Every so often, I develop a bad case of writer's block when it comes to this blog. Each time this happens though, there seems to be an event or memory from a recent race that saves the day and practically writes itself. Unfortunately, the most recent "incident" involves my uncanny knack for producing DNF's. Misery is served, enjoy!
I've developed a bit of a reputation this indoor season. One that never really accompanied me before, and one that is seemingly gaining traction within the club. No, I haven't turned in to a hack or anything (that I know of), but I'm certainly not gaining a reputation for winning races either. No, for the majority of the indoor season, I've had the damnedest time keeping my car together for an entire race night. Admittedly, It's taken more time than anticipated to acclimate to the high grip and high consequences of indoor carpet racing. As I've said in previous posts, 3 years away from the hobby can seem like a lifetime. Some might say I'm still a bit rusty. Some may also say I have a screw loose.... literally.
For the vast majority of my racing career, I raced spec-type classes. I've dabbled in stock-class racing and other types of cars like F1, 12th scale, buggies, etc.. but past those, most of my experience racing toy cars has come from racing controlled classes, like VTA or USGT. One thing these categories provide is a "mostly" even playing field where races are won with a good setup and clean driving. outright speed and wallet size are not the determining factor with a spec class, which worked great for my shoestring budget program. Speeds are noticeably slower, as are the corner speeds and down force levels. Consequently, while race-prep is as important as any class, regular maintenance isn't a major issue, as there just isn't a ton of wear & tear on equipment. Of course, old habits die hard, and that has never been more evident than this indoor season.
With moving up to a faster class with much faster competition this indoor season, came a need to re-think my preparation and between-rounds maintenance. The problem was, I seem to grasp this concept until a couple races in and several lost screws and stripped gears later. Let's recap:
Round 1:
- Steering rack screw falls out in practice and all steering is lost going full-wood down the straight into the sweeper. Head-on hit into the wall, destroying the front bumper and front body posts. Caused by not checking screws between rounds.
- Strip a spur gear in Heat 1, caused by the motor shifting during the practice debacle above.
- Lose 3 screws in the top deck during practice, caused by not double-checking after performing mid-week maintenance.
- Strip another spur gear at the hit of the throttle in the A Main, caused by setting the gear mesh too loose.
- Both shock towers found loose after practice, caused by not double-checking screws after performing mid-week maintenance. Decided to finally pull my head out of my ass and use Loctite on said-screws, and the reputation is born....
Which brings us to this past Wednesday night club race. After 7 rounds of carpet racing, my once-spotless vehicle prep record was now officially in shambles. My racing buddies and I are always quick to pick up on others' small misfortunes, and in true fashion, the club presented me with an official "Loctite" t-shirt for my season's worth of misery - Call it a lifetime achievement for futility. It was a hilarious gesture, but also a sobering reminder that I needed to get my shit together as not only a driver, but a tuner and mechanic as well. It was not to be on that night, however.
In the Main, about 6 laps in, I came off the left-side sweeper carrying good speed onto the straightaway. The car tracked out a bit more than I realized and after a slight sashay, brushed the outside wall right at a seam in the barrier. The spinning left-rear tire met the wall and.... BOOM. The entire left-rear suspension assembly was ripped from the car and bounced down the straight past my crippled car which hobbled to the inside and out of the race. The hit was minor, but the aftermath was gnarly, and unfortunately, par for the course for this season. I won't blame anything on the track, as every other driver races in the same conditions without incident. To suggest the track barrier was to blame would be foolish, as would it be to blame the car, which had been working flawlessly all night long. I was simply pushing too hard in a spot I shouldn't have. Was the left-rear arm already cracked from a previous run-in? Possibly, but even so, it was yet something else I missed in my mid-week race prep... go figure.
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| One of these things is not like the others..... |
The damage consisted of a shattered left rear suspension arm, a broken hingepin bearing (literally broken, who does that?), a severely bent inner hingepin, a bent outer hingepin, and a tweaked rear sway bar. It was a comically pitiful laundry list of parts that were rendered trash because of one bad decision. I did decide to save the inner hingepin and bearing...those are going in the personal hall of shame.
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| The aftermath. Go big or go home. |
There's two things I took from all this....
Firstly, If you can't make fun of yourself for these types of experiences, you're taking this hobby way too seriously. It's fun to banter back and forth with friends in the pit area and share a good laugh, even if it is at the expense of my piss-poor mechanical skills. If you find yourself in a similar situation like I had, learn from your mistake, have a chuckle, and crack on with the job. Mechanicals suck, but as with many other undesirable situations like it, they are just simply part of racing. The classic phrase "Shit Happens" applies here. Don't sweat it, just learn from it.
Secondly, I've since re-learned the meaning of the age-old adage: "To finish first, you must first finish." It's such a simple idea, and while my Schumacher Mi6evo has been an absolute joy to drive, and my driving has been getting much more consistent of late, I realized that if I don't stop these mechanical issues from popping up, I'll never have the chance to get into a groove, rack up some heat race wins, or even the top step in the Main. I certainly don't take my racing as overly-serious as I used to, but no one likes to finish the night with a DNF. Non-finishes just sting, especially when the car was the best it had been in weeks. God-forbid Id like to keep progressing through the club....
So, after the latest rousing and ridicule from the peanut gallery, the decision was made... It was time for a re-boot. I've raced the Mi6 for over 6 months now, and up to Wednesday night the car was still sporting all the original plastic bits as they came out of the box. As part of my postmortem tear down, I made the decision to replace all major plastic parts on the car, which includes arms, ball cups and uprights. It's no secret that I've taken my fair share of tumbles this indoor season, and with the extra loads these modern cars inflict on themselves, it was high-time to refresh the pieces with the highest abuse rate. Now, one could argue that my entire car is under a high abuse rate on account of my recently shoddy driving, but I digress. Who knows how much, if any, tweak has been worked into the original pieces after six months of track use, so it was more-than likely overdue for fresh stuff. Safe to say this will be a regular checking point from now on. Ah, the things you learn by moving up in the world, and down in the club's social standing.... As our race director Kyle Bradshaw said: "There was no amount of Loctite that was going to save that hit."
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| New plastics are on the agenda. |
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| Tear down & refresh. Not quite "wax on, wax off", but it's close. |
- Speaking of Loctite, what an amazing and utterly magical liquid it is. A little dab on a screw, and after a short while, this wondrous liquid hardens and prevents said-screw from backing out, thus allowing you to finish a race. Who'd of thought? Genius! - Sarcasm.
Seriously though, With all the attention I put into mid-week cleanups and rebuilds, to have something as simple as a lost screw, a stripped spur, or a potentially pre-cracked arm put me out of a Main was a pretty tough pill to swallow. Club racing or not, we all put so much time and effort into these little cars, and at the end of the day, If I'm going to lose, I'd much prefer it to be because I didn't drive my best, and not because I couldn't keep my equipment together. "Incidents" will always pop up from time to time.... It's racing. It's an activity done at the limit of mechanical ability, and when you have that, failures are going to happen eventually. While every race is filled with things we didn't necessarily plan for, the one thing I CAN count on each time I set the car down to compete is I will always learn something new, and this 2017/2018 indoor season has been one "never-ending trial-by-fire seat-of-my-pants" learning experience. Hell, I even got a free shirt and a sweet new nickname out of it.
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| It's stupid crap like this that makes the hobby so enjoyable. |
Moral of the story:
Check your shit.Replace your broken shit.
Tighten your shit.
Maintain your shit.
Use Loctite.
Now, go dial those cars in for the next race day, and don't forget the thread locker.....
-JRoy386
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