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.

A Piece of ChumpCar... and Saab... History.

During ChumpCar's inaugural season, 2010, the CCWS circus landed in Brainerd, Minnesota, for an early June race. Dedicated readers will recall the Fart-hinder tales from that first event as disappointing. But there was another Saab that hit the track that weekend, and the story of that team's weekend was legendary.

Cougar Bait Saab takes the green flag, shortly before the engine overheated.

Team Cougar Bait, based out of the Twin Cities, had run a few events in the 24 Hours of LeMons in a Saab 9000. After a couple of less than satisfying races, they switched to a Saab 900/9-3. The later version of the 900, known to Saab aficionados as the NG900, or Next Generation, arrived in 1994, and was renamed the 9-3 in 1998. With the help of Saab dealer Marty Adams (Meyer Garage and Iowa City Saab in Iowa), the team was ready to blow the doors off the other $500 racers with a 3.0L V6 out of a Cadillac Catera. The NG900 came with a 2.5L V6 built by GM of England. A 3.0L version of the same V6 engine was used by Opel, which built the Cadillac Catera to the U.S. market.

Removing the safety gear from the disabled NG900.

About a half hour after the drop of the green flag, the Cougar Bait Saab lost a coolant hose. Their hot zoot V6 overheated and blew a head gasket.. They didn't have another V6 engine, but did have a line on a similar Saab with a good engine, a 1999 9-3S that had been in a front end accident and totaled by the insurance company. Dogfood Dave in Duluth had offered it to the team a few weeks earlier for a price well under the $500 ChumpCar limit. A quick phone call, and a pair of team members headed northeast to Duluth to fetch the Saab.

But there was a problem. The Dogfood Dave car had the 2.0L turbo engine, and a completely different fuel system. A simple engine swap would not do. Instead, the safety gear - roll cage, racing seat, harnesses, everything - would have to be transferred to the new car.

Stripping the replacement Saab to turn it into a racer.

With some team members en-route to pick up the car, the other team members began removing what might be needed from the racer. By the time the other car arrived, about 5 hours later, the racer had been mostly stripped of necessary items. Then the team had to strip the interior of the replacement car of seats, carpets, headliner, and insulation. Doors were completely removed, as the perfectly usable doors from the racer held the numbers and other required decals.

Building a race car in the paddock is not an easy job. Team Cougar Bait worked past the finish of Saturday's 7-hour race, into the evening, and well past dark. While other teams went off to dinner, and later to get a decent night's sleep, TCB were welding the roll cage into the new car into the early hours of the next morning, using a 110-volt welder running off a gasoline powered generator, in a thunderstorm.

Their work paid off. The car was ready to go with less than an hour before Sunday's green flag. The scrutineer checked it over to make sure all was safe and approved it for racing. It made the start and ran a pretty good race, but did need a top off of fuel with only a few laps remaining in the race. The team finished 9th overall, in a car that had been built at the racetrack.

On the way to a top ten finish at BIR.

- - - - -

Fart-hinder Saab 900 (left) and Cougar Bait Saab 9-3 at the start.

But the story doesn't end there. A few weeks later Team Cougar Bait took the same car to Iowa Speedway in Newton for a 24-hour race. Though their Saab was not the fastest car on the track, it got better fuel mileage than the BMWs, and ended up as the race winner, less than a lap ahead of the Tubby Butterman BMW which was catching up by over a second a lap in the late stages of the race.

The Fart-hinder Saab 900 did not fare as well in the Iowa event. Though it ran in the top 10 for much of the time it was on track, it was officially classified in 12th place after succumbing to a head gasket failure in the 15th hour of the race.

Unfortunately, life intervened for the members of Team Cougar Bait ... marriage, kids, new jobs ... and the car sat unused in a covered trailer for over a year. (A tech sticker in the windshield indicates it ran a 24 Hours of LeMons race at Autobahn Speedway in Illinois in October of 2012.) A few inquiries, an offer to buy, and the same Saab 9-3 is now in the stable of Fart-hinder Racing.

