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.

Some days you get the bear

...and some days you just get the beer.

Photos by Jake Galstad and Tim Winker

A bit rumpled, but still racing!

Our weekend of racing at Road America nearly ended a couple of minutes after the green flag fell.

It could have ended a week earlier with the discovery of a transmission problem.

Instead, it ended with the Fart-Kontroll Saab 9-3 finishing both 7-hour ChumpCar races with few issues.

Getting ready for another race

Repairs were necessary to the 9-3 following the failure to finish at the Brainerd ChumpCar race in August. The left front strut and wheel hub that ended the race for us were replaced. In addition, the aftermarket springs that had cost us penalty laps were replaced with stock springs. The Fart-hinder 900 would be sitting this race out, as the damaged transmission replacement would have to wait for the off season. John Stiller's Awesome Racing Chevy Cavalier would be the second team car. With a 4-cylinder engine and automatic transmission, it was a tortoise among a herd of hares.

Tim and Mark took the 9-3 to Brainerd a couple of weeks before the Road America race for a bit of testing. We played with the angle on the rear wing and were able to pick up several MPH of top speed. Near the end of our day, however, the brake pedal slowly went to the floor under hard braking. It was still possible to stop, but not confidently. That indicated a failing brake master cylinder.

On a Saturday with only a week to go, Tim and Mike tore into the car to repair a transmission leak, and found a bearing failure. That meant our questionable gearbox would absolutely need to be replaced. Hanover European Parts had already provided us with a spare gearbox, but it meant many more hours of work. And if the spare box had issues, we probably would not make the race.

Mark, John and Aidan joined the work crew on Sunday. While Tim replaced seals in the spare gearbox, the rest of the team replaced brake pads (EBC pads from eEuroparts), the master cylinder (with a good used one thanks again to Hanover European Parts) and made other minor repairs. With many hands to hoist it into place, the gearbox was quickly installed. A damaged roll bar link kept the racer from being finished, but Mark and Mike were able to complete the job on Tuesday. A brief run down the road (damn good thing that Fart-hinder Central is on a dead end road) and the 9-3 was pronounced ready to race.

A pair of new tires were ordered for the front end, the Dunlop Direza ZIIs, to replace the two that were destroyed when the safety vehicle dragged the car into the paddock at the Brainerd race.

Saturday's race

There were seven drivers lined up for this event and we would be sharing two cars, the Saab and the Cavalier. They were Tim Winker, Mark Fitzpatrick, Mike Mandy, John and Aidan Hicks, Travis McCormick and John Stiller, owner of the Awesome Racing Cavalier. In addition, Larry and Cyndi Walter, Lisa Fitzpatrick, and Aidan's friend Sweden were on hand as crew.

Green flag, and the front bumper is still sort of straight.
Just behind the 9-3 is the Team Failcar Saab 900 Turbo.

Tim was the first driver for the 9-3 and joined the 80 car field on a very chilly, rain dampened track for the warm up laps. As soon as the green flag fell, he took advantage of the turbo engine's torque and passed a few cars. His intent (so he claimed later) was to just get used to the power and handling of the car, which he had not yet driven in a race. He passed a much slower car entering the Carousel, lifted for the turn, and the rear end snapped loose. He tried to regain control, but instead found himself on the wet grass sliding toward the Armco barrier on the inside of the turn. The front bumper slapped the Armco, the car spun around, but the engine was still running so he got back on track and headed for the pits.

Tandem drifting, the start of the first lap spin. The Swiss
Cheese car just ahead also tried to spin in the Carousel.

The damage appeared to be only cosmetic so Tim went back on the track for nearly two hours, coming in a littel early during a full course caution. He was informed that he was close to being black flagged because the brake lights were on all the time. It took awhile, but an adjustment to the brake light switch at the pedal took care of the problem.

Mike went out for his 2-hour stint, then turned the Saab over to Mark. A few laps later Mark was back in the pits complaining that the turbo had no boost. The wastegate had become disconnected so the turbo was not creating boost pressure into the intake as it should. Aidan found the problem, made a quick fix, and Mark was back on track, shaving 10 seconds off his earlier lap times.

Since Travis somehow twisted his back early Saturday and was in too much pain to drive, John Stiller took the final stint in the 9-3, bringing it home under the checkered flag. We were officially classified as 37^th place, 16 laps behind the winner. The replacement gearbox worked great, shifting as smooth as butter, even on those occasions when the driver clicked into 2nd gear to pull through The Bend after The Carousel.

The Awesome Racing Cavalier being hounded by the IROC Camaro that eventually won on Saturday.

The Awesome Racing Cavalier kept a slow but steady pace to be classified in 41^st place. Aidan and John Hicks took time behind the wheel of the Chevy to get used to the 4-mile Road America track. Mark brought the car home. Brake pad wear was an issue, but not as bad as at Gingerman Raceway earlier in the season.

Sunday's race

The Trav-Am had problems with shifting
and ignition, and only ran a few laps.

Travis had hauled his Pontiac Firebird to the track just in case it was needed. With the consent of ChumpCar officials, it was decided to race that car instead of the Cavalier on Sunday. Travis's back was still giving him trouble, so John Stiller took it out on the track first. Unfortunately the automatic transmission did not want to shift into high gear, so it came into the pits after a couple of laps. They were unable to find the problem, and eventually the Trav-Am would not run at all.

The Cavalier was again put back on track, with consent of ChumpCar officials, of course. Since it took to the track about an hour after the start of the race, and was one of the slower cars on the high-speed course, it was never a threat to the race leaders.

As if to protest its early relegation to paddock queen, the Cavalier started to overheat. It turned out to be a stuck thermostat. The offending thermostat was gutted (because you need some restriction in the cooling system) and the Cavalier went back on track with John Stiller at the wheel. He tried to calm it down... kind of like the guy talking to his iPhone 5 in the iPhone 6 commercials.

Aidan gets ready for his first laps behind
the wheel of the 9-3 at Road America.

In the meantime, Aidan Hicks was first driver for the day in the 9-3. After his two hours he turned it over to his dad, John. The only real issue of the day was when the ABS cable from the left front brake wore through due to contact with the front axle and the anti-lock brakes quit working. This meant that the rear brakes would lock up during hard braking, but careful modulation kept that to a minimum. Tim put in his two hours without incident, and Mark brought the Saab home for a 31st place finish, 19 laps behind the race winning MR2.

Thus ended our fifth season of racing crap can Saabs. We got involved during the first season of ChumpCar racing at Brainerd with drivers Darrell Peterson, John Hogdal, Greg Wold and Tim Winker. There have been plenty of other drivers since then, and several races each year. Plenty of highs and too many lows, but a lot of fun along the way.

We are already making plans for 2015, with a couple more drivers planning to join the team. In addition to the usual races at Brainerd and Road America, we are considering racing at other tracks in the Midwest. Work has already started on prepping both the 9-3 and 900 for another season of endurance racing. There is even a possibility that the 900 may see action in an ice race or two during the winter months.

Team photo, and a toast with Lake Superior Brewing's Oktoberfest.

A big thanks to our 2014 sponsors:

• eEuroparts.com
• Hanover European Parts
• Lake Superior Brewing Company
• Meyer Garage

The Cavalier looks pretty fast in this photo.

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.