Saab wins at Iowa!

No not ours, but the Team Cougar Bait Saab 9-3 that was right next to us in the pits.

After building their car in the paddock at Brainerd a few weeks ago and going on to finish top ten in the Sunday race there, they did little to the car in the interim. Fortunately their Saab was pretty reliable. They did have to replace a serpentine belt or two, but they soldiered on. A late race gas stop by the leading B.A.R. BMW 325 allowed the Cougar Baiters to move into first. A late race charge by the Tubby Butterman BMW 325 kept nicking at the lead, but at the end the Cougar Bait Saab took the checkered flag only 40 seconds ahead of the Butterman gang.

A well deserved win, and worthy of a true Chump team.

Our race ended early

I'm a couple of days late in following up on our activities, but it has been hectic.

With Jesse behind the wheel in the early morning hours of Sunday, about 3:30, the temp gauge climbed into the red. He brought the car into the pits, but what crew that was there at 3am could not see anything wrong so sent him back out. Bad decision made when tired. The temp gauge went back to normal because there was no water in the system. The head gasket had given up its assigned duty and was allowing water into the cylinders. Our race was done.

Still, the Saab ran exceptionally well for its first time out. We were happy with the brakes and the tire wear, and there seemed to be plenty of torque. Not quite like having a turbo, but good enough to worry the V6 drivers.

The race was red-flagged at 4am due to the threat of severe thunderstorms. Organizers threw the flag before the wind and rain started to allow everyone to pack up their pits and EZ-Ups. There was a 6am drivers' meeting, and racing re-started about 7. It was decided to throw the checkered flag at 12 Noon sharp, so the race length was really about 20-and-a-half hours.

Fart-hinder racing was credited with a 12th place finish, barely in the top half of the 24 starters. A couple of cars that had had more problems but were able to keep running moved ahead of us in the standings late in the race, one with only about ten minutes remaining.

Now we need to decide if we are going to do this again. We have the car, we have the enthusiasm. Do we have the time, or the money?

A moment of personal panic

I was suited up and preparing to take over from John Hogdal (who is a madman driver, but smooth!) about Midnight. John came in, I gave the tires a once over, and prepared to climb into the car. Unfortunately I couldn't get the right angle to fit my bulk into the car and I had to try a couple of times. Once seated, I found that I was struggling to breathe. Rather than put myself into a panic situation, I decided to let someone else drive. Greg quickly suited up and hit the road. I caught my breath again pretty quickly once I had the helmet off, so I'll try again in a couple of hours.

During his night driving stint, Hogdal was turning laps around 1:01 & 1:02, right up there with the cars at the head of the pack. He even passed the lead BMW and second place Ford ZX2!

In retrospect, I think the cramped position in the seat, as well as the confining nature of the balaclava and full-face helmet, were contributing factors to my inability to catch my breath. I was ready to drive, but simply could not breathe.

Iowa, 8 hours in

The eight hour mark has passed, only 16 left to go. We did have some issues to deal with.

The gearbox has lost 3rd completely. We can get by with just 4th and 5th, though it bogs a little in some of the slower corners. The tranny case has also developed a leak. It looks like it was patch with some kind of epoxy in the past and that is now leaky. We slapped some J-B Weld on it and hope that it holds.

The starter is toast after the ignition switch stuck on. We have to push the car to start it leaving the pits, but it starts well. It is also running well, with good oil pressure and coolant temp.

Tire wear is acceptable, though we did have one tire with a slice in the sidewall.

This photo was taken just after the re-start. We were ahead of the other Saab on the track, but about 30 laps behind. At the 8-hour safety break, we were in 9th position, 40 laps behind the leader.

We started with 1 hour 20 minute shifts so all six drivers would get track time in the first 8 hours. We are now going to 2 hour shifts, though Tim says one hour will be fine with him (the wuss!)

The Race is On!