It was meant to replace the reliable-but-not-so-fast 1992 900S, but a potential buyer for that car backed out so it remains with the team for now. The debut of the new car, in its red-over-white homage to the Brock Racing Enterprises championship winning Datsuns of the early 1970s, will be at The Blueberry Wars, a pair of 7-hour ChumpCar endurance races at Brainerd International Raceway on August 2-3.

Tim was able to take the newer Saab to Brainerd recently for a little testing and he reports the 9-3 has considerably more acceleration, top speed and brakes. The BMWs and Hondas had better watch out.

Test day at BIR with the former Cougar Bait 0-3 and Saab 9000 Aero tow car.

It's raining. It's pouring. The old Saab is eating up the race track.

Photos provided by Jerry Winker (www.comicozzie.com), Alex Bellus and Tim Winker. 
Video provided by Travis McCormick.

We actually finished the 12-hour Hawk Performance World Racing League Enduro at Brainerd International Raceway. It rained much of the day, and our FWD Saab 900S took to the wet track like a pontoon boat to nearby Gull Lake. But it was hardly a cruise to the finish. It was, rather, filled with changes in strategy, and a fair amount of drama.

In auto racing, as in most endeavors, there are the amateurs and there are the professionals. The primary difference is the pros have found a way to make a living at it, while the amateurs need a day job to support their sport.

But there is also a hierarchy among the amateurs. There are those who spend a lot on their hobby, with fully stocked garages, enclosed trailers with work benches and cabinets, and some form of tow vehicle, usually a motor home.

On the other end of the amateur spectrum are the truly grassroots racers. Meet Fart-hinder Racing (that's Swedish for Speed Bump. Really! You can look it up.). We sometimes have a garage to work out of, if it isn't full of other projects. Our tow vehicle is an older minivan, our trailer is a tow dolly. We scrape to buy parts and pay entry fees. But we get out there a few times a year and get some track time in a 1992 Saab 900S with a 200,000 mile salvage yard engine.

Our most recent race was under the rules of a new racing body, the World Racing League (www.worldracingleague.org). The WRL was formed as an affordable way to go endurance racing with cars from several sanctions. It was born out of the increasing popularity of ChumpCar World Series and 24 Hours of LeMons, but includes cars built to SCCA Improved Touring rules, NASA, Spec Miata, and BMW and Porsche Club racers. There are several classes, based on the horsepower to weight ratio (PWR). Consequently, cars that haven't got a chance in ChumpCar where there is only one class, the alleged $500 crapcan, will compete against cars with similar power.

LeMons is more about the party than about the actual racing. ChumpCar has fallen prey to teams who build multi-thousand dollar engines knowing that the odds they will get protested are minimal. SCCA and NASA primarily run sprint races where the strategy is to go as fast as possible for a half hour. WRL provides a venue for all of these groups to compete in endurance races, not unlike the 24 Hours of LeMans, the Daytona 24-Hour and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

The WRL race we entered was a 12-hour enduro at the track closest to home, Brainerd International Raceway in central Minnesota. We had hauled our Saab to BIR for some ChumpCar races, but gremlins kept us from finishing, and in one case, starting. Our strategy was to go out and have some fun, and to finish. Anything else was gravy.

Mike heads into turn 12. Still raining.

Initially our classic Saab 900 was placed in the GP3 class, the slowest of the three classes currently in the WRL rules. But at the weigh-in, our car came it at 2280 lbs. The factory rating on our bone-stock, high-mileage engine is 140 HP, for a ratio of 1:16.3. That put us at the low end of GP2, where the allowed PWR range is 1:15.1 to 1:18.0. GP1 is for cars with a PWR of 1:12.0 to 1:15.0. GP3 is for cars with 1:18.1 or greater. There were six starters in GP2, including a couple of BMW 325s that had added ballast so they wouldn't have to race in GP1, a very quick VW Golf and an even quicker Hyundai Accent, and an older Mustang sedan with a 4-cylinder and a turbo.

