Wha? That's my JAM!! (Gastropod '19)

oh nooooooooooooooo

gastropods are cursed, i swear 

Couldn't get an alternator from my Advance, so I ordered one from both Autozone and Oreilly for this morning. I don't have a good track record with getting the right parts the first time, or with remans in general.

I changed out the original with the one from Autozone and tossed the Oreilly unit in the trunk as a spare.

I cleaned the car some, and loaded tools, chairs, cooler, extinguisher, etc. I am paying homage to NOHOME

I still need to call the insurance company and raise the road side assistance limit, and toss more junk in the trunk. I need to get on the road and put this stress of forgetting something behind me.

In reply to gumby :

i haven't opened this thread since before the crash.  nice work staying cool under pressure.  it's just nuts and bolts, after all.

Thanks Angry, gonna miss not meeting you this weekend!

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I need some good mojo

The stock knob is in the trunk if anyone has an issue with this not being listed in my budget.

Traded, done.  Get on the road it's awesome down here 

In reply to gumby :

Grandpa in the Jag needs to get out of the fast lane

She's ready for the big dance.

I'm loving the Yamaha livery

I am SO glad I grabbed the second alternator as a spare!

Besides me changing out the flaky Autozone reman in this pic, my traveling partners' cars are also visible. It took most of the morning on Thursday before we all hooked up, but the three rookies from Indy made the last leg of the drive to Gainesville together

Once my shoes touched hotel parking lot, I was elbow deep in PLB

With that mostly wrapped up, and then decals on the SHO completed, I was able to push the stress down a bit and start socializing. Showing up to the Challenge with a Gastropod, and not the slightest thought of being competitive, really reinforced some things I am learning about myself relative to my attitude around mixing work and play. I work with racecars. I also play with, and race, some cars. I have traditionally had a difficult time separating the two and have a habit of missing out on the fun of playing by focusing on the winning and the work it takes to make that happen. It is a blurred line that I am trying to define. Not staying home was a big step in the right direction. Not fighting to be the first person at the track so I could finish up the n-th prep level stuff was also a relief. I need to keep my personal racecar stuff fun and leave the uber competitive side of me for the work stuff. There was a lot full of cool people to meet, beers to drink, and stories to share; all I had to do was stop pissing with cars for a few hours. It was totally worth it, and the car was still there in the morning!

I made the first couple of autoX passes, ran for fuel, checked the oil, retorqued the lugnuts, and made a couple more autoX passes before handing the car over to a pro. I had stopped finding time in my 4 runs and ran a pair of mid 49's back to back. Alan jumped in the car and knocked a second off my time with a pair of mid 48's.

Confident we hadn't left much out on course for a 30yo midsize sedan on all season tires, I loaded 4 adults and a child into the car for a sandwich run to Hogans. Gastropods FTW!

Lunch and wandering the pits, watching others run the autoX and working the last session, still meeting more new people and supper. My drag race prep was changing to long pants! That's it. I made one pass, the car went a 15 like I told everyone it would, and that was all. I had driven from Indy, fixed it on the side of the road, beat on it like it had never been beaten its whole life, and the car was willing for more. It