RPM means Raceway Park of the Midlands

Our first race this season was in early May. The next race close to home was in mid-August. That's a lot of time between races, so the Fart-hinder Racing troupe decided to take advantage of several incentives offered by World Racing League and entered one car for the July race at Raceway Park of the Midlands in western Iowa. The 2.2 mile track, formerly known as Mid America Motorplex, is located just off Interstate 29 a few miles south of Council Bluffs. Towing distance was roughly the same as to Road America from our northern Minnesota headquarters. Iowa in July can be hot, very hot, and it seems we managed to pick the hottest weekend of July to go racing.

We chose to race the Fart-hinder 900 instead of the much faster Fart-kontroll 9-3. The 900 had been geared lower for quicker launch out of the corners, plus WRL had dropped it into the GP4 class, the slowest of their classifications. The 900 drivetrain is very stock, though the engine and transmission had been overhauled with new bearings and seals over the winter. There had been a few minor issues with the car at the May race which required work in the paddock, but nothing really major. Those had been corrected and we figured the 900 was ready to go mechanically. In addition, it received a new coat of paint to cover the black streaks left by an encounter with a tire wall. In addition to the Spa Blue that also graces the 9-3, we chose a deeper green shade for the lower part of the car. Tim was trying to get it as close to U.S. Forest Service Green as possible, but it ended up a little darker. Still a nice shade that compliments the blue. A yellow stripe separates the main colors, matching the yellow wheels.

We arrived on Friday for registration to sweltering heat. Air temp was in the high 90s, with a temperature index of 110 degrees. Some teams that showed up early for a test day reported they had gone through several cases of water that afternoon. Just after the Friday evening drivers' meeting and social, a violent thunderstorm hit the area. High winds wrecked several teams' pop-up canopies, including ours. On the plus side, the rain dropped the air temperature into the low 80s.

Tim was the first driver scheduled and he was on the line and ready to go with the rest of the cars for a 9-hour battle. He hit the starter button... and all of the lights blinked off. A couple of tries, wiggling the battery wires, and it finally caught. He took the green flag, but it was quickly evident that there was a misfire in some corners. He brought the Saab in and the team opened the battery box to check cables. Sure enough one was loose again, it was tightened, and Tim went out to play, last in a class of five cars.

The Saab seemed to be holding up well and turning consistent laps, quicker than a couple of cars in the category, but lagging behind a VW GTI and a Miata. Then another disaster... Mark reported that the exhaust was suddenly very loud. He came into the pits and the problem was quickly obvious. The exhaust downpipe had broken at the weld just below the manifold, where two pipes merge into one. John Stachnik from JAB racing offered to weld it back together, but a patina of rust and 110 volt power made the job more difficult. In addition, the crack had to be sealed completely as it was right next to the inner axle driver. Eventually it was sealed, though hardly pretty, and we were back on track, an hour behind the third place Mercury Bobcat (a badge engineered Ford Pinto). Due to the early transmission failure of the 4-cylinder Mustang in our group, we had moved up to fourth in the standings.

Though the temperature was not as hot as on Friday, in the mid-80s and overcast, it was still plenty warm and we were rapidly consuming the water and Gatorade that our crew, Larry and Cyndi Walter, had picked up for us. They were staying in Council Bluffs and loaded their Fiat Abarth with as much refreshment and ice as it could hold.

We began to strategize.

As the end of the race approached, if we were still running last we would bring the car in early and just head out for the final few laps to be classed as a finisher. If, however, another car should drop out, we would stay out and collect a third place trophy.

It was the latter scenario that developed. The leading VW snapped a rear spindle and lost the wheel, brakes, everything. JAB, who has suffered the same fate on their VW more than once, and has since upgraded to more robust components, offered spare parts so the VW guys could get back on track, but there wasn't enough time left for such a major repair. The Saab held on to receive the third place trophy.

Since RPM is in the heart of farm country, with corn and soybeans growing pretty much everywhere, and herds of pork and beef in abundance, it only made sense for the team to visit a steak house. Instead, we went to a Mexican restaurant. We were, after all, south of the (Minnesota) border.

