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.