Heavy overnight rains continued into the day and the 12-hour race took the green flag on a very wet track. Tim was the first driver, and his ice racing experience showed on the slippery surface. After the first hour he had moved the Saab up to 10^th overall and 1^st in class! Even on the damp asphalt the stock speedometer indicated over 90 mph through Turn 2 and up to 105 mph before braking for Turn 3.

Speaking of brakes, we had just installed a set of Hawk Performance Racing brake pads before the race weekend. Their stopping power was remarkable, considerably better than the high performance street compound (purchased very cheaply on a closeout sale) that we had used in previous years.

EggBoy Racing SHO with a damaged front bumper
after smacking into the back of our Saab.

Our game plan was for each driver to do a 90 minute stint behind the wheel, then do it again later. Unlike some groups which limit drivers to no more than two hours, WRL does not have a time restriction on driving. We quickly found out that other teams in our group were aiming for longer driving stints and fewer pit stops. In addition, faster drivers were taking the wheel in the other cars, while slightly more cautious drivers were up next on the Fart-hinder lineup.

Mark and Mike each did their 1-1/2 hour stints on a wet track as well, with only a few issues. While Mark was braking for the tight left-hand Turn 12, the Saab was smacked from behind by the much heavier Ford Taurus SHO of EggBoy Racing. The hit knocked the rear bumper on the Saab slightly askew, but really twisted the front bumper on the SHO. Jeff Krekler from EggBoy came over to apologize, explaining that the driver was on his first lap and had not yet discovered how little traction he had in the wet.

Travis puts extra pressure on the left front tire.
Photo by Alex Bellus.

As Travis, our youngest and quickest driver took to the track, the rain began to let up, and it wasn't long before he was lowering lap times on the drying surface. We also began to rethink our strategy. We weren't that far behind the competition; the extra pit stops were a factor in our position. We told Travis to stay out a little longer than the usual 90 minutes.

By this time, the Hyundai had spent many laps behind the wall making repairs, and the VW was out with a transmission issue. The Mustang had to stop regularly for water as there was a small leak in the cooling system. We were now in 2^nd place again, behind one of the BMWs.

When Travis turned the Saab over to Tim a bit past the halfway point, the car was still running well, though we did have to add transmission oil about every stop. On the recommendation of another Saab team, we were using Honda MTF, a synthetic lube which apparently keeps the gearbox running cooler. Unfortunately our very stock, very old transmission seals had trouble keeping the fluid from leaking out. As Tim got in, we also noticed noise from the water pump. Tim said he would watch the temp gauge, but to locate the used water pump among the spares we had brought along and have it ready to install just in case. After a dozen or so laps, Tim brought the car into the pits for another potential race-ending issue, he felt a vibration in the left front which he feared might be a wheel bearing. In all the racing miles on the Saab, the wheel bearings had never been replaced. No odd rattles were found in any of the bearings. When he went to start the car again, it made an odd sound and would not fire. The team pushed the car, but it still refused to start before the end of the pits, so Tim wheeled into the paddock to figure out what was wrong. One final attempt to push start the car and it fired up. Tim returned to the track, hoping the vibration was just a flat-spot on a tire.

Just in case we needed to cut out a driver change / pit stop later in the race to stay ahead of the competition, Tim stayed out for two and a quarter hours. He also drove in higher gears so the engine, and therefore the water pump, would not be quite as stressed from higher RPM. There were less than three hours of racing remaining when he turned the car over to Mark. It began to rain again, and Mark was happy to turn the car over to Mike after less than an hour. Mike, too, was glad for a shorter stint on the slippery surface and Travis belted in for the final hour to the checkered flag. The rain had gotten heavier. So much so that there were flood warnings for the area the next day.

We begged Travis to take it easy. We had a substantial lead over the third and fourth place cars, so if we maintained a steady pace, we would be on the podium in our class. He was still setting pretty quick lap times, but what follows could just as easily have happened from a momentary loss of concentration at the cautious pace or from pushing hard under treacherous conditions.

