The BIR Jinx is Broken!

Fart-hinder Racing has been a part of the ChumpCar World Series since it first arrived at Brainerd International Raceway in 2010. Though our Saab 900 quickly failed due to a spun rod bearing, that car became a regular at CCWS races at Brainerd, Iowa Speedway (Newton, IA) and Road America. The team has entered nearly every race at BIR in all those years, but has never finished a race weekend there when ChumpCar was the sanctioning body.

That finally changed this year when our Saab 9-3 - known as Fart-kontroll - not only finished, but finished in the Top 5 overall both days!

In addition, the Gensoku Mazda Miata ran steadily to finish well in only its second race outing.

New team shirts! L to R: Jaret Salmonson, Ian Seppanen, Skip Starkey,
Mike Mandy, Tim Winker, Mark Fitzpatrick, Eric Peterson and John Stiller.

To top it off, we finally had some team t-shirts printed up with a logo designed with the help of Mark Mahla, a graphic artist in Duluth who has a fondness for motor sports. (See top of this column.)

There were a few more changes to the Saab prior to this race. Due to the difficulty of locating racing brake pads for the 9-3, we switched back to EBC Yellowstuffs as they are nearly always available from eEuroparts.com. The Yellows are probably not the best endurance racing pad, but they have served us well, lasting a full weekend before needing replacement.

During our first season of racing the 9-3 one of the front wheel bearings failed, which in turn caused a broken axle and the end to our race weekend. To avoid that happening again, we replaced both front wheel bearings and front hubs with new parts from eEuroparts.com.

ChumpCar had arranged a special price on BFGoodrich g-force Rival tires, so we decided to give them a try. Mark had tried a set on the Miata for the previous race and was satisfied with their performance.

There is very little adjustment available for front end alignment on the Saab other than toe-in, so we lengthened the three holes on the top of the strut towers to allow for camber adjustment as well. A couple of hours in the hands of Russ at Archer Racing and both the Miata and Saab were properly aligned for the rigors of racing.

Both rear doors were a bit dented, so we decided to replace them with doors provided by Hanover European Auto Parts. Mike took the doors home to Ely and spent a day stripping them of glass, motors and much of the inner structure. A stock rear door weighs about 45 pounds; the doors on the race car are down to about 15 pounds apiece.

Ready for another weekend of racing at BIR.

Since the new doors would need paint and new sponsor decals, most of the old decals were removed. In addition, nearly all of the required decals are different between sanctioning bodies, so those were removed from the front fenders. It was a good opportunity to touch up the paint, so we did.

Several drivers signed up for their first time as part of the Fart-hinder Racing group. Skip Starkey had driven with other teams in ChumpCar, so had a good record behind the wheel. Ian Seppanen and Jaret Salmonson had not done any wheel to wheel racing, but both had competition experience, Ian as the driver in a Nissan 240SX in stage rallies, and Jaret in autocross. In addition, John Stiller drove over from Michigan to crew for us, and brought his driving gear just in case.

Gensoku Miata and Fart-kontroll Saab passing the pits.

Our driver lineup would be Mark Fitzpatrick, Ian and Jaret in the Mazda, with Mike Mandy, Skip, Eric Peterson and Tim Winker in the Saab. Larry and Cyndi Walter were there as crew, as was Eric's girlfriend Alicia.

There were fewer entrants to this year's race at BIR, due primarily to a tight schedule. There were races in both ChumpCar and World Racing League only a week or two away from this race, and many Midwestern teams had to pick where they were going to spend their time and money. Ultimately there were a mere 17 cars that started on Saturday, and only 12 on Sunday.

Fortunately there is little to report on the race itself. Both the Saab and Mazda ran a steady pace both days. At the finish on Saturday, the Saab was classified in 4th place overall and 3rd in Class C behind a couple of very quick E30 BMWs. That meant a trip to post-race impound, the first time we have been among that elite group. Many competitors dropped by to congratulate us and comment on how quick the Saab was, especially at higher speeds. Mike Mandy set the fastest lap in the Saab for the weekend at 1:55.25, also a second faster than the previous fastest lap in that car. The fastest lap for all drivers in the Saab was quicker than the car's previous best lap, which indicates that the team is making progress on setting up the car, and that all drivers are pretty damn quick.

The Gensoku Miata finished in 7th place, 2nd in EC (Exception Category). Class EC is for those cars that don't quite fit the ChumpCar rules. The Miata carried the optional factory hardtop, which adds a load of penalties due to its value. The Miata would normally run in Class A in ChumpCar, but the penalty laps would have put it several laps down from the rest of the field at the start of the race.

Sunday started well with Skip at the wheel of the Saab. Not long into his stint, Skip brought the car into the pits with a vibration. A quick check of the lug nuts revealed that the rears had not been properly torqued when they were swapped for the day's racing. He was back on track with minimal loss of time. Tim was next up, but had to bring the Saab back into the pits after a lap as the hood pins had not been properly latched. Another quick fix, but some more time lost on the track.The only other unscheduled stop was late in the race when Mike saw the brake fluid warning light come on. The only reason was that the reservoir was a little low due to brake pad wear. A few ounces of ATE 200 and the Saab was once again in the hunt. At the finish, the Saab was once again in 4th overall, but 2nd in Class C.

The Chump Faces BMW that won on Saturday went home early on Sunday with transmission woes, but not before one of their drivers tucked in behind the Saab for several laps just to observe how it handled. His comment was that it rolls a lot in the corners (we knew that, still working on improving the suspension), and that the driver -- Tim -- looked pretty smooth behind the wheel.

With a shortage of drivers, John Stiller was pressed into driving the final stint in the Miata. He did well, bringing the Mazda roadster to the checkered flag in 6th overall, 2nd in class EC.

Eric, Tim and Mike show off the prizes awarded for our fabulous finish at BIR. Note the new team t-shirts.
Celebrating with some fine selections from Lake Superior Brewing Company in Duluth.

Thus ended another weekend of racing. The Saab and Mazda are both proving to be reliable race cars, and the driver lineup has been exceptional with only a few seconds separating the lap times of the quickest and the slowest. There were a few off course excursions, but none serious, and no bumping of other cars.

Our next race is a couple of months away at one of our favorite tracks, Road America.