24hr Lemons Recap: Towery dominates lap battle,thanks Andy 4 knocking off transponder

[towerymt]

We raced the cheetah wagon at Summit Point last weekend on the Shenandoah circuit. It was a tough race, but a great weekend.

Friday during practice Pete and Rob drove the car and the trans wasn't working so they swapped it. We went through tech and BS inspection (class A, 0 laps) and took it out after lunch and the trans felt great.

I started the race at 10am Saturday and ran 2hr+. Car felt good and everything worked. I dropped the right rear passing 3 wide under braking in T1, and I dropped 2 wheels and got away with it at T3. Otherwise a clean stint.

Andy took over around 12:30. He drove well but was feeling the heat so he came in a few minutes early after about 1.5hr. I think we were top 10 by this time. I saw we were as high as 4th early in the day.

Rob took over and kept us in the top 10. Usually around 6th-8th. Then he drove 4 off but made a nice save (as we heard later from the onlookers). His first black flag! I'm so proud! The fur made him drive off.

Pete took over somewhere around 3:45. At some point there was a full course black flag that brought in the entire field and he said he'd be in at 5:15 for a splash of gas, then he'd go til 6.

At 5:15 Pete pits, Rob and I are are suited up and ready to fuel, but Pete jumps out and says we've got trouble. Horrible noises from the rear end, driveshaft is loose?, rear end is busted?, put the rear in the air and start it in gear. Sounds bad. Having been the only one to hear how bad it sounded, Pete didn't have to try hard to talk us into swapping the rear rather than continue.

Borrowed an axle from Keystone Kops (welded, fortunately) and proceeded to swap it in 45min. Pete and Rob did ALL the work, and Andy helped. I sat back and did nothing but borrow brake pads and lugnuts to fit the long studs (our Turbo nuts wouldn't have worked). I swapped the rear pads as they were nearly done swapping the rear. I suited up and went back out...to the hot pit, where I sat for 10min while a flipped MB 190 was towed in. We were under full course black, AGAIN!

I was 3rd in line leaving the pits when we went back to racing. The lead car was the scooby doo subaru that was gushing gas on left handers. After a couple of full-course-caution laps, we went green. Keystone Kops got around the scooby and I was just setting him up coming onto the front straight when he lost the rear in his own stream of gasoline and around he went right in front of me. Then went chasing after Keystone. Within 2 laps I caught him...then he drove 2 wheels off at the hook and I figured I had him, but I think we went full course black pretty soon after for a massive wreck on the other side of the track.

As the spun Subaru made it's way around again to start/finish, it got the black flag it deserved for spinning earlier. But for some reason the driver jabbed the brakes, causing the 940 behind it to cut left, contact was made, and around went the 940 in the middle of the straight, sliding sideways and slamming the wall at ~70+.







http://www.willmeyer.com/things/my-capitol-offense

I drove past the debris field and the wreck is by far the worst I've seen in Lemons. It was caused by driver mistakes, but ultimately it's a racing incident. It's risky out there.

So we got another 20-30min break in the hot-pit while the track was cleared, then we went back to racing, probably around 7pm?

I didn't know what ratio our borrowed rear was. But in the few green flag laps I drove, I thought it felt taller. Once I got back out and started running laps, I realized it was the original rear from Keystone's 84 244 M46...3.31. I topped out at 99mph in 3rd gear with revs to spare. 2nd gear became very usable. We were ~30 laps behind in around 30th place with nothing to lose so I went for it. The car was MUCH better. I could drive it hard off slow corners in 2nd and make passes I couldn't make before because 2nd was too short and 3rd too tall. We didn't need 4th anymore, just 2nd and 3rd. I knew the car was faster...but I wasn't sure if I had enough to set fast lap.

At around 7:50 the slight exhaust leak I heard turned into a big exhaust leak. It broke REALLY far up stream, so much so that the car filled with oil smoke from the engine/turbo. I slowed and pitted on the lap it broke, knowing it wasn't worth continuing. Yep, downpipe broke at the turbo and started melting the wiring harness...but didn't really hurt it. Lucky.

We finished the day in 30th out of 117 after changing the axle, rear pads, and breaking the exhaust. And we had one black flag.