With 20 minutes remaining, Travis tipped two wheels off the edge of the track on the exit from turn 11, the beginning of the main straight in front of the pits. That set the car into a backwards spin, it went off on the opposite side of the track, got caught in the gravel trap and ended up on its side, driver's door in a puddle of water. Travis unbuckled himself, climbed out the passenger window, and gave his best Evel Kneivel impression standing on the door. The rescue crew arrived and decided that the race would have to be red-flagged for them to safely tip the Saab onto its wheels. (In reality, a couple of strong guys could have pushed it over in a matter of moments.) It was decided that with only a short time to the checkers, the Saab would have to stay where it was until the race was over.

But, but, in order to be classified as a finisher under WRL rules, the car has to cross the finish line under its own power. No pushing, no towing, no assistance.

Travis stands on the wall away from the large puddle
where the Saabmarine ended its sideways journey.
Photo by Tim Winker (taken through the fogged glass of the tower window).

The WRL rule book is clear:

a. Cars must take the checkered flag to finish the race.

b. A car can not be pushed or pulled across the finish line by the driver, other drivers, crew members, or spectators.

Tim and Mark sought out race director Joey Todd for a ruling. Joey was reasonable. Once the race was over and the other cars were off the track, the rescue crew could tip the car over. If it would fire up and drive the short distance across the finish line, it would be considered a finisher.

So that's what we did. While other teams began their post-race teardown or impound, we stayed near the rescue effort. Once the car was on the pavement again, Tim got in and tried the engine. It fired right up! Despite a flat rear tire and lots of pebbles trapped in in the brake backing plates, the Saab crossed the finish line, then drove into the paddock for impound. A cheer went up from those in the pits. We wished we had champagne because we felt like we deserved it. Fortunately other teams handed us beers so we toasted with some of Minnesota's finest brews.

Mike Mandy, Tim Winker, Travis McCormick and Mark Fitzpatrick

After the awards were handed out, and after packing up in the rain, we decided we needed to go to dinner. We all still had our Nomex driving suits on as they were required for anyone over the wall during fuel stops. Since we were drivers and crew, we just kept them on all day. All of us were too exhausted to try to change, and we didn't have a dry place to change anyway since we did not have an enclosed trailer. We all wore our very damp Nomex to the restaurant.

Trophy for 2nd place in GP2.

Testing, testing. Is this thing on?

The Saab got a workout on Friday before the World Racing League enduro, as we took to the track for some testing. Brainerd International's Performance Driving Schoool had an open track day, so we entered. Good thing we did as we found several issues.

Since Hawk Performance is the title sponsor of WRL, and we were in need of new brake pads, we ordered the Hawk Blue racing pads. They arrived on Thursday, after some odd shenanigans with attempting to order directly from Hawk. Tire Rack came through with 2-day FedEx delivery and we were able to install them before going out on track. They work GREAT! Much better than the old Metal Master pads we have used in previous seasons.

Once on the track, Tim felt a misfire above 5,000 rpm. We checked the spark plugs and wires and found two plugs that were not quite tight and a not quite snapped into place spark plug wire. The Bosch plugs of unknown age were replaced with a set of new NGK plugs and the engine now runs great!

Another problem we encountered was a sudden intermittent misfire. Mike was out for a practice session when it happened and came right into the pits. It turned out to be the negative battery cable which had apparently not been tightened properly.

Travis took advantage of the BIR Performance Driving School to get some track time in his 1984 Chevy pickup. He recently added some 50-series Dunlop performance tires and wanted to play.

With those issues on the race car taken care of, we were expecting a good start to the race. And it appears we were correct... for a change.

Another race season, another race series

There is a race car somewhere under all that snow.

It has been a long winter at Fart-hinder Central. A very long winter. It was without a doubt one of the snowiest and coldest on record in northern Minnesota, and our poor Saab spent it outside. Under a LOT of snow.

The Saab was parked outside the garage, with the gas cans, tires and some spares still in the back. Fortunately the water was drained and some old coolant added so the block would not burst.

