September 2020

 September 5th weekend – 

Saturday – we woke up relatively early to have our coffee and then Susan went up to Kari’s to help out with this and that and I headed out to redo the caulking on the large slide-out.  It was another hot day and fortunately the work went pretty quick.  Oliver was out and hung around, even joining me up on the ladder a few times.  It was very cute.  Once I was finished I retreated to the garage to work on organizing spare parts for the race.  This entailed disassembling some parts that really didn’t want to come apart.  I employed our five pound sledge hammer for some of the work which ultimately worked though some things were a bit misshapen.  

I ventured out to our nearest auto parts store to buy some hose clamps and installed one to finish the upgrade of our fuel jugs.  We had spent some time the day before buying bigger attachments to enable the gas to flow faster to lower our race pit times.  It was hot and I was already feeling beat so I went inside.  

I gathered up our various action cameras and spent some time clearing memory cards and trying to get them all functioning.  Unfortunately it was hit and miss.  Our old hotdog Garmin has stopped reading memory cards and won’t finish starting up and our older GoPro wouldn’t update its setting like I wanted.  At least our new Garmin was working like I wanted.  

The couch beckoned so I sat down with Pebbles and Bella (Susan had brought Mel with her).  I made a rough draft of the driver schedule for the upcoming race and messed around on the internets until just before Susan got home in the late afternoon.  She had had fun with Kari helping out on various projects around her house.  John and Karen had joined them for a lunch of spaghetti and garlic bread.  Susan had a really nice time.  

A few minutes before Susan arrived home I went out to the garage and found a gas mess.  One of the three gas cans we “upgraded” actually had gasoline in it and had somehow leaked at least a gallon out onto the garage floor.  Yikes.  I cleaned up and put a fan blowing to dry the concrete out and mitigate the smell.  

I determined that our new design didn’t take into consideration that there are two separate air pockets in these cans, one in the main section and one in the vent tube.  So when the vapors warm up they expand but not equally as the larger air pocket on the main section has more fumes.  Thus the gasoline is pushed down and up the vent tube.  The problem is that I sealed the pouring nozzle securely which didn’t allow the vapor to vent.  

After Susan got home we loosened the caps on the can to mitigate the problem for the time being.  We then went to Lowes to look for a new solution to our self-made gas can issue.  I was looking for some kind of valve to install but Susan was having none of that.  She suggested we just drill small holes in new caps and so we did.  We bought replacement PVC caps and after we got home I drilled tiny holes in them 

We had recently ordered new cell phones which came in the early afternoon.  Our old phones weren’t broken by any means but mine was starting to lose its charge quickly and Susan’s had been slow for some time.  We had them mostly ready to go by the time we went to bed.  The process is pretty simple which was nice.  

Sunday – we were up early again and drinking our coffee before heading to the garage.  We had a list of to-dos to accomplish before the upcoming race so got started.  We kept ourselves busy during the morning before taking a break to get some food and do some shopping.  

Food was deli chicken from King Soopers and we went to auto parts stores, Home Depot, and then Walmart.  After unloading we drove up to John and Karen’s to look through their old camper trailer stuff.  

Alvin and Kari sold their large camper very quickly and the sale inspired John to clean theirs out to get it ready to sell as well.  Thus they had various things they didn’t need anymore.  It was nice of them to think of us.  We drove Tuna Bean up to their house and poked around looking through their pots, pans, and soft things like towels and whatnot.  As we had more shopping to do and already had furnished our RV we didn’t take much but we were grateful for what we got.  

We stopped at Costco on the way home to finish our shopping trip.  Tuna Bean has a surprising amount of space in the trunk but it was a close thing stuffing everything inside.  

After unpacking and taking care of the dogs we went back out to the garage to continue our work.  We loaded some things in the RV and more things into the trailer.  Lots of productivity and all that.  

Monday (Labor Day)– we were up with an alarm to clean up the house in preparation for Alvin and Kari who joined us for BBQ and chatter.  As is our nature we were done well ahead of their arrival and as is their nature they were a solid hour late.  We don’t get offended and schedule our time together knowing how things go.  

I BBQ’d a late lunch for us and we talked mostly about the upcoming race.  Though it was hot outside we ate in the shade of the garage which was nice enough.  Susan gave Kari the tour of the differently-organized RV and Alvin and I chatted about Scrappy and future plans.  It was a nice time.  

