This weekend will be my first race at Waterford Hills. Last weekend was a school with other students. This weekend will be a race with other drivers. It’s about the same as learning how to jump out of a plane and actually doing it. I can’t wait. (Coupon for free general admission to Waterford Hills here.
- Duane
Last weekend I spent innumerable hours on the course at Waterford Hills. Despite my attempts to stay calm through the weekend, I admit that, internally, I was a bunch of nerves. Nonetheless, I did earn my provisional competition license. (It’s like a novice race license.)
On Saturday morning, during my third session on the track, my power steering pump started to fail and my rear stabilizer bar came apart. With a little ingenuity, a vice, washers, and some sockets, we managed to press the bushing back into the stabilizer link. They gave me no more problems the rest of the weekend. The power steering was another story; it only worked above 3000 rpm-or-so. This made the more difficult corners quite a challenge. I’ll be spending my evenings installing a new pump (provided by Chris Childs from Sky-Tek and shaking down my car. Both Glenn (father-in-law) and I will be racing next weekend at Waterford Hills. Super special thanks to George Davison and Glenn for keeping me going this weekend. I never realized how important a crew was until now! (The irony is rich, there. I’ve crewed for Glenn for over 5 years.) Thanks again. See you all at the track!
- Duane
As of yesterday, all of my cars are paid off. I have decided that buying new is nice for the first 6 months, but then I just find myself waiting for the warranty to expire so I can modify the car. Crazy, I know, but it’s a better use of money to buy a year-or-two-old car and throw a few bucks into repairs and mods rather than loose a ton of value as soon as you drive it off of the lot.
Subaru ripped into VW’s “Fast” commercials with a straight-up bitch slap. Enjoy.
I’m finally getting some track time! I’ll be attending the on-track portion of driver’s school next weekend. 2 days of significant seat time. Hells-yeah. Check out the Neon project site here.
- Duane
O.k., so “Moving Complete” isn’t entirely true. However all of our large moving loads are done. I still have to get a car and fish tank from the old house. After that, it will all be new house set-up. There are some cables to be run through the house as well as a few bits of furniture needed. But, all in all, we’re moved. The new location is reflected on the site.
Last Saturday I completed the in-class part of driver’s school for competition at WHRRI. Apart from the numbness caused by 7 hours in a metal folding chair, it was pretty darn useful. Next weekend will be 2 full days of on-course time. I’m looking forward to it!
- Duane
We can’t thank our family and friends enough for helping us move on Saturday. Special thanks to Glenn, Gina’s dad for bringing his gigantic race trailer. We were able to move our entire house, furniture and all in 2 trips.
Comcast hooked us up today as well. That means the server will be down for a bit when we move it from Redford to Brighton. The new data connection is almost twice as fast as before, so the server should be a lot more responsive for everyone out there on the old interweb.
- Duane
Pictures
