FW: Wild Race at Palm Beach International Raceway for rbankracing.com Team!
Casey/Seneca Saw Works
Here is something interesting for you.
Roy and Adrienne also participated in this event, but I haven’t seen a report from them. Rumor has it they did very well.
Casey
-----Original Message-----
From: Robin Bank
[mailto:robi...@rbankracing.com]
Sent: Wednesday,
January 05, 2011 5:36 PM
To: robi...@rbankracing.com
Subject: Wild Race at Palm Beach
International Raceway for rbankracing.com Team!
Hello All,
Once again the rbankracing.com team participated in a 24 Hour Endurance Car Race. The rbankracing.com team raced at the season ending championship for the 24 Hours of LeMons at Palm Beach International Raceway in sunny Southern Florida. The weather was great and the track was fast! What was not to like?
We had an ambitious plan to run three cars. We couldn't in good conscience leave either of our former race winners, the famous 1985 SAAB 900 Turbo "Aborted from Jets" or the 1990 Eagle Talon TSi "Talonator" powered by Buschur Racing at home in the garage. We also wanted to debut our brand new challenger, a 1999 SAAB 9-3 known as "Black SAAB Rules". So three cars it was.
As you might imagine, a ton of hard work was required to race three cars for 24 hours of non-stop competition. Indeed it was a monumental effort, but the team split the tasks and got them done. First off, I want to thank the people who put countless hours of their time, effort, and money into getting the cars ready. They deserve more than just this thank you for the tremendous effort and "Leap of Faith" required teaming up in this most difficult form of racing.
Claude Hutchings, Sr., Carol Hutchings, Claude Hutchings, Jr., and Rashim at Tired Iron Repair in Sauquoit, NY came through again, BIG TIME. They worked on the Red SAAB. They worked on the new SAAB. They worked on the tow rig. Claude even worked on the Talon at the race. The fact is that this team should have their name on it! I love you guys. I don't know how I will ever repay you for your sacrifice and generosity.
Darryl Carl and his guys at www.newsalemsaab.com and www.albanyspeedshop.com got the new SAAB running sweet. I let them down by not following all of their advice, but indeed they did a fabulous job. The car showed tremendous potential as it picked its way through the field early in the race! We will get them next time, Darryl, hopefully with you behind the wheel too.
Dave Coleman and his guys at Performance Engineering in Summit Point, WV also did a fabulous job . Talk about getting put to the test right from the word go!!! I gave them very little time and a long list of tasks to get done on the new SAAB and somehow they got it done. Then the cars needed some last minute fabrication at the track under the gun to pass a very stringent tech process and they sprung into action and again simply got it done. Dave also fixed the tow rig at the track so we could make it home. They were also charged with basically running this side of the team from scratch without a ton of support from me and again they made it happen. Their first pit stop was a thing of beauty! Assuming I can "Sell Dave" on sticking with us I am sure they will win races in the SAAB 9-3.
Mark McMahan at www.rollcageguy.com and McMahan AutoSport. The roll cage he put in the 9-3 is simply a work of art. If you want the nicest, safest, roll cage for your car you just have to go to www.rollcageguy.com and let him design it for you! He also was called in during tech to fix issues with the cages in both of the cars he didn't build. Issues you won't have if you get him to build it right for you in the first place.
So, with that said, the race started with the call of "Ladies and Gentleman Attempt to Start Your Engines" at Midnight on New Years Eve and ran until the stroke of Midnight the next evening when it would turn 2011. This made for a grueling event. At the drop of the green flag the Red SAAB with Justin "Hot" Schuh behind the wheel motored right toward the front of the pack. The "Talonator" with Jeff "Monsoon" Schupner behind the wheel started off steady, as we planned a nice conservative effort for this car. The SAAB 9-3 was leaking some fuel from a vent hose, so as the race started it was in the pits getting this fixed swiftly by the combined crews from all three cars. It lost a few laps but it was no big issue as with Dave Coleman behind the wheel it proved fast enough to start motoring its way through the field back towards the front.
