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Thu Feb 28
Alan finished the numbers on Clair's car after the driver's meeting, which we all attended. Clair went out first, but came in after 3 laps with a massive oil leak and oil pressure between 20 and 40. We found a loose fitting at the rear of the block at pressure in. Jeff changed the fitting and Clair went out in the second session with similar results. Now it appears the engine is leaking everywhere, so suspected blow by. We rigged the pass side valve cover breather fitting to a puke tank and hung the tank over the right headers with predictable results.
Alan took the car out for the third and final test session only to lead a smoke screen starting less than half way around the circuit on the out lap. He came in, called Richard and went to town to get VR1 20-50 oil and we plumbed the right valve cover breather to the cap on the oil tank. I told Clair I thought we had a 30% chance of success and he said I was more optimistic than he was. It turned out that he was right as usual.
Fri Mar 1
A black day for sure. Clair went out at 0830 and made one lap before the car came in with 230 degrees water and peanut butter in the oil. It is obviously all over. I tried to get Clair a ride with Walo, but he politely declined. Clair masked his disappointment well; me, not so much.
We were down to just the Willis's TA2 car. On the right is Ty explaining something to George.
Woerheide did well in the car and was rather pleased since this is the first front engined race car he has ever driven. He qualified 22nd, and in so doing, he out qualified among others Matt Parent, Bob Lima, and John Cloud; all of whom have massive TA2 experience. And Willis is still in high school!
Sat Mar 2
Another beautiful day. We went in rather late to watch Willis practice on new tires. Clair and Alan decided to fly home right after Willis's race. There was no longer any reason for them to stay Saturday night. Willis did an outstanding job in the race.
He ran faster than he qualified and finished 13th. That run from 22nd to 13th earned him the CoolShirt Cool Move of the Race award and with it a new $500 CoolShirt.
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