05-08-2004, 08:10 PM
At about 5:30 am on 95 South this morning I made the decision to let this weekend go. I had finally gotten everything together and had been driving for about 45 minutes when I realized I had forgotten my helmet. At that point I knew it was time to hang it up.
Really the trouble started back when Camel Tow I (the Silverado) crapped out on me. Had I been able to get it I would have been able to pick up Geeser II over a week ago. Because of that mishap I didn't pick up the car until Sunday. I still figured I could make the race and maybe I could have, had I not had so much trouble with the trailer...
Corey (Honda Challenge racer from Culpeper) was gracious enough to let me borrow his trailer. So I drove down to Culpeper on Thursday night to go pick it up. I had bought the hitch and ball and figured I was all set but when I got there I realized that my truck had the wrong kind of connector for the trailer (4-pin vs 7-pin). Of course everything was closed by that point so I decided to come back early Friday. That meant I was going to miss qualifying but I could still make Saturday and Sunday's race.
I bought an adapter but that turned out to be wrong too so Corey's dad and I went to NAPA to wire up a custom solution. I finally got the trailer but at that point it was too late to get to VIR in time for any of Friday's activities so I figured I'd take time to work on the car a bit. So Friday night I go to load up the trailer but I had problems getting the ratchet tie-downs right, as well as other minor annoyances. I finally got on the road at about 4 or so but, I had forgotten my helmet.
I tried my damnedest to make it this time but there was just way too much in the air for me to get everything for this weekend. One thing's for sure, doing things last minute with a racecar is orders of magnitude more difficult than doing so with a street car.
I'm kinda pissed but I'll just have to wait a few more weeks and chalk it up to experience. At least in my haste I didn't do anything stupid like strap the car up to the trailer improperly or make it all the way down to Danville sans helmet...
Really the trouble started back when Camel Tow I (the Silverado) crapped out on me. Had I been able to get it I would have been able to pick up Geeser II over a week ago. Because of that mishap I didn't pick up the car until Sunday. I still figured I could make the race and maybe I could have, had I not had so much trouble with the trailer...
Corey (Honda Challenge racer from Culpeper) was gracious enough to let me borrow his trailer. So I drove down to Culpeper on Thursday night to go pick it up. I had bought the hitch and ball and figured I was all set but when I got there I realized that my truck had the wrong kind of connector for the trailer (4-pin vs 7-pin). Of course everything was closed by that point so I decided to come back early Friday. That meant I was going to miss qualifying but I could still make Saturday and Sunday's race.
I bought an adapter but that turned out to be wrong too so Corey's dad and I went to NAPA to wire up a custom solution. I finally got the trailer but at that point it was too late to get to VIR in time for any of Friday's activities so I figured I'd take time to work on the car a bit. So Friday night I go to load up the trailer but I had problems getting the ratchet tie-downs right, as well as other minor annoyances. I finally got on the road at about 4 or so but, I had forgotten my helmet.
I tried my damnedest to make it this time but there was just way too much in the air for me to get everything for this weekend. One thing's for sure, doing things last minute with a racecar is orders of magnitude more difficult than doing so with a street car.
I'm kinda pissed but I'll just have to wait a few more weeks and chalk it up to experience. At least in my haste I didn't do anything stupid like strap the car up to the trailer improperly or make it all the way down to Danville sans helmet...