This is a repost from my old blog, and is fitting since we just lost two drivers for the Race February 20-21, if you know anyone, send them to www.rustbucketracers.org for more.
This weekend was a nearly perfect ending to four months of work and preparation. You see, nearly four months ago we were accepted as a team in the 24 hours of LeMons Houston race. When I found out about the race, it looked like a fun way to race cars like I had in high school and college. The premise is simple, buy a car for $500 and make it safe to race. That's it, then you go race.
Since the event is so long and fatiguing, a minimum of four drivers and up to six per team are allowed. I came up with a theme, game plan and car plan. I decided to attempt to race a $500 diesel and after 5 weeks of looking only found one Mercedes 300SD. The idea of a turbo diesel running on WVO or waste vegetable oil seemed like a great way to start out in this race.
We found a car and started prepping it only to find three weeks later that a kill switch is required. Diesels don't have an ignition so the “kill switch” got very complicated. By this time Gabriele of Maxxom Communications had joined the team, and he started searching for another car. To save you the math, we were down to eight weeks before the race. Since we both own businesses, our schedules conflicted most of the time, even at night. My brother and step-dad were to be the other two drivers.
Finally after two more weeks, Gabriele found a completely rusted out 1993 Chevy Cavalier from Canada. We were down to six weeks to get this rust bucket prepped for racing. We wasted another week making the car look nicer. Next time we won't make that mistake. That is when we started reading the rules more thoroughly. The roll cage description didn't make sense to anyone that I knew so we found a guy that builds dragsters. He called in, looked it over and built a cage.
About this time my step-dad called with regrets, a family issue was going to keep in New York for the next two months or so. To make matters worse, Gabrieles whole family came down with a severe flu. I ran straight in for a flu shot. He was out for nearly seven days.
With just four weeks until the race, crisis management came into play. This is where 20 years of military training went to work. I sent out a panic blast looking for another driver and started begging everyone. Gabriele took charge of the car and started collecting all the other safety gear we would need. You would be amazed what it takes to make a $500 car “safe” to race.
When the car came back from the welder I realized that the cage wasn't functional to race, regardless of the rules. I realized the cage was where it was because we left the dash. Overnight Gabriele and I ripped out the rest of the interior and used tie wraps to hold the speedometer and fuel gauge in place. Everything else was gone. Clear of the dash, vents, speakers and everything else GM hid behind the vinyl, the car went back to the shop for a roll cage adjustment. I let the JR the welder know I would take the hit if the cage failed for my change. He moved the bar for me.
By the time we got the car back, driver registration was closed so my mom stepped up and put her name in the hat as our 4th driver keeping our team minimally legal. Meanwhile I thought my flushot failed and I came down with flu like symptoms. Testing revealed that both my wife and I had come down with a lung infection. While I could still work, I was at about half speed and still trying to run my business.
With just two weeks to go, we all were fitted with gear. At the same time Gabriele and I started tearing the car apart, rewiring the electrical system for the “kill switch”, installing a safe battery box in case it rolls over etc. About this time Hurricane Jimena was approaching the Baja Coast of Mexico and my Dentists vacation got canceled. He called and asked for more information about the race. An attorney friend of mine finally read my e-mail and researched the race. The next day they were both in. We had five drivers and a car with just four days until check in. My blood pressure must have dropped forty points.
On check in day we thought we had a car. Then the work really started. It turned out our “kill switch” didn't work. I had read the electrical diagram wrong so Gabriele spent several hours finding parts and we were making it up as we approached the inspection station. At inspection our car never made the pit. The head guy said “That cage isn't safe and here is why...”. The stars were clearly lined up since someone walking by overheard and stopped in to listen. He had a shop and a welder that could help us just 40 minutes away. The shop on the track was already overbooked with all of the other cars that had failed their roll cage inspection.
I learned more about roll cages that I ever wanted to know that night. I worked with Richard the owner of Apex Graphics until 8pm when the welder showed up and we finished the car at 2:20 am. I was back at the track at 3 am, with a meeting at 8:30 am. Somehow, I got up at 7, got the car to inspection and made the drivers meeting. Gabriele got the rest of the team prepped. We had missed our track day on Friday, so there we were, five drivers that had never been on the track, heading out to race, and from my understanding, I was the only one that had ever driven a track and it wasn't anything like this one.
After the drivers meeting, I gave my best 10 minute lesson on the track I could come up with and we suited up for the race. To everyone's surprise, a team that only met 12 hours before kept the car together and raced the entire race. Two minor mechanical issues during the race where quickly corrected, and two penalties assessed after David was accused (wrongly of course) of passing under a yellow, and I slid of the track after a minor bump failing to stop for inspection.
The silent hero of the team was Jack Stephens, my friend and dentist. He didn't get any penalties while driving, had great lap times, didn't scratch the car, did two complete brake jobs and brought his Polaris Ranger so we had the coolest pit vehicle in the place.
Teamwork is really about the leader assembling the right team and letting them succeed. I wish I could say that this race success was a result of me selecting the right team. Instead it was the result of the right team selecting me. I couldn't have asked for a better group to show up, and given that we were only a team for four days I am still amazed we did it. I guess the lesson here is make sure you ask for what you really need. I did and I got it, late but I still got it. Thank you Gabriele Magno, Jack Stephens, David Brewer and my brother Roy
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Thank you for your insights.