Volunteers Needed - Chump Car

I understand from Control that the worker car is about 20 laps ahead of the 28 car driven by Bockman and company thanks to the 28 car breaking a throttle cable. The workers are gunning for the 47 car of Dilly and Dilly which is a lap ahead. If they can do that, I think that would put them into 13th overall.
 
With one hour remaining in the race, we are basking in warm sunshine and the mountains look like they are just off the track property. Lots of cars still running, though some of them are looking and sounding pretty worn out Rooster and I are waiting for one of the engines to explode. We haven't had to do an oil clean up so far and we feel like we are due.
The track has received some complaints about noise, even though the sound limit for the event was 92 dB.
 
Fantastic play-by-play, Robbie.

And thanks for taking good care of Safety II through the muck and mire. They had us going both directions.

I am beat.

I'll get some more pics up later.

"Workers Revenge", unofficially...14th place

GREAT JOB!
 
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Thanks Ken. All of that was typed into my phone and posted while catching my breath and trying to relax. I had a laptop along, but while it could see the paddock network was there, it did not have the range to reach out and connect to it.

I found that the event was far more fun that I thought it would be. Some of the unique lighting systems some of the cars had for night decorations was ingenious. If we have another 24 hour race with Chump Car and have enough folks to rotate crews in and out of the trucks, I'll take the night shift. One thing everyone needs to bring to this event is their sense of humor. Penalties are very creative and can be delayed quite a while as we found this time. When racing resumed followig the fog red flag, the officials were kept busy for the next hour or so, black flagging cars for infractions that occured prior to the red flag in the wee hours of the morning.

Another example of the creative rules these guys use, when we did the start and the restart following dinner, the cars came out in no particular order, just first come first served. The field circulated for a few laps while the organizers pulled a number out of a hat. The car with that number was given the green and the yellows dropped and the race was on. If you couldn't see the green or the yellows drop, you could be passed be several cars before you knew for certain what was going on.

One thing I think they should have done but chose not to do was let Turns 1 & 12 flag after dark. Both were very well lit up with the front straight lights. The organizers didn't want those turns flagging while the rest of the track was using lights.

At one point, I called into Control and passed on one or two suggestions posted here to the Chump Car folks. I was told that Chump Car had received some 60 emails during the event with comments and suggestions. It took them a couple of hours to respond to them all.

BTW Ken, did you ever get your hands or that darn #15 car to use for can opening practice? For those that weren't there, the #15 car must have spun and stalled in bad places at least 10 times. It would sit there for a long time trying to restart until Control would send Safety after him, only to have it start as soon as the truck hit the track. It happend so many times that we were making plans to use the car for a training scenario that included using our Holmatro cutter and lots of fire. Ken actually did get a tow rope on that car at least once (twice?) during the event, but it is catch-and-release at this event. You'll get him next year Ken. He even parked for a while right in front of me at turn 8 for a while, but as soon as I turned on the lights, he decided to run for it.

It was a nice big field with a decent survival rate. Around 250 drivers competed with very little in the way of conact between cars that we know of, in spite of the huge difference in skill levels. I had to chuckle at one point while bringing in the driver of car #20 after it ended in the wall prior to turn #5. The track was still hot and we only had the local yellow light and our own lights for warning, so I was hussling while I had some open track. The driver commented that we were going faster than some of the race cars that were cruising around out there.

Chump Car currently has two races in the Pacific Northwest scheduled for 2010. One is in Spokane July 24-25, which probably puts it in conflict with the NASCAR weekend in Portland. The second is in Portland on Halloween weekend (Oct. 30-31). Next season of racing is looking like a very busy time for everyone, racers and workers alike.
 
Rob, Just so you know, turn 12 did flag during the night. It may not have been what the promoters thought, but it just seemed to be the prudent thing to do. Ali and Kaye were there up until midnight and then a few other did some rotating until the restart in the AM.
I'm sure the drivers appreciated the flags.
 
Thank you, volunteers!!! We had a great time and couldn't have done it without your generous support :)
 
Chump Car 2009

And so it begins…

If the light's just right, and you squint real hard, they kinda look like real race-type cars;)
 
Chump Car 2009 too

I don't think the Rusty Fish Hook caught the Shark, but the Shark stuffed the tires around T5.
 
Chump Car 2009

There was a rattle can attempt to imitate a Safety truck…But there wasn’t enough flashy lights, so no one was fooled.

This is sweet ol’ 510 wagon… I think they had a few offers to buy even before the start.