Sunday morning started off with downpipe repair. The racing started a little after 12 noon, so there was plenty of time. Good as new! Thanks Andy.



Andy started off Sunday and was driving great. He was passing people and not getting passed. Then he drove 2 wheels off coming onto the straight. He came in to the penalty box on the same lap before even getting flagged and they released him immediately, so he stopped by our pit and rob ripped off the broken dryer-duct-brake-duct and he went back out. He was back in ~15min later for fuel and a driver change when the course went full black for an accident that broke a piece of the wall near the karussel turn.

Rob got in and promptly waited 30min in the pit lane while the track was repaired. Then he asked us to check if the transponder was still on the front...nope! The front spoiler, air deflector, brake ducts, and transponder were ripped off when Andy went off. Hmm...we're not counting laps the rest of the day, so go have fun!

After an hour or so, Rob pits with steam coming out of the hood. He had too much fun. Game over, sunshine. Boiling over, head gasket blown, no compression...1.5hr left in the race, but we're DONE. On the bright side he noted that no compression would make it easier to drive on the trailer using only the starter

As a result, Rob's laps didn't get counted with no transponder, and Pete never got a chance to top my fast lap, so I get this round. The lap I set ranked 15th among fast laps out of 117 cars.

Fastest lap in driver's first stint:

Pete 01:51.7
Rob 01:51.9
Michael 01:53.3
Andy 01:55.4

Lap times for entire race:

M 01:50.6
M 01:50.8
M 01:51.0
M 01:51.2
P 01:51.7
R 01:51.9
M 01:52.1
R 01:52.6
R 01:52.7
P 01:52.9
M 01:52.9
P 01:52.9
R 01:53.0
P 01:53.3
M 01:53.3
R 01:53.4
P 01:53.4
M 01:53.7
R 01:53.9
A 01:53.9
R 01:54.0
P 01:54.2
M 01:54.2
M 01:54.2
R 01:54.3
R 01:54.4
A 01:54.4
R 01:54.4
M 01:54.5
R 01:54.6
M 01:54.6
M 01:55.0
A 01:55.2
P 01:55.3
A 01:55.4
M 01:55.4
R 01:55.5
A 01:55.5
M 01:55.7
P 01:55.7
A 01:55.8
R 01:56.1
M 01:56.2
P 01:56.2
M 01:56.2
P 01:56.3
R 01:56.4
R 01:56.4
P 01:56.5
M 01:56.5
P 01:56.6
A 01:56.7
M 01:56.7
M 01:56.8
P 01:56.9
P 01:57.1
M 01:57.1
A 01:57.4
M 01:57.4
P 01:57.5
P 01:57.7
A 01:57.8
M 01:57.9
P 01:57.9
R 01:57.9
A 01:58.1
R 01:58.2
M 01:58.3
A 01:58.4
R 01:58.4
M 01:58.5
A 01:58.8
A 01:58.8
A 01:58.9
M 01:59.0
P 01:59.0
A 01:59.4
A 01:59.4
A 01:59.5
A 01:59.5
R 01:59.6
P 01:59.6
A 01:59.7
M 01:59.7
A 01:59.8
M 02:00.0
R 02:00.1
P 02:00.1
A 02:00.2
M 02:00.2
A 02:00.3
M 02:00.4
R 02:00.5
R 02:00.6
A 02:00.6
A 02:00.6
M 02:00.7
A 02:00.9
P 02:01.0
A 02:01.0
M 02:01.1
A 02:01.1
M 02:01.1
A 02:01.2
P 02:01.2
A 02:01.3
R 02:01.4
M 02:01.5
M 02:01.6
A 02:01.7
R 02:01.7
A 02:01.9
R 02:02.1
M 02:02.2
M 02:02.2
M 02:02.2
A 02:02.2
P 02:02.3
R 02:02.3
M 02:02.4
P 02:02.5
P 02:02.6
M 02:02.6
M 02:02.7
P 02:02.7
P 02:02.8
R 02:02.9
R 02:02.9
M 02:03.1
R 02:03.7
A 02:04.3
P 02:04.4
M 02:04.6
M 02:04.6
P 02:04.6
M 02:04.7
A 02:04.8
P 02:04.8
P 02:05.8
P 02:05.8
A 02:05.9
A 02:06.0
A 02:06.4
R 02:06.7
P 02:06.7
P 02:07.0
M 02:07.4
M 02:07.6
A 02:07.8
A 02:07.8
A 02:08.1
P 02:08.3
A 02:08.4
M 02:08.7
M 02:09.9
A 02:10.2
A 02:10.2
A 02:11.0
A 02:11.0
A 02:11.2
A 02:11.3
M 02:11.8
M 02:12.0
P 02:12.0
A 02:12.7
A 02:12.9
M 02:13.0
A 02:14.9
A 02:15.0
M 02:15.5
M 02:15.7
M 02:17.4
A 02:18.3
A 02:18.4
A 02:19.7
P 02:20.4
M 02:21.7
A 02:22.3
M 02:22.7
M 02:22.7
R 02:22.8
A 02:24.1
M 02:25.2
A 02:26.6
M 02:27.0
M 02:27.3
M 02:29.0
A 02:29.4
M 02:30.0
M 02:30.6
A 02:33.4
M 02:33.9
M 02:34.5
R 02:35.4
M 02:37.3
R 02:41.1
M 02:41.9
R 02:43.2
M 02:43.4
A 02:45.1
A 02:48.2
R 02:49.7
R 02:49.8
P 02:53.0
A 02:53.2
M 02:54.3
M 02:56.4
R 02:56.4
M 02:59.2
R 03:09.9
P 03:18.9
A 03:20.0
P 03:32.1
P 03:34.5
R 03:42.9
R 03:43.0
P 03:43.6
M 03:52.1
P 04:24.2
R 07:05.6 pit - rob gets in, andy out
R 07:12.6 black flag rob
P 07:49.9 pit - pete gets in, rob gets out
A 08:57.7 pit - andy gets in, michael gets out
P 09:44.5 red flag? only lost 1 lap to field, near beginning of pete's stint
A 12:55.3 in andy's sunday stint, red/full course black?
A 10:37.0 ??? we lost 10 laps to the leader. near end of andy's sunday stint
M 16:51.2 diff swap/red flag? lost 24 laps to the leader
M 22:10.2 exhaust. we only lost 4 laps. end of saturday (lap 204)
M 32:17.2 red flag? think volvo cleanup