A little over four hours into the Iowa race and our car is running well. No serious problems, but some minor ones. The transmission keeps popping out of 3rd gear, so we're driving mostly in 4th and 5th. Top speed is over 100 mph on the back straight just before turning into the infield.

So far the driver lineup has been Darrell, John, Tim and Greg, with Mitch and Jesse yet to drive. When John was driving, the ignition switch got stuck in the START position and the starter was burned out. He lost several laps when he spun and stalled the car. We now have to push the car to get it to start when leaving the pits. The team has decided to steal the starter out of Tim's street 900 and replace it during the one hour Safety Break at 7pm.

We are currently in 7th place. Greg set the fast time for the team, within the top five overall.

Iowa = Corn

If you're surrounded by corn, you're probably in Iowa. Either that or Darrell Peterson is in the vicinity.

Driving lights have been mounted on the hood, dash lights are supposed to be working (hard to tell in the light of day), the car is about as ready as it will get.

In addition to Darrell, John Hogdal, Tim Winker and Greg Wold, there are a couple more drivers this weekend. Darrell's son, Mitch, who has extensive kart racing experience and a championship or two to back it up, will get some seat time. Also invited to drive is our crew guy, Jesse Lang, who has done a lot of work on the car. That means about four hours driving time per driver; about eight SCCA Regional races apiece!

There were some nasty thunderstorms early this morning, but skies have cleared and temps are moderate. Unfortunately the weather forecasters predict "near record high temperatures" for this afternoon. The Heat Index is supposed to get to 110F. Thunderstorms are expected to return overnight.

It's running and on the trailer!

The engine was finished about 1:00 pm on Thursday. It was loaded into Tim's street Saab and delivered to the race shop just before 5pm.

All team members showed up to help with the installation. There were a few setbacks and corrections to be made, but eventually everything was ready to go. It fired up about 11:30 and the car was in the trailer before Midnight.

Engine update

The damaged engine was delivered to SVS last week, but the last of the parts didn't arrive until Monday afternoon.

Still not certain as to why our engine failed at BIR, but it involved oil starvation. The rod and main bearings are all scored. The #1 rod bearing looks like it spun on the crankshaft, leaving scratches on the journal. Hopefully it is deposits and not scratches so the crank might be salvageable. Pistons in the damaged engine look better than the ones from our donor engine, so Mark will probably use those instead. He said the cylinders on the new block look good and honed out nice and smooth. It all goes back together today (Tuesday). It needs to get to the shop in Maple Grove on Wednesday for evening installation.

It looks like it will be a hot weekend in Iowa, partly cloudy with daytime temps around 90F and overnight only down to 70F. The race course uses a lot of the oval, so wear on the right front tire will be unavoidable.

Another engine

Thanks to Mike Straub at Hanover European Auto Parts, we have another 2.1L short block for the Fart-hinder racecar. It will be delivered on Friday to Mark at SVS, Inc. in Duluth, who has offered to do the rebuilding for us. Thanks for all your help!!!

Update 6/12/10: I stripped the pistons and crank out of the "new" short block just after it was delivered to SVS. Took the crank to Midwest Engine in Duluth for polishing, and had the block washed in a dishwasher type parts washer. Adding a bit of paint to the block today (Saturday), while the other team members are busily removing the engine from the race car at the shop in Maple Grove.

2010 ChumpCar at Brainerd, by Tim Winker

A few of my photos from the race have been posted on Snapfish.
Click here to view photos

Team Cougar Bait update

After the engine failure in their 1994 Saab 900 V6 put them out of the race, Team Cougar Bait built a race car in the paddock in about 14 hours. The donor car was a 1999 Saab 9-3 4-cylinder. Though the car body was basically the same, they even used the doors from the 900 on the 9-3, the engine systems were not at all compatible.

The crew transferred the safety gear from their racer, welded the cage in during a late night thunderstorm, and made it to the start for Sunday's 7-hour enduro. Due to the accident there was some chassis straightening required, but the new car, dubbed CB3, seemed to handle quite well, with fast laps competitive with some of the front runners.

