07/14/2017
Mt. Washington Hillclimb 2017: Not the result we wanted but lucky to even get to the top. First run a rear axle broke. Second and final run, the silicone coupler connected to the turbo blew apart half way up the mountain and left me with no boost or any real acceleration so I had to limp it/stay full throttle the rest of the way. Would not even have been at the race without ReEngineered Racing Hollen Groff & Cranks Ian Oliver. They spent the past 2 weeks doing whatever was possible to get the car prepared. Here is only an idea of what they went through.
- 2 weeks before: Engine pulled out (spun bearing) - New engine installed. Odds and ends cleaned up, passenger seat removed, wiring and piping fixed, oil lines water lines, and stuff like that.
- 10 days before: Bring to shop for alignment. Figure out that struts must be bent or something is not right. Cant get any camber or even alignment due to wheels rubbing on strut. No spare struts. A lot more work on car being done to get it back into race mode.
- 1 week before: still trying to get a 40mm restrictor made and fitted. Also need a tune with the new engine. Other work continues.
- Saturday - Restrictor is made and installed. Truck and Trailer getting prepped.
- Wednesday (1 day before tech): Ian drives from Ohio to NY. Ian and Groff drive from Rochester to Quebec.
- Thursday 8am (tech day) Groff and Ian Arrive at Dyno at Lachute Lachute Performance on after sleeping for 2 hours in a Hortons parking lot. Immediately have issues with car now having some things needed. They get fittings welded, sensors wired in and get on the dyno finally around lunch. Finish dyno around 4pm. Still 5.5 hours to drive to NH to get through tech which will be closed by then. Of course trouble and delays at US border as they dont understand why you would ever leave the country.
- Thursday 9pm - Car and crew arrives and starts cleaning up car stuff they was done quickly on dyno.
- Friday 6am. Pass tech thanks to officials for allowing late tech.
- Friday practice top half of mountain. Realize suspension is acting funky, rear diff is not right, and car is overheating before half the run is finished.
- Friday afternoon and night. Think we have cooling issue fixed, adjust suspension, rear diff, nothing we can do.
- Saturday Practice - Bottom half. Same exact issues. Overheating is even worse.
- Saturday afternoon. Guys add a second radiator, fix fans, make final adjustments to whatever else they can.
- Race day. First run. Launch the car and within the first 10 seconds, a rear axles breaks and I cant continue and back the car down the hill back into the pits. No spare axles in trailer. We try making one with other random axles I had. On the hunt for a spare. Frog Racing Frog racing comes through! axles in and ready to go once more. It is clear that the rear diff L*D is not working and one wheel is spinning freely when that corner gets light. Special help from Ian Brown Casey O'Hara Chris Monroe
- Second and final run. Launch much softer just to get off the line. Going pretty hard. Seems like I am going faster than either practice and taking some chances.
- Get past the twin bridges and hit a long straight, stab the brakes and get back on it and POW. Loud snap and go back to throttle and no boost , no acceleration. Something popped. I keep driving as fast as I can just trying to keep the speed up. car seems find other than no power whatsoever. I continue and watch my mirrors in case car behind comes up. I finally make it to the top and car behind catches me after the finish line.
- And thats all she wrote. Have to wait another 3 years for the chance to do it again. Very frustrating as I know even with suspension being almost unusable, the overheating, the rear diff gone bad. Our practice times were very good and the pace on the second run was very fast.
Special thanks to: ReEngineered Racing Cranks Danger Nation Johnstons Subaru Lachute Performance Hollen Groff Ian Oliver Ian Brown Chris Monroe Photos from Dooms Day Device
In car videos coming soon...