Autosports Lab Rats' plexiglass bubble for a tall-ish driver fit.

Happy 40th Birthday! The candles even lit up at night.

#86 had a wrestling ring on the roof.
 
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And more Chumps

That contraption on the back of what was a MR2, was apparently to act as a wind powered ‘turbo charger’. It made so much racket that they pitted after a couple of the parade laps, and removed the fan blades.

With all due respect, “La Familia” had a pretty close battle with “Workers’ Revenge” for a while, but a broken throttle cable (or something) put them out for awhile and they lost their position.

This is the “Eh, Team”. We couldn’t tell for sure, but Johnny Canuck may have gotten a stint in this Hockified Honda

I think the skag helped.

T12 pay their respects too.
 
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Here's what I can't figure out ... how can a bunch of tin cans run for 24 hours with not a drop of oil being spilled ... and lots of race cars don't last 20 minutes without spewing oil everywhere! What's with that??

Congratulations to the Workers Revenge crew, great job.

And congratulations too to the volunteers trackside, good on ya.
 
Bonnie said:
Here's what I can't figure out ... how can a bunch of tin cans run for 24 hours with not a drop of oil being spilled ... and lots of race cars don't last 20 minutes without spewing oil everywhere! What's with that??.....
Click to expand...

Well, Chump cars are basically $500 street cars designed to be 'daily drivers' and last a long time without showing up back at the dealer for repairs. Or, cruising across America putting endless miles on the car. If you don't abuse them too much they go forever.

A race car engine is built and tuned to obtain maximum HP and torque under a given set of rules for the class. Drivers typically push them to the maximum. Running much nearer the 'survival' limits all the time.

Notice in our racing certain types of C-dans (similar to street cars) don't often blow oil around the venue (it happens occasionally) but the pure race cars are more likely too.
 
I had the most fun at this race since Port Orford. I'm so glad. I thought it would be lame. There was very good racing going on. It was too cool being awake in the middle of the night with cars zooming around. Like Brass said, many of us have been awake at PIR in the middle of the night before, but, this was different - yeah no alcohol, no tents. They almost seemed faster at night, I'm thinking cuz they put their 'A' drivers out in the dark and fog. There was this Crown Vic out there, no way has a police car ever seen such speed and skill!

It was great. Their fun attitude. There was plenty to do. I can't wait till next year. I'm thinking for sure Spokane too!!!!
 
Holly: I, too, was thinking it was going to be an ordeal staying awake all night just to watch times on the computer roll by in T&S. However, it was really interesting. Racers might ask Hank Moore what the price of one lug nut can come about. Hank had two cars in the show so I am not sure which or both he was driving. Next year will be even better because by then we might have more than 39 cars.

This race was a great way to end the racing season for fun and wonderful attitudes. Times were up on MyLaps by Monday night. That was really nice to get to do that.

All come next year for working or driving.
 
Grace Skinner wrote this up regarding her Chump Car experience. I'm posting it here for those that were folloing the updates so closely through most of the event.


“So There I Was…
It was the DAY AFTER I put my previously owned driver’s suit, shoes, Nomex, etc. (last used in a racecar 18 years ago!) in the Silent Auction at the Conference races benefiting the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. My friend, Becky, who later bought my driver’s suit which fit her to a ‘T”, says….Hey, why don’t you sign up to drive in the ChumpCar race?” Well, of course, I’d heard of ChumpCar but didn’t know that there was going to be a car called “Workers Revenge” to be driven by race workers (corner workers, emergency workers, corner workers, grid workers and starters….). So, knowing full well that the “race driver instinct” never leaves the body, no matter what the age, I signed up!!! Of course, then I had to borrow a suit, shoes, Nomex, helmet (THANKS, DUCK!) Here’s the whole list of drivers of the Workers Revenge” car:
Bonnie Aarseth* Kim McFarland* Erin Ebelmesser * Micah Dolim * Scott Goodrich * Jeff Hanken *Teresa Hanken * Marty Martin * Russ Newhouse * Becky Phelan * Grace Skinner * Dan Zenner * Scott Haun * Dave Marden

SPECIAL thanks goes to Kim McFarland,, our primary organizer/sponsorship finder, as well as “organizers/advisers”, Bret Biernerth and Micah Dolim.