Once the snow was mostly melted, a battery charger was connected, and after a few hours of adding electrons, the starter button was given a try. Rr-Rr-Rr-Vroom! Just like that.

For those who haven't been paying attention, this will be the 5th racing season with our old, mostly reliable 1992 Saab 900S. It was built in less than two months for a June ChumpCar race at Brainerd International Raceway. An engine failure early on put the 900 on the trailer, but the team put it back together for a race at Iowa Speedway a few weeks later and managed a pretty fair showing.

The first race on the Fart-hinder schedule this year is with a new group, the World Racing League. Former ChumpCar regional director Joey Todd has been listening to the suggestions of Chump teams over the past few years and came up with a new endurance racing series that will allow ChumpCar, 24 Hours of LeMons, SCCA, spec series cars from BMW and Porsche clubs, and just about any other racing group to participate. Cars are divided into classes based on HP to weight, so even though our Saab may be on track with a bunch of faster BMWs, Acuras and Porsches, we will no longer be competing directly with them.

The May 31st WRL race, held at our "local" track, Brainerd International Raceway, will be 12 hours. We have four drivers entered: Mark Fitzpatrick, Mike Mandy, Travis McCormick and Tim Winker. Now we need to get the car ready.

Right front pads on the left side of the photo
 are worn through to the backing plates.

Mark came over on a Sunday afternoon and he and Tim went over the car, making a list of what needed to be done. The first problem encountered was brakes. The pads on the right front were worn down to the backing plates, the left fronts were very thin. Fortunately the brake rotors look good. Unfortunately the right front caliper piston will not go back into the caliper housing. Parts have been ordered.

After last year's scary experience of having a ball joint fail while driving through the Road America Carousel turn, Mark has insisted on new ball joints. They are on the way from eEuroparts.

Also found a crack in the header pipe along a weld. It had been welded before, shortly after Tim acquired the car, so a replacement is needed there as well. A friend happened to have one in a pile of scrap metal he was getting ready to recycle. It is in good condition, so we'll buff off the surface rust and put it into service.

Those are the primary issues, and we have a couple of weekends to work on the car before the May 31st race.

As to the rest of the racing season.... Mark and Mike will be joining John Stiller in his Chevy Cavalier at the ChumpCar race at Gingerman Raceway in Michigan on June 14-15. With two races fairly close together, we decided to pass on the June 23rd ChumpCar 10-hour race at Road America.

Instead, we will concentrate on getting a NEW (to us) race car ready for the August 2-3 ChumpCar race at Brainerd. We are in the process of fetching a different Saab for future races. More details in a week or so.

A Successful Weekend at Road America

Photos by Tim Winker, Alex Bellus and Optima Batteries.

After our DNS at Brainerd, Fart-hinder Racing (a.k.a. Vintage Ice And Gravel Rally Racing Association / VIAGRRA) was looking to get some track time to make up for it at the Road America "Drift Into Winter" ChumpCar race.

A test session at Brainerd six weeks prior had revealed a few areas that needed attention, most notably the brakes. It turns out that when the anti-lock brake system was neutered in the first racing season, it de-activated the ABS pump which acted as a power boost for the brakes. As a result, the pedal was very hard, and the rear brakes were not working at all. They had not worked since the Saab's first race in 2010! A few hours of study and it was determined that the ABS pump could be activated by re-connecting a few wires that had been clipped out. Sure enough it worked. A few other minor details were cleared up, and we even had time to add a front air dam. With two weeks before the race, the car was ready to go!

The two-day, 16-hour race was primarily the Central Region Chumpionship, but there were only 27 cars entered for that, with teams from Minnesota to Texas participating. An additional 60 cars made the green flag on Saturday morning for a total of 87 cars on track. Fart-hinder Racing was grateful to be among them.

In addition to the usual drivers -- Mark Fitzpatrick, Mike Mandy, Travis McCormick and car owner Tim Winker -- John Stiller from Detroit would join us again. Our primary goal for the weekend was to drive fast and spend as little time as possible in the pits. Finishing in the top half would be a bonus.

