Road America Endurance Race: Story Time

My dad told me a story about a turbine power race car in the Indy 500. Legend has it that the car was amazingly fast. The day of the race the weather was just right for it to perform at the maximum horsepower The team was expected to dominate the race. It led most of the race until the last few laps when a $6 dollar bearing in the engine failed and the car retired just short of the goal. I heard this story more than 20 years ago and it was a setup for my son and I learning this lesson first hand. You can put in all the time and prep for a race and even be the fasted car out there but there are going to be things you can’t control that are going to spoil your plans.

Check out the story of the Lotus 56 in the 1968 Indy 500.

October 13th Jason, myself, and Holtz Racing(Crew Chris and Driver Will) met at Road America kart track for their annual 2 hour endurance race. I had spent the last week in the garage with Jason getting the sprint kart configured for sprint racing with the animal. We had high expectations of getting the over all win with a fast kart and a sound pit stop strategy. Jason took the kart out first for a 10 lap shake down. The gearing was off but the kart looked good. I did see what looked like dirt coming from back of the kart and might have spied a line getting put down on the track as he drove through a corner. He pulled off and we readied to switch drivers. Jason hopped out and started to look at the motor and pointed at the very slick rear tire, there was an oil leak. Chris and I pulled the motor off looked for leaks, drained the oil(looked OK) put it back on, refilled it, changed the gear and put Will in. He put two laps in and came off because the fuel tank cap came off and was spilling methanol on him. As he stepped out the motor was pouring oil and that was that for the day. Further investigation revealed that the side cover gasket let go. We packed up and the Team Holtz left on the way to celebrate a birthday(Happy 14th Birthday Will). Jason and I headed home for him to suit up for some Hockey practice and team pictures.

The sprint season is definitely over now, there is still the WKA Road Racing Grand Nationals at the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park in just few weeks. In the meantime we are working on 2019 season plans, seeking new partnerships, and will be working out and practicing at local indoor tracks and simulation.