[Tr-gang] Interesting day

[Mark J Bradakis]

Sunday was a bit *too* interesting for my tastes.  Somehow Bob Allred
and I managed to get ourselves and Killer up to an autocross in Ogden.
I managed to forget a few things, thanks to cleaning up the shop.  The
race box was on a shelf rather than underfoot, so I forgot it.  I also
forgot my driving shoes, as did Bob.  We each got in six runs in the
car, and there were a few instances of "pedal misapplication" due to
bulky shoes getting tangled in the pedals.  Couple that with the ancient
Yoko A-509 tires we ran on ( I thought the lug nuts I needed for the slicks
were at the house.  They weren't.) there were some festive moments.

Even so, Killer is a joy to drive.  Very predicatable, no real surprises,
nimble and quick, a fun car.  Maybe I will put on the high compression,
ported head from the red racer for the last IVR event of the season.

Anyway, once our runs with the off-courses and spins were weeded out,
I managed to find myself just a tick behind the class leader, while
Bob was barely able to stay out of last place.  It was just the two of
us in D Mod, he beat me by 0.136 seconds.  Drat!

We ran in D Mod because that's where the Caterham Bob sometimes drive is
classed, and we aren't terribly concerned about points and PAX and such.
I did sneak a peak, and we managed to finish ahead of 5 other drivers
in the overall PAX, 2 of whom actually had real runs instead of all DNFs!

Anyway, we head home after a very pleasant day of autocrossing.  I decide
to take Killer to the shop rather than back to the house, making the trip
home a few miles longer.  It took a LONG time to do that mile or so.
The Rolling Red Dumpster has two gas tanks, and a dash mounted switch to
select them.  The tank I was running on was getting low, and about a mile
from my exit the van starting behaving like it ran out of gas.  I flip the
switch, no difference.  With sputters and wheezing and then a final bang,
I coast to a stop almost on the exit ramp.  I fiddle for a bit, then call
Pugs and then AAA.  Our AAA coverage doesn't include trailers, so I asked
Pugs if he could assist with getting the trailer to the shop.  Bob zips by,
sees me on the side of the road, doubles back and stops to render any aid
he can.  Shortly thereafter Pugs shows up, and we spend about 45 minutes
sitting on a wall at the side of the freeway.

The tow truck driver finally shows up, we get the van loaded, the trailer
and Killer hooked to Pugs' Jeep.  The van driver asks where we need to go,
and I point to a sign on the other side of the freeway.  I say something
like "See that brown building with the white doors just below that billboard?
We need to go to the second door on the right."  Yep, it was frustrating
to be so close to the shop and dead in the water.  When I first rolled to
a halt, I did consider taking Killer off the trailer and driving to the
shop, but decided against it.  It would probably be the one time a County
Sheriff would be patrolling the road in front of the shop.

Preliminary examination seems to point to problems with the fuel pump
electricals, as the van fired right up when a healthy blast of starting
fluid was applied.  So I'm hoping for an easy fix, though tonight I'll
be busy working on the black bean and lamb chili I plan to make for
tomorrow's final dinner hike of the year.

Boy, the red racer breaks, the old Civic Si breaks, the van breaks -
not a good month for Mark and his vehicles.  But thanks to Pugs, at
least I have a Spitfire to drive for a bit!

mjb.