Preparing for Season 7

The Fart-hinder Saab 900
 on the pace lap of its first race.

It was six years ago that Tim Winker got a message from Darrell Peterson asking about a Saab 900 that was hiding in Tim's garage. Tim had posted a note about maybe turning it into a racer for the inaugural ChumpCar World Series race at Brainerd International Raceway in June. That was in early April, 2010. Eight weeks later and the Saab was on track. Other team drivers and car builders were Greg Wold and John Hogdahl, and all were looking forward to their return to racing during a pair of seven hour races in a $500 crapcan Saab. Alas, it was not to be, as something apparently went wrong in assembling the engine to the gearbox (the gearbox sits below the engine and also acts as the oil pan). The rod knock death rattle put the Saab behind the wall after only a couple of laps. Rather than swap for another engine, the team chose to pack it in and race again another day.

Thus begins the tale of Fart-hinder Racing. Though most of the drivers have changed, Team Fart-hinder is now preparing for a seventh season of endurance racing, still with Saabs. That original 900, a non-turbo 2.1L hatchback, remains with the team and is likely to see some action during 2016. It is estimated to have over 10,000 racing miles on the chassis during its six years since becoming a race car.

The primary team car now is a 1999 Saab 9-3, powered by a 2.0L turbo, acquired from Team Cougar Bait in 2014. The 185 HP engine is believed to be original to the car, has never been modified, and has an estimated 160,000 miles on it. The oil pan was removed last year to see if there was evidence of sludge, a known killer of Saab engines in street use, but the inside of the engine looked new, thanks apparently to frequent oil changes by previous owners.

The first race on the Fart-hinder calendar for this season is a ChumpCar dual-7 at Road America in mid-April.

A 30 degree work day at Fart-hinder Central

The 9-3 did not need a lot of attention over the winter as it had succumbed to an early clutch failure during its last race in 2015. A few upgrades should make for improved lap times in that racer. The failed clutch, a refaced OE disc done at a local shop, has been replaced by a new Saab Viggen clutch, donated by Minnesota Saab Club member Jim Hickstein. In addition, the brakes should improve with the larger Viggen rotors (308mm vs. 288mm for standard 9-3s) and steel braided brake lines. Frozen Rotors have proven to be outstanding on both the 9-3 and 900, so they were again the source for the Viggen rotors. Mike Mandy, Mark Fitzpatrick, the father and son duo of John and Aidan Hicks, and team captain Tim Winker will do the driving and act as crew.

Installing wheel studs. Note the larger diameter brake disc.

The 900 will need a bit more attention, as the gearbox took a lot of stress last season thanks to the welded ring-and-pinion. It still works in all gears, but there was a good sized wad of metal shavings on the magnetic drain plug when the fluid was last changed. The front motor mount also needs repair or replacement as the mount to the body punched through the two bolts that anchor the gearbox to the chassis. That made shifting difficult, particularly into 5^th gear. That car also suffered a broken exhaust and failed clutch at last year's final race. To do the transmission repair properly will require that the drivetrain be removed from the car. The team has gotten pretty good at removing and replacing the engine/gearbox assembly, now able to do a complete swap in about five hours. The planned debut for that car this year is the World Racing League weekend at BIR in May. The 9-3 will still be the primary car, but the 900 will see action if enough drivers sign on. Saturday's race will be 9 hours, with a 7 hour race on Sunday.

Two drivers with competition experience will join Fart-hinder Racing for the first time at the BIR race. Jeff Gadbois, who has raced competitively in Formula Ford, Spec Racer and Sports 2000 will take to the track after a long time away. Paul Moormann's primary background as a competition driver is behind the wheel of a very fast rally car, a Saab Sonett powered by a 900 turbo engine. In addition, Paul has extensive experience repairing Saabs which will be a valuable asset. Both should be a good fit for the team.

Fart-hinder Racing will once again be a part of the eEuroparts Motorsports Program. eEuroparts.com will share our blog entries with their customers. Cartons of Saab parts from eEuroparts arrive regularly at Fart-hinder Central to keep both Saab race cars, and several street Saabs, running at peak performance.

Hanover European Auto Parts in Hanover, Minnesota, continues to be a major backer of the team. The vast inventory of quality used Saab parts keeps us on track within our meager budget.

But Wait, There's More....

Mark Fitzpatrick has acquired a couple of Mazda Miatas in the past year, and is converting one to meet the rules of ChumpCar and WRL. It is not yet complete, but the roll cage has been installed. It is likely that the Miata (still seeking a good name) will be competing sometime this summer.

Travis McCormick continues to work on his “Molasses” Firebird, and hopes to have the gearbox woes that sidelined it at it's last race sorted out.

Tim has some ideas about replacing the original FHR 900 with another Saab, especially since derelict Saabs seem to keep finding their way to his compound in the hills west of Duluth. That means the 900 race car is for sale, with a large load of spare parts and a complete spare 900 with a freshened engine. It's a great way for a new team to get started in the exciting world of endurance racing.

Falling behind

It has been awhile since the Fart-hinder Racing blog has been updated. A major reason was a computer issue whenever that machine was connected to the Internet. Instead of the usual 4GB/ month, it was consuming 4GB/hour. A new computer has finally been acquired and editing of the remained of the 2015 race tales is happening... slowly. Patience, fans. And watch for the stories on the 2016 races.

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.

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.