November 2018
True 24 Hours at MSR Houston
Uh-Oh Motorsports has completed another racing weekend. This time it was an actual 24 Hours of Race time, from 11am Saturday straight though the night (on an unlit track) until 11am Sunday morning. We showed up Thursday at 4pm to make sure we could get a nice paddock space, because MSR Houston has suffered some pretty extensive wind damage and the normal paddock rentals were not available. I did manage to get a good spot, but unfortunately so did two teams with excessively loud generators that they ran throughout the night. The weekend weather forecast was ominous, lots of rain, cold (for Houston) temperatures, possible thunderstorms. The following account of the race may not be completely accurate as it is based on my memories of the events. I only had 45 minutes of sleep on Saturday night therefore it could be a little scrambled..
On Friday for test and tune, the weather was true to the forecast: wet & chilly. I got the first stint in the car and the track was pretty slippery. For the first time I was happy that the Mitsubishi is a front wheel drive car. Eric took the car out for a second stint, and promptly lost a couple of pieces from the starter solenoid. Apparently, it decided that the solenoid no longer wanted to be a part of the team.. We had several starters in the parts box and eventually got one of them fitted and functioning. Next up was tech inspection for the car, which we promptly failed - our harness was out of date (because the governing body decided to make it 2 years instead of 5). Luckily Dennis had connections at the track and sourced us a new harness. We ran the car back though tech and got our "ready to race" sticker.. After tech we went to the rookie drivers' meeting. It wasn't required for us, but we enjoyed the review. Then we went back to camp and ate some excellent fajitas. I also started looking into wiring the dash lights (since they weren't working yet). After finishing the dash lights, I notice that the alternator is no longer working.. Upon inspection, I find that the fan shroud has managed to slice the wiring on the back of the alternator. Next we have to completely rewire and replace the alternator (luckily there was one in the spares box). We also pull the fan out and trim the shroud back, to prevent a re-occurrence of the issue. So we go to sleep feeling pretty confident about our little car.
Saturday morning starts off on good news, the forecast has steadily improved and while it is overcast and cool (almost cold) it no longer calls for rain or thunderstorms. We have decided on the following driver rotation: Eric, Chris, Dave, Monty - Mostly we are trying minimize Eric's night time driving. Eric gets out on the grid and starts the race. Unknown to the rest of the team, Eric had a belief that a slight aerodynamic modification at the rear of the car would result in a significant performance boost. So he got a little loose in the corner so that the guy behind him could push in the passenger rear quarter panel according to the new specification. After explaining the reasoning behind this to the judges in the penalty booth, we swapped Chris into the car just in time for a full course yellow flag. Basically Chris got to do parade laps for an hour before getting to do any racing. Next up was Dave, who pronounced the car un-drivable. We began exploring the issue by adjusting the suspension in multiple places. Each time sending Dave back out to test the modifications. Finally looking at the alignment we arrived at a spot where I thought I could control the car well enough to do a significant stint and get us some more laps. I also got to be the first guy to experience night racing... After which I ate a sandwich, crawled into the pop-up and let the thunderous white noise of our neighbors generators put me to sleep.
As I slept, Eric decided that the previous modification had not really gone to plan and that a small adjustment to the driver's front fender would sort it out. So I wake up to find Eric stuck in the car (unable to open the door), the bumper half off and apparently someone else on the track wearing a little bit of our new metallic blue spray paint. We use the pry bar to correct the most significant part of the damage (i.e. access through the driver's door) and re-attach the bumper. Chris goes out and decides he can't see, sends Dave out who agrees he can't see and they spend some time scraping the overspray off the inside of the windshield (the previous owners painted the inside gray and were not very careful). Dave turns the car over to me for another round of late night survival driving. I end up joining the uh-oh motorsports off-road race team (really the mirage is a terrible choice for any off road driving) and have to wait half an hour to get pulled back into the paddock. If the starter had been working I probably could have restarted the car and driven back onto the track, but it had died again. Dave and I swap in the new starter (delivered by Russell earlier that day - just in case) and we wake up Eric who is surprised at how much sleep he was able to get. Eric runs a bunch of laps before deciding that perhaps I had not thoroughly tested the off road utility of the car and finds that my earlier hypothesis is indeed correct - not a good off-roader. Unfortunately the wrecker dirver mistakes our new bumper support for a tow point and tears the bumper completely off the car. A short visit with the judges, a trip to find our bumper from the tow truck, and a visit to the Pinto Wagon race team gets us a new cornering light and the parts need to get her back on the track. Eric and I finish getting the bumper on and Chris hops in the car to take a bunch of laps (we even do a hot pit fuel stop). Followed by Dave for another hour or so, then I get to take over and drive the remaining 20 minutes until the checkered flag. Spending the entire time thinking "don't screw up now, we are so close... so close...".
Anyway, I want to thank the team for a great weekend, special shout out to Dennis, Bear, and Russell for all the support at the track. And to Hope for managing our children during the race preparation and race weekend. Final results are not posted yet, but rest assured we did not place highly or well due to too much time in the paddock - but we met the goals of running all weekend, everyone getting to drive, having a lot of fun, not using the spare motor or transmission, and bringing the car home in condition that will allow us to race it again soon. Doing a true 24 hour endurance race is a mental, physical, and logistical challenge. Doing it in a 1996 Mitsubishi Mirage is probably a near impossibility - So I am quite proud of our weekend, Thanks again to everyone involved.