Thunderhill Raceway
May 16, 2002
"The Kings of Thunderhill"

7 Tracks in 7 Days to determine who really is the fastest driver/car combo

Thunderhill was tough.  I think we were tied for 2nd overall going into this event,  just a few points behind the white 914-6.  We tried all day long  to fix the sputtering problem.  Florin was down from the Northwest to support one of the Miata teams, and he just happened to drive his NSX. 

Many thanks for Florin, we scavenged many parts off his car to get the Flamemobile to run

So we begged him to use his rear hatch, as Erik said the aerodynamics of the vehicle without the rear window hatch is killing us.   Florin agrees to let us use the hatch.  But then car is still sputtering, so we then beg Florin to use  his coils, just in case we have a bad coil.  Car is still bad.  So then we asked to try to use his spark plugs.  Etc. etc. etc.  Erik stumbles the car to about a 2:11 or so.  I take the car out for session 2 and 3, but car is barfing really bad, so I only get one lap in before I pull in.  Larry thinks it is because we have two bad injectors.  We can't swap out Florin's injectors, as they are a different size.  The battery is also dead, for some reason, it is not charging.  We get our asses kicked at this track.  Instead of being in the top 3 for lap times, we are probably around 13th or so.  That means we lose 50+ points towards being the Kings of the OTC.  Damn.

NSXs at Thunderhill
(Click here for bigger)
(photo by Head-On  Photos)

Wayne  needs one more fast lap to get into the top 3, so he convinces Erik to drive his 944 Turbo.  Erik goes out....and it looks like he blew the head gasket.  Bummer....Wayne was 6th overall going into this event, and this would be a good track for his car, as we think he had fastest single lap at Big Willow a few days ago, and Thunderhill is a horsepower track, and BW tomorrow in the counter clockwise configuration with no bus stop is also a high HP track.  Wayne ends up a DNF, after doing so well after the first four events.

We are way at the back of the pack with using our five cylinder engine:

Damn.  We drop from tied to 2nd to 5th place, now 80 points behind first place
 

At 3:20 p.m., I call Comptech, and tell them I need a favor.  I need the following go fast parts:

1.  Alternator - modified to work with Comptech Supercharger - since our battery isn't charging

2.  spark plugs - we need to start with six new ones

3.  six injectors - we think we might have some bad injectors

Shad getting some parts ready for us

4  One exhaust with cat back exhaust - the straight pipe is so loud, it is killing us trying to fix the motors, as well as pissing off everyone within 200 feet of us.

5.  Connectors - for the injectors, incase there is a bad connector.

6.  Cat back pipes - to go with the new exhaust.

7.  Other assorted goodies.

Picking up some hardware from Comptech

Comptech agrees to stay open late.  Larry and Reuben start putting the parts back on Florin's car (since he has to drive to the next event).   At 6:30, we pull into Comptech, and Shad sets us up with parts.  He said they have been following the website, and were rooting for us to win the event.

Comptech has some cool cars sitting in their shop

I have hallucinations driving from Comptech back to Buttonwillow, due to sleep deprivation.  We need to drive about 360 miles today to get back to the next track.  I am driving the RV with the go kart trailer with a ton of tires and rims in it.  My wife isn't used to driving a big rig like this, and Larry is sleeping, as he hasn't had much sleep the entire week.   Around 11:30 p.m. driving back to Buttonwillow, I tell the wife that out of the corner of my eyes, I can see big thick black tornadoes spinning about a half mile from each side of the road.  Just like the kind you see in the movie "Twister".  I normally never have problems driving on the road, even when I am tired.  My routine for long trips with the 48 foot trailer is that if I have lots of cold raspberry Snapple, some munchies, and some CDs, I can drive for 12 hours straight without any problems. 

Photo by Head On
(click here for bigger)
(photo by Head-On  Photos)

I need to get on that Uberman Sleep schedule, where you sleep 20 minutes every four hours, for a total of 2 hours per day.  People have said that if you get on this sleep schedule, you get more REM sleep that if you slept 8 hour straights, and you can train your body to do this.

Anyways, the Snapple and munchies ain't working.  All my CDs are in the big truck, and I am stuck with Wayne's CD's in the RV.  Wayne is a big fan of 70's AOR rock, so he has Journey, Boston, etc, which ain't me.  I go to plan B, which is to start eating my emergency pack of M&M's to keep me awake.  That isn't working either.  I go to plan C, which is I take a rag, dip it in cold water, and wash my face.  That doesn't work either, I still see the spinning black tornadoes. 

Comptech doing some work on Mini Coopers.  Note the dent.  Journalist crashed it

I pull over at the next exit, and I get some ice cream, walk around, stretch my legs.  Only  63 more miles to the next stop.  I decide to try to drive it, with my wife spoon feeding me ice cream, and keeping the conversation going.  She is asking me easy questions about the event, the competitors, etc, to keep me awake.  We make it to the Day's Inn in Lost Hills, about 10 miles from the track, at 1:00 a.m.  It is absolutely the most filthy and disgusting hotel I have ever been in, but we fall asleep within 2 minutes, lucky to get four hours of sleep before we rush out the door to Buttonwillow, and try to revive the Flamemobile.  Before I fall asleep, I try to get a phone connection to update the site, but yet again, either MSN or local phone lines suck, and I can't get anything to work.  But at least the black tornadoes are gone.