Tim was the first on the track, taking the first few laps to get comfortable behind the wheel again and taking no chances. After passing a couple of slower cars, it wasn't long before the front runners were putting the Saab a lap down. Tim's early lap times were over 40 seconds per lap slower than the lead group. He picked the speed up a bit, but the bone stock, 200,000 mile Saab engine provided by Hanover European Parts didn't have the snort of the freshly built, higher horsepower engines in the BMWs. Tim's fast lap was 3:29.07 for an average of just under 70 mph on the 4.1 mile track. With the speedometer working again, it showed over 100 mph at the end of the main straight and as much as 110 on the slightly downhill straight before turn 5.

Collapsed front suspension due to ball joint failure.

The 9-hour session on Saturday was divided into five driving stints of an hour and 45 minutes apiece, with a little time left over for pit stops. Tim came in after his full stint and handed over to Mark. On his fifth lap, the Saab's suspension failed in turn eight, the Carousel. The car was hauled back to the paddock on a flat bed and deposited in our stall. It was quickly obvious that the lower left ball joint had failed. The tire was pushed back against the fender, the inner axle joint was pulled out, and the shock absorber had separated from the lower A-arm. Among the spares we had suspension uprights for both sides, so set about removing a ball joint from one, while we also removed the ball joint pieces from the car. The upper A-arm looked a little twisted so we tried to tweak that back into shape before installing the lower joint. It all went back together with little difficulty, but we didn't have the proper sized nut for the lower shock mount. Since were were parked next to the other Saab 900 team entered, Team Failcar, we raided their spares for a nut, only to find that the threads on our car had been stripped. We contemplated drilling a hole in the stud to pin the nut into place, but eventually just pounded the end of the stud flat, like a rivet.

Mark went back onto the track after nearly two hours, 40 laps behind the lead car. It wasn't long before he trusted the car enough to give it his full effort again. He came in at his specified time and turned the car over to Mike.

Mike had never driven the Road America course before, so spent the first few laps getting used to the course and the car. His stint behind the wheel was uneventful and he came in after a little over an hour.

John was up next and also had an uneventful ride, other than besting Tim's so-far quick lap. His time was 3:27.89, for an average of 70 mph.

Mark and Travis prepare to check under the hood,
while Mike helps John get strapped into place.

John turned the car over to Travis, the most aggressive driver on the team. It wasn't long before his lap times were quicker than the rest of the team, eventually turning a 3:20.97! With a little over a half hour remaining, Travis brought the car in for Mark to get some more laps before the end of the day. The checkered flag was given at about 5:40 pm, nine hours after the green flag was dropped.

The team gave the car a once over, checking for loose nuts and bolts or anything that looked out of the ordinary. Mark reminded Travis to check the ball joint bolts that had been replaced. Good thing because they were quite loose, apparently had only been put on finger tight and not snugged down with a wrench. They were tightened properly before the car was lowered off the jack. Tires were swapped front to rear for the second day's action.

It should be mentioned that the weather was a little cooler than normal for late October, and there was frost on the cars when we got up on Sunday morning. There was a bit of fog in the air as the cars took to the track but it quickly burned off into a lovely autumn day, though it remained cool.

Mike heads into turn 1 on the first lap.

Mike was first up for Sunday's 7-hours of racing, and other than having to stop in the pits for a loose wire to the ABS pump, had no incidents. John, Mark and Travis each took their time in the racing seat, each besting their previous day's fast lap. Once again Travis was quickest of the team with a 3:17.50, an average speed of 73.7 mph.

By the time Tim got aboard for the final hour and a half, it was starting to rain. After a few laps the rain came down harder and several cars spun on the wet surface. A full course yellow was declared so safety crews could retrieve the broken and damaged cars. More than a few had gone off and impacted a barrier, and would not make it back to the race. Tim spun once in turn 12, and got quite loose in 14, prompting him to pull into the pits to see if maybe a rear tire had gone flat. All tires looked good, so it was back on track. Lap times were much slower due to the rain, but Tim was passing cars that had drivers apparently being extra cautious to finish the final hour.

