Hg Racing

𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗽 (highlight reel 📹 coming soon…!):

46 cars took the green flag to see the 𝓫𝓮𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓲𝓯𝓾𝓵 fall colors lining the track. The weather was also 𝙬𝙖𝙖𝙖𝙖𝙖𝙖𝙮 nicer (we could actually see out the windshield!!). Mark took the first stint, and came in after only a couple of laps due to the oil temp gauge pe***ng out at 300F (for those non-engine folks, that’s hotter than a 𝕛𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕡𝕖𝕟̃𝕠𝕤 𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕡𝕚𝕥!). All other signs seemed OK, while the issue ended up being a loose wire on the back of the temperature gauge; engine still very much alive. However, VTEC was not kicking in, yo. Thus, straight line speed was sluggish.

After a solid 1:40ish first stint, Jared jumped in. 🆅🆃🅴🅲 🆆🅰🆂 🅱🅰🅲🅺 (can’t remember what we changed to make that happen…), and Jared started ticking off laps. Towards the end of his time, the engine decided to cut off above 4000rpm and misfire / return to idle. Once again, in the pits for an unplanned stop. A loose ground was found in the engine bay, tightened up, and 6 flying laps later, Jared’s stint was over.

Mikey slid into the driver’s seat, all issues seemingly fixed, and immediately started ripping heaters. He laid down the 𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙥 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙪𝙨 with a 2:56.1 🏎️ which means we’ve improved our speed/driving over our first two races at Road America. Pretty uneventful stint, as he just drove quick and smooth.

Last up was Justin, with a warmed up car ready to keep it going. Radio silence for nearly the entire final stint, until a call of “I hit some rumble strips pretty hard, 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸.” After two laps of that, he couldn’t stand the weird steering feel and pulled in to investigate. A bad wheel bearing was immediately found, and that alone was enough to say we should park it for the final 30 minutes. We have yet to diagnose fully, but the wheel bearing seems to be a secondary failure to something else in the steering or suspension giving up. That’s what winter is for…

Overall, a solid Sunday despite a few unplanned stops. No “major” issues, some fantastic weather and great driving. Ended up in 31st overall 🏁. Not what we aspired to, but we can at least spend the off-season focusing on improving things rather than simply trying to get it back and running in time for a race!

Thanks to our wives, and sponsors:
…………..
(tbd….) 😉