2 CADDIES ARE STOUT BUT DON'T TURN VERY SHARP
3 CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, A 472 IS A DECENT DERBY MOTER. MINE RAN GREAT ON A 103 DEGREE DAY AND STILL RUNS BETTER THAN MY DAILY DRIVER
4 HAVE FUN AND DON'T BREAK YOUR STICK TOO EARLY
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| RACE DAY! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| RACE DAY HAS COME AND GONE. HERE'S THE PLAY BY PLAY! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We arrived at the track at 12:30 and secured a great pit area. My wife Staci and my daughters Annie (6) and Matie (9) (who did a great job painting the car and did some welding and soldering) were there to cheer me on and managed to have all their friends there dressed in blue and yellow sporting my number MS1 on their shirts. I could hear their cheering above all the noise in the arena. My brother Chris and Mom Sandi served as my pit crew and did a great job finding stuff that I had missed during prep and helped fine tune the car, getting it in tip top shape! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2:00 Parade Time | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| My daughters and my brother loaded up and my wife and mother secured a prime photo spot along the parade route. My girls enjoyed the parade and we were all smiles. We had the best looking car in the parade by far with a Napa blue base color and yellow flames. The parade was a great chance to test the car's running condition. The smell of antifreeze and a trail of coolant following us led us to a problem we may not have found had we not been in the parade. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2:45 - 4:45 Final prep, inspection, pit meeting, and heat selection | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We raised the hood after the parade and found the coolant leak. It was spraying out of the petcock of all places! I guess I just didn't tighten it enough before I put the coolant in! No matter how much work you put into a car, you'll probably miss something. I mentioned to the crew "Do you think I should have padded the door like I planned on" then I said "nah, there's a lot of room between the door and me. They aren't supposed to hit me there anyway" STUPID!!! I had the foam at home and should have put it in. I had a nice racing suit and was a little too over confident. Inspection went well for me and I got my flag with no problems. I was amazed at the number of teams there that had to re-build or change their cars at the last minute because they either didn't read the rules, or were using last year's rules. I even saw one team sneak up and take a flag out of the official's cart so they wouldn't have to wait to get re-inspected. The tech inspectors were quick but good. After the pit meeting, I drew the first heat. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5:00 race time! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I was in heat #1 with 13 other cars. After the flag dropped, I made a couple hits and took a few small hits. Then, I stalled for what seemed like an eternity. I still don't know why I stalled but I know why it took so long to get restarted, I flooded it in the heat of battle! I got re-started and gave a couple more hits and then... I took a hit in the driver's door (illeagal, but I don't think it was intentianal) from a big station wagon. The hit chipped a bone my elbow and made it tough to steer with that arm. I evened the score with the station wagon by taking out his radiator and severly screwing up his steering linkage with a half-track shot. He only went about 30 more feet before he was unable to move again. I continued to hit cars and used my front end, which held up really well. My radiator didn't move and I only lost coolant through a hose that I had not wrapped good enough with duct tape. My elbow got more painful as the heat went on and it got more difficult to steer. I took a hit from a sedan that took out my rear passenger side tire but the hit disabled his car. He didn't move after the hit! Man, these caddies are stout! All hell broke loose in the car and I thought I had lost a motor mount because of all the shaking. I didn't really want a 472 sitting in my lap and I could barely steer with my elbow. So, in a rash decision, I broke my stick. I should have held on a little longer because the 3rd place car stopped about 30 seconds after I broke my stick. (the top 3 get cash and a spot in the main) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Post race | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I nursed the car out of the arena with the motor still running like a dream and my elbow feeling like a nightmare. The car was still in great shape and would only require a tire change and some cutting and hammering on the bumper and fenders to kick butt in the consolation. While we waited for the other heats to finish, my elbow stiffened up to where I couldn't bend it at all and it was decided that I wouldn't be able to drive. It takes 2 hands to drive a derby car. The day ended anti-climactically with me driving the car on the trailer and watching the main from the stands. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What I learned | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 PAD THE DOOR IDIOT! 2 CADDIES ARE STOUT BUT DON'T TURN VERY SHARP 3 CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, A 472 IS A DECENT DERBY MOTER. MINE RAN GREAT ON A 103 DEGREE DAY AND STILL RUNS BETTER THAN MY DAILY DRIVER 4 HAVE FUN AND DON'T BREAK YOUR STICK TOO EARLY |
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