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What's the dumbest thing you've ever done at the track?


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Posted

I'll start... today at VIR running w/ Mazdadrivers I wasted 2 hours cursing, driving to the auto parts store, and wrenching to change out the fuel pump when the problem was an empty fuel cell. My father and I share the car and he came in saying it had cut off. Well the fuel pump sounded strange (duh it was pumping air) and I didn't event consider that it could be empty (no gauge).

 

Then to add insult to injury my starter switch stopped working.... we'll it'd work intermittantly. After my last session I started trouble shooting... spent an hour only to find that the toggle switch nut that holds it to the switch panel had loosened up and it was preventing the full range of motion so the starter wouldn't get power.

 

What an annoying day... hopefully tomorrow will be better... Oh and I started this weekend off my having my GF try and help me load the car on the trailer Friday AM and she proceeded to direct me into the right trailer fender and it ripped off my front bumper. Thankfully the two best tools for this Panoz are gorilla tape and zip ties... all was fixed up fine.

 

-Brian

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Posted

- A while back, I found out how many times you have to spin in one race to get black flagged for a talk with the race director. The answer is about 5. I probably should have just disconnected something to balance out my busted front sway bar (nasty snap-oversteer), but hindsight is 20/20 and it was my 2nd race weekend.

 

- At my last race, I qualified 2nd, despite being on garbage tires (R888's with 20+ heat cycles), then forgot to put my hood pins in... it flew up, so I stopped to fix it and ended up starting the race 3/4 of a lap down, which effectively killed my entire race.

Posted

Does wrecking count?

 

Back when I first started lapping I went and did a 3-2 'upshift' and long enough to see the needle on my tach reach 6 o'clock. Spectators said its sounded like an F1 car, needless to say if lasted the drive home before needing a rebuild.

Posted

This weekend I drove down to VIR on Saturday morning rather than Friday night so I was already running late. In my haste to get the car off the trailer and through tech, I forgot to set the e-brake before undoing the tie down straps. Undid the last strap and the car rolled right off the trailer, ramps weren't even pulled out. It happened so fast there was nothing I could do. Somehow, the only thing that got damaged was a couple small bends in the front splitter, everything else was fine. I had just finished making the splitter the night before to replace one that was previously damaged so it was a bummer, but could have been a whole lot worse.

Posted

Dan is your car silver? I think I was behind you on my last session for the cool down lap... sharp car.

Posted

Dumbest thing? Ever tried to go racing

 

On my old IT7 RX7, after qualifying, I swapped over to a fresher set of rubber I just had mounted to some new to me wheels. After lots of BS with lug nuts, (had to cut the ends off of the captive nuts so that the longer studs would run through-longer story) I had it finished in plenty of time for the race. Car felt wierd during the pace lap. Green flag dropped and the entire field left me like I was standing still. After about 4 laps of sheer frustration, the SM field caught up with me in the carousel. As I started to turn in, the throttle stuck (another long story), the back end came around and I spun out and zinged the motor (both feet in right?)

 

Ended up the new wheels didn't clear the bottom of the ball joint with the ISC spacers. Never even thought to check if the wheels still rotated as they came off of another competitors IT7 RX. There was a nice line ground into the wheel about 1/8" deep.

 

Also, welded on the RX7 about 20 minutes before qualifying and forgot to pull the MSD's. That was also an expensive mistake.

 

After replacing the motor AND the throttle cable (I had convinced myself it was the cable) promptly zinged the new motor when something in the throttle linkage was flipped the wrong way from the rebuilder and bound up under WOT.

Posted

My first comp school at blackhawk farms when i was a senior in high school. I had saved the whole year before to put my dads old rx7 ITA car back together, buy tires, rebuild our beater trailer, etc etc. Second on track session towards the end the car starts to stumble on the last straight before the front straight. Not thinking too hard i decide i need gas so i finish the session slow and pull in and dump 5 gallons in. After each session the stumble worsens and i keep putting in a 5 gallon jug afterwards. Finished the entire comp school learning how to drive around running the car on fumes because it never dawned on me i may have needed more than 5 gallons to fill the car back up.