Oliver hung around which was nice although Kari had brought Piper who has cat issues.  Piper REALLY wanted to get Oliver in a non-friendly way.  Kari and Alvin were vigilant though and no carnage ensued (they thought that it would likely go poorly for Piper if she actually got to Oliver).  It ended up being a time for training for Piper.  

Alvin and Kari stayed until the late afternoon before heading home.  Susan and I cleaned up and did some more race-specific stuffs.  The whole weekend had been hot so we were happy to plop down on the couch when the sun went down.  

September 10th weekend – The First True 24 Hour Race (expanded from my Facebook post)

Wednesday – we spent the evening packing up and fretting over this and that.  So much to do.  

Thursday – we were both off to do our final preparation and to load the rest of the stuff.  Mel had a vet appointment in the morning for her paw which Susan took her to while I stayed home to do things.  Mel had her paw wound glued shut but unfortunately it didn’t stay that way and Susan had to make another quick trip in the afternoon to have a pair of staples added.  

We left a tad later than we’d intended and arrived at HPR on Thursday to find a line at the entrance.  COVID had the waiver process taking a bit longer than normal but we were soon inside and backing the trailer up to our carport and parking the RV in its spot for the weekend.  

Once the car was unloaded and our area established we donned our masks and wandered about checking out some of the other cars and talking with some of the other teams.  Twas fun.  We chatted with a team with members from Texas and California driving a Maxima and another from Nebraska with their Luv truck.  

I BBQ’d dinner on the stove inside the RV while the dogs looked on.  We really love having a nice place to be at the track.  It was pretty chilly out so we were running the furnace.  

Friday had us up with coffee and a quiet race track.  With the open lapping day sessions pushed back there were to be no cars flogging the track until after 1:00 in the pm.  During the late morning David, Brad, and Ian arrived.  All wanted to help but there really wasn’t much to do as we’d already set everything up and the car was mostly prepped.  

I realized that the switch board had no lighting whatsoever so took some time to install an LED strip on a bent piece of metal.  Fortunately we always bring scrap metal sheeting for this sort of thing and had our wiring supply box so I had everything I needed.  The final product wasn’t pretty but functioned as I’d intended.  

Scrappy has some experience passing tech so I wasn’t too worried when our 1:00 time slot came (time slots are a COVID-thing, normally it is first-come-first-serve for tech).  We were told to add some zip ties to stiffen up the cage foam but otherwise passed without any issues.  The BS inspection didn’t go as smoothly.  

I knew we would likely be in for some penalty laps with the ecotec swap and we were slapped with 50.  Honestly it could have been much worse and I didn’t argue with Phil’s judgement.  As I was tooling around the paddock on my way back I spoke to a driver from a team with a turbo Miata and they received 100 penalty laps.  The Orange Crushed Miata was also recently turbo’d and they got 50 laps.  

Such is the cheaty life.  

The other drivers were very annoyed with the penalty laps while I was rather sanguine.  I spent a lot of time and money on the motor swap so really was not surprised.  I think that Phil (the BS judge) is trying to stop teams from feeling that they should spend too much money on their race cars to be competitive.  I can see that this might work for other teams but my goal isn’t necessarily to win but to have a great time.  Thus the penalty laps are just part of the price of racing for me.  

With tech finished I drove Scrappy around the track for a few laps to break in the new clutch and then Ian went out to familiarize himself with the new build.  In recent weeks the clutch, alternator, and battery had been replaced so I was happy that the car seemed to be running alright.  

Alvin, the last of our six drivers, arrived with the evening and set about checking over Scrappy.

We had brought vinyl sheets we’d purchased on Amazon and brought along LED light strips to decorate Scrappy for the race.  Susan basically did all of the vinyl stuff – cutting lemons and limes to stick on the car.  Alvin took it upon himself to install much of the LED lighting and wire them up.  

After the sun had set we swapped in fresh tires and David, Susan, and myself put in some night laps to check on the placement of the headlights.  There was some tweaking and after which we agreed our setup was adequate.  It was bright enough ahead and, while weak at the corners, illuminated enough to catch the reflectors marking the apexes.  

The drivers peeled off one by one to go to bed after 10:00 or so while Susan, Alvin, and myself stayed up doing this and that until after midnight.  Probably not the best idea the night before a 24 hour race but it’s what we did.  Alvin took to the couch in the RV when Susan and I went to bed.  

The next morning we were up early to give the car more pokes and prods.  I had wanted to sleep in some but found myself up at 6:30 with my mind abuzz with things I needed to do.  Before 8:00 we were out and about and doing this and that.  

