June 25 enduro win

Just a quick post here. We won the last NASA 3hr enduro at Buttonwillow 1CCW June 25th in E2. Had a hard battle with team Mansour that pushed us all the way, both teams running sprint pace for most of the race. Fuel economy ended up deciding the win with Mansour's thirstier M3 needing a splash and go with about 15 minutes remaining. We were leading when they pitted and instantly gained a lap while they took a quick gallon or two.

We did two sprint races during the day. First practice at 8am, last checkered flag at 9:15pm. Very long hot (95°) day and the crew did an amazing job at keeping us dialed in for the duration. Thanks guys!

Pictured left to right: John Wing, Mike Fantacone, William Chen (driver), Emilio Cervantes (driver).

Post race: already strategizing for the next one 

 

Testing, testing..

Quick snap from Grange kart track in Apple Valley yesterday. Testing a few things and shaking down the enduro car before the NASA 3hr at Buttonwillow this weekend. Lower LED Vision-X  Evo Prime light bars not installed in this pic but we race with them. Darick at www.motorsportsquared.com supplied us with this fawesome 240 watt set up. You can see the hood mounted array reflecting off the pavement in broad daylight. They're really bright at night :)

Fully powered

Last minute switch to 3 phase power for the hoists, a cord reel for power and finishing up the air fittings. We're now officially ready to rock. So many car projects backed up due to lack of workspace, not being able to find tools, supplies, no hoists, blah, blah. We have a long list of prep work ahead of us in the next two months but our shiny new workspace should allow us to hustle through it efficiently. Last on the list is the might OGK but I really hope we can get in on track again this year with the new Whammy 2.0, C30-94 and all the fixin's.

Hoists!

For one reason or another, it has taken us a long time to get the hoists installed in our new shop. Well they're in finally and I'm stoked! The 4 post has an 82" under clearance. Meaning my 6-3" frame can walk under it with room to spare. The 2 post is an asymmetric that will allow us to lift a Miata and still be able to open both doors all the way to get inside. We'll precision level the runners on the 4 post to be able to do accurate alignments. I think we'll make some DIY roll on/roll offs for the scales so we can corner weight and align at the same time.

The bridge jacks will be here next week. Those are the little pneumatic scissor lifts that sit between the runners on the 4 post to lift the wheels off.. This will make some common tasks about 90% faster and easier.

Mike and Sonny have been working steadily over the past 6 weeks to get the mezzanine finished up, all the spare parts, tools and equipment organized and on shelves. Chapeau gentleman. Man do we have some floor space now and still room for about 2000 wheels in inventory. Just in time as we have a 40' container due in a week or so and already have maybe 500 wheels in stock. Still a bit more work to do to get the shop done but we are nearly there.

Enduro tub

More orange is better than less orange.

Yet another G machine

Just picked up a 2010 Tonykart KRX with Rotax FR125 TAG motor. Took it out to ACS or as the karters call it "Cal Speed". This thing is a workout to drive and that precisely why I got it. Training for the NASA enduros. That its kick ass fun to drive is a bonus. This and racing the mountain and cross bikes should keep me in something resembling driving shape.

TC Design Cage

Enduro tub is back from TC Design in Milpitas. NASA is allowing us to attach the door bars to the door sill so we added a plate there. As you can see from the pics, the tub is fully seam welded. The acid dip at Strip Clean (Santa Ana) removed more weight than the seam welding added. It's now at Mclaren Autobody in Lake Forest. Since it's a race car, we are not going to get too carried away with the cosmetics. Robert at Mclaren is doing a single stage paint for us at a racer friendly price.