The checkered flag was dropped at the appointed time and it was over. Another BMW had won overall, and the first place trophy in the non-Chumpionship category went to a BMW from Duluth. The Fart-hinder Saab was unofficially classified in 44th place overall.

We toasted the weekend with a selection of beer from Lake Superior Brewing Company, who had kindly provided us with a couple of cases of their product.

Our primary goal had been achieved. We finished with little difficulty and every driver got a load of track time. The car came home with no body damage, only a crinkled front spoiler from the ball joint incident. We finished ahead of the BMWs Tubby Butterman, British-American Racing, Cheap Shot and several other top teams that did not make it to the finish. Smiles all around.

Thanks to our sponsors: eEuroparts.com, Hanover European Parts, Lake Superior Brewing Company and Airport Signs and Graphics.

Tim, John, Travis, Mike, Mark, and a rather twisted air dam.

Let's just drive fast

Sometimes you just want to drive fast. To push your car to its limits, as fast as possible through the corners and hard on the throttle until you have to stomp hard on the brakes for the next turn. Just you and the machine, exploring the maximums of adhesion. Unfortunately there are laws that restrict that sort of activity on the public roads, and it tends to annoy other drivers. It's worse when you have a race car with a loud exhaust and no lights.

You can go racing, of course, but for those of us who participate in ChumpCar World Series, that means about three races a year within reasonable driving distance.

Regular readers of our blog (both of you) will recall that we were unable to start the ChumpCar race at Brainerd due to an engine issue. Tim did build another engine, which he refers to as "the engine I hope we never have to use". That's because it's a pain in the butt to swap engines. Instead we installed a good used 2.1-liter Saab engine acquired from Hanover European Parts. Bone stock with many miles on it.

It was wet as we unloaded, but the rain
was pretty much over for the day.

It ran pretty well on first fire-up after installation, but the only way to be sure it worked good enough prior to the next race at Road America was to get some track time. Fortunately, the BIR Performance Driving School has track days. And they offer a special rate for ChumpCar testing.


Every few weeks, the track allows drivers to take their cars on the course for a day of play. That usually means street legal cars that can go wa-a-a-ay past the posted speed limits. Cars like Corvettes, Porsches, BMWs, Mustangs, Lotuses (Loti?) and the occasional Panoz. We took the Fart-hinder Racing (a.k.a. V.I.A.G.R.R.A.) Saab 900S for a day of play. Three team drivers were on hand to flog the Saab: Mark Fitzpatrick, Mike Mandy and Tim Winker.

Mark slid off into the soft, wet sand across from the pits.

The day began with Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and very heavy rain. But there was a classroom session and rides with the school's instructors, so by the time we were released for the first track session, the rain had stopped and the track was merely wet.

We did encounter a few issues: A small coolant leak at the throttle body, which disappeared after a couple of track sessions, the wipers did not work, the tachometer still does not work, and the rear brakes seemed to be doing little if anything to slow the car. None of this mattered in the big picture. The Saab was on the race track and turning laps at full speed!

There are a couple of places on the BIR track that have a higher pucker factor, notably Turn 2, where the fastest cars lift or brake for a moment. It is possible to take it flat out in the Saab, but we slowed a little due to the wet conditions and since we weren't racing against anyone. Turn 8, the Cloverleaf, also gave us all difficulty, but every driver has the same issue as to the quickest way through there. Tim spun the car there a time or two when the surface was still wet. Mark had a problem on the straight in front of the pits and slid into the sand where the car became mired up to the axles. A hard tug from the tow truck and it was back on track, shedding sand on the straightaway.

Mike dives at Turn 12 in the wet.

As the track dried out and we became more familiar with the car, our confidence levels also went up. We didn't keep lap times, but it was obvious that the car was faster on the track. We each took at least three 1/2 hour sessions and came away full.

We have just over a month to work on the problems we encountered, and to make a few minor improvements prior to the race at Road America.