Fine Sausage Racing's 944
07-07-2010, 06:50 PM
#17
Herr Unmöglich
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Our 944 completed the inaugural ChumpCar 24 in Portland with only a failed fuel pump. A quick swap during the dinner break and we were back out. We made no changes to the engine at all and only got it running a day before the event. No testing, nothing. FWIW I have some parts that can be contributed to your effort... if you need anything let me know and I will check if I have it.
As an aside, I saw the comment regarding the cost of parts. Please read the rules carefully, and the forums too. The short is that if you car is worth more than $500 (save wheels, brakes, and safety) it can be claimed. It does NOT matter that you sold parts, no matter how much you got for them. Despite what you got paid for the Fuchs, if you were to take that money and buy a top end suspension for that car, it makes it worth more than $500 and if they wanted to, they could claim it. All that matters is that as raced it is a $500 car (allowing the exceptions above). For instance, I could easily write a receipt that said I sold parts for $5000. That does not mean I can show up with $5000 of go fast parts tacked on to a car and race it legit. Likewise if you blow your motor you are free to go drop $500 on one from the junkyard and it won't put you over. But it has to be a stock motor in a similar state of wear, resulting in a car with a $500 market value.
Not saying you are going that route, but the rules say nothing about money from sold items raising the limit, nor do they say you can't spend more than $500. It's all about having an actual $500 value Crap Can in the race. And be prepared for people bitching that there are no $500 944's... there are and the tech folks know it. Some people just have to gripe about something!
It is definitely a fun event... I will be running in the Spokane 24 in a couple of weeks in a friend's 83 Camaro. Best of luck!
As an aside, I saw the comment regarding the cost of parts. Please read the rules carefully, and the forums too. The short is that if you car is worth more than $500 (save wheels, brakes, and safety) it can be claimed. It does NOT matter that you sold parts, no matter how much you got for them. Despite what you got paid for the Fuchs, if you were to take that money and buy a top end suspension for that car, it makes it worth more than $500 and if they wanted to, they could claim it. All that matters is that as raced it is a $500 car (allowing the exceptions above). For instance, I could easily write a receipt that said I sold parts for $5000. That does not mean I can show up with $5000 of go fast parts tacked on to a car and race it legit. Likewise if you blow your motor you are free to go drop $500 on one from the junkyard and it won't put you over. But it has to be a stock motor in a similar state of wear, resulting in a car with a $500 market value.
Not saying you are going that route, but the rules say nothing about money from sold items raising the limit, nor do they say you can't spend more than $500. It's all about having an actual $500 value Crap Can in the race. And be prepared for people bitching that there are no $500 944's... there are and the tech folks know it. Some people just have to gripe about something!
It is definitely a fun event... I will be running in the Spokane 24 in a couple of weeks in a friend's 83 Camaro. Best of luck!
07-07-2010, 10:09 PM
#18
I think I should leave it to my partners to disclose their identity :O Did you know that chump car will allow you to race a 944 spec racer this year? You just aren't going to win cash for 1st place.
You are right about selling the wheels not helping me in chumpcar. Lemons on the other hand has a specific 'scavenging' rule but also reserves the right to make their own judgment of the car's value.
I feel pretty good about our car passing the chump car acid test. Sitting on blocks with no wheels, tires, brakes, safety equipment, no interior, no rear hatch, no side glass, no power steering, most of the vacuum system including idle stabilization gone, no performance upgrades of any sort, body damage to every panel I think it is a realistic $500 market value.
Thanks for the offer for parts, good luck in the Camaro!
You are right about selling the wheels not helping me in chumpcar. Lemons on the other hand has a specific 'scavenging' rule but also reserves the right to make their own judgment of the car's value.
I feel pretty good about our car passing the chump car acid test. Sitting on blocks with no wheels, tires, brakes, safety equipment, no interior, no rear hatch, no side glass, no power steering, most of the vacuum system including idle stabilization gone, no performance upgrades of any sort, body damage to every panel I think it is a realistic $500 market value.
Thanks for the offer for parts, good luck in the Camaro!
Last edited by hp18racer; 07-07-2010 at 10:25 PM.
08-29-2010, 10:00 PM
#24
Just got back, really had a great time! Car had a variety of issues but we spent an hour or so total making repairs. Driving Hallett in the pitch dark through dawn was awesome. Seeing the car take the checker and still be running at the end was incredible! We were all very pleased with our 4th place finish.