Another huge storm rumbled through early Sunday morning, but the forecast indicated that the rain had passed and there would be no rain during the day's 7-hour race. The Mustang and VW were DNS, which meant the Saab should be able to be in the podium group again if the car would last to the checkered flag. We knew that the Miata was considerably quicker than our steed, and that we were faster than the Bobcat. Attrition could make the difference. We also planned to make much quicker pit stops, dumping just one 5-gallon can of fuel at each stop. With four drivers, each would use up only six or seven gallons in their stint, so the 18-gallon tank should still have gas at the finish. Our fastest stop, dumping one fuel jug, making the driver change, and checking tires and under the hood, was one minute, 45 seconds.

Aidan Hicks, the youngest driver on the team, was first behind the wheel for Sunday. He went out and drove a steady pace, eventually setting what would be the fastest lap for the Saab over the weekend. As the tires wore down and the heat of the day caused the track to become a bit slippery, lap times dropped a little throughout the race.

Like many good plans, our strategy blew up on us. Once again the Saab sputtered and died on the track while Mark was driving. He was able to get it re-fired and brought it into the pits where the diagnosis was loose battery cables once again. It finally dawned on us (after several seasons of racing this car) that the battery was sliding back and forth in the plastic battery box. The decision was made to fix the problem once and for all. A spare battery cable was located to replace the rather frayed positive cable in the car. It took some finesse and about a half hour, but it did not give us any more trouble all day. On the down side, we were now many laps behind the Bobcat in third place.

Due to the heat and the odds that we could not finish higher than third, we offered the chance to take the Saab to the end to John Stachnik, who had repaired our exhaust, and who had done his first race driving the day before in the JAB VW. Our instructions were to go out, have fun, and don't break anything. We had found out that the Saab did just fine in fourth gear around the entire track when in survival mode, so the clutch and synchros should get little abuse.

Sure enough, John drove it under the waving checkered flag a little after 3:00 PM, and we were presented with a pair of 3^rd place trophies for our weekend's efforts.

Our next outing is back at our home track, Brainerd International Raceway, for a 12-hour ChumpCar World Series race. The 9-3 is the only team car getting prepped for this race, as we only have a few drivers. The plan is to race on the original 3-mile Donnybrooke track, which opened in 1968. Unfortunately that section of the track has been converted nearly exclusively to drag racing. The surface has a coating of tractionizing compound that becomes slicker than black ice when wet. If there is any hint of rain prior to the start, the race will revert to the 2.5 mile Competition Course. If it were to rain during the race on the old track, it would have to be immediately red flagged. Since our front wheel drive Saab loves the rain, we are hoping for rain in the forecast.

Three seconds a lap.

Last minute prep the morning of the race.

Three seconds per 2.5 mile lap of the BIR Competition course.

Easy.

Consistently.

That was the pay-off for our winter's work. Not bad at all. Many race teams spend lots more money to drop a fraction of that amount of time.

But we are getting ahead of the story.

May 2-3, 2015, saw the popular two-Saab Fart-hinder team roll in to Brainerd International Raceway for the World Racing League's Intercomp Speed Festival, a pair of 8 hour races 16 hours of wheel to wheel budget endurance racing.

Over the winter, the Fart-kontroll (Swedish for Speed Trap) Saab 9-3 dozed in Mike Mandy's shop near Ely, Minnesota, until he returned from Florida in mid-April. Since the car was in reasonable mechanical condtition after last season, we focused on suspension upgrades allowed under the latest ChumpCar rules. We ordered new Bilstein Sport shocks from eEuroparts for the front and rear, we swapped our home-made double rear anti-roll bar for a 25mm ARB from GenuineSaab.com. We ordered new Dunlop Direza ZII tires all around. Brake pads were a bit more difficult as there are few racing pads made for the 9-3. We were able to locate EBC Yellowstuff brake pads front and rear, not our first choice but they would get us through the weekend. With good used parts donated by Hanover European Parts, Mike replaced the damaged front bumper, hood, one fender, and rear hatch, and we installed Lexan in the rear windows for better aerodynamics. He topped it off with a quickie paint job using the same Rustoleum Spa Blue that was on the 900

