One of our team members brought a POS Porsche (dweymer, aka Donnie) in his trailer that was in a previous race. The engine was a goner but it had a cool chicken head on the roof and lots of feathers glued to the outside of the car.
If you ever get to race in a ChumpCar race, make sure you meet John, and Lloyd. John and Lloyd are all about the racing...they came over immediately to access the situation. Let me tell ya, you could not find two of the most professional and proactive guys in charge of an event. They told us, if you can get that car up and running, you can go out and finish the race. That's all it took. We grabbed wrenches and screwdrivers and attacked that engine like a race depended on it.
First let me tell you about this porsche. Not only did it have a Chicken head on the roof, but it had several issues, just to name a few, it didn't have a seat, safety harness, lights, rear view mirror, steering wheel or a working engine. But with the can do attitude of the team, it didn't stop us from giving it our all.
We started about 2pm on Saturday, tearing down the engine. Donnie had a spare head that was used to replaced the damaged head from the previous race. The engine was rebuilt just after dark, I had the honor of starting up the engine for the first time, Yay Me!. Now that the engine was up and viable, we needed to get the rest of the car ready for the race.
Between stripping the Camaro for the steering wheel, seat, rear view mirror, and asundary other parts, and support from the other racers and most of all the staff of the event, we were able to get the car race worthy. It was about 1 am when it was declared complete. By then we were exhaused. We decided to cook some burgers on the grill for a much needed break.
Donnie took the Porsche out for the maiden run about 2am. He made a lap or two and came in, the car was working great, but with the lights on the car, it was not bright enough to navigate the curves and bends of the track. It was then decided to get some sleep and run a few hours at daylight.
The previous night, John had offered his Miata to the team if the car was not ready by 8pm if we wanted to race during the night. The offer was more than generous and just kinda blew me away.
Up to this point, I had not driven in the race, and I was sooo ready to get some seat time. The next morning (Sunday) John came back over and offered the Miata to the team once again. It was decided that Donnie would drive his Porsche and I would drive the Miata for the final two hours of the race.
I jumped in the Miata and I was off to the races. By this time, the other teams were comfortable with the course and had become regular pros. Since this was my first race and the first time on the course, I stayed on the line and out of their way making sure I didn't interfere with their lap times
I have to say, the guys on the other teams were cool, however it didn't stop em from leaving my ass in their dust. This was when I saw Tony Stewart coming up behind me on the bend, passing me on the left gliding ever so smoothly in front of me, leaving me watching his tail lights ride off into the horizon.
I was having SO much fun, that I didn't realize that the two hours came and went, I passed the Stop/Start line and saw the black checker flag as I passed it by. I took the last lap on my own, since everyone had already left the track, taking the corners like a pro, setting up the turns and turning at the apex and roaring down the straight way. Then I came in...
So, a personal thank you to Captain Rat, ( Mike) dweymer (Donnie) and John (just another Chump, organizer of the event) for giving me the opportunity of a life time.
There was an award ceremony for the winner, the Jetta and then it was time to pack up and leave. When I got home, I carefully folded my racing suit, packed my shoes and helmet and took a long nap.