08-29-2010, 10:16 PM
#25
Herr Unmöglich
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Awesome... looks like a bit of a contact donut there! Congrats on the 4th place finish... nice work! Some say that these cars are not well suited to the endurance races but I think it has now been proven that they can not only finish a race but perform reasonably well without a ton of prep.
Just got through reading all the posts about the 'claimed' Miata on the ChumpCar forums. Sounds pretty crazy that they packed it up and left... some people really just don't get the spirit of the event!
She looks fine for a repeat performance... do a bit of freshening and get that thing out there next year!
Just got through reading all the posts about the 'claimed' Miata on the ChumpCar forums. Sounds pretty crazy that they packed it up and left... some people really just don't get the spirit of the event!
She looks fine for a repeat performance... do a bit of freshening and get that thing out there next year!
08-29-2010, 10:53 PM
#26
I was out there in the #6 spec miata. Our alternator failed after 2 hours. Unfortunately the voltage regulator on the borrowed replacement was bad, and it fried our ecu ending our night at 01:45. We had a great time while it lasted though. Personally, I hope they keep the "exception class" beyond this year. I don't care about winning money, I just want to race. A few extra entry fees can't hurt the financial viability of the series either.
08-31-2010, 01:24 AM
#28
Thanks for the kind words guys. Some of my most memorable moments in the race weekend:
Friday after tech we went to put the car in the trailer and it wouldn't start :O
Burning a gallon of oil in the first hour then finding the dip stick tube had slid up in its bracket, we were burning oil because we were overfilling.
A few minutes into my first stint, a radiator fan threw a blade, ripped the shroud to bits, fell out the bottom of the car and beat against it until the wire let go. WOW scared the heck out of me! At the time I had no idea what just left the car.
We brought the car to the garage to diagnose a loud suspension noise, while we were under the car it boiled over. Then we discovered the missing radiator fan. The noise turned out to be a failed sway bar bushing. We replaced the fan and the bushing with used parts off the parts car. It shed its blades a few hours later.
The first four laps in the dark were sheer terror. Turns 1, 4, and 5 were the hardest. Oddly enough my big 'off' (OK, maybe there were a few) at night was on a corner where I could see just fine where the apex and track out were.
For my last stint, I got in the car about 5:45am and drove to around 7:00am. The session started pitch black and finished up in bright sun. What a fabulous feeling to be able to see the track again.
It was really great to see all the hard work that went into the car pay off for me and everyone on the team. Everyone got to drive, had some really great memorable experiences and went home with a sleepy smile. I look forward to doing it again!
Friday after tech we went to put the car in the trailer and it wouldn't start :O
Burning a gallon of oil in the first hour then finding the dip stick tube had slid up in its bracket, we were burning oil because we were overfilling.
A few minutes into my first stint, a radiator fan threw a blade, ripped the shroud to bits, fell out the bottom of the car and beat against it until the wire let go. WOW scared the heck out of me! At the time I had no idea what just left the car.
We brought the car to the garage to diagnose a loud suspension noise, while we were under the car it boiled over. Then we discovered the missing radiator fan. The noise turned out to be a failed sway bar bushing. We replaced the fan and the bushing with used parts off the parts car. It shed its blades a few hours later.
The first four laps in the dark were sheer terror. Turns 1, 4, and 5 were the hardest. Oddly enough my big 'off' (OK, maybe there were a few) at night was on a corner where I could see just fine where the apex and track out were.
For my last stint, I got in the car about 5:45am and drove to around 7:00am. The session started pitch black and finished up in bright sun. What a fabulous feeling to be able to see the track again.
It was really great to see all the hard work that went into the car pay off for me and everyone on the team. Everyone got to drive, had some really great memorable experiences and went home with a sleepy smile. I look forward to doing it again!
Last edited by hp18racer; 08-31-2010 at 10:39 AM.
08-31-2010, 03:56 PM
#29
Rennlist Member
Man what a hoot! Love the passenger side window mounted air vent. That's gotta make a difference lol...
05-05-2011, 10:04 PM
#30
Last weekend we (me, and my team mates, Jeff, Michael and Matt) ran a 24 hour race at the Iowa Speedway. What a fantastic forum for ChumpCar! The short track keeps you constantly in the action with someone yet still is an interesting layout with a variety of opportunities to make the most of your car's strengths and to make passes.
40 cars signed up, 38 started, 30 actually made at least one lap that was reported by their transponder.
Jeff took the green flag for Fine Sausage Racing, ran the first session trouble free.
Michael, Matt and I were particularly please to see him pass car 54 (another 944 driven by some friends) more than once
At the end of Jeff's session we were surprised to find our right rear tire needed to be replaced. The unplanned stop cost us several laps.