The original Fart-hinder 900, entering its sixth season as a race car, needed more work, so team manager Tim Winker dug deep. He overhauled a spare 2.1L motor, and rebuilt the manual transmission under the guidance of a seasoned Saab tech. While the transmission was apart, he took the time to install a lower primary gear set for quicker acceleration out of the corners (a 30/27 gear set out of an early 99/900 turbo 4-speed for a ratio of 0.90 instead of the standard 0.78 ratio), and also welded the differential. Suspension work consisted of new Bilstein HD shocks all around, and a general refreshing of the front end pieces (some bushings, a wheel bearing, new control arms, steel braided brake lines and so on). If Tim didn't know eEuroparts phone number by heart before, he does now. New Frozen Rotors for the front, with Hawk Blue racing pads, and a set of Yokohama Advan Neova AD08-R tires made the car track ready as well as preparing us for potential contingency awards from WRL sponsor Yokahama. Lexan windows are now allowed in the various race series that we run, so the 900 was fitted with windows as well.

Tim, along with veteran Fart demon Travis McCormick, and virgin racers Ben Wedge and Larry Walter were assigned to the 1992 Saab 900 on Saturday. Four veterans - Mike Mandy, Aidan Hicks, John Hicks, and Mark Fitzpatrick would pilot the faster 1999 Saab 9-3.

The first test of the day came when Tim decided we needed to change the power steering pump on the 900 in the final hour before the green flag. The steering was exceedingly heavy when the car was stopped, so it was assumed the pump had failed. Tim had remembered to grab a spare from his seemingly endless cache of 900 parts just prior to leaving home for the weekend. Aidan and Ben jumped to it, and managed to get the replacement pump in place and topped off with fluid, and only miss one of the parade laps.

When the green flag dropped, Mike in the 9-3, and Tim in the 900 began clicking off laps and smoothly working down their times. Both agreed to drive conservatively to get used to the changes, but it wasn't long before it was obvious that all the extra time and effort had paid off.

900 leads 9-3 into the Cloverleaf.

After the traffic separated a bit, we started to see quicker laps than either car had ever turned. The previous year, the 9-3 managed one single lap of the 2.5 mile BIR short course below 2.00 minutes (1.59.383). This year's best came in at 1.56.383, but more importantly, the car was consistently below 2 minutes. In 2014, the 900 bested the track at 2.06.077. This year, 2.03.077. Again, consistently faster than last year.

Ideally, we could claim a massive increase in drivers' skill, but anyone who took the time to read this far knows better. More likely, it was the suspension work. The Bilsteins really buttoned down the cars. In combination with the bigger rear ARB, they made the 9-3 rotate much better. In the 900, the welded differential certainly helped in the tight corners.

Mike had a terrific battle with one of the BMW 325s for many laps. The 9-3 accelerated quicker out of the turns, but the BMW driver always managed to keep ahead of the Saab, until Mike was able to sneak by. A couple of laps later the BMW was ahead again, but only on the track, not on laps. It had made a pit stop and came back on course just ahead of the Saab.

While the cars ticked away laps, Lisa Fitzpatrick set up the first ever Fart-Hinder Finnish-style Smorgasbord in honor of our Scandinavian race cars (or at least Mark's birthday). We ate pulla, justo cheese, pickled herring, smoked trout, pickled cucumbers, pickled beets, Swedish meatballs with noodles, and more.

We'd like to say it all went without incident, but there were a few issues, mainly with the 900. Nothing major, but enough to spend a few extra laps in the pits for repairs. A snapped wheel stud on the 9-3 meant a longer than usual stop while the broken stub was drilled out.

Travis seems to hate the mirror on the driver's door. Last year, he tipped the 900 on it's side right in front of the pits with only 20 minutes remaining in the race. This year, he walloped a tire wall in a one-car incident coming out of turn 13. No serious harm done other than black streaks on the entire left side, though Trav did get a free physical by the track's medical team. After a quick inspection, the 900 was deemed drivable and Aidan was sent out to finish the final hour The car got a donor mirror borrowed from Tim's daily driver/rolling parts 900. Post race inspection by the team found a torn inner axle boot. Once again a serviceable spare was among the boxes of parts and it was easily replaced.

(VIDEO of crash)

At the end of day one, the faster 9-3 finished 8th overall, and the 900 finished 12th overall.

