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We got a group together consisting of Bill Morey, Adam Clark, Heath Smith, and myself to race the USCRA Big Fish Small Pond 3 Hour Endurance Race using Bill's hawk. We also had Eric Chase and Brian Bulis as crew chiefs and Joel Allen and his wife for moral support.
Saturday morning we woke up to frost on the vehicles. Got the bike all ready to go which involved changing tires because the bike had slicks on it which are not allowed in vintage racing (as they are not of the period). Bill managed to get a Michelin power race front and a pilot power rear together in time for the race. We knew this was going to prove to be interesting as the rear was a street compound and the front was a race compound. The other concern that we had was that this bike was total loss, so Bill had bought a second battery and had built a quick release for the battery which consisted of a hinge with a lock that would secure the battery in place as well as a connector on the battery that allowed for us to swap out batteries with one person in under 20 seconds. During practice Adam and I each took turns running the steed. The bike was not very confidence inspiring and wallowed mid corner.
For the race we set up an Ez-up on pit road along with our "vintage" fire extinguisher, chairs, and the rest of our program. Meghan kept score for us in the old timing and scoring tower. We had decided that bill should be the one to start out riding the bike as he was the most familiar with the bike and the fastest, so he could put us into the lead early. We were gridded 2C which was dead last and we knew we would have some stiff competition. The flag dropped and Bill took the holeshot going into T1. 15 mins into the race and Bill was dominating. We changed riders to Heath Smith at 20 mins. Heath was doing great and was laying down some awesome lap times that were putting us even further into the lead, but technical difficulties arose and the bike vapor locked at the end of the front straight. Heath pushed the bike back up pit road and we got it running again and I got on. This time the bike was much more confidence inspiring and the wallowing was gone. We had lost some precious time with the last incident so I was trying to push to get us back into the lead. I laid down some good times and almost managed to get us a decent lead until the rear came around on me in T12 and I laid it down. I ran over to the bike and got it running again and proceeded to ride it around the track so I could pit in. The right clipon had moved and the bodywork was hanging so it ground on the front tire every right corner I took. (Thank god it was Loudon). By turn 3 I had to stick my right foot under the bellypan to hold it up. I managed to get around into pit road in a decent amount of time and we got working on the bike. A couple zip ties, some gas, and a moved clipon later Adam Clark was out rocking it. He ran good times also and helped catch us up and bring us back into the lead again. Bill Morey took off again after Adam and totally rocked it. Everything was going well until Heath got up again.Fuel problems being his specialty he ran out of gas in T8 area and coasted down the hill to T10. We pushed the bike into the infield through the gates and got it back to pit road, fueled her up, and put a fresh battery in as well to get us through the rest of the race. I jumped on once again and tried to gain the mindset of a trackday so as to keep it on 2 wheels. I was getting tired by this point and was waiting for them to signal me into pit, as we were going to have Bill finish off the race as he was the strongest and it was his bike so we deemed it appropriate. Minutes later the white flag flew and there was nobody in sight. I conserved myself and the bike and took my time and took the checkered. Rob and Keira gave me the signal that we got second place overall which wasn't too shabby for all of the problems that we had.
During awards we actually discovered that even though we got 2nd overall we managed to bring home 1st in our class.
Also deserving of mention was the wedding in victory lane after the awards. Let's just say that this was quite possibly the coolest and most eclectic wedding that I have ever been to and we were all dressed for the occasion.
I just want to throw out a big THANK YOU to the USCRA guys for taking us in and accepting us with open arms. You really have a great group of people and we had a BLAST! We are already thinking about next year and what we will run. We are already discussing having at least 2 teams if not 3 and would love if you would join us! Also thank you to Bill for the bike, Eric and Brian for working hard on the program and the bike in the pits, and again to Meghan for scoring! The corner workers and all volunteers there were also exemplary and any incidents that were had were cleaned up and rectified quickly and safely.
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Originally Posted by Chippertheripper
Re: Big Fish Small Pond Endurance Race Report
