Round 3 of Redline Time Attack saw us going to Chuckwalla Raceway in the city of Desert Center, about an hour East of Palm Springs.
With a brand new suspension set up from Cusco Suspensions with Swift springs, the team was excited to get some practice laps in and see how we would be able to make changes accordingly to get the most of the car. But the first practice session was cut short with multiple cars running off course.
We pulled back into the pits, looked the car over, changed some tire pressures, and headed back out feeling confident. The few laps prior felt good, so the weekend was looking good!
Seems that sometimes, things are going too well. About 4 laps into the second practice session running up to turn 8 in third gear there was a massive BANG! My heart dropped immediately. After the bang, the horrible noise continued with clanking and more banging. I quickly pulled off line and waited to be towed back into the pits, expecting nothing but the worst.
At first the noise seemed to be coming from the head, so we pulled the valve cover off. After a quick look over, everything seemed fine. We tightened everything up, some bolts were loose, but nothing too bad. Buttoned it back up and hoped for the best. Turned the engine over and again with the knocking.
After staring at each other and the engine, trying to determine what the noise was, Dung suggested to Adrian to push the clutch pedal in, and the noise stopped! We looked at each other with some sort of relief and in no time the car was in the air.
There was no question what needed to be done. Adrian and Dung start pulling the transmission and Donny and myself drove back to Orange County to pick up a spare transmission. 3 hours drive one way, no big deal.
We were able to get the old transmission all cleaned up and installed by about 10 pm, ready for the next day’s competition.
Bright and early, the drivers meeting was a stern one. Seems that most of Saturday, people were driving above their limits, causing lots of cars to go off course.
We were in luck, there was one practice session before the first Time Attack run started. This gave use a few laps to make sure that everything was tightened up, and that the old transmission was ok.
After the first Time Attack Session, everything seemed to be doing just fine, as we where able to pull a 1:57.025 lap time, netting the fastest time of the day in modified class, and second fastest of the day!
So with everything said and done, the event went great and was quite remarkable. The team pulled together great, and the whole time we were able to keep smiling and joking.
Thanks for everyone’s help! Now its time for Top Drift round 2 at Horse Thief Mile!
Check out the full gallery for some great pictures!
http://heavythrottle.com/event-coverage/track-events/2013-may-redline-time-attack-round-3/#
