuesday, Thursday
16 hours (wash car, inspect car, repair damage, replace unfixable parts, setup car for upcoming weekend)

Wednesday - didn't work on our car, but we did go to Mansfield Speedway to help our friend Roger with his Modified during their open practice...4 hours.

Total hours = 31 hours.

July 3, 2003
Thursday

Southern Ohio Speedway is running a Road Warrior race this weekend.  Our original plan was to race all RWT races.  However, since we've already missed a couple, we're not really in the run for points and aren't as concerned with hitting all the events.  We've reevaluated our goals to concentrate on getting seat time and hit as many races as we can, whether they're RWT or just regular events. 

Even though the season is half over, we still have a chance to do well in AMRA International points if we don't miss many more weeks of racing.  We're leaning towards racing at Cannonball on Friday, but today I learned of a 2-day event at Midway Speedway.  Midway is running two complete shows, so that'd be cool.  Our friend Chris wants to bring his 4-cylinder wherever we go. 

July 4, 2003
Friday

After much debate, we've decided to head for Midway's 2-day event.  I had booked a hotel in Cambridge which is a ways from Midway, but at the time we were still undecided on where we were going.  So, I booked halfway between Cannonball and Midway.  Our friends Chris and Heather decide to meet us at the track.  As we near the exit for the track, I get a call from Mansfield Speedway.  They just got a HUGE storm with harsh winds.  They've cancelled for the night.  I hooked up the laptop and updated MMS's website for the rainout and check what our weather situation is going to be.  The possibility of getting hit by the storm is definitely there, but we continue on to the track.  Current weather is beautiful, hot and sunny. 

Chris and Heather arrived before us and saved us a spot.  Upon arrival, Heather and I signed in the guys and drew pills.  I pulled a 37, not surprisingly.  Believe it or not, Heather drew worse than I did.  We unload the car and get our stuff setup.  Midway is kinda located in a valley.  Out of nowhere black clouds rolled in fast.  We pull the car back into the trailer as wicked gusts of winds blew through the pit picking up sand along the way.  Jay, who was in Desert Storm, said it reminded him of the sandstorms over there.  The blowing sand soon stopped as the rain began falling.  We shut the back of the trailer so the storm wouldn't blow in and the 4 of us waited it out.  We heard an announcement from the track saying they were not going to cancel, so hang in there.  The rain didn't last all that long.  As it died down, the guy beside us was intensely staring up the pit lane we had parked at the end of.  Jay yelled over to him that the storm wasn't so bad.  He agreed then pointed up the lane.  He said, "yea, but I'm kinda worried about the river coming this way."  All 4 of us looked out the trailer door and saw a distinct "river" flowing directly for us.  It was the funniest thing, it was like all the runoff water merged to one location and then ran down the lane right for us almost in slow motion.  Our neighbor headed up the aisle and kicked sand around building a little dam.  We joined him and tried shoeing a little trench to redirect the water.  The dam held for a little while, but if finally busted through and washed out our pit spot.  Great.  It was quite comical, but we were pretty much under water.  The spot on the other side of Chris was empty and it wasn't flooded, so Jay backed out and moved over.  We were hoping this wasn't a sign as to how the rest of the night would go.

The rain put us about 2 hours behind schedule, but at least we were going to get the show in.  There were 24 Modifieds signed in.  Eighteen would go to the Feature.  Hotlaps were uneventful.  Car handled nicely, but it was pretty wet still.  Jay did well in his heat, but didn't make it to the transfer spot.  We started 5th in the B-main.  Jay was doing good and moving up, but half a dozen cautions came out.  I think the officials were asleep half of them because they gave the guys causing the cautions their spots back and never penalized anyone!  What's up with that?  To make matters worse, two of those cars transferred into the A-main.  They pulled 3 from the consi and we finished 4th.  We had "cosmetic" damage due to taking various hits and rubs from our competitors. 

While the track had their fireworks display during intermission, I pounded out the sheet metal damage and we re-riveted the pieces back on.  Jay and Chris pulled out the bent support bars and straightened the quarter panels.  We're all set for tomorrow, so we load up.  Since we're coming back here tomorrow, we all decide to drop the trailers and head out. Maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow.

July 5, 2003
Saturday

Since we spent the night in Cambridge we had some time to kill before heading to the track.  We had a nice lunch and caught "Terminator 3" at the local movie theatre.  After the movie I hooked the laptop up and checked out the weather.  Egads.  Looks like rain again.  Current conditions are hot and sunny, but the radar isn't looking good for tonight.  On that note...we head for the track. 