Here's the straight where the 940 was crashed, and where we later found the transponder in the grass along with the front spoiler, etc. off our car.

[towerymt]

[towerymt]

The 262C Bertone was running near the top 5 and 2nd in class B (should have been 1st but Phil mis-classed the overall winner in B) when this happened...hub failure with about 30min to go.

[towerymt]

[blkaplan]

wtf, hubfailure? sure it wasn't a spindle failure? thats crazy, something bad must of happened like the wheel bearings locked up or something

[towerymt]

I didn't inspect it. Spindle didn't break off, but wheel bearing could have been a factor. The hub just broke. It's rusty junk from Vermont, what do you expect?

[blkaplan]

Thats wild. I am sure the skinny hubs and small bearings didn't help if they were OG.

[towerymt]

They were from their '92 245 that they used to race.

[slow240]

that was a pretty vicious wreck, but it looks like hes ok and everyone had a good time.

[blkaplan]

Originally Posted by towerymt

They were from their '92 245 that they used to race.

crazy, must of been a bum bearing or something

[Matt]

djeez that crash

[towerymt]

Originally Posted by blkaplan

crazy, must of been a bum bearing or something

why can't the hub just break?

[Bob]

poor BertOne

[blkaplan]

Originally Posted by towerymt

why can't the hub just break?

because the hub should be stronger then the spindle and bearings. Its not a weak point on the suspension.

[towerymt]

Originally Posted by blkaplan

because the hub should be stronger then the spindle and bearings. Its not a weak point on the suspension.

yeah.

previous '92 wagon was wrecked a couple times.

and it was rusty.

anything's possible. their old chassis was too twisted after being wrecked, because i was so rusty. hence bertone replacement.

I don't worry about hub failure.

but if this did happen, we're totally pinching off the brake line on that side, mounting a spare hub, and going back out!