I strapped in around 11:30 and drove over to grid.  It was at this moment that I realized the stock gauges weren’t functioning at all.  No fuel, RPM, or MPH.  Whoops.  At some point something was jacked up when we were doing our final tweaks and there was absolutely no time to do anything about it.  The obvious dash fuse was quickly checked but was fine so we raced without gauges.  At least the aftermarket water temp, oil pressure, and shift light gauges were still functioning.  

The twenty-odd minutes of parade laps were as boring and stressful as ever (boring as we all drive about 20MPH and stressful as the race is about to start) but soon enough the green flag dropped and the racing commenced.  The first thing I noticed was how awesome Scrappy felt to drive.  The car went from plucky autocrosser to track monster with the ecotec swap.  Finally it had enough power to pass other cars whenever the opportunity presented itself, which was a lot.  The worst part about my first stint is when I had to come back to fuel up and let someone else drive.  

Our stints were planned to be one hour and forty minutes long and the order was me (Max), Brad, Ian, Alvin, David, and then Susan.  We would extend the stints if fuel allowed which it did on occasion.  Everyone got to drive during both the day and nighttime.  

I’m happy to report that all of our drivers were fast with no contact made at any time with few one or two wheel offs.  For the first time there were no black flag penalties which can be attributed to our drivers paying attention as there were many other teams caught passing under yellow and spinning off the track.  

We found the night driving to be a lot of fun.  It was immediately noticeable which teams were unfamiliar with HPR and we found passing much more common and overtaking speeds to be much higher than in the daylight.  We actually discussed how great it would be if there was a race that just went over night and we would sleep during the day.  Something about the darkness really focuses one’s mind when on the track.  

A brief aside but I had a mini epiphany in that I think the immense focus required to race a car wheel-to-wheel is what is so appealing to me.  It’s fun and all that but it’s the focus I crave.  It’s the same feeling I got when I was engrossed writing a song for the band, studying difficult subjects in school, fixing a complicated spreadsheet at work, and trying to figure out how to make the rallycross program better.  I think everything else about road racing is mostly enjoyable but it’s those minutes when I’m focusing about my driving line and trying to predict what the other cars are going to do that got me hooked.  That focus is simply intoxicating.  

We all slept when we could during the night.  I had scheduled the drivers so there were long breaks between their stints and asked that each driver help out in the pit stops before and after their own stints.  This allowed everyone to try to get some sleep.  The issue we all had was that we were so amped up that sleep didn’t happen until we were exhausted.  I’d guess we all averaged around three hours of sleep each.  

Scrappy ran fantastic until it didn’t.  It was approximately 23 hours and 10 minutes into the race when I suddenly felt Scrappy lose power and heard some unhappy engine noises.  I immediately drove back to the carport hoping that something was wrong with the ignition.  While one of the coil packs was indeed loose it was clear that the sound emanating from the engine was of the knocking variety.  As we were so close to the end I attempted to reenter the track only for the car to die again – this time for good.  We had to push Scrappy into our car trailer when we finally packed up.  

While it was an obvious bummer that the engine didn’t quite survive the full 24 hours I consider the race to be a massive success for the team.  Even with the 50 penalty laps we clawed our way up to 9th place before the engine failure dropped us down to 12th place where we finished.  If we eliminated the penalty laps we would have been in the overall lead for much of the race and finished in second place.  

When not piloting Scrappy the other drivers were always helpful and positive.  Just a great bunch of people all around.  

Special thanks to Deandra who joined the team as crew and helped keep us on schedule filling up the quick fuel bottles and often handled the radio.  She was not only fun to have around but a real asset to the team.  

We were super-duper-happy that our friend team Sew So Fast won overall and class A.  Back when we were first testing Scrappy at HPR Friso and Tracey (the Sew So Fast car owners) had introduced themselves and we’ve been track-buds ever since.  

We’re already in the process of fixing Scrappy and planning more upgrades and can’t wait until next year’s Lemons races!

As is our way and preference Susan and I were the last ones at the track packing up.  The other drivers all wanted to help but, truly, it would have been more difficult for us if they lend a hand.  We have our way of doing things and our own places to put things.  Packing up is therapeutic in its own way.  It’s the final ritual we partake in when racing at the track.  

We finally left the now-empty paddock around 3:30 for the drive home.  We were sooooo tired.  When we got home we unpacked the bare essentials and sat down on the couch.  I needed a nap badly and found that my normal one hour nap turned into a four hour ordeal.  Even with the long nap I had no issues falling asleep later that night and sleeping in the next morning.  