The changes to the 900 gearbox worked well in most respects. Instead of using primarily 3^rd and 4^th, with a desire to drop into 2^nd for the tight turn 12, the car now did well in 4^th for much of the track, with a shift up to 5^th for the 100+ mph turn 2, back down to 4^th or even 3^rd for turn 3, 4^th for much of the back section, and a drop into 3^rd again for turns 12 and 13. As any 900 owner knows, the 900 transmission can sometimes be finicky shifting into high gear, and some drivers had difficulty finding that gate. But since 5^th is not that much taller than 4^th, the difference was negligible.

For day two, the plan was for drivers to switch cars Ben is a person of the XXL persuasion, and was unable to squeeze into the tighter seat on the 9-3, so was relegated to the 900 again. Mike, John, and Mark would share that car with Ben. Aidan, Travis and Tim would be in the 9-3, with a substitute driver. Larry succumbed to dehydration, a couple of hours driving on the edge, and general stress of his first time racing, so was not feeling 100% for high speed driving on Sunday. Colin Walter, Larry's son who normally drives a VW Golf with JAB Motorsport, agreed to fill in. On a wet track, Colin was able to catch and pass the JAB Golf, which made him even more popular with both teams.

Everything went smoothly until the race was red flagged for lightning. While waiting to be collected by the pace-car, John noticed the temp gauge on the 900 creeping up. Once sitting on pit lane, waiting out the storm, we saw something dangling under the car. It turned out to be one of the two alternator/water pump belts. Under red flag, time stands still and no work is allowed on the cars, so we collected tools and spares while waiting for the race to restart, then set to work. The problem turned out to be the alternator adjustment pivot bolt. It was still hanging in place but had allowed the belts to pop out of place. The belts were replaced, the bolt got a dab of Loctite, and John was sent back to the battle.

The 9-3 never wavered. It just kept clicking off laps. Even when Travis spun between turns 6-7, he just got back on track and kept pushing. After he spun again coming out of turn 2, at about 100 mph and right in front of the 900, two tires were seriously flat spotted, but the car itself was unharmed. He drove in, took on a couple of spares, and sent Tim out to finish the race.

(PHOTO tire swirl)

The charging system on the 900 didn't seem to be 100% after the repair. The adjuster didn't want to hold a position, so for the last 4 hours the alternator light would come on at odd times. The volt meter showed a steady 13+ volts, so we checked on it during pit-stops and kept driving.

Until about 45 minutes from the end when Ben radioed in that the throttle was stuck wide open in the 900. Mark asked if he could pull it up with his foot.  No luck.  Tim suggested stomping on it to free it up. That closed the throttle, but then were was nothing. The cable snapped and we had no spare.

It looked like the race was over, but Mike, Aidan and Travis managed to MacGuyver a fix. A nut, a bolt, and a couple of big washers pinched the parts together. It couldn't be adjusted to allow full throttle, but we only needed to turn a few laps to be classified among the finishers. As a failsafe, Travis also rigged up a hand throttle cable, just in case.

(PHOTOS of fix)

The rule in World Racing League is that the cars must take the checkered flag to be classified as a finisher. With this in mind, and with Tim bringing home the 9-3, Ben gingerly wheeled the 900 on track. Two laps later, both cars crossed the line with the 9-3 finishing 13th and the 900 in 15th.

The final standings weren't quite what we were hoping for, but the race was still considered a success. Everyone got to drive both days, both cars finished with no major issues, and we won some prizes: $100 credit for the "very pretty Saab 9-3" and a set of Yokohama tires from their contingency program.

So back to the Fart-Hinder compound somewhere near Duluth. We will regroup, place a few more orders with eEuroparts.com, and prepare both cars for the next race.

A big thanks to the rbankracing group, especially Robin Bank, for preparation advice and for helping to get us discounts on safety gear. Mike attended the ChumpCar race at Road Atlanta earlier this year to observe and learn from their experience. Given that our 9-3 is essentially the same as the Saabs they are running, we know that car is capable of running competitively. All we need is for our drivers to get more experience so the lap times can drop a little more.

Three seconds more would be mighty nice.

Mark G. Fitzpatrick

Tim Winker

Staying Busy During the Off Season

Snow and cold tend to keep summer racers indoors, making plans for the upcoming warmer months. So it is with the drivers of Fart-hinder Racing.

There have been regular emails, text messages and phone calls between team members.