Racing Against Leukemia!

RAL 2010 comes to an end. Well, 5 days ago, but who's counting?

ME, THAT'S WHO.

• $285 raised by G-Fab.
• 30 runs taken by 8 different people. Only 2 did not spin epically.
• 1 set of eBay LCA's came undone.
• 2 bike tires that are too big for my bike (and are therefore really funny to look at).
• $30 worth of raffle tickets (we did not win a damn thing).
• 4 corded tires between the 3 and the 240.

• 7 games of beer pong. One team of champions.
• 1 money shot.

• 2 incidents of getting Shhhhhhhhhhhed! (yes again)
• 1 bag of chocolate chip cookies from Lara Shields. Thanks Lara :)
• $3500 raised by Solo
• LOTS of extremely noticeably absent G-Fab members and associates. We missed you. (That means you, Thurz, Eric, Todd, Steph, Charlie, Nate....)

All in all, the event was a great success. Yay to next year!

I Give Up

Dear Self:

Saw your driving on Sunday. Not too bad. Even Bud Collins said you are a pretty good driver. However. I did notice a few things and wanted to offer you a few pointers:

• STOP HITTING CONES.
• When you hit cones, DO NOT look in your mirror to see how many people are running after them. Even for a second.
• Safe and slow sucks. Drive fast, take chances.

Thanks for listening.

Yeah. I suck.

Due to my less-than-stellar performance this past Sunday (results are here), I think I will hang up my driving shoes and get some pedaling shoes:

At least I won't have to walk to the porta-potties anymore.

Spin or Win:: The Story of Finger Lakes

I'm really good at spinning cars. Especially cars I haven't driven in a year, that are a different drivetrain than what I've been driving, that are on street tires, that are way tighter than I'm used to, on pavement that sucks. And I'm really good at letting one stupid spin get to me for an entire weekend. I was like...10 seconds off pace on Sunday, just because I was being super slow and cautious. All that Need for Speed training did nothing.

Ok, the spin was epic. Agricultural, even. There was still grass on the trailer hitch, and mud everywhere, on Sunday afternoon.

Photo courtesy of minibeetle

Yeah. Hilaaaaaaarious. I am not smooth. I am not confident after a run like that. My inputs are stabby, and I can't drive for shit on street tires. And I am SUNBURNED. Yeah.

Otherwise, it was fun. Setting up tents in the torrential rain is always a good time. Also, the Finger Lakes should probably be renamed to Disgustingly Dirty and Full Of Seaweed Lakes. They were literally raking and shoveling it out. No swim for you.

Nate Whipple ghetto rigged some springs, so now owns G-Fab magnets. It was second places all around for NER, with a few 1's and 3's too...results are here.

No pictures. Sorry. I was way too busy getting my ass kicked.

Fourth of July weekend. Usually a time for cookouts, fireworks, and drinking. Heavily.

We got the cookout part down. And the drinking part. Us G-Fabbers is good at that game. The fireworks part, not so much. Note to self: no more setting them off inside the car:

Due to a change in the 2010 rules, we can now remove the airbags and everything related to them. It was a process. I am never taking a dash apart again. We also decided to take out speakers, amp, and AC evaporator. (The power door locks were too hard to get to in 90 bazillion degree weather.) Total weight savings: 25 lbs. Was it worth it? Maybe.

While I was playing in plastic, PJ was busy with the second half of the Project Panda Diet: hoodpins so the new hood doesn't fly up while racing and a) ruin the run, and b) waste $500.

We bought a cheap Harbor Freight dremmel, which proved useless due to its cordlessness. It came with some spiffy attachments though, so it wasn't all bad.

Aerocatch is full of win. Yay. Looks pretty good, huh?

PJ was so happy, he did flips.

New LCA's come in today, and the race to install before Finger Lakes will be on.

2000. 10. Till Now.

As an interjection to DC Pro stories, let's catch you up, shall we?

2010 started off with (another) bang:

I think NER might rename the first event of every season to "PJ's Speedy Dry Shuffle."

We somehow learned from our mistakes, and instead of going with just a spare, and bolting everything on, there was some engine building going on:

Eagle rods and a fully built bottom end to try to combat the monster known as torque:

Finally painted the engine bay:

Needed MOAR downforce, so splitter to split the air, and because it was looking a little wide around the ass area, we put the car on a high carbonfiber diet:

In the meantime, my old clutch had finally reached the end:

Replaced it with a Stage 1 and a lightweight flywheel:

No Sweetiepies were harmed in the installation of this clutch, but there was one casualty:

Due to stupid OBDII, and stupid sensors, and stupid RI inspection laws, I threw a code and failed inspection. Apparently the sensor likes my old 109-tooth flywheel, and the new 108-tooth one just isn't going to allow me to pass.

And for the record, replacing FWD clutches sucks.

Lonely...I'm So Lonely.

I am NOT in DC. I am sad.

But I had sushi for dinner and am now drinking beer at the local bar, so I guess it's not all bad. They don't have Belhaven so it's not all that good either.

I miss you guys. Good luck getting everything running. Kick some ass and represent G-Fab well.