 

Oh, this was all after i trailered the car to the track and did not realize the ramps were in my back yard still from when i loaded the car but not the ramps

 

Darn kids know everything...

Posted

I did the same thing Dan did when returning home after a weekend. I saw the car start rolling and grabbed the strap holding it with all I could (luckily was a very slight incline) Yelled out for my wife to come help, thinking I'd been run over she ran out and was able to grab the brake before it rolled off.

 

I had pulled onto the trailer while still warm and didn't want to set the P-brake. Forgot to set it at the gas station on the way home and car must have jumped out of gear.

 

Second thing was bringing all but one size turbo coupler the car uses. Of course it's the one that decided to pop off 3 laps into each session and lose an entire day. Luckily Lowes has a nice drainage selection

Brian

Posted
Dan is your car silver? I think I was behind you on my last session for the cool down lap... sharp car.

Yep that's me, I was admiring the Panoz as well I'll have to take a closer look at it in October.

Posted

nothing too bad comes to mind unless you want to count driving my TT car on the street about 800 miles to compete in NASA Nationals in 2006 and 2007. Or if you want to count competing at that high a level with no extra safety equipment beyond the stock stuff. Good thing TTF is kinda slow

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Never rush a job:

Parked car after session, leaky lower hose; vented radiator, tightened hose, popped cap, filled up the system.

 

Ran the engine for a minute to get the air out. Shut it down, removed radiator cap (forgot to vent it).... screamed like girl, looked around to make sure no one saw me, located my ratiator cap in the grass, topped off the car, tended to the burns to my face and hands.

 

Ever wear a head-sock with a burnt face? Gloves on burnt hands? Luck kept the stuff out of my eyes.

Posted

my first TT car I had the seat nearly bolted directly to the floor. could barely see over the dash (vision was fine on the track) but sitting in something like the paddock, you couldn't see anything in front of you for about 30 ft. we were at a new track in upstate NY and I driving through the "paddock" I drove the car into a 4 ft deep washed out gulley/construction drain ditch darn thing just jumped out in front of me I guess...

Posted

back when I was driving the car to the track, I took the car and my gas cans out to fill them up friday night after setting up camp. Next morning I get suited up and in the car, and head out for practice. Well about one turn in and I hear "something" fall over in the back of the car and after a quick glance in the rear view I see the bright red gas cans still in the back of the car. I somehow managed to get back to the paddock without spilling a drop.

Posted

Back when I first bought the 'bee I wanted to shake it down before taking it to my first track event, which was about a month away. I did a regular autocross and it was "ok" but so short that it was impossible to get a feel for the car. So I was excited when I found out that BeaveRun and the local track folks around Pitt were having an autocross - but on the kart track, not the main track. I went through the car the night before and decided the tires should probably be rotated since I wasn't sure how long they had been run by the previous owner. The track day was going pretty well but by the end of the 1st session I could tell there was a real understeer problem. I figured it was just how the car was set up and stuck with it through the 2nd session. I got a little faster, and as I was sitting outside the car waiting on "grid" for the 3rd session one of the other folks came up and was chatting about the car. We talked for a few minutes until he asked "How do those wide 225 tires work under the front wheels?". It was then I looked at the back tires and realized that when I got the car it was set up with staggered tire sizes... 225's on the back, 205's on the front, and when I had rotated them and put the wide ones on the front, narrow in the back

Posted
225's on the back, 205's on the front, and when I had rotated them and put the wide ones on the front, narrow in the back

 

no shame there, do you know how many GOOD performance tweaks were "discovered" accidently like that

  • 1 month later...
Posted

During my first season with a comp license I did a lot of stupid things, yet I still look back and it was the most fun racing season ever! I had one especially bad weekend, my third weekend with a race license, still a rookie, at Motorsports Park Hastings.

 

During the warmup session I head out and forget to put my window net up, I get meatballed, and miss the meatball flag for a lap. The race director gave me a stern talking to in the pits, while he was telling me how stupid I was I put my helmet on the roof of my car, forget about it and drive back to the pit with the helmet still there. Luckily, it didnt fall off and get ran over .

