07/03/2022
After nearly a year break, we hit the track for the first time in 2022 for another Portland International Raceway scorcher. We put our carefully selected junk yard engine to the test and after just 5 laps of qualifying we developed a misfire; just a loose plug wire, no sweat. Soon after we headed to grid and discovered a broken Coolshirt fitting. A quick team sprint to gather parts and tools (shoutout to Armadillo Racing for having the fittings) and we made it to the tail end of the pace line before green to start P35!
Brian Dyche casually clicked away at the laps for the first stint with a fast lap of 1:38.257, and climbed all the way to P16 before handing the car off to Brandon Dyche for the second stint. Another mostly uneventful stint (other than a near miss with a 350z) with a fast lap of 1:39.643 keeping pace in P17. After another driver change, Brian noticed a loud gear whine and chose to bring the car in to investigate. Looking under the car Tauni noticed oil coming out of the bell housing, likely a rear main seal leaking.
With some parts loaned to us by our friends at Durkee-Walker Racing, we spent the night (and a good chunk of Sunday) replacing the rear main seal, transmission, and differential on the hot asphalt in the paddock. Tauni Dyche kicked ass and showed that joining CrossFit Advantage last summer has paid dividends in her strength as she showed the transmission and differential who’s boss to help get everything mounted up and bolted in.
Out of contention after missing the Sunday start, we chose to use the afternoon as a track day and took a hard earned checkered flag at the end. Sometimes the victory is simply in finishing an endurance race. Our COOLSHIRT SYSTEMS supplied by 425 Motorsports and our family (Scott Dyche) was essential facing 110 degree in car temps. Thanks to Nathan Loch for loaning us your swamp cooler to keep us cool while we fixed the car, Kerry Bostrom for popping into our pit and immediately lending a hand as always, Jason Ascher and Erik Torgeson for advice on the rear main, Cathy Fuss and the whole Lucky Dog Racing League crew for putting on incredible events, and Davis E. Hardee for the engine that ran strong all weekend (and a fashionable bumper dent in the final stint Sunday). Now we address some of our drivetrain issues and see what we can improve before we head to Ridge Motorsports Park in September. See you there!
