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We talked about it for years, Art and I. Sometimes even when we were sober. Then finally, when Paul said he was ready to get rid of his 1990 Sentra (with 216,000 miles), I talked him into letting us run it on the track.
After doing a lot of web-based research I came upon the NEETS Tour. Their rules seemed well-suited to our needs and budget. So Art and I bought a pair of pit passes for the season opener at Mountain Speedway. After about 15 minutes we knew we had found the right bunch of guys. We talked to the track officials, NEETS officials, and many of the drivers that day. Everybody was extremely helpful and encouraging. Plus, everyone was having a lot of fun.
After about 150 man-hours of labor the Sentra was ready for our first race, the mid-season championships. This was an Enduro rules race.
I guess some mention of the format is in order. For 2004, NEETS ran 2 series, Enduro and Junk Car. Each series had a 6/8 cylinder and 4 cylinder division. The Enduros were basically stock cars with required safety equipment like roll bars and fire extinguishers. The Junk Cars were stock cars with most of the Enduro-required equipment optional. So you could run your Enduro in the Junk Races, but not vice-versa. The Enduros ran points and had a season champ, Rookie of the Year and all that. The Junk Car races were one at a time with decent cash payouts.
The weatherman was calling for 2 inches of rain due to the remnants of the hurricane that had just clobbered Florida. Many people stayed at home, drivers included. The midseason championships ran with the regular Mountain Speedway classes that night. The 4 cylinder enduros were scheduled to run at intermission. By the time the first race started, there was only one other enduro in our division at the track. Fortunately, Pat and Pete Verwys showed up and they let us run 30 laps. Thank god for the Verwys guys, you can always count on them showing up.
Art won the coin toss and decided to drive this race (instead of the next). This was the start of Bob's pitiful and long-lasting run of horrible luck in coin-tossing. We were so rookie! We missed the first hot laps (practice laps) session. We did get our act together in time to make the second hot laps session, however.
Art drew 3rd position for the start. With only 4 cars they lined up 2 wide. On the very first lap, Art spun out between turns 3 and 4. He got the car straightened out quickly and drove well to get back into third within a few laps. Art even lapped the fourth-place driver a few times to finish 3rd. An excellent first time out. And not a scratch on the car.
Strangely, our next race was the BRE 100 season championships. We didn't want to run the dirt track race and another was cancelled. Since Art had taken such good care of the car, we only had to adjust the alignment and buy a new pair of tires for this race. We also decided that Art's spinout was partially due to putting the harder compound Michelins on the outside of the car. So we put our new tires on the rear and used the 2 Michelins as spares. I can't remember my starting position but I do remember that I was driving like a maniac. I was so overloaded with adrenaline I couldn't do anything but drive faster and faster. I did well by avoiding a lot of problems, but I ate up the tires and had to pit twice. Art and Paul did a great job on the last pit stop which came on lap 91. They got the car back on the track in time to see the checkered flag. I ended up finishing 11th out of 19.
Maria gave us a 1988 Buick LeSabre with a 3.8L V6. While we were extremely appreciative of the car, we really didn't know if it would be competitive. Time and money were an additional concern, so we decided to prep the Buick for the Junk Car races. Other than stripping the car, it only needed repairs to the radiator and cooling fans. Add a set of used tires and 2 additional rims and presto...instant race car.
The next race was the Frankenduro. We decided that I should run this race so Art could run in the Mutha which was next on the calendar. The morning of the race we painted the numbers on with a paint stick. The kind that used car dealers use to write on windshields with. The car sounded really good, the V6 has a snarling sound that gets your attention. There were no warmups this race, and I had only driven the car on and off the trailer the night before. It wasn't until I was lined up in the pits to enter the track that we discovered that the seatbelt didn't work! Art put it together with Duct Tape! The delay, while very short, was enough to drop me back from the 43rd starting position to about 56, with 76 cars on the track.
Early on, I was taking it easy, honest. The newness of the car and my feeling that I was too aggressive in my first race convinced me that I should race to finish, not necessarily to win. Even so, I hit the wall at the top of turn 3 twice. The second time it hit it backwards at a decent clip. The seat broke and I slid backwards and hit my helmet against the rear firewall. So now I'm driving with a broken seat and I can't put any weight on the Duct-taped seatbelt. I had to hold myself up with the steering wheel for the rest of the race. Cars were dropping like flies. At some point, late in the race, the track seemed to open up and I found my groove. I ran about 15 laps where I was passing a lot of cars and none passed me. With about 10 laps to go, I lost a cylinder, but was able to hold on for an 8th place finish.
The last race of the 2004 season was the "Mutha of all Enduros" where Art would be driving the Sentra in the 4 cylinder "Lil Mutha". Even though the title would suggest otherwise, this race ran under Junk Car rules. This was a 2 day event with qualifying on the first day. Art drew the pole for the 9th and final heat. We were really pumped because we felt that Art could hold the lead for the entire 10 lap heat. When the green flag dropped, Art grabbed a good lead which he held until the top of turn 3. At this point, the car behind him, not entirely in control, pushed him in the left rear, sending him into the wall in a 1 o'clock hit. Then another car rear-ended him at speed and sent the Sentra about 15 feet into the air. Then a few more cars got their licks in. It seemed that nobody could figure out a way to avoid hitting the Sentra. Art finished 9th for a 45th starting position the next day.
In the pits, other teams came over to see how Art was feeling. He was shook up pretty bad. The EMTs checked him for concussion, but he was OK. After a bout of adrenaline withdrawal, he was good to go. A few guys came over looking to borrow parts. We looked at them and told them we weren't finished; that we were going to race tomorrow. Most, however, came to help. Thanks to Joe Grochowlski (sp?) and Lee, we were able to bend the frame back into some semblance of normality.
On the day of the big race, Art lined up on the track with a battered and bruised Sentra. Our beautiful baby was looking pretty ragged with the wheels pointing in four different directions. More than a few teams expressed their amazement that we were back on the track. Obviously, Art had to be very careful. The handling sucked and we had no idea if the car would hold up for the 150-lap race. With a 91 car field, it would take some fancy driving just to stay out of trouble. But Art did just that. Looking pretty slow early on, he was masterful in his ability to hold the car on the track while avoiding drivers who confused the race with a demolition derby. Late in the race, Art figured out the quirky handling and moved steadily ahead to finish 20th. By overcoming adversity and still competing respectively, the final race of the season was our finest.
What did we learn from 2004? A lot. First, time spent in prepping a car pays off on the track. The Sentra would be in the ABC Car Crushing crusher if it wasn't for the heavy-duty roll bar we installed. Second, it takes money to race. Even though both cars were donated, we were constantly under serious budget pressures. And finally, it requires the help of friends, careful planning, and a little luck to make it all happen. Considering our goals for were simply to get 1 car on the track and maybe prep a second, 2004 was a resounding success.
Special thanks to:
Paul Felkner, Owner Krush Unit #17, Maria, Owner #X17, Harry Robbins, Krush Unit Inc., Uncle Mike Kulik, Mike and JoAnn Roemer, Joe Grochowlski, Lee, Brauner Equipment Co., and all the good people running with us.
Bob Kulik
bravenet.com