On Monday I was up a bit before Susan as per normal.  I had started looking for a new motor the night previously before succumbing to sleep and finished my search before Susan got out of bed.  I had found a decent looking engine in Colorado Springs so after our coffee we jumped in the suburban and headed out.  

When we arrived at the used parts business I went in alone as Susan had forgotten her mask.  No biggie as I’m a veteran at buying engines at this point.  My chosen engine indeed looked decent so I bought it and they loaded it in the back of our truck.  We were pretty hungry by the time we got back to Denver so I stopped at Walmart for some food stuffs.  

Once home we unloaded the engine into the garage and onto an engine stand.  We then pushed Scrappy into its corner.  I was excited enough that I started the engine-swapping process.  I disassembled this and that before I was tired enough to call it a day.  While the weekend wasn’t perfect it went the way many of our weekends do – satisfying, productive, and finished cuddling on the couch with our sweet dogs.  

September 18th weekend – 

I spent all day Friday working on Scrappy – specifically pulling the old engine and preparing the new engine to go in.  Originally we’d planned to go to the track for the weekend but plans changed the moment the old engine died.  Susan also was taking the day off but elected to work from home instead as her workload is heavy right now.  

I was productive and had much of the engine work complete by the time I called it quits.  While I was preparing to pull the old motor I saw that the motor mount on the driver side was completely unattached.  This allowed the engine to twist on acceleration and is likely why we all had miss-shift issues at the race the weekend before.  These shifting issues almost certainly caused the engine to fail.  

We were to transport another foster pug to the western slope so drove down to PetsMart in Parker to get the little feller.  His name was Pork Chop and he was 15 years old.  Me was mostly deaf but had very clear eyes and was amazingly spry for his age.  He was incontinent and had to wear a diaper which was great as it prevented him from making typical boy-dog mistakes.  After traipsing around the house and examining every corner he settled on the couch by himself for a nap.  A very sweet pug.  

Saturday we were up with an alarm to have our coffee.  We wanted to get an early start on the drive which would take us a few miles past Glenwood Springs.  Traffic was fortunately light and we made fantastic time – only stopping once for some donuts.  

We met the lady who was going to foster Pork Chop in a City Market parking lot.  She was very happy to meet Mr. Chop and had experience with the old pugs.  In fact, her current oldest is an unbelievable 21 years old!  

We grabbed a bite to eat at City Market and, after a quick fuel stop, I drove us straight back to Denver.  The aspen leaves were beginning to change and really added to the scenery.  We made great time and stopped at Costco for a quick trunk-full of stuffs before getting home.  

Sunday I woke up much too early to just hang out on the couch.  Eventually Susan got up and we had our coffee around noon.  The day was almost an unproductive one but we managed to get out to the garage to finally install the new motor in the engine bay.  

As per normal it went relatively smoothly with Susan helping me with the lift as I rocked the engine back and forth and moved this and that around.  Once in and bolted up I lost most of my motivation and didn’t do a whole lot more on the car.  I did manage to pull the passenger fender off and disconnect the chassis fuse box.  The plan for the new exhaust will be for it to exit out the fender and run along the side below the passenger door.  

Dinner was BBQ which was yummy.  We sat on our beat up and used patio furniture and chatted about this and that.  We are still amazed that we somehow finagled living at our home.  We just love it so much.  

Oliver finally made an appearance which was nice.  As the days get shorter we worry more and more about Oliver.  It was almost two years ago that Slayer didn’t come home.  Oliver was being sweet which was nice as it’s usually around 50/50 odds that he’s a monster or just looking for pets.  

Susan took it upon herself to replace the toilet flusher-thingie in the RV which she’d determined was the cause of all the water damage a couple of weeks ago.  She posted a short video on an RV Facebook group of the leak and immediately was told the problem and given instructions on how to fix it.  Facebook isn’t all bad.  

We ended the night on the couch after another productive weekend.  

September 22nd “weekend” 

On Tuesday we woke to have our coffee and pack up a few things in the RV for a trip up to Leadville for a wedding between a couple of rallycross friends.  The plan was to arrive at a tiny house/RV park a bit after noon and to attend the wedding at 2:00.  We’d stay the night and then drive back the next day.  

The drive up went alright.  The RV’s water temperatures went up on occasion but there was little drama.  I went geared down the steeper descents and was content to let everyone else on the road pass us.  We arrived a tiny bit after 12:30 to park and set up the RV for the night.  