After Michael's first session he reported nearly hitting a HAMMER that was sitting on the track in turn 2.
The ‘out lap’ for each of us was directly into a green flag race with zero track time, very challenging.
Our car would take the turn 1-2 (high bank turn) ‘flat foot’, at 90+mph with the tires howling all the way. It would even make it at 90+mph on the apron inside of the banking :O It was hard not to look up at the wall of the superspeedway and wonder what it would be like to have a tire or ball joint failure.
The need to have a pit crewman with a fire extinguisher handy was demonstrated by the Firebird Art Racing Team. When their car rolled to a stop for its first pit stop it erupted in flame. His crew had the fire out in seconds and went back on track after deleting their leaking oil cooler.
Matt's first session he described as a ‘12’ on a stress meter that pegs at ‘10’. Matt told me he spent the second hour of his stint plotting my demise for persuading him to race with us with only one DE under his belt :O
In my first session, I got some lessons in race craft from slower cars that kept using traffic to get in front of me. I spent a lot of the first session nose to tail with a Mustang and a Firebird. The three of us came on three slower cars going into turn 3. We were 2 wide and three deep within inches of each other through turns 4, 5, and 6! Heat and fatigue really added up in the first session. On several occasions I passed a slower car then made a big mistake and had him get in front of me again.
During the 6-7pm safety break we changed tires and brake pads. I showed Michael his traqmate data, he was able to improve his lap times by a full second from a couple of minutes of comparing his data to Jeff's and mine.
Turn 3 exiting the super speedway to the infield was a place our car worked very well. Many of our competitors would brake on the speedway, we could go flat foot into the infield. From there we could trail brake into 4 and do a late brake pass on the inside.
During Jeff's second session near sundown he bent a wheel going off track. The car shook but he finished his stint and fixed it with a sledge hammer later.
During Michael's night stint, a BMW had a fuel leak and a massive fire coming onto the front straight. The race was red flagged, stopping everyone on the track. Safety crews were there in a matter of seconds, the driver was unhurt and the car had only minimal damage. Ironic that painted on the back of the car (even before the race) was 'help me I am on fire".
In his first ever night session, Matt got hit from behind and spun, left facing head on to traffic in the dark. There was no damage other than to Matt's nerves.
During my midnight to 2am stint I lapped the cars that ultimately finished first and second In the middle of my stint the car suddenly quit making any power. I limped to the pits at which point it got better so I went back out and set my fastest laps of the race. I found it easier to late brake in 3 and 4 if I couldn't see what I might run into. I also quit getting held up by slower traffic. In contrast to my first stint, as my 2 hours ran out I got smoother and faster with each lap.
When Jeff went out at 2am the car was back to making no power, after a few laps it quit entirely, he had to be towed back to the garage. We changed the AFM and the car roared back to life. Total time lost to get it towed to the garage, fixed and running again was 23 minutes. A few minutes later Jeff radioed in that it sounded like a bearing was going out in the drive train, he kept going, nobody remarked on the noise again.
Just before dawn, Michael hit a mustang, dented our front fender and the Mustang's door. I fixed it with a crow bar and had him back on track in about two minutes.
Matt and I retreated to the Truck during Michael's dawn session to escape the near freezing temperature, 25mph+ winds and to get a 30 minute nap. It was our only sleep for the night. At dawn the wind blew away our shelter on pit lane at the same time Michael radioed he was coming in. We were afraid he wanted a driver change and fuel, it was a black flag stop and go, Michael waved at us and drove on by.
At the start of my last stint (7:00am) as I drove down the pit lane the transmission was HOWLING. The noise from the driveline that Jeff had mentioned at 2:30am was so loud I could barely hear the motor. The faster the car went the louder the noise got, I expected at any minute for the howl to turn into an explosion but after a few laps just shut it out of my mind and drove. During my last stint and then during Jeff's we steadily put laps on the 'pretty pony' car that Michael had hit in the night. With less than a half hour left in the race, Jeff passed him for position.
Every minute of the last four hours we expected the transmission to grenade, but somehow it kept going.
We shredded 6 tires, burned 120 gallons of gas, and probably made around 1000 passes.
We drove 1221 laps for fifth place.
It was awesome!
http://yourtime-images.com/-/yourtim...otoID=11715058
http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=1855898
40 cars signed up, 38 started, 30 actually made at least one lap that was reported by their transponder.
Jeff took the green flag for Fine Sausage Racing, ran the first session trouble free.
