Just wanted to give everyone an update on where we are, what we've been up to and how things are coming along. So let's get started.
We've been making progress on the new build, but we've still got a few things left to finish up. There's a few things that popped up and decided to fight us, so now we need to sort those things out. You never know what is gonna pop up until you get to that point, right? Little things like trying to sort out steering lines, making sure you have enough bolts to connect all of the steering arms, sorting out that stripped bolt hole in an item you pulled off the spare parts shelf, all of those things.
On the plus side, the engine is in and it runs. The transmission is in, the clutch works. The rear end is in, the gears are in and it works. The exhaust is complete. The suspension, both front and rear, is complete. We're really close. But we still need to sort a couple last minute items like the driveshaft possibly being too short, the stripped bolt I mentioned earlier, a broken fitting on the rear brake caliper and then once those things are sorted we still need to go over the entire car and tighten every nut and bolt on it, then set it on the scales and start doing the setup work. We suspect that we have a rather full day of setup work ahead of us once we get to that point. We just haven't gotten there yet.
Now, let's talk race schedule and timing. This one has been a moving target this year just due to how the current pandemic has played out in the racing community. Local authorities have held race tracks and motorsports in general to a totally different set of standards than any other business. Promoters are scrambling to figure out how to navigate this new situation and just find a way to stay in business. That also means that schedules that were published last November are no longer valid. Some promoters have figured out what their schedules will be for the remainder of the "season", but others have been, in a sense, "making it up as they go". They are issuing the week's schedule one week at a time. From a racer's point of view, this is hard to navigate. It's difficult to target a given race when we have no confirmation that the date is valid.
The original schedule for South Sound Speedway showed a race on August 8th, this coming weekend. The next race would be August 29th, 3 weeks later. So let's say that schedule holds true, here's how it plays out for us; We will spend the 8th trying to finish the car and get setup done, so there's no way we will make that date. This means that the "target date" will be the 29th. We feel like this is a good target and completely plausible, so at this time that's what we're shooting for. Barring any schedule changes, which could throw a wrench into this whole thing.
But, the car is very close to finished and being race ready. So hang tight, we're seriously almost there. I want to take a moment to thank a few people that have helped get us to this point:
My silent sponsor, Tommy - A huge thank you for the parts that have showed up at times when I was trying to figure out how to find the funding for them. Another thank you for swinging by Race Car Supply to pick up tires, twice. And several other thank yous for so many other things along the way. Seriously, I can't do this without you.
Jim at Race Car Help - Your setup advice is always awesome, I'm proud to be an RCH team member and look forward to representing you on track!
Freelancers Communications - For your support and help getting us on track this year. Hang tight, it's happening very soon!
Clevenger Associates - For your support as well.
Voeller & Associates - For your support too.
My entire team and crew - For your tireless hours spent at the shop working on this thing. I know it's the most ridiculous thing we've ever built, and I thank you guys for your efforts.
Hang tight everyone, we'll be joining the racing action very soon!
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