 

Thennnn, during the qualifying session... I qualified well enough, but at the end of the session, with my mind thinking how awesome I did and distracted with other things I completely blow the track exit! Im about 30 feet past the exit, stopped in the middle of the track, and the corner worker signals me to turn around as Im the last car on track, well the race director didnt like the whole, car in reverse on track, deal. I get another scolding.

 

AND THENNN.... I cant remember how this happened, but somehow my alignment got majorly screwed up and the car had massive toe out in the front. I was understeering every corner and the tires were screaming like hell, I thought, "whatever" Ill still race it. Despite this issue I still had a well secured 3rd place position for most of the race until... http://rm944.com/events/2007-08-25_26%20Hastings/Chris%20Big%20Spin.wmv

Go hot into the turn, understeer 2 wheels off, try to save it, spin the car, kill the engine, engine wont start, and worst of all the mirror is crooked Good thing I fixed that mirror!

 

 

 

 

Looking back its all very funny now but at the time it was very embarrassing, especially since that was my first weekend as an instructor... I had major "brain fog" that day and was a total NOOB.

Good times!

 

Oh, and Weston's above post didnt even include video. Dont worry Weston, I'll take care of that for you.

http://www.youtube.com/user/WestonP22#p/u/10/5y2w3e9hM54

 

He also forgot to mention one of his very appropriate nicknames, "Spinny McSpinsalot!" Dont buy his whole, "my car had problems blah blah blah." excuse.

 

Man, what a fun and stupid season!

Posted

Stern talking, race director and rookie season... Isn't that a requirement?

 

I know I had it (never missed a flag since then either). I bet you never forgot your helmet, net or track exit since then, huh?

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

The dumb stuff you do is a whole lot dumber when you do it more than once. At a DE I pulled onto the track and BAM, up goes the hood... hood pins not in. The next season I spent all kinds of time going through the check list before a race and damn if the hood didn't go up at the drop of the green flag. I got off track quick enough but the starter was worried I would hit his truck as I passed by in the grass. Now there is blue tape on the steering wheel that says "Hood Pins Stupid."

  • 4 weeks later...
Posted

Go to Nationals in 2008 and have Phil's Tire mount up my rain tires for the first wet practice. This was the first time for me in the rain and only my 8th race day. Get the tires on and go out forgetting to check the pressures. Now Mid Ohio is a real pain in the rain but it's extremely difficult running 38lbs on one side and 43lbs on the other as well as being 260lbs overweight. Once I dropped the pressures down, it was much better although still a pain.

 

Didn't put hood pins in for first lap at Watkins Glen and somehow the hood did not fly up. Came in and had the Pit out person secure them. Lucked out.

 

Left my helmet in the car in the garage at Pocono. Pocono not having garage doors, my car not having windows, and it being an extremely humid night had it soaked for days. Ichy.

  • 4 weeks later...
Posted

At a DE one year in the M3 I owned at the time. First day was great. At the end of the day, a track buddy brought back a chainsaw I had let him borrow. "Just throw it in my trunk" I tell him, as I make my way to the nearest cooler.

 

Needless to say, after the first session the next day, my instructor was wondering what the clunking coming from the rear of the car was...

Posted
At the end of the day, a track buddy brought back a chainsaw I had let him borrow.

 

Who needs a sawzall

Posted

I went out on track without my helmet on once. It was hanging on a helmet hook.

 

I'm also very good at going out on track with stuff in the car.

Posted

At Gateway 2 years ago. The RM 944 Spec guys came out and we had a class of 14 944 Spec cars, most of whom were already on the "new improved" ( ) R-888's. I was busy doing series director stuff, when I see my class pull out of grid. I run and jump into my car, putting everything on as I go, and arrive at grid just as the field is taking the green flag. I start from pit lane, and put in the drive of my life, and pass 13 cars (helped in retrospect, by my "old" RA-1's ) for the win! My elation of this win from pit lane was cut short when I realized that I did not put up my window net in my rush to get on track. Putting this up on the cool down lap didn't help . I got moved to the back of the field and fined for my safety violation.

 

I now have a checklist, and don't rush with the safety equipment. Better to miss the start than miss limbs!

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