ChumpCar was kind enough to not place a limit on the number of drivers for our team. The only eligibility requirement was that the driver have a valid state issued drivers license (or an international drivers license). Thankfully, no age restrictions were applied, although I can definitely state that I was the oldest driver on our team!!!! The car was donated to us, a former Conference race car that had been in an “accident”…..it’s an 89 or 90 (I heard both) Honda CRX which, fortunately, already had a cage and a motor that worked (once our mechanics figured out which loose wire wasn’t connected!) I’m going to mention names in this story because, although many of you might not know these people, credit is certainly due to all of those who made our race possible. The car “slept” at Russ Newhouse’s house and we had “work parties” about once a week for everyone to come and work on the car. However, Russ, Scott Goodrich and Mike Smith did much of the “putting together in racing condition” of the chassis, motor and other “running parts”. Dave Marden and Joe Harlen helped a lot, as well. Various people tracked down parts via Craig’s List, etc. Since the only glass in the car could be the windshield (which needed replacing), Russ found a “glass guy” who GAVE us the windshield in exchange for all of the other glass AND he installed the windshield! Cindi Lux donated Lexan for us to use on the rear hatch and side corners and Mike and Scott cut and fitted and riveted it into place. Others who donated time and parts and the BIG “etc” include Mike Helton, Johnny Humphreys, Jacqui & Jeff Mincheff, Rod Powell, Jeff Zurschmeide and Cascade Sports Car Club Board of Directors. Many, many thanks to “Ken” (sorry, can’t remember his last name) who provided us with a beautiful black transporter in which to stow stuff AND get the necessary R & R !!!

Our “theme” was “Workers Revenge” so we wanted to depict various aspects of race workers—the car was white with a black hood, so we painted a big circle on it (indicative of a meatball flag). However, since the race was on Halloween, we made it into a jack o’lantern (idea credit goes to “The Duck). The rear was painted a bright “emergency” yellow and the word “Safety” put before our car # (3). On the roof were names of our worker friends who are no longer with us who were watching us race “from above”.

Naturally, most of us did not already own racecar driving gear so a big search was put out to find gear that could be borrowed, that would meet the specs, that would FIT, and, if necessary, be passed around! Some of the people who stepped up to the plate include Cindi Lux, Jeff Niess, Howard Allen, Joe Harlen, among others. On Friday night, Oct. 30, we all gathered at the track for tech and, since we were all ChumpCar novice drivers, for “Driving School” …… hhhmmm…I think we had the ground school pretty well down pat, it was the “driving” part for which we needed school (and had none in this car prior to the start of the race!) For myself, I had not driven a racecar for 18 years and had NEVER driven at speed at Portland International Raceway! The race was a “charity race” for The Portland Community Transition School and Portland Community College’s automotive engineering dept. Teams could receive “bonus laps” for donations of school supplies to the school……MANY MANY supplies were received. In addition, ChumpCar presented a check for $11,900 to the school and a $1000 donation to PCC. Our car made it through Tech ok (thank goodness, after all that work)! There was also “costume judging” that night and many teams had some very interesting costumes. We didn’t have very many of our team in costume except for our “team nurses”, Kim McFarland and Erin Ebelmesser, who definitely did us proud in that department!

(More in the next message)
 
(Continued from previous message)

For those of you familiar with P.I.R. (north, as Judi puts it), there is a very long front straight with a major chicane (the “Festival Curves as referenced on TV) and, also a long back straight. The organizers felt that it might be a good idea to have a “chicane” on the back straight as well, so used some plastic barriers filled with water (and promptly dubbed “LEGOs” by the workers!) There were several rows on the left to narrow down to one lane on the right going in, then a couple of barriers on the right to create a “slalom”…which is exactly how most of us treated it. The ‘penalty” for hitting the barriers was 2 HOURS in the “penalty box” (aka “impound”) so that was a pretty good deterrent for the most part (plus the $250 per barrier charge!). Of course, as we all know, they were hit eventually, so the race had to be shut down to rearrange and refill the LEGOs. They were hit again, after dark, and pretty much destroyed so, from then on, we did not have a chicane on the back straight!

This is “my” point of view, so you’ll be hearing about “my” experiences in the race. Erin was our first driver out, around 12:30 on Saturday (half hour delay due to fuel truck not showing up on time!). It was POURING rain (it’s Portland, what else?) So, she had the first hour of trying to keep the car on the VERY SLICK track and in one piece for the rest of us to be able to drive it….AND SHE DID A FINE JOB OF IT!!! I was up next………

Yes, I kept it in one piece and did NOT get it stuck in the mud, even though I did have a couple of trips off the racing surface. I was just super proud of myself for not letting it stall (notice the lack of the words “kill” and/or “die) and being able to finish my hour….needless to say, the adrenaline really had me riding high! (so much so that I didn’t see my pit person calling me in at the end of the hour and eventually was given one of those “meatball’ flags to bring me in!!!)

