Chump Car - John Allen Special USFail1 Race Team Build

[JCarp90]

I saw your Facebook update. Brutal weekend!

[Nygdup]

Just to clarify, the race was back in February. We just took the month of March off from working on fixing any issues from that race.

And all things considered, the only thing that kept us from finishing the full 12 hours of the race was the coolant leak. If we'd had it at any time that wasn't 30 minutes before the checkers, we'd have fixed and kept going.

[dinanm3atl]

Love the huge photos... so easy to see and enjoy.

[dinanm3atl]

UPDATE! Two races worth!

So we forgot to update. Daytona 14 Hour and 14 Hours of Gateway. Daytona First.

We rolled down with a skeleton crew and a new driver. Many team members could not make it due to previous commitments. We had an overall good race until someone took us out in turn one. Divebomb gone wrong... by a Miata. We retired once it started raining because while the positive camber wasn't terrible during the dry it was downright scary during the mist and mixed condition. Sigh.

_74A2431 by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

_74A2435 by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


Close racing!


_74A3735 by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

_74A3850 by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

WOOOOO NASCAR!

_74A5897 by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


This is NOT how you navigate the Bus Stop...

_74A7642 by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


Pit Stops. Team Effort.

_74A7912 by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


See driver side front... POSITIVE CAMBER!

_74A0084 by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


And last photo as we drive it behind the wall to retire :(


_74A0584 by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

[dinanm3atl]

ROUND TWO...


ROUND TWO...


ROUND TWO...


Gateway Motorsports Park. 14 Hours. Towing to the midwest for a trophy.

We fixed the car. Over prepped it. Brought a ringer. Ready to podium.

10492618_10152811787806501_60170936131858159_n by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


906326_800445103321985_3298093884389784130_o by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


I started. P10. P3 within 19 minutes. And make a shift into 4th and the dreaded sound of a broken rocker arm. First one in years... sigh. I was extremely pissed off and pulled into the pits. We confirmed the rocker was broken and I need an ice bath to cool down. Most everything was thrown(minus helmet and HANS of course) and put a dent in the roof of the car. Oops. 19 minutes in and the race is essentially ruined and over.

10356164_10152815675361501_2098204521311508646_n by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

We have dealt with this before and we fix it on pit lane in ~50 minutes. Back out...

10496015_800457653320730_7920627748423859059_o by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

And guess what? ANOTHER rocker arm breaks...

10464245_798791280154034_3203032803202473073_n by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

So we fix it. We start to discuss what is going on. We are not revving it hard. We are all being cautious on down shifts as we were racing for a win here with a weaker midwest ChumpCar field. We just needed to finish. Can't figure it out.

10413386_798791203487375_6890619924423639561_n by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

10486014_10152816065616501_5470704168111444237_n by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


GUESS WHAT? Yup... third one breaks...

10464318_798674083499087_7745635719683933663_n by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

Fix it... again. And we are underway.

10538513_798697443496751_7305961622695372932_n by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

10467046_800445516655277_6064609055975251283_o by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

10507121_800445599988602_3159032992444467988_o by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

We finish the race. 11th place still. So not all bad. I had an epic battle with another E30 which was great. With 35 minutes left... a 4th rocker arm breaks on the day. I drive on 5 cylinders for 35 minutes. Getting sick in the car from the unburned fuel exciting the tail pipe. We had done a full 2 hour stint on 5 cylinders before when we didn't care so said screw it. Rock it... and the old girl finished.

So next up in AMP in November... and the head is getting completely rebuilt. New valves, springs and cam. Full rebuild. I am not sure why it was breaking them so much :(

10521841_806698106030018_2077608957974584335_n by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

10406744_806698069363355_8517827660995701064_n by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

[Nygdup]

Would now be a good time to mention we have some John Allen Special t-shirts for sale? Hit me up with a PM if you'd like to get one. $15 each, $17 for 2XL.

[downforce22]

cool shirt, I am considering it!

[Nygdup]

Thanks! PM me for details on how to get one.

[jute91]

You should check the rockers by weight before installing.. some of them might have high porosity
rocker.jpg

[Nygdup]

You should check the rockers by weight before installing.. some of them might have high porosity

With the way the rules are set up in ChumpCar we are pretty well forced into running EOM rockers only. Weighing them is an interesting approach though.

[jute91]

weighting them and then polishing.. the smoother the surface, the better stress handling. also oil wont stick on them with smooth surface. Picture of m10 bottom end used in brabham bt52 engine, M12/13 turbo
polishing.jpg

[Nygdup]

The car's all back together. Taking it out this weekend to Talladega Gran Prix Raceway for a shake down. Also taking out the soon to be build John Allen Special 2.

And we still have t-shirts guys. Who wants one?

[dinanm3atl]

We finished off the season at AMP. Which is a double 7. It went OK overall but had some contact. Driver's got sick from some cars with too much exhaust fumes. Etc. Still fun.

And next year we go to 2 cars! Anyone want to drive?


We had a good car and no real problems. We did run into a flat spotted tire that went flat. We also had a lot of contact. Some our fault and some others.

1510663_856501631049665_8389565959741328831_n by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


10697141_857735854259576_5848503994261382060_o by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


10256690_860014207365074_6929267763405767060_o by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


1614203_860014164031745_5307410541922904461_o by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr




Enjoy some photos!


unnamed by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


BI9T6412 by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


BI9T4473 by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


BI9T1949 by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


BI9T0251 by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


BI9T0057-2 by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr



Some off-season cleaning and prep... PLUS 2nd car!


1980113_860014157365079_7691058671392964111_o by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


10682334_860014267365068_2875613690828789253_o by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


10628699_860014344031727_4216877398368712598_o by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


1294386_860014437365051_123255376116011212_o by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


And then we track the 2nd car... then strip it for a cage!


1534800_867124076654087_6001659715084805017_o by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr


10415705_872187969481031_1880930838535916342_n by Halston Pitman | MotorSportMedia, on Flickr

[agent]

That's the only pair of shorts you own, isn't it?

[dinanm3atl]

Something like that. Except just in 10 versions...