Best of all, they took the checkered flag, finishing in 9th place after a late race pit stop for gas. They also received the award for "Off the Charts Mechanical Excellence".

A few roses amongst the stinkweed.

Even though our race weekend was over way too early, it was not a total loss. Darrell invited the mayor of Brainerd, James Wallin, to join us at the track, and he gave a quick welcome during the driver's meeting and was given the privilege of waving the green flag.

John Hogdahl did get a chance to drive the new road course at Brainerd. He was invited to be the Pace Car driver on Saturday. The pace car was pretty much a basic rental Ford Fusion, but John gave it a workout.

Live Fast, Die Hard

Team Cougar Bait is going to try to make the Sunday race. But rather than swap engines, they are going to swap cars. They are in the process of removing the roof so they can cut out the roll cage. They have access to a well-worn Saab 9-3 and have gone to fetch it. They intend to have the important pieces in the other chassis by Sunday's 8am race start.

Why replace the car instead of just the engine? The team was recently offered a car that had been involved in a deer accident. That car has a 4-cyl engine, whereas the engine in this car was a V6. Completely different systems.

There's hope? Not much.

Greg just came by to let me know the team has made a decision. They are going to remove the top of the racer with a Sawzall, and cut out the roll cage. Then we'll remove the top from my street 900, weld in the cage and drive it topless. (I mean roofless, not bare-chested.)

OK, probably not.

I do have a couple of other 900s at home. There's an 8-valve 4-dr in the driveway that runs pretty well.

Nah.

Tango Uniform early in the race.

Remember the movie The Blues Brothers? The Bluesmobile starts smoking and spewing oil on the windshield. Theres a loud knocking sound and Elwood says, "I think we threw a rod." Jake responds, "Is that serious?"

Yeah, it's serious, Like in the dumper. The Fart-hinder Saab 900 ran fine on the pace laps (see picture at right) but a few laps into the race, it lost power and ran hot. The prognosis is that it dropped a rod. We are out of the race with a bad engine.

At the moment we are discussing whether we should find another engine and make an overnight swap. It would not be easy as the 2.1L engine in our car is a bit different from the plethora of 2.0L engines that we have been offered. We are all pretty worn out from the amount of time spent on the car over the last few weeks, so another night of hard work does not sound like fun.

It began to rain as the cars took to the track for pace laps, so we were thinking we might have a chance against the flock of BMWs here this weekend.

The other Saab in the race, the Team Cougar Bait '94 900, may also be out. They split a lower radiator hose which dumped the coolant out, which caused the engine to overheat, and warped the head. They are dumping in a bottle of head gasket sealant and giving the head bolts a little more torque, but they are not optimistic that it will last.

These guys are serious!

We have spent a bit of time on team strategy. We need to be conservative, but not so conservative that we lose places. The weekend consists of two 7-hour endurance races; that's 14 hours of racing.

Still, the team drivers are competitive, and used to running at the front. So we have been watching a video of Greg racing his vintage Mini Cooper S taken from the cockpit of another racer that was following him. That way we get to see his preferred line through the corners. Greg has raced a lot of laps on the new 2.5 mile short course at BIR, so we are relying on his experience to get it right.

Our driving order is: 1) Greg Wold, 2) Darrell Peterson, 3) John Hogdal, 4) Tim Winker. In order for everyone to get equal time behind the wheel each driver would stay on the track for 50-55 minutes and get two shifts per day. We will see how it goes.

I should also point out that Greg John and Darrell have kept their youthful physiques, while too many years of sitting on barstools and eating fast food have put me at a disadvantage to the tune of 100 pounds or more. They are generally smaller, jockey types, while I lean toward my big-boned German ancestors. Greg runs marathons. Most of my exercise comes from running off at the mouth and jumping to conclusions. The driver's seat is quite wide, and there is plenty of room for my ample derrière, so the other guys have to add lots of padding.

