Well we ran the ITA Neon at the 2011 American Road Race of Champions. I am sort of delayed in a recap of the event but better late than never.
The event started as most events do far before the event itself. What am I trying to say? The four day event was a two week battle to get the car ready. Although it was “pretty much” ready to run there were numerous small tasks here and there plus the basic prep work needed that really pushed me hard to finish the car in time, in fact the car wasn’t even on the ground and running until 9:00pm the night before the test day.
I arrived at the track and unloaded the car Thursday morning for the test day. I’d do a session or two and my co-driver was coming later in the day to drive as well. The first session out the car felt great, the tires were working like glue and everything felt solid. The second session came and once again it felt even better. I stayed out the whole session with a smile on my face.
As lunch rolled around my co-driver arrived and he would drive the next session. As luck would have it, the car broke on his out lap. After a tow back to the paddock we quickly found the problem which was just a pesky little shift linkage bushing that worked its way up popping the linkage off. Easy fix and it was ready for the next session, then the rain came. Since Thursday was the only day with a chance of rain I didn’t bother bringing any mounted rain tires so we had to sit the last session out.
Our race was the ECR series three hour enduro on Sunday, but I had a busy rest of Thursday. The car actually did not have a logbook and I needed to get one then, which was scarier than anything else that weekend. Luckily the car passed without a single mention and we were on our way. The next two days I just enjoyed the other races and did some extra work to the car such as new brake rotors and a few other small things to insure the car would be good for the whole three hours.
As race day rolled around I let my co-driver qualify since he had just driven the car half of an out lap so he needed some seat time. He qualified without any hiccups and we were good to go.
The race came and my nerves were high, my co-driver started the car and every lap seemed to take forever as I was nervous until the car passed by lap after lap. Around thirty or forty minutes into the race we had an accident. A simple splash into the gravel trap did more damage than it seemed. As the car came into the pits I popped the hood and immediately saw fluid leaking out of the radiator, I said we were done but everyone else had something else in mind. My crew jumped on the car and pieced it back together enough for me to turn laps in the race, which was the coolest thing out of the whole weekend.
My short stint in the car was bittersweet. The car had a coolant leak from a busted radiator and the gravel trap stole my alternator belt as well, so it was a ticking time bomb but the car just kept going and going. As the temperature rose I’d slow down and let it cool down some, that slowing down brought a lot of pickup to my tires and made it a miserable ride especially on the back straight, the vibration was insane.
Eventually my pit board came out and they wanted me to pit. I went in and they thought they found an alternator belt but it didn’t fit, the aftermarket pulley on the car didn’t use an OEM Neon belt so finding the right belt was a pretty hard task in the heat of the moment. At that point I had a decision to make. Continue on until I blow it or the battery dies, or quit and take what I had home. I decided to call it quits to save the car, it was a hard choice as I really, REALLY, REALLY wanted to finish that race but I made the right choice.
Our day was over, but what a great overall experience. I learned a lot from the weekend, specifically that crap happens in racing and you just have to make the best of it. I was very pleased my mother could make it out who’s suffering from leukemia. The part that hit me most during the weekend was running the test day and being in some heavy traffic when it hit me that these cars next to me were the cars I watched racing growing up attending the ARRC, sounds stupid, but these guys were my idols growing up, it’s a small accomplishment in a big picture but running the ARRC was one dream I have completed.
There are photos and videos from the event on my website: www.simontibbett.com