Michael, Matt and I were particularly please to see him pass car 54 (another 944 driven by some friends) more than once
At the end of Jeff's session we were surprised to find our right rear tire needed to be replaced. The unplanned stop cost us several laps.
After Michael's first session he reported nearly hitting a HAMMER that was sitting on the track in turn 2.
The ‘out lap’ for each of us was directly into a green flag race with zero track time, very challenging.
Our car would take the turn 1-2 (high bank turn) ‘flat foot’, at 90+mph with the tires howling all the way. It would even make it at 90+mph on the apron inside of the banking :O It was hard not to look up at the wall of the superspeedway and wonder what it would be like to have a tire or ball joint failure.
The need to have a pit crewman with a fire extinguisher handy was demonstrated by the Firebird Art Racing Team. When their car rolled to a stop for its first pit stop it erupted in flame. His crew had the fire out in seconds and went back on track after deleting their leaking oil cooler.
Matt's first session he described as a ‘12’ on a stress meter that pegs at ‘10’. Matt told me he spent the second hour of his stint plotting my demise for persuading him to race with us with only one DE under his belt :O
In my first session, I got some lessons in race craft from slower cars that kept using traffic to get in front of me. I spent a lot of the first session nose to tail with a Mustang and a Firebird. The three of us came on three slower cars going into turn 3. We were 2 wide and three deep within inches of each other through turns 4, 5, and 6! Heat and fatigue really added up in the first session. On several occasions I passed a slower car then made a big mistake and had him get in front of me again.
During the 6-7pm safety break we changed tires and brake pads. I showed Michael his traqmate data, he was able to improve his lap times by a full second from a couple of minutes of comparing his data to Jeff's and mine.
Turn 3 exiting the super speedway to the infield was a place our car worked very well. Many of our competitors would brake on the speedway, we could go flat foot into the infield. From there we could trail brake into 4 and do a late brake pass on the inside.
During Jeff's second session near sundown he bent a wheel going off track. The car shook but he finished his stint and fixed it with a sledge hammer later.
During Michael's night stint, a BMW had a fuel leak and a massive fire coming onto the front straight. The race was red flagged, stopping everyone on the track. Safety crews were there in a matter of seconds, the driver was unhurt and the car had only minimal damage. Ironic that painted on the back of the car (even before the race) was 'help me I am on fire".
In his first ever night session, Matt got hit from behind and spun, left facing head on to traffic in the dark. There was no damage other than to Matt's nerves.
During my midnight to 2am stint I lapped the cars that ultimately finished first and second
In the middle of my stint the car suddenly quit making any power. I limped to the pits at which point it got better so I went back out and set my fastest laps of the race. I found it easier to late brake in 3 and 4 if I couldn't see what I might run into. I also quit getting held up by slower traffic. In contrast to my first stint, as my 2 hours ran out I got smoother and faster with each lap.When Jeff went out at 2am the car was back to making no power, after a few laps it quit entirely, he had to be towed back to the garage. We changed the AFM and the car roared back to life. Total time lost to get it towed to the garage, fixed and running again was 23 minutes. A few minutes later Jeff radioed in that it sounded like a bearing was going out in the drive train, he kept going, nobody remarked on the noise again.
Just before dawn, Michael hit a mustang, dented our front fender and the Mustang's door. I fixed it with a crow bar and had him back on track in about two minutes.
Matt and I retreated to the Truck during Michael's dawn session to escape the near freezing temperature, 25mph+ winds and to get a 30 minute nap. It was our only sleep for the night. At dawn the wind blew away our shelter on pit lane at the same time Michael radioed he was coming in. We were afraid he wanted a driver change and fuel, it was a black flag stop and go, Michael waved at us and drove on by.
At the start of my last stint (7:00am) as I drove down the pit lane the transmission was HOWLING. The noise from the driveline that Jeff had mentioned at 2:30am was so loud I could barely hear the motor. The faster the car went the louder the noise got, I expected at any minute for the howl to turn into an explosion but after a few laps just shut it out of my mind and drove. During my last stint and then during Jeff's we steadily put laps on the 'pretty pony' car that Michael had hit in the night. With less than a half hour left in the race, Jeff passed him for position.
Every minute of the last four hours we expected the transmission to grenade, but somehow it kept going.
We shredded 6 tires, burned 120 gallons of gas, and probably made around 1000 passes.
We drove 1221 laps for fifth place.
It was awesome!
http://yourtime-images.com/-/yourtim...otoID=11715058
http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=1855898