We have arrived!

It's a beautiful day in the Brainerd Lakes Area, temp in the upper 70s, sunshine, slight breeze. And we have gotten through scrutineering without a hitch. We even have 8 bonus laps, 5 for a contribution to the local food shelf, and 3 for our theme!

It looks like the final entry list is about 25. There are some very nice cars, and some true Crap Cans.

Darrell and Tim brought their Remote Control Electronic "Whoopie Cushions" and are emitting plenty of ... um ... background noise.

As to the other ChumpCar teams, you can kiss our butt ... literally!

The excitement level continues to build!

Several ChumpCar teams have pages on FB and the chatter level there is high. Likewise on our FB page. I am already in the Brainerd area and will be at the track probably by late morning. The rest of the team and the Fart-hinder Saab will arrive later in the day.

Picked up a new still camera (Nikon L100 on deep discount) and a couple of inexpensive video cameras (Vivitar) to use at the track this weekend. Still need to buy film ... I mean SD cards ... and batteries, lots of batteries.

I found my video camera mount, so it will be installed in the car later today.

The forecast is for rain. Rain is miserable if you are in the pits, but if you're on the track in a Saab, it is great fun!

~ Tim

There's always one more thing to do

It's the last night we work on the Saab before its race debut on Saturday. Greg, Darrell, John and Tim are all in attendance. Jesse Lang was here for awhile and is working on radio communication between drivers and the pits. Mike Straub came by with some spare parts.

Brakes - done.

Battery box mounted to floor - done.

Roll bar padding - done.

Inspection hole in roll cage - done.

Trim seat so we can hit 2nd gear - done.

Install safety harness (borrowed from Greg's Mini) - not done yet.

Exhaust - nearly done.

Making a box full of spares, some borrowed.

Anyone who has ever raced knows that the car is never really finished.

The race is a couple of days away and the car is ready?

There are a few issues to finish off, replace the rear brake pads and install roll bar padding, but it looks like the Fart-hinder Racing Saab 900 is ready to hit the asphalt at Brainerd International Raceway.

The decals and numbers were added last night (thanks to our sponsor Dave Erikson at ProGraphics!!!).

It could use a paint job, and a few other non-essentials, but it's ready for tech, or at least will be after tonight. We'll be packing up our spares and tools, and heading for the track on Friday.

Unfortunately there is no practice prior to the race, so there will be no chance to see how the car will run in competition until the race is on. Greg has driven the car around the shop vicinity to check brakes and make sure the tranny works, but we won't know for certain how it works above 80 mph until lap 1.

Ya gotta start somewhere

In order to provide up-to-the-minute action from the Fart-hinder Racing Crap Can effort, we have created a blog. You are reading it. Our intent is to keep you informed on our team as it happens.

We have had a Facebook fan page for about a month, and over 150 followers there, but viewing that is limited to Facebook users. This blog will allow anyone with Internet access to check up on the race team. It will also keep us from clogging the Facebook walls of those who are only mildly interested in Fart-hinder Racing. Look for that page here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fart-hinder-Racing/105559672821287?ref=ts

A little history: When I was visiting Sweden in 1987, walking around Gothenburg, I spied a road sign that had a couple of bumps and the words "Fart-hinder" below. I handed my camera to Tom Remedios, my traveling companion, and had him take a photo of me and the sign. After all, the phrase has a completely different meaning in English. Anyone who knows me knows that the phrase in English is appropriate.

When looking for a team name for the ChumpCar effort, I tossed out a lot of ideas to the other team members. Since our car is a Saab 900, built in Sweden, a Swedish phrase seemed appropriate. From the deep recesses of my mind came that sign in Gothenburg. Everyone agreed, it described our team on several levels, not the least of which is Scandinavian heritage on the part of most. And we are all from Minnesota, where Swedes, Norwegians, Danes and Finns are the rule.

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