04/19/2009
Grand Bayou Race Series Round #7
Well, we just got back from Louisiana and Round #7 (finale) of the 2008 - 2009 Grand
Bayou Race Series. Things did not go well in this final round of the series. We arrived on
Thursday night at the track and got evey thing unloaded and setup for the following
morning. During the practice sessions on Friday, everything was going really well. I was
turning consistant lap times. Right around 1:27 - 1:28, right where I want to be. We call it
quits early today as I only have 1 set of tires for the rest of the weekend.
Saturday rolls around and it poured down rain the entire night. No big deal, I am fine racing
in the rain. So we go out for practice that morning on slicks. No big deal there either. A little
slower but not much. Turning 1:30 lap times and everyone else is about 2 seconds off their
normal pace as well. We are looking good during practice heading into qualifying today.
Qualifying - As per the norm, I am going to do my 2 warm up laps, 2 race laps, then a cool
down lap. As I am heading into turn 4....Which is about as 110 degree right hander after a
short shoot straight coming out of the 2 - 3 chicane at around 90 mph, I go to down shift
from 3rd to 2nd and I cant get it into gear. At first I thought maybe I just missed it. Tried to
go to 3rd, nothing. At this point, cars are flying up behind me so I park it near a corner
working stand and ask for a tow. After about 3 maybe 4 minutes...I can get the car into 1st
and I get back on track. I go through the whole gear box and it seems fine......That is until I
try to pull into my stall in the garage. I go to ease her on into the garage in 1st and it wont
go into gear. It wont go into any gear. I am thinking the worst at this point that I just fried my
new TRE tranny. But it couldn't be fried, I just drove it into the paddock area. Couldn't be
the clutch I drove it in here. So the rest of the day we poke around looking for what it could
be. Bled the clutch several times, checked clutch fluid, tranny fluid....Everything seemed
fine. The car would go into gear fine as long as it was not running. Fire it up, and I couldn't
even force it into gear. Next, we jack the car up onto the jack stands and go from there. If it
is in the air and cranked, it will go into any gear and shift normally. Put it on the ground,
nothing. Wont do anything to go into gear. After hours upon hours of looking, I noticed the
drivers side motor mount is done. It is sitting on the aluminum part rubbing into the engine
bay. WOW....We are thinking we have found it. The motor is sitting in there a skew now and
all we need is a new motor mount and we should be good to go. So after all of this, we set
out to find motor mounts. We are calling every where in the Greater Baton Rouge area and
get 2 of the engine mounts. We replace the upper drivers side mount and the lower mount
as well as it was showing signs of letting go. Ok, we think we have it and I climb in to fire it
up. Fire it up, goes right into reverse. I am thinking I may be able to race after all now.
But.....When I put it into first to try it out, the car is shaking something fearce and making a
god awful CLANK, CLANK, CLANKING noise when moving forward. At this point, we have
been wrenching on the car for a day and almost a half. Nothing "seems" to be wrong with
the car. But it wont stop shaking and clanking when it is in gear and trying to go forward. At
this point, I am at an end pass and decide to inch it onto the trailer and just become a pit
man and spectator for the rest of the event.
I don't really no what is going on right now with the car. Going to take it to the shop
tomorrow and see what we can determine. I am hoping for something we just did not think
of or something we could not see without a lift or something. Maybe I bent an axle and it will
be an easy fix. If it something that is going to set me back allot, it may be time to part the
car or sell as is. Again, I am hoping for the best. But worst case scenario, the Talon may be
on the shopping blocking soon. It all depends on what we find out here this week on it. It
cant seem to be the tranny or the clutch. I really don't know what the issue could be. If
anyone has ANY ideas, please feel free to spit the out here my way. Now having said all
that........
This year we really thought we would have a shot at the overall championship. But due to
the tranny letting go in Round #2 and missing 2 events early. It was starting to fade away.
After the new tranny install we won 2 races in a row and were primmed for another late run.
Now this happens and again, we fell short of our goals. I want to now thank everyone that is
involved in my racing career and acknowledge what the do and mean to me and my racing.
First all of my sposnors.....Red Line Oil, K&N Engineering, Real Power Motorsports and
Slow Boy Racing. Each company brings different things to my racing program and without
there support and dedication to motorsports. I may not be able to do what I love to do.
They will also be playing a BIG part in what is coming up soon.
EVERYONE on DSMtuners.com for all the kind words and support for yet another GBRS
season. Your E-Mails, PMs and phone calls of support and just to say what they think of my
racing will NEVER go unforgotten. THANK YOU !!!
Justin and Vito at Real Power Motorsports here in Pensacola Florida where I live. Event
after event Justin and Vito make sure my car is ready to go. Without them, I would probably
never see the track to race. Their support and upcoming support in a racing venture I will
announce very shortly is GREATLY appreciated.
Last and certainly not least. My WAAAAY to understanding girlfriend Kati. Who puts up with
long nights of my at the garage. Being out of town racing all the time....People always at the
house or me with them at the shop trying to get the car ready....Bringing us dinner or even
sometimes breakfast to the shop because we were doing something so late into the night.
And never once complaining about any of it. She is TRUELY my biggest fan and supporter.
Everything she does for my racing and everyone involved with my career is truely amazing
and she will probably never know how much it means to me.
Once again thank you to EVERYONE for another great GBRS season. We may have fell
short of our goals....But we had a GREAT time. And this season has lead to something big
in the future for my racing career which like I said...Will be letting everyone know as soon
as we finalize a few last things.
