My racing experience thus far has strictly been in sedans although I have always wanted to give another type of race car a try. One of the cars I’ve wanted to drive is a Spec Racer Ford. While the car doesn’t have a sleek sexy look, at least from my perspective, I have heard that they are extremely fun to drive, reliable, safe, and a there’s simply more to them than meets the eye. Continue reading →

After the Summit Point Labor day event, I knew the alternator needed to be replaced but time and money prevented me from doing it sooner. Besides, completing this repair is pretty straight forward and I’ve done it before. It was now a week before the North Atlantic Road Racing Championship (NARRC) Runoffs, and the day before my scheduled dyno session. I was also going to instruct in a few days at a high performance driving event (HPDE) where I would be able to get some seat time in the Prelude. Now that the engine was broken in, we could tune it a bit differently to obtain additional power

which I was quite excited about. The installation of the new alternator went smoothly. I started the car, and it sounded horrible as if it was only running on three cylinders. Prior to the repair it also didn’t sound right, but we were confident it was due to the car not getting enough power from the battery. This is not good and a panic began to settle in. Could something major be wrong with the engine? I immediately called up Kessler Engineering where the dyno session was scheduled and were I have all my race car work done. The owner and friend Matt said to bring it by his shop the next day. While there we checked over one thing then another, but weren’t able to determine the source of the issue. Eventually I left with a large pit in my stomach, however had confidence that Matt, if anyone one, would be able to figure it out. Two days later I received a phone call along with a picture of the wiring harness mess. The next day I received another call stating it’s running well now, has been on the dyno, and can be picked up in time for tomorrow’s HPDE. He did say that during the dyno session it was difficult to get it into 4^th gear and I needed to replace a shift linkage bushing. I contacted my local Honda dealership and was told the parts were no longer obtainable but I had my doubts he knew what he was talking about. I quickly found the part at an online Honda site, then ordered it with overnight shipping. While I wouldn’t have the new bushing in time for the HPDE, it would still be a good opportunity to get some track time. Continue reading →

Two women, two guys and a toddler – camping and lots of racing stuff. Yeah, one could say we struggled to pack everything but in true redneck fashion we made it happen! With a seven hour tow in front of us, we wanted to ensure that we weren’t cramped inside of the truck. We were able to strap some gear to the top of the truck, but there was a significant amount yet to be packed. Ah yes, the empty racecar quickly became equipped with small propane bottles, a portable grill, and fire wood stored away in the foot well. Our initial attempts at keeping everything well organized turned out in the end to us just stuffing in junk. Oh, then after we thought everything was packed Melissa told us we needed to find room for the large stroller! With clear skies predicted for the next several days, I opted to leave the rain tires home. Besides, there was absolutely no room left to put them anyway. Continue reading →

After a restless night, I awoke still exhausted but excited to get back into the Prelude. Saturday consisted of a qualifying session for the sprint race, qualifying for the Pro IT race, then a qualifying sprint race. The sprint race qualifying session went great with me

Most of the rotor - no, it wasn't rusted until I threw the par on the ground & the rain came

qualifying on overall pole for ITB plus the other classes in our run group. The ProIT qualifying session was also going well. I decided that I most likely wouldn’t get a faster lap time and should head back to the paddock. On one of the left hand turns during my cool down lap, I heard a loud “bam!” and the car proceeded to spin out of control. Fortunately no one else hit me and the car came to a final resting spot a mere two feet from the tire wall. Now that was a close call! Immediately I knew what the problem was – a failed rear hub. This happens to be one of the weak spots of this generation Prelude. Prior to the race weekend I replaced the hubs with brand parts, so I was surprised this happened. Nonetheless, it was something I needed to get fixed before the qualifying race a bit later in the day. Continue reading →

Last October during a race held at Lime Rock Park in CT, my Honda Prelude’s temperature gauge failed. That in itself wouldn’t have been catastrophic if it weren’t for a $5 piece of hose also failing. A little more than half-way through the race, I found myself watching the other cars battle it out while trying to regain my composure and politely answer questions from children as to why my car was smoking so much. The end consequence of these minor part failures was a severely overheated engine which needed to be completely re-built. During the next several months I spent quite a bit of time researching and working hard to get the car working again.

Just a few more things to do and it'll be ready for the track

I received confirmation from Kessler Engineering that the Prelude was ready, and made plans to pick it up. Call it coincidence, but not long after that there seemed to be a shift in the universe and forces seemed to be telling me it wasn’t ready for the Prelude again. On the way to the shop with trailer in tow and listening to some tunes, the radio station played a loud “beeeeeep, beeeeeep!” Huh. Guess they’re just doing some type of test. Nope, it was the national weather service announcing severe weather, hail and a tornado alert. What? I live in Connecticut where tornados are not exactly commonplace. Shortly thereafter I received a call on my cell phone from my parents ensuring that I heard about the alert. I told them where I was heading, which was followed with an “ummm, that’s one of the towns on high alert for a tornado!” Of course I heeded the warnings and continued heading straight for it. What else would you expect from Gran & Astrophysathingy adventure tales? Continue reading →

Here are your resident motorsports safety experts, Gran and Astrophysathingy, reporting from a field research trip to Watkins Glen International Raceway in NY. In our ongoing effort to improve health and safety in motor racing, we want to share the lessons learned from incidents.

1. In case the climate control system of your SSC Honda Civic SI gets stuck on “hot” with the blower on “full” on a 90 deg day, your instructor (a published author on entry level racing) may decide to pull the heater blower fuse. In that case, use your astrophysical training to verify that the correct fuse has been pulled, especially if said instructor has a known history of destroying Honda race engines. Pulling the *cooling fan’s fuse* on a 90 deg day may be detrimental to your engine’s health.

2. If your instructor, a published author on entry level racing and safety, sets up his mobile propane-operated barbecue to cook lunch, opens the propane valve and starts pounding on the piezo igniter, kindly ask him to halt his culinary efforts until you have moved the race fuel jugs to a safe distance from said barbecue; remind him that 1 foot is *not* a safe distance. Continue reading →