Post by racedad on Aug 24, 2009 11:58:16 GMT -5
I owe a few guys a HUGE thanks!! Steve Doman and the Penningtons!! Here's the story.....
Heather's car has been off all year long and I have been trying everything I knew to get it to run. It's an 8.90 car that has been stuttering out mid 9s to mid 10s. Saturday at Kennedale Heather makes her first pass (time trial) and it runs it usual mid 9 sputtering down the track. When I went to pick her up she tells me she heard a metallic clinking sound on the return road. I check chain, gears, clutches, etc and don't see anything. No new holes in the block so I figure we are good. We get up to make our second time trial and she stages but the car won't move. I push her out to the end of the line, make a quick adjustment tothe carb and try again. This time it won't even start and backfires through the carb. I push her out and we take it back to the trailer. I pulled the breather cover off and I see a ton of little metal circles....the inner valve spring on the intake side had exploded and there is valve spring everywhere. I figure we are done for the weekend.
By that time I have to take Holly up to make her second pass. I get her launched off and head back to the golf cart to go pick her up. Joanna tells me "Wait until you get back to the trailer and see what is going on." I pick up Holly and get back to our pit to find that Doman and the Penningtons have Heather's motor ripped apart and are swapping in new valve springs. I jump in and start helping. We pretty much tore the motor down short of pulling the piston, crank and cam. Steve and Aaron had to leave to go run their cars so I start buttoning it back up. Get it all put together, run some fresh oil through it, drain and refill. Car sounds pretty good.
Now, you have to know that all weekend they had computer problems. Well, they had already called up first round for Heather's class while we were still rebuilding the motor so I figure we were done at least for the day. After I had it back together and fired up I realize they are stopped with a few pairs left. I holler at H1 to get suited up as fast as she can. She jumps in the car and starts buckling in as I start pushing her to the line. I get her up to the line and there are two pair in front of us. The guy in front of us says he got pulled for the bye...I said cool by me we just want to make the pass. He lets us in but the guy we were gonna run wants our lane. Said I didn't care and let's go so we swapped. Because of the way they do the dial-ins there and our swap they had our dials backwards on the board. After a little jumping around and getting starter's attention they get our dials right. (We really should have pulled them back and let them restage). Heather went red by .011 and would have won because the other car broke out! BUT WE MADE THE ROUND AND THE PASS!!
After, Steve recommends more gear so Penningtons and I swap in more gear and we go the consolation race where she runs a 9.03 and takes the win. Car sounded great and H1 is doing her job on the tree!! Heather went three rounds in consolation before she broke out with an 8.97 on a 9.01 dial. Car hasn't run below 9 all year!!! And I gotta hand it to my driver....she really stepped up and did her job all day long....pretty darn good for an 11 year old girl!!
All in all, it was an awesome day that saw some world class thrash, a little drama, a helluva lot of teamwork and some good racing!!! We didn't get far with either car the whole weekend but all of that above made our whole weekend worthwhile!!!
So...a HUGE thanks to Steve Doman, Aaron Pennington and his dad, and everyone who's names I don't know that helped us make the race!!! I am sure I have missed someobdy!! WRP and Div 4 racers truly are the best!!
Heather's car has been off all year long and I have been trying everything I knew to get it to run. It's an 8.90 car that has been stuttering out mid 9s to mid 10s. Saturday at Kennedale Heather makes her first pass (time trial) and it runs it usual mid 9 sputtering down the track. When I went to pick her up she tells me she heard a metallic clinking sound on the return road. I check chain, gears, clutches, etc and don't see anything. No new holes in the block so I figure we are good. We get up to make our second time trial and she stages but the car won't move. I push her out to the end of the line, make a quick adjustment tothe carb and try again. This time it won't even start and backfires through the carb. I push her out and we take it back to the trailer. I pulled the breather cover off and I see a ton of little metal circles....the inner valve spring on the intake side had exploded and there is valve spring everywhere. I figure we are done for the weekend.
By that time I have to take Holly up to make her second pass. I get her launched off and head back to the golf cart to go pick her up. Joanna tells me "Wait until you get back to the trailer and see what is going on." I pick up Holly and get back to our pit to find that Doman and the Penningtons have Heather's motor ripped apart and are swapping in new valve springs. I jump in and start helping. We pretty much tore the motor down short of pulling the piston, crank and cam. Steve and Aaron had to leave to go run their cars so I start buttoning it back up. Get it all put together, run some fresh oil through it, drain and refill. Car sounds pretty good.
Now, you have to know that all weekend they had computer problems. Well, they had already called up first round for Heather's class while we were still rebuilding the motor so I figure we were done at least for the day. After I had it back together and fired up I realize they are stopped with a few pairs left. I holler at H1 to get suited up as fast as she can. She jumps in the car and starts buckling in as I start pushing her to the line. I get her up to the line and there are two pair in front of us. The guy in front of us says he got pulled for the bye...I said cool by me we just want to make the pass. He lets us in but the guy we were gonna run wants our lane. Said I didn't care and let's go so we swapped. Because of the way they do the dial-ins there and our swap they had our dials backwards on the board. After a little jumping around and getting starter's attention they get our dials right. (We really should have pulled them back and let them restage). Heather went red by .011 and would have won because the other car broke out! BUT WE MADE THE ROUND AND THE PASS!!
After, Steve recommends more gear so Penningtons and I swap in more gear and we go the consolation race where she runs a 9.03 and takes the win. Car sounded great and H1 is doing her job on the tree!! Heather went three rounds in consolation before she broke out with an 8.97 on a 9.01 dial. Car hasn't run below 9 all year!!! And I gotta hand it to my driver....she really stepped up and did her job all day long....pretty darn good for an 11 year old girl!!
All in all, it was an awesome day that saw some world class thrash, a little drama, a helluva lot of teamwork and some good racing!!! We didn't get far with either car the whole weekend but all of that above made our whole weekend worthwhile!!!
So...a HUGE thanks to Steve Doman, Aaron Pennington and his dad, and everyone who's names I don't know that helped us make the race!!! I am sure I have missed someobdy!! WRP and Div 4 racers truly are the best!!
