Jones, FTW. Now “Gumball” Jones has something to aspire to, other inheriting a beat to crap golf ball of a car.
It was awesome to get back behind the wheel. Last time I drove was November 09. I remember going through the carousel in practice Saturday morning with one hand on the wheel, gangsta lean, looking for the a/c button almost driving off the course, making sure Johnny Law wasn’t going to write me a ticket if I lit it up down the straight aways…
Once back in the game though, I noticed my car was handling like crap. I’d like to give a shout out to my man Rick Mariani at this point in the show! Brendan Digel and Ted MacMahan all chipped in at various points during the last 8 months(?) or so to put the car back together with a new rear trailing arm, windshield, front suspension bits, bumpers, etc. The car got aligned, but once on track, it was still not right. At high speed brake zones and hard left handers, the car had a tendency to dart which got really sketchy. Taking a page out of the Jim Robinson Handbook of Dumb, I decided that true race car drivers can drive around problems and to forge ahead. Robert Patton and I had a pretty good race… I got by him at some point, he had nothing coming out of the carousel so T9 to T1 was like taking candy from a baby. However, the second Patton was near and given another lap or two, Laura would have taken 4th away from me (which consequently turned into 3rd due to David Daniels’ DQ).
Turns out, after an inspection Sunday morning, that the front left brake caliper was sticking (guide pin seizing in the brass guide bushing), the front left ABS wire was cut and the camber was set too aggressively binding the hat in the housing. A little backyard mechanic work on the sand in the blazing sun and the car was remedied for qualifying.
Sunday’s race was more entertaining. I sat behind Walsh and Jones at times inches off of their bumpers as they went two wide, waiting for one of them to screw up or take each other out. Jones is notorious for both, so it seemed a brilliant strategy at the time. Unfortunately, a bunch of Thunder Roadsters (one in particular) and a Mustang (in Lightening??) decided to mess the race up especially for me, but the same could be said for Walsh and Jones, so I have no excuses… Other than the obvious… Jones is a cheater.
By the way, my car is now officially for sale. Thanks to everyone for not running into it this event!