Seven Motor Sports

So Chris and I worked on Friday night. Phil was at the dirt track races and Jeff was with his girl. So what did Chris and I do? Drank beer (well Coke for me). It appears that converting the front brakes to 1.6 turbo jobs may not happen. Chris has called two companies to order the calipers and both have been out of stock. Forever. We'll give it another shot, but 1.5 stuff may be our only choice for this race.

We did test fit our $30 Pull-A-Part special radiator, and installed the coolant catch can. Jeff needs to get the intake manifold done for our carburetor installation, but in the mean time we checked our valve lash and timing. About the only other thing we've accomplished in cutting out the fenders. It seems that during the last race our fenders were riding the top of the tires in the turns. A sort of anti-sway bar if you will, at least until you saw your tire in half. Problem fixed.

Maybe we work better under pressure....

So is this a post about all the amazing work we're getting done? Not hardly. In fact we haven't done a thing. Chris hasn't even finished ordering our new brakes (in his defense though, the retailer was sold out). However we do have plans to work this Friday night. Can't promise that we'll accomplish anything, but at least we'll be in the same room as the car for a change!

Anyway, on to more important news. We here at Lab Rats HQ have discovered a new way to go bankrupt have fun racing. Enter Chump Car! What is this "Chump Car" you ask? Click on the link to find out, or if you're too lazy I'll give you the quick and dirty version. Chump Car is 95% identical to The 24 Hours of Lemons. The primary differences are in the penalties and the tracks used. Chump Car has already scheduled 16 events for the 2009-2010 season with the closest one to us being Rockingham. There's also a race in Georgia which we'll probably crash participate in as well. Many of the races are true 24 hour endurance events as well, so there will be much more opportunity for hoonage! Since the two series are so similar, we figure that many of the same cars and teams will be participating in both (like us!). Frankly, we're pumped about the opportunity to add Chump Car to our annual racing experiences!

Alright, back to thinking about working on the car. We'll let you know how we do.....

Just got the word from the head honcho today. We're accepted! Sweet. I tell you, it's a lot nicer getting in right from the start than having to sit on the waitlist and hope someone else drops out.

Of course as you know, there are ten weeks until the race. This is usually the time that everyone is scrambling frantically to build their car in time for the race. Not us. Our car is mostly done since it's the same car from the last race. We're currently cleaning the gas tank, and we need to put new pads on the front of the car, but that's it. Actually I think we need to add a brace to our cage per the new rules, but that will only take Jeff a few minutes.

I think the biggest project is going to be mounting the cameras on the car. I haven't decided whether to use DV camcorders or web cams with a PC yet. Ten weeks goes quick though, so I better get on it. We'll keep you posted!

And to Honorable Supreme Court Justices Lieberman and Martin (pen name), we'll see you in September!