What Portland needs is a promoter to front the IRL and World Sports Car Challenge (the new ALMS I think) events. It's a most excellent series and maybe with their new leadership, they'd be more interested in coming back to the Northwest
http://www.imsa.com/
Or, maybe Pacific
It would be nice, but if the fans don't show up and the corporate chalets aren't bought, they won't make enough money. Portland fans seem to have lost interest. If / When they will get interested again is a large unknown.
*sigh*
Apathy is going to kill our sport.
Since I retired a few years back U have been working as a truck driver, and as such have not had time to get my car into racing shape, and even if I did I am not home often enough to commit to getting to the track(s) to race. This wears on me some, as there are the new tracks in Oregon and Washington, and the Mission track is essentially a new track, having been added to and reworked some since I was last there.
So the Datsun is collecting dust in the corner of the shop.
(again) *sigh*
I always take time off from work from Christmas to December, and last year the timing was off a bit when I returned from one of my Laps of North America. There was still a few days that I could work, but not enough to take another load out and then get home in time to take the annual holiday vacation. So I asked the carrier I run for to give me some local work. They are always accommodating, and kept me busy for the last few days.
But.
My assigned truck was scheduled to go to the dealer for some service or recall work.
Even though we do not slip seat, there are always a few of the older trucks available to use, and I was given a choice of a half dozen old Peterbilt 379 models. Clapped out slag heaps to be sure. One of the runs was going to be an overnight trip, picking up a large air compressor at the container port in Tacoma, and delivering at the Intel campus in Hillsboro.
Everything was going OK, I made the pickup and made my way down to the Portland area. Found a place to park at Jubitz, climbed into the bunk and had a nap. Got up at o-dark thirty, grabbed a shower, had some breakfast and started towards the freeway.
Just as I was entering I-5 the low air buzzer started complaining.
What?
I have a crane appointment in an hour to unload a 26,000 pound air compressor!
Well the next exit was the one that one would take to get to PIR. It is my personal policy that I never stop on the freeway if I can get off when there are issues, flat tire, mechanical breakdown, whatever. So my mind is processing the situation, what to do, what to do.
Hey!
There is a race track right over there, and if the air doesn't completely run out I might just get this thing out of the way there.
So I made my way over to the entrance of the track, and was just able to get the truck and trailer off the street before the air was completely gone. Trucks use air, mostly for the brakes, but also to operate other things, like the fan clutch, the shift mechanisms in the transmissions, inter axle and axle divider locks, axle airbags, cab airbags, window regulators, wiper motors, etc. System pressure is 120 lbs, and anything under 60 lbs is not good. From the moment when the low air warning buzzer started squawking to when I got stopped in the driveway at PIR about 5 or 10 minutes had passed. There was less than 60 lbs of air left as I was backing the rig off the street, and I could feel the brakes dragging. I didn't even have to pull the brake knob out as I came to a stop, it automatically popped out and set the brakes.
Well I guess this is where I'm gonna park then!
I tried to figure out where the air was going, but could find no obvious external leaks. Since I worked on big trucks and heavy equipment for 30 years I kinda know my way around and can suss out stuff when things go awry.
Clearly the air compressor (no, not the one I was delivering!) have broken somehow.
So I call the Mothership to try and get someone out to fix this old heap. Well it is really early, the sun is still hiding out somewhere to the East behind the Rockpile Mountains, and the minions back home are still drooling on their pillows.
And I have a date with a crane.
That is a big deal because it costs a lot of money to mobilize cranes and they get real fussy when you aren't there when they are ready.
I was ultimately able to get in touch with the right people, and a mechanic was finally able to get out and begin working on the repair. Another driver for the carrier stopped by (we were delivering two of these giant compressors and he had already made his crane appointment) and left his trailer, and took mine. The mechanic was able to fill my air tanks so I could get out from under my trailer and out of the way and the other driver could hook to it and try and make the crane crew happy.
Once the mechanic figured out what was wrong (um, like I said guys, the compressor needs replaced, duh!) he pulled the dead unit off of my truck and then set out on a quest to find a replacement. Now let's remember that is is December, a few days before Christmas. It is a clear day, in fact the temperature never got above freezing all day. There are no public restrooms near the entrance to PIR. The only places to eat are on the East side of I-5, a good distance away.
So I left word with the mechanic that I was going over to Elmer's to use the facilities and have lunch.
Yes, it was now lunch time.
When I got back after a nice brisk walk, and some hot food, the mechanic was wrestling with the air compressor. Some guy came by to ask how much longer we were going to be blocking the drive way, because soon there would be lots of people arriving to go look at all the pretty lights. I would have to guess that the man was Mark Wigginton, but he did not introduce himself.
By the time the truck was ready to go, the sun was racing away to the West, trying to hide somewhere on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. An entire day wasted because of a relatively minor mechanical issue.
Well at least I was getting paid by the hour for the local work, including the waiting.
Oh, and when I got back to the yard?
My truck was still sitting there. Had I dug my heels in and refused to swap trucks I would not have had the opportunity to spend the day parked in the middle of the entrance to PIR.
Here is the sick truck, with the loaded trailer.
Truck 65 by
racerx6948, on Flickr
And this is my latest truck, the one that was supposed to go to the repair shop.
Monstro At North Charleston by
racerx6948, on Flickr