So, like all drivers, I wandered up to Race Control to check my times (not too shabby, I must say, given the circumstances) and volunteered to help out Bonnie Aarseth and Teresa Hankin. Not only did these two “power women” have stints as drivers in our car, they also pretty much handled race control for most of the entire 24 hours!!! I worked in Race Control for 4 hours until our scheduled ‘break” when the race was stopped for 2 ½ hours to “celebrate Halloween and have a Halloween Party” (and repair LEGO’s.)

I then went up to the Starter’s stand to work as a starter for 4 hours until midnight. As you can tell, we were VERY short on workers for this event…..especially since most workers had just worked a 12 hour enduro two weeks prior! However, I can definitely attest that the workers who participated in this event thoroughly enjoyed themselves! I went to a van at midnight to try to get some sleep……slept rather fitfully and finally realized that there was no more racecar noise. I assumed that there had been a red flag (in this event, there would only be “yellow lights” or “red lights” during the night) until I realized that the noise was gone for a really long time! Finally, around 4:30am, I received a text that the race had been halted due to FOG (it IS Portland in the fall….normal!)

The race restarted at about 8:15am on Sunday. Erin was out first again (on a dry track) and I followed her. This time I didn’t feel like I was driving on an ice skating rink and didn’t have to do “the slalom” on the back straight. My driving “confidence” was much better and I managed to “race” without hitting anything or anybody. I did manage to see the pitboard this time when my time was up. (unlike many of the teams, we didn’t use radio—too many different helmets involved!) I have to say that I was very, very surprised that I was not more sore and/or “weak-kneed” after driving for an hour. Once again, I went up to Race Control, checked my times and found a 16 second improvement over the previous day (different road surface, no chicane!) At the end of the day, my fastest lap was only 7 seconds slower that the fastest lap by any of our team’s drivers so I felt pretty good!! Our team finished 14th overall (40 cars started, 35 or 36 finished the race). We were able to follow ChumpCar’s #1 rule – “keep the shiny side up, keep the greasy side down” and had no major incidents at all! AND, that little ol’ CRX motor just kept on a’runnin’ for the whole time!!!! We finally changed tires at about the 20th hour!!

I then worked in Race Control for a couple more hours, then worked a turn for the last hour of the race. The race was extended due to the “fog break” so ended at approximately 3:00pm.

OHHHHHH and the trophies! You guys had to see these trophies!!!! I’m including a couple of photos that show examples---they were all sculpted from metal car parts….ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!! My assumption is that this type of trophy will be used at all ChumpCar races. In addition to awards for first, second and third place finishers, there were awards for:
Best Theme - #28; La Familia; Best Engineering - #11; Happy Toyz; Automotive Excellence Award -
Cars #1 and #10; Squirrels of Fury; Maytag Spin-Cycle Award - #15; Government Motors
Timex Award (they just kept on tickin') - #7; World Rally Chumps; Most Visits to the Penalty Box Award - #69; Rockerz 'n Dockers; Most Philanthropic Donation to Portland Community College Award - #00; Breast Men
Best American Iron - #74; Team IROC; Best International Entry - #13; Geri-at-Tricks-or-Treats
Most Driver Changes in Any Motorsports Event (ever!) - #3; Workers Revenge (THAT WOULD BE US!!)
Best Flat-Spotted Tires Award - #29; Team Zombiata / Produnk
Ugliest Car on the Trailer Award (before the race started!) - #80; Free Range Racing
Best Aerodynamic Modification Award - #20; The Brian Towey Surfing School

Alas, it’s now a week gone by since I started writing this…. I certainly meant to send this much closer to the actual event!! At any rate, for those of you who may be having a ChumpCar event coming to your area soon, (schedule for 2010 at http://chumpcar.com/events.php ) I HIGHLY recommend it as LOTS of fun!!!! It seems that we may have had the “first and last” 24 hour ChumpCar event at PIR…. Our wonderful neighbors have, once again, raised quite a fuss with our fair city about “the noise” even though it’s been shown many times in the past that there is greater noise from trains, planes, etc. in that area.

If anyone would like to view more pics from this event, check out http://gallery.shutterdriven.com/p458434576

“Racegracy”
 
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