[blkaplan]

yea, it must of been ****ed up with some accident before. I bet their strut tube wasn't straight either.

[CAPT_BLOTTO]

Did the Subaru driver get some punished?

[towerymt]

Originally Posted by CAPT_BLOTTO

Did the Subaru driver get some punished?

Just the black flag for spinning earlier in the session (the one they were receiving when the accident happened).

The 940 driver made a mistake too. Can't place all the blame on the Subaru driver, although stabbing the brakes in the middle of the straight did set it off. The 940 needed to be aware of the cars around. The car that made contact with the 940 seemingly could have reacted quicker and moved left more, but that's a tough call.

On that part of the straight, there's room to run yourself up the inside just prior to an apex on the left side (where the accident started). But you have to establish yourself next to the car you're passing, else they'll come over on you and you have to lift and fall in line, then duck out again after the apex and try again. BTDT.

In the video, it appears that the left-most car moves to the right just as the 940 cuts left, and contact occurs. The left most car was about to get pinched, so the last thing he's thinking is to move even further right when the 940 comes over. It's just a bad spot for that all to have happened. Anywhere else on the straight and maybe it doesn't end like it did.

This shows how the track narrows just before the left apex on the straight:
http://www.pbase.com/towerymt/image/144203500.jpg

[Captain Bondo]

Originally Posted by blkaplan

yea, it must of been ****ed up with some accident before. I bet their strut tube wasn't straight either.

Yup. Most likely run into something at some point would be my guess as well. Freaky that the castle nut, spindle, etc were all completely intact.

[pwschuh]

Great write-up Michael. Thanks.

[John2x240]

So the Subaru was spilling gas and didn't get waved in? I don't like the likes of that; don't they have a meatball flag in Lemons?

[towerymt]

Originally Posted by John2x240

So the Subaru was spilling gas and didn't get waved in? I don't like the likes of that; don't they have a meatball flag in Lemons?

Two cars called on their radio to report it, but I guess it didn't get relayed to race control in time. We get black flagged for stuff like this.

[brownMINI]

I'm one of the drivers of the Bertone. The bearing, etc were fine. It's probably just an old, abused part. We had 10 races on that hub, plus whatever life it lived before we got it. Michael's right that that was the hub from our previous 245 Lemons racer. The side that had the failed hub is the side that hit the wall 3 races ago with our old car - perhaps that extra abuse did help weaken it. Most likely, it's just cumulative abuse from 100,000+ miles of Vermont living, then ~10,000 miles of Lemons racing.

We did get the hub re-welded and the front brakes pinched off just in time to get out there for the checkered flag lap. The guy working pit out didn't want to let our car out because we got there probably after the checkered was thrown, but after some hand waving from our driver, he let us out after all - so we got to be the last car off the track again. The previous race a broken motor mount caused a ruptured fuel line which had us run out of gas on just after the checkered flag and get pushed in by the wrecker.

Great times! And it was good to see the cheetah again.

[blkaplan]

Originally Posted by brownMINI

I'm one of the drivers of the Bertone. The bearing, etc were fine. It's probably just an old, abused part. We had 10 races on that hub, plus whatever life it lived before we got it. Michael's right that that was the hub from our previous 245 Lemons racer. The side that had the failed hub is the side that hit the wall 3 races ago with our old car - perhaps that extra abuse did help weaken it. Most likely, it's just cumulative abuse from 100,000+ miles of Vermont living, then ~10,000 miles of Lemons racing.

We did get the hub re-welded and the front brakes pinched off just in time to get out there for the checkered flag lap.

240 Wheel hubs just don't fail from driving 100,000 miles even in rusty enviroments or normal racing. I think the key is the fact that hub hit the wall. There are plenty of weak points in a 240 front suspension but I'd say the hub is the last on the list.

Any pictures of the welded hub? Some guys just don't know when enough is enough. LET THE HUB GO TO VAL HALLA ALREADY!!!

[brownMINI]

Originally Posted by blkaplan

Any pictures of the welded hub? Some guys just don't know when enough is enough. LET THE HUB GO TO VAL HALLA ALREADY!!!

I haven't pulled them off of my camera yet, but I think I have some.