Some days the bear gets you.

Final prep on Friday evening before the race weekend.

High hopes. That's what the drivers of Fart-hinder Racing had going into the dual 7-hour ChumpCar World Series weekend at Brainerd International Raceway. The new car, a 1999 9-3S, was dubbed "Fart-Kontroll", Swedish for Speed Trap. It had done well in testing. A bit faster than the 900 and with several costly additions such as Voigtland springs and solid motor mounts. After a couple of weekends adding necessary safety upgrades and making it more user friendly for our tastes, we had few worries about its potential. It was registered as #196, to complement the other car's #96.

The 9-3 is now part of the Fart-hinder Racing stable.

Likewise the 900, entered under the familiar Fart-hinder name, was ready to go. There was that annoying gearbox leak, but checking at each pit stop and topping off as necessary had worked for us at the World Racing League race in May. The required fire system had been plumbed, the bent rear bumper was replaced, as was the broken driver's side mirror, and the paint scratches were touched up.

The latter two, as well as quite a bit of gravel, were the result of Travis' late race cow-tipping at the WRL event. We had vacuumed gravel out of the engine compartment and the driver's compartment and the doors. When we got to the track we found still more gravel that had worked its way down into the engine compartment from various cavities.

Both cars sailed through tech with no safety issues. The 1992 900 is now valued by ChumpCar at $350, well under the $500 maximum, The 1999 9-3, however, has a base value of $450. Add on the non-OE springs and motor mounts and the Lexan windows, and the value jumped to $570. At one lap for every ten dollars, #196 would start with a seven lap penalty.

The #96 900 heads under the bridge to turn 13.

The required CCWS sponsor stickers were added, our sponsor decals were added (thanks to eEuroparts.com, Hanover European Parts, Meyer Garage and Lake Superior Brewing Company), fluids were checked or added, and a GoPro camera was mounted in each car. We even had time for dinner at Pancho and Lefty's, a Brainerd race weekend tradition.

Tim was first out in the 900, Mike would start in the 9-3. From the first warm-up lap, Tim realized that the left front wheel bearing was making noise. He had thought he was hearing that same bearing at the WRL race, but it was not a certainty, so it was not replaced between races. Bad move.

Despite the concern over the wheel bearing, Tim pushed the car hard, taking turn 2 at an indicated 105 mph and topping out at 110 before braking for turn 3. There were several places on the track where the engine's stock rev limiter would kick in at 6,000 RPM in 3rd gear. It would be great if there were a way to bump that to 6,500 RPM. Maybe it's time to switch to a Trionic ignition system kit from eEuroparts.

The ball bearings were blue from the heat.

Tim drove the car up to the 50 minute mark, then brought it in for Chris to drive. Chris was new to the team, having signed up only a week prior. He had taken many driving schools including Skip Barber schools at several tracks and the Performance Driving School at BIR, but this would be his first time at wheel-to-wheel racing. Tim let him know that if the car felt odd in steering to bring it in.

Chris did well, quickly settling into a steady pace of consistent lap times, and setting the quickest for the 900 at 2:06.077. After about an hour, the 900 rolled to a stop in turn 3. The bearing had failed, seized and caused the axle to snap. It must have gotten very hot as there was a lot of smoke coming from the right front corner of the car. The rubbers boots on the ball joints had even begun to melt.

The axle shaft sheared off in the wheel hub.

Fortunately we had spares, so the team set to making repairs. Aiden, Travis and John did much of the work while Tim handed them tools and supervised. A couple of hours later and the #96 was back on track with John behind the wheel.

We had staggered our planned pit stops so that one car would come in each hour for fuel and driver change. The 900 was in at hour one, the 9-3 would come in at hour two. That way each of the seven drivers was scheduled for two hours behind the wheel. Mark took over from Mike in the 9-3 and slowly worked his way to the car's only sub 2 minute lap times, his best at 1:59.383.

Travis got into the driver's seat at about the 4-hour mark and quickly settled into the new ride. He was able to rip off a lap at 2:01.570. With the 7-lap penalty the 9-3 started the race in 38th position, but it was up to 16th during Travis' stint. Unfortunately the BIR jinx struck once again when the left front wheel hub snapped and the car ground to a halt at the entrance to the pit lane. We had no spares, so the 9-3 was finished for the weekend.

This was John's first time racing the 900, and he kept a conservative pace, though he did reel off one lap at 2:07.718. Near the end of his stint, Travis caught the 900 and we were able to get a few photos of the two Saabs in proximity on the track. John knew that the 9-3 was quicker than the 900 so pulled over to let Travis pass, but he did it at one of the worst places on the track, turn 2. When he let up on the accelerator, the 900 snapped sideways at 80+ mph. John was able to gather it up, but he came in on the next lap and turned the Fart-hinder car over to Aiden.

Fart-Hinder 900 and Fart-Kontroll 9-3 between turns 11 and 12.

While the team tried to figure out if there was a way to repair the 9-3, Aiden kept up a steady pace as well, learning the 900 and the quick way around the 2.5 mile Brainerd road course. But near the end of the race, the gearbox failed and the 900 once again rolled to a stop. The transmission case had fractured where the primary gear is located, and the chains that drive the innards all snapped. The only solution would be to pull the engine, go home to get a spare gearbox, and install it in time to make Sunday's race. A few calculations and it was determined that at best, we might finish the work at 3 A.M. The team decided that sleep was preferable to an all-night thrash. We are, for the most part, older guys who need a good night's rest.

Loaded up for the trip home.

So the BIR Jinx at ChumpCar events continues to stymie our efforts. We did get farther this time than we have in past races, but neither car made it to the checkered flag.


The Fart-hinder / Fart-Kontroll team did receive recognition at the awards ceremony, however. The team made its first appearance at the 2010 Chumpcar race at BIR and has remained active in the series, running a few races every season. For that, we received a $100 gift certificate from Frozen Rotors, something that will come in quite handy as we were planning to upgrade the brake rotors on the 900 before next season.

Thanks ChumpCar! Thanks Fans! Thanks Sponsors! We will see you next at Road America in October.