Date: June 24, 2001
Venue: Miller Field - Dalhart, TX
Results: 1st in Class, 1st Overall (14 total), and Fastest Time of the Day!!!
This was a very lucky day for me. It has been almost a year since we've raced at Miller Field in Dalhart, TX. Since our club acquired the use of Reese Center in Lubbock, TX last year, we haven't really been too worried about running at Miller Field (which used to be our premier autocross venue), but I was looking forward to racing there again.
I arrived at Miller Field with plenty of time to walk the course several times, and help out with the event administration. I unloaded my car off the trailer first thing, and then helped Leon Stavlo and Owen Lafferty set up the timing lights. Then went back over to the paddocks to talk with James Huckabee, who had just arrived and was swapping over to his racing tires. As I talked with James, I noticed a puddle of liquid on the rear of the trailer with a trail of dots that led back to the rear of my car. After closer inspection, I realized that the rear passenger tie-down strap had bent and cracked the hard brake line right at the brake caliper and had leaked most of the fluid out onto the trailer and the ground as I backed it off the trailer. I took the wheel/tire off to get a closer look, and as I unscrewed the fitting to see how bad it was, the end of the line broke off completely. James suggested that I unhook the rest of the line (only about a foot long) and run into town to see if I could get a replacement, or have that one repaired (there was enough line to cut off and re-flare the end).
Here's a little FYI... there is absolutely NOTHING open on Sunday in Dalhart except for convenience stores and grocery stores. I ran all over that little town and found five auto parts stores, but all were closed. Just as I was about to give up and head back to Miller Field and load my car back up on the trailer and go home, I noticed a farm tractor service shop with the main garage door open. As luck would have it, the nice man that was there (on his day off) trimmed, straightened, and re-flared my broken brake line for me at no charge! (Thank you, Rusty Gilmore!)
I headed back to Miller Field with my repaired brake line and got back just in time to reinstall it, half-fast bleed the line, and take one quick jog around the course as the driver's meeting was going on. I worked the course during the first heat, so I had a chance to catch my breath and relax a bit after that nerve wrecking experience. After the first heat was over, I jumped in my car to head to the grid and was suddenly surprised when my brake pedal went straight to the floor. Yikes! I obviously didn't bleed the brake line good enough and needed more fluid to do it properly, but I didn't remember to bring any spare brake fluid. After asking several other competitors if they had any brake fluid, Steve Sucsy suggested that I ask the people working in the airplane hanger to see if they might have any. Luck struck twice and some very old, but usable brake fluid was found (I gotta remember to flush that old fluid out of my brake system before the next event!). I filled my master cylinder, and James helped me bleed the rear brakes thoroughly, and the car was good to go. Whew!
There were only four cars running in the second heat (only 14 drivers total showed up to race), so there wasn't much time in between runs for our tires to cool off and my tires got worn down pretty good by the end of the day. My first run was only 0.099 seconds slower than the first heat's fastest time set by Steve Sucsy in his A-Stock '00 Honda S2000, so I felt fairly confident that I could put in a time fast enough to get first place overall with my remaining 5 runs. My best time was only 0.365 seconds faster than the second fastest raw time set by James Huckabee in his Street Modified '91 Mustang GT, but it was fast enough to get me first place in class (ESP combined with ASP, SM, and SS), first place overall, AND fastest time of the day (although there were no formula cars or shifter karts)!!! A very LUCKY day indeed!