After setting up and dressing up in our formal attire we took a 15 minute walk to the church.  On our way we couldn’t help noticing how many of the homes in town were rundown and looked to be in various states of disrepair.  

We sat down in a pew a few minutes before the ceremony was to begin.  Every other pew was roped off to maintain proper social distancing and everyone was dutifully wearing a mask.  It was nice to see.  

The ceremony started a few minutes late (no shock here) and went well enough.  It was a Catholic church so we were asked to stand, then sit, then stand, then to speak together, then to pray, then to stand, then to sit, then to sing, etc.  All part of the fun I suppose.  The only real negative was the horrid singer that p sang live periodically from the mezzanine behind us.  The officiator did a fine job and the couple was very happy.  

After the nuptials were complete we piled outside for some group shots in front of the church.  Then we were told to disperse and head to the saloon in town for the reception.  There was time so Susan and I walked back to the RV first to feed the pups before walking back to the reception.  

We joined other folks waiting out front of the building for a few minutes before we were allowed inside.  There were appetizers and an open bar and we partook in both.  We sat alone chatting until an older couple joined us.  They were one of the uncles/aunts of the bride and we talked about this and that.  The guy had a lot to say about a lot of things and seemed to enjoy giving us the highlights of his life’s journey.  We didn’t mind and enjoyed the company.  

The bride and groom eventually made their appearance which meant we could finally eat a proper meal.  The food was quite yummy and we probably ate too much.  There was the standard dancing and whatnot which was also fun.  Susan drug me up for part of a dance which was awkward but ok as it seemed to get others to the empty dance floor.  It was a nice time all around.  

We left after a few hours to walk back to the RV to hang out with the pups.  We eventually plopped down to stream a movie over Netflix (we’d brought our cell-based modem).  We were tired and didn’t stay up too late before hitting the hay.  

The next morning we were up with Susan’s alarm to take care of the dogs and have our coffee.  We dressed and walked to the National Mining Museum at the other end of main street.  It was a cool morning but the sun kept us warm enough.  

I didn’t have high expectations for the museum but we found it to be quite grand with many rooms several floors of exhibits.  We walked all over checking out this and that.  There were minerals from all over the world which were neat and we read many panels with interesting information.  We stayed for well over an hour before walking back.  

Our plan was to eat at a local restaurant that Susan said had amazing French fries but we found the place closed until 11:30 which was when we wanted to start back for home.  Instead we whipped up some tuna fish for lunch that Susan had fortunately packed just in case.  

The drive back went without incident and we made it home in fantastic time.  I had some Scrappy-related plans but instead elected to hang out while Susan napped on the couch.  We relaxed for the remainder of the evening which was a nice way to complete our mid-week weekend.  

September 26th weekend – 

Saturday we got up for our regular coffee and couch chat.  The plan for the day was to get Scrappy put together and running so we went to the garage.  I toiled doing this and that.  I had to install the accessories before realizing that we didn’t have much in the way of engine oil.  We were also hungry at this point so went to Qdoba on the way to Walmart to purchase oil and other food stuffs.  

With full bellies and plenty of oil we were excited to see Scrappy run again.  

Unfortunately something was amiss and we never did get it going.  I expect that the issue is sensor-related.  We tried long enough that we drained the new car battery and had to stop for the day to recharge.  

Oliver was out and hanging with us most of the day.  He was very sweet in the morning but soon enough was back to his usual jerk-self.  Oliver is a silly cat for sure.  

I was going to BBQ but decided I wasn’t in the mood so we sat on our patio furniture and ate leftover food stuffs we’d gotten at Walmart.  It was soon after we were finished that a German Shepard came trotting around the house.  Her name was Aspen per her tag and it was clear by the tattered remains of what was attached to her collar that she had freed herself recently.  There were phone numbers and a local address on the back of her tag.  No one picked up the phone so we drove her home.  Her owner lives on the junkyard property so it was with a little trepidation that we parked and walked in.  Turns out it was no big deal.  The guy there was happy we came by and hadn’t realized that Aspen had escaped.  

After getting home we plopped on the couch for the remainder of the night.  

Sunday was a lazy day from start to end.  I was up early but just hung out on the couch until Susan got up.  We didn’t do a whole lot which was fine with me.  

September was a pretty great month for us.  Racing, trips, healthy pups, lots of fun.  The weather has started to cool which is has been nice.  We have a couple more RV trips planned in October that we’re looking forward to before we park it for the winter season.  Scrappy still isn’t starting at this time but I’m confident we’ll get it going soon.