THANK YOU !!!!!
Bayou Race Series. Things did not go well in this final round of the series. We arrived on
Thursday night at the track and got evey thing unloaded and setup for the following
morning. During the practice sessions on Friday, everything was going really well. I was
turning consistant lap times. Right around 1:27 - 1:28, right where I want to be. We call it
quits early today as I only have 1 set of tires for the rest of the weekend.
Saturday rolls around and it poured down rain the entire night. No big deal, I am fine racing
in the rain. So we go out for practice that morning on slicks. No big deal there either. A little
slower but not much. Turning 1:30 lap times and everyone else is about 2 seconds off their
normal pace as well. We are looking good during practice heading into qualifying today.
Qualifying - As per the norm, I am going to do my 2 warm up laps, 2 race laps, then a cool
down lap. As I am heading into turn 4....Which is about as 110 degree right hander after a
short shoot straight coming out of the 2 - 3 chicane at around 90 mph, I go to down shift
from 3rd to 2nd and I cant get it into gear. At first I thought maybe I just missed it. Tried to
go to 3rd, nothing. At this point, cars are flying up behind me so I park it near a corner
working stand and ask for a tow. After about 3 maybe 4 minutes...I can get the car into 1st
and I get back on track. I go through the whole gear box and it seems fine......That is until I
try to pull into my stall in the garage. I go to ease her on into the garage in 1st and it wont
go into gear. It wont go into any gear. I am thinking the worst at this point that I just fried my
new TRE tranny. But it couldn't be fried, I just drove it into the paddock area. Couldn't be
the clutch I drove it in here. So the rest of the day we poke around looking for what it could
be. Bled the clutch several times, checked clutch fluid, tranny fluid....Everything seemed
fine. The car would go into gear fine as long as it was not running. Fire it up, and I couldn't
even force it into gear. Next, we jack the car up onto the jack stands and go from there. If it
is in the air and cranked, it will go into any gear and shift normally. Put it on the ground,
nothing. Wont do anything to go into gear. After hours upon hours of looking, I noticed the
drivers side motor mount is done. It is sitting on the aluminum part rubbing into the engine
bay. WOW....We are thinking we have found it. The motor is sitting in there a skew now and
all we need is a new motor mount and we should be good to go. So after all of this, we set
out to find motor mounts. We are calling every where in the Greater Baton Rouge area and
get 2 of the engine mounts. We replace the upper drivers side mount and the lower mount
as well as it was showing signs of letting go. Ok, we think we have it and I climb in to fire it
up. Fire it up, goes right into reverse. I am thinking I may be able to race after all now.
But.....When I put it into first to try it out, the car is shaking something fearce and making a
god awful CLANK, CLANK, CLANKING noise when moving forward. At this point, we have
been wrenching on the car for a day and almost a half. Nothing "seems" to be wrong with
the car. But it wont stop shaking and clanking when it is in gear and trying to go forward. At
this point, I am at an end pass and decide to inch it onto the trailer and just become a pit
man and spectator for the rest of the event.
I don't really no what is going on right now with the car. Going to take it to the shop
tomorrow and see what we can determine. I am hoping for something we just did not think
of or something we could not see without a lift or something. Maybe I bent an axle and it will
be an easy fix. If it something that is going to set me back allot, it may be time to part the
car or sell as is. Again, I am hoping for the best. But worst case scenario, the Talon may be
on the shopping blocking soon. It all depends on what we find out here this week on it. It
cant seem to be the tranny or the clutch. I really don't know what the issue could be. If
anyone has ANY ideas, please feel free to spit the out here my way. Now having said all
that........
This year we really thought we would have a shot at the overall championship. But due to
the tranny letting go in Round #2 and missing 2 events early. It was starting to fade away.
After the new tranny install we won 2 races in a row and were primmed for another late run.
Now this happens and again, we fell short of our goals. I want to now thank everyone that is
involved in my racing career and acknowledge what the do and mean to me and my racing.
First all of my sposnors.....Red Line Oil, K&N Engineering, Real Power Motorsports and
Slow Boy Racing. Each company brings different things to my racing program and without
there support and dedication to motorsports. I may not be able to do what I love to do.
They will also be playing a BIG part in what is coming up soon.
EVERYONE on DSMtuners.com for all the kind words and support for yet another GBRS
season. Your E-Mails, PMs and phone calls of support and just to say what they think of my
racing will NEVER go unforgotten. THANK YOU !!!
Justin and Vito at Real Power Motorsports here in Pensacola Florida where I live. Event
after event Justin and Vito make sure my car is ready to go. Without them, I would probably
never see the track to race. Their support and upcoming support in a racing venture I will
announce very shortly is GREATLY appreciated.
Last and certainly not least. My WAAAAY to understanding girlfriend Kati. Who puts up with
long nights of my at the garage. Being out of town racing all the time....People always at the
house or me with them at the shop trying to get the car ready....Bringing us dinner or even
sometimes breakfast to the shop because we were doing something so late into the night.
And never once complaining about any of it. She is TRUELY my biggest fan and supporter.
Everything she does for my racing and everyone involved with my career is truely amazing
and she will probably never know how much it means to me.
Once again thank you to EVERYONE for another great GBRS season. We may have fell
short of our goals....But we had a GREAT time. And this season has lead to something big
in the future for my racing career which like I said...Will be letting everyone know as soon
as we finalize a few last things.
THANK YOU !!!!!