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?