Claude Hutchings, Jr. took over for Justin around 2:45 a.m. in the Red SAAB. He kept the car right at the front of the pack (needless to say). Jr. was running a "Double Stint" which would mean he would not get out of the car until around 7:00 a.m. An incredible feat for sure!!! When he got out of the car he had the fastest lap of the race to that point and we were in a strong 2nd place. Mark "RollCageGuy" McMahan took over for Dave Coleman and miraculously the car had moved the whole way back into the top 10 despite starting the race in the pits!!! Unfortunately the 9-3 would go up in smoke with a blown turbocharger midway through Mark's stint. It was a bummer as the car was doing well and showed great promise. This left its two other drivers without a ride. Dale Alexander was able to shift over to the Talonator team but John DePlanque (our tallest driver) simply would not fit in the cramped Talon so he was left with the very short end of the stick not having an opportunity to turn one lap L. Sometimes endurance racing is cruel and we will try and make it up to John. Ray Schneider took over the Talonator at this point and kept with its "steady as she goes" strategy and kept the car in the low teens position wise in the race.
Daylight arrived and two of the cars were still rolling -- the Red SAAB in a strong second place and the Talonator in the low teens. The "Amazing" Johan Schwartz took over driving the Red SAAB and Joseph "Texas Ranger" Smith took over in the Talonator. Both were running very well. Unfortunately some time just after noon the transmission failed in the Red SAAB leaving it jammed in second gear. Ugh! This would put it out of the race. It was heartbreaking as it was running so well and was well situated to finish the race strong. I am not sure we had anything for the race winning Ford Probe which simply was a rocket but I believe we had the rest of the field covered.
At that point it was only the Talonator left for rbankracing.com. The slow and steady strategy was seemingly paying off. Dale Alexander took over the wheel and also drove really well. At this point we were determined to not let this car fail us so we became even more conservative. We were babying the car as much as possible trying to keep pace with fuel mileage and fast pit stops. It worked as the Talon kept moving along for the rest of the race and was able to hold station in the standings. I drove the car in the evening and the suspension setup was simply "off". While the car was fast down the straights and in left hand corners it would abuse its front left tire in right hand corners - something is bent in the suspension - most likely a left over from a shunt during its win at the Longest Day 24 Hour Race at Nelson Ledges in the Fall.
Even towards the end of the race there was no shortage of drama though. On its final stint with Dale Alexander driving a call came over the radio from my nephew Jarrett that the car was smoking. Dale brought it back to the pits and there was a fire under the hood! I helped Dale out of the car as quickly as possible while the crew sprung to action to get the hood off to contain the fire. It turned out to be a small fire caused by a power steering hose leaking fluid on to the red hot turbocharger. We quickly fixed the hose and sent Dale back out to finish the race. How about that for "cajones". The fire is out - get back out there Dale!!! So, with that, Dale "Hibachi" Alexander earned his team nickname and finished the race in a fine 11th place!!! We finished right in front of a Porsche 944 (No substitute my ass. Hahaha!) in the Talonator aka "The Japanese Plymouth". The Talonator guys should be proud of the fine finish! The final score for this race:
Talonator: 1
SAAB: 0
(In other scores it was Billy: 1 Death: 0 Hahaha!)
Just busting chops on the SAAB guys from the Talonator guys. Better luck next time!
A shout out to the crew guys too! The work you put in was amazing.
What an event! The sheer magnitude of the effort and the adversity that we faced makes this race a success in my mind! The 11th place for the Talonator Powered by Buschur Racing is nice but the real reward is a bunch of people getting together and racing and battling for a common goal. I can't think of anything else I would rather do!
Lastly, I want to again thank the businesses and people who really make this happen:
Tired Iron Repair -- http://www.tiredironsaab.repair.bz/
Dave Coleman, Performance Engineering, Summit Point, WV
Darryl Carl, New Salem SAAB - www.newsalemsaab.com
Albany Speed Shop - www.albanyspeedshop.com
David Buschur, Buschur Racing - www.buschurracing.com
Terry, Carol, and Jarrett Bank, 66 Auto Supply, Greensburg, PA
Mark McMahan - www.rollcageguy.com
Johan Schwartz - www.endurancekarting.com
CoolFitWear - www.coolfitwear.com
Al Ferragonio - C & G Performance
The next race for rbankracing.com is the 24 Hours of LeMons "Southern Discomfort" at Carolina Motorsports Park on Febreaury 19th - 20th. We are currently regrouping and will have more details on what we will be racing there shortly. Certainly we will again be gunning for a win! Be there or be square!
Best regards,
Robin Bank
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