We watch quite a few cars roll through the pit.  A total of 29 Modifieds arrive.  Heather and I both draw pretty good pills for once.  I drew a 21, but it still put Jay in a 5th place starting position in his heat.  Hotlaps went well.  Car was handling terrific, Jay seemed to be having a good time.  Chris found that pesky mysterious oil leak yesterday.  There was a pinhole in the fuel pump causing oil to leak out.  Jay put gasket sealer on it which seemed to have solved the problem.  Jay heads out for his heat.  He quickly advances to 3rd and stays there for several laps.  Car seems strong and handling well.  Jay makes a move for second and goes into turn 1 too hard sending him towards the top of the track.  The 4th and 5th place cars get around Jay and he doesn't have enough remaining laps to get around for the transfer spot.  We move on to the Consi.  Jay comes off and informs us his fuel pressure was at zero.  I pull the pickup line from the fuel cell and check it out.  The line is cut at an angle and I begin to wonder if it's suctioning itself to the edge or bottom of the cell.  We cut the line so that it's a straight cut now.  Jay fires the engine and still doesn't have any pressure.  Great.  Jay decides to change the fuel pump.  We cross our fingers and watch the gauge as Jay fires the car.  Nothing....then as Jay's about to flip the switch off, I see it move.  I tell him to wait.  The gauge bounces around a little and settles around 5.  Jay pulls the throttle rod and we get a 6 1/2-7 reading.   That works for us.  We add fuel, check toe-in/toe-out,  and check pressures preparing for the B-main.

We start on the pole for the consi.  They decide to water the track as we're lined up.  Great.  Everyone was probably setup for a dry slick track, including us, should be interesting.  The officials have the Mods take some laps to run the track in.  Still looks to be in pretty good condition.  The green drops and Jay pulls into the lead and begins pulling away.  The consi is filled with cautions and I begin to wonder about our fuel situation.  Jay gets clipped as a guy tries passing in turn 1, but we keep our position.  Car didn't seem to be effected.  There was an incredible race going on with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place cars.  The fight going on behind us helped us to pull away.  With one lap to go the 2nd and 3rd place cars try to close the distance, but can't catch Jay.  Jay takes the checker for the consi win.

We start 16th in the Feature.  Jay's pretty pumped up.  We had brought 7 - 5gallon jugs of fuel with us for the weekend.  We dump the last one in the fuel cell and change both rear tires before heading out for the Feature.  The green drops and Jay starts off well.  After a couple laps, there's a spin in turn 1 and 2 and we avoid the wreckage.  Even though we came through it clean, Jay pulls off the track.  I'm guessing it's the fuel pressure problem again, but we head back to the pit to find out.  Jay unbuckles and hops out of the car.  He tells us that there was a really bad vibration in the front of the car so he pulled off.  He tells us that he noticed it in the consi, but it was getting worse.  We don't see anything out of the ordinary, but when I pull on the right front tire, something seems loose.  The tie rod bar is loose on the right side too, but I think there's more to it then that and so does Jay.  Guess we've got a "fishing expedition" this week.

Of course, we can't be without incident can we?  No way.  As we finish packing the trailer up it starts to rain.  We've been watching lightning in the distance, but it finally got here.  We pull out of our parking spot as it begins to pour.  We head towards Zanesville and the weather gets much worse.  Violent lightning flashes across the sky.  It's pretty impressive, I love to watch lightning storms.  The rain comes down hard and we encounter flooding in the sides of the road.  We pass a couple rigs that pulled off in various parking lots to wait out the storm.  When I get a signal on my cell phone, I hook the laptop up and go online.  We're in the middle of Red and Yellow storm cells, which is pretty heavy and severe.  Medium and lighter cells are farther north.  We decide to jump on I-70 to try and get ahead of the storm and then head north on I-77.  We go through a little more rain, but nothing as severe as we just left.  When we hit the outskirts of Wooster, we get a call from Chris and Heather, who are following us.  They tell us we have a flat on the trailer.  Great.  It's pretty late, so there isn't much traffic on the road.  We pull over and a state patrolman passes us, turns around, and pulls off the road with us.  We joke with him about us being racers and being expert tire changers.  Chris suggests we get the generator out and hook up the impact and lights!  The policeman makes sure we're all set and then heads off in the other direction. 

Overall, we've had a terrific weekend.  I'm really proud of Jay.  Nice job Hubbin! 

July 6, 2003
Monday

Jay looked over the front of the car really well and found that the weld broke on one of the ball joints allowing it to come loose and out of it's socket.  So, that's what caused our vibration.  We had checked toe-in / toe-out before the consi Saturday and it was okay at that time.  Therefore, Jay speculates that the weld broke when we got clipped in the consi.  I guess we're pretty lucky Jay held on as long as he did this weekend.

Hopefully this will be somewhat of an easy fix.

July 12, 2003
Saturday