Bad luck at the dirt track

[NTIman]

As a few of you (well more like Julie and Rex) know, I am on a pit crew for a Late model car that regularly runs at Hagerstown Speedway. Saturday Night we Left from Winchester for the racetrack. We got almost to the Falling Waters Exit on 81, when our ambulance driver (yes our hauler involves an ambulance and a 26 foot enclosed trailer) noticed that we had a shredded tire on the trailer. No big deal, right. We're a race team, we have a jack, an cordless impact,a spare, and 4 knowledgable team members to change a tire. No dice. Jack wouldn't jack the trailer up high enough. So oh well, We'd figure that deal out after we got the wheel off. Bubba (the crew cheif) uses the impact gun to attempt to get the lug nuts off. No luck, too tight. So we get out the 1/2 inch drive ratchet. Bubba tries to get the lug nuts off with that. Unfortunatly,he breaks the 1/2in drive to 3/8 drive adapter,so now we don't even have a lug wrench and the socket is useless. So we get back on 81 with the shredded tire and everyone lets us know its flat as they pass. We see a roadside assistance truck and ask if he has a 13/16in socket. no luck,he only has stuff for big trucks. So we get on a back road and travel for 10 minutes before seeing a sign on a building that reads "Liqour, Hardware, Bait&Tackle" So we park along the street in a handicapped spot so our car owner could run in to see if they have a socket. They only have alcohol and 2 bicycle tires.

So back on the road. 15 minutes later we see an Advance auto. We buy a new socket,and unload the race car. We take 4 of the lug nuts off with a ratchet and a claw hammer. The last lug stud strips and the nut wouldn't come off. So after using a chisel to remove the lugnut (15 minutes of work) we remove the stud so it wouldn't luck up the hub. Jack still doesn't jack the trailer up high enough,so we drive the back tire up onto some boards and install the spare.

So we are on our way to the speedway finally,with 30 minutes to get there,and get set up. So we get into the pits,and we unload the car, plug in the oil heater for about 5 minutes before we start the engine. 10 minutes later,our driver Brent is on the track. 1st lap he gets tagged and spun by the 13 car. All is good,no real damage done,and Brent finishes warm ups,and actually ran pretty fast.

During his First Heat race, Brent is running great when we comes off turn 2 a little free and spins down low,without hitting anything. All looks good,until another crackhead driver decides to turn down into him,and the car has to be towed back to us.

So we fold out the nosepiece and send him out to the second heat race about 20 minutes later. I see him come out of 2 a little loose,and everyone passes him. I see that the nose had folded under the left front,and he could barely turn. So yes, our racing ended with us running over our own car.

On the other side. about an hour later a car flipped and had to be suspended in midair by two towtrucks to get it back to their pits,so at least we didn't have that much work to do this week.

[G.Irish]

God damn that was a hell of a pain in the ass. It seems like if you're in racing long enough you'll have one or more ridiculously bad towing experiences. I've had about 3 trailer incidents now, hopefully I won't be having any more...

[white_2kgt]

Here's a tip for changing flats on a big ass heavy trailer, take a ramp with you, you can drive the trailer up on the ramp and raise the flat tire so you can change it. Oh and a little anti-sieze on those lug threads isn't a bad idea either, just lower the torque (you do use a torque wrench on your lugs right...) about 10ft/lbs.

Good luck next time bro.

[Evan]

thats racin'

[ScottyB]

geez man, i guess live and learn huh? sorry to hear the luck at the track wasn't any better

[NTIman]

The ramps are a good idea,though we don't really have room. Other than that, we don't carry a torque wrench with us,just because for dirt racing,its useless other than engine work. A quick Bolt check with a ratchet is our deal. The problem was that when we got the trailer, we didn't think to Check the lug nuts. Nevertheless, the car owner already did the maintenance on the trailer,so now all we have to do tommorrow is fix the car. A new nose should be coming,and we need to straighten out the body a little bit,but other than that,we're ready to head to Williams Grove in PA saturday.

[NTIman]

On the other hand, our old 4 cylinder race car. a Celica owned by some redneck named Roger went from 12th to 2nd at winchester speedway in 12 laps.

[white_2kgt]

The ramps are a good idea,though we don't really have room. Other than that, we don't carry a torque wrench with us,just because for dirt racing,its useless other than engine work. A quick Bolt check with a ratchet is our deal. The problem was that when we got the trailer, we didn't think to Check the lug nuts. Nevertheless, the car owner already did the maintenance on the trailer,so now all we have to do tommorrow is fix the car. A new nose should be coming,and we need to straighten out the body a little bit,but other than that,we're ready to head to Williams Grove in PA saturday.

Find room to carry 1 ramp with you or suffer with taking the car out the trailer to change a flat, and in a 26' enclosed trailer you don't have a torque wrench? I never understood the mentality of rednecks running around circles in the dirt.

[NTIman]

i never understood the mentality of dickheads on the internet.
as you can see, you have a mustang you race on road courses, if you don't like dirt track racing,then shut the hell up

this is exactly why i don't like car clubs, most of the people involved are useless people who complain about everything. its not your trailer,its not your car, its not your racing. if us "rednecks" want to take a torque wrench we will.

want to know why we go dirt racing,

because its fun and we don't have jackasses like you around

i'm done dealing with all of you guys

[ScottyB]

try not to take it too personally

[.RJ]

I never understood the mentality of rednecks running around circles in the dirt.

[Evan]

lol!

[NTIman]

good point

we could find room for a ramp i'm sure,buts its all good
as for the torque wrench,i doubt we'd carry one with us,but it wouldn't hurt to torque them down properly during routine maintenance

and i guess we are rednecks,we do have a guy named bubba and the car owner has a pretty massive mullet

anyway,i know a lot of you guys do think that circle track racing is pathetic. i like all kinds of racing. but all of it is the same in the most important way. no matter what type of racing you do,and whether you drive or not, its always about the fun you have doing it. if you're not having fun,you're doing the car thing for the wrong reason.

and chad,sorry for jumping down your throat. we don't really carry a whole lot of tools,usually the repairs consist of bending body panels out. and i can assure you,we're on your side, our late model has a 408 ci ford engine and sports a mustang nosepiece (or whats left of it)

[Maengelito]

anyway,i know a lot of you guys do think that circle track racing is pathetic.

i'll admit that its not my cup of tea, but i think its far from pathetic.

[NTIman]

oh and ford more information ont he rednecks,including pictures and information about Bubba,and the guy with the mullet check out <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.lvhracing.com/crew.htm">http://www.lvhracing.com/crew.htm</a><!-- m -->

[Mike]

i know a lot of you guys do think that circle track racing is pathetic.

circle track? dirt track? fuck no! (we like it)
oval track? fuck yes! (we don't like it)

[Evan]

I would actually love to get into circle track, and do some racing at Old Dominion in Manassas. Unfortunately the cost of entry (and cost of racing) is just way too high. I thought about the UCAR class, but I cant build a car for as cheap as the claiming rule is.

[NTIman]

It really works well for us, there are a good number of tracks within a few hours of us where we can race, and we have a good number of sponsors on the car. our driver does lettering on trucks and stuff,so the graphics come free. his uncle is an engine builder,so thats a good thing too. the car owner is married but has no kids,and hes lead tech at the toyota dealership i work at,so he's not hurting for money himself.

so every weekend we have a good selection of where to go,and we have a good time every week,even when hell breaks loose with a tire,lol

this week is williams grove,where our 408 gas engine will be a "358 alcohol engine" for until we load it back up.

[NTIman]

on july 23rd,i'll be running a 4 cylinder junk car we are building out of a 91 corolla wagon at cumberlands dirt track. hopefully that will go well,considering that right now i have $42 in the car,and am only spending $120 for roll bar tubing and $30 for a new timing belt

[G.Irish]

Dirt track racing? Any motorsport where you keep the car pitched sideways at high speed while fighting for position gets an A in my book. On a related note, I wish some dirt track guys would lay the smack down at one of these drifting events. I'm sure none of the Japanese drifters would have anything for a top sprint car or midget driver.