You'll find good people at the track...

#1

I’ve been doing track days and HPDE for about 5-6 years now and finally got the chance to move up to competitive racing. Last Friday was comp school with the Mid-Ohio school (which was very well run and just good fun, by the way), but something happened along the way. I was in the third on track session of the day and my clutch in my Spec E30 exploded. I mean there was nothing left but rivets and fibers! By the time the comp school was over (about 5:00) I started calling shops to see if someone could get me in on a Saturday for a clutch. No luck. I did talk to Tom Hatem of Tom Hatem Automotive in Columbus and he said he would be willing to help me out, except he had a root canal that day and was not in any shape to do auto work. I thought I was having the worst luck in the world. He then suggested to find the Motorkars crew who is always around NASA events and see if they had any suggestions.

We searched around the garages and came across Matt from Motorkars. We told him our problem and he understood our dilemna. I thought maybe he can get us in at his shop in Columbus and get the clutch fixed on Saturday and maybe be ready to come out racing on Sunday. No, he did way better than that. He offered to move his racecar out of his rented garage, let us move our broken E30 in there and fix it. He offered all of his tools, any support, and then proceeded to make calls to find us a clutch!! A few minutes later he said he had found a clutch from his friend Kevin and then offered to drive to Columbus to pick it up! Are you kidding me?! I have always heard that people at the track are usually willing to lend a hand if possible, but this guy (whom we had just met) was bending over backwards to get me back on track (literally)!

Long story short (or is it already long at this point?) we got the tranny pulled, Matt showed up with the clutch, everything was put back together and she fired right up and moved out of the garage under her own power around 2 am. I was back in it! My weekend wasn’t ruined and I took second place in the Saturday race.

So I am forever grateful to Matt, Kevin and all the Motorkars guys who helped me get my car fixed and back in the races. Hope to see you all soon at the next race!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sweeney

#2

Hey, how about the moral support of the guys who were standing around drinking beer while you were fixing it??? :woohoo:

The rest of the weekend’s writeup, including video, can be found here :slight_smile: AnthonyMagagnoliRacing.com

Nice job, Kevin. I’m glad you made it out!

#3

Oh, yeah. addendum:

“And Anthony stood around for moral support and occasionally peeked under the car to make sure I was still alive. His friend Nate helped up get the tranny back on once the clutch disk was lined up (by eye!)”

#4

I hate to break it to you. But your story is rather common place :slight_smile:

I can’t think of a single weekend at a NASA event where there’s at least one story like this. I always carry a bin full of parts just so I can return the favors and keep the cycle alive.

Gotta love our extended track family

#5

scottmc wrote:

[quote]I hate to break it to you. But your story is rather common place :slight_smile:

Gotta love our extended track family[/quote]

not sayin this has never happened before, just wanted to show my gratitude and since this was my first race weekend, I am glad this is more the “norm” than not :slight_smile:

#6

Kevin congrats on the 2nd, sorry the clutch exploded. I’d blame the previous owner, wait a second…

#7

scottmc wrote:

[quote]I hate to break it to you. But your story is rather common place :slight_smile:
[/quote]
Lol, that is exactly what I was thinking. To paraphrase Nimitz, “uncommon kindness was a common virtue”.
scottmc wrote:

I have a lot of debt to others for helping me out when I was down. So I too bring lots of spares.

#8

kmsnsx wrote:

[quote]scottmc wrote:

[quote]I hate to break it to you. But your story is rather common place :slight_smile:

Gotta love our extended track family[/quote]

not sayin this has never happened before, just wanted to show my gratitude and since this was my first race weekend, I am glad this is more the “norm” than not :)[/quote]

Too true. I owe so much karma (carma?)I’ll never pay it all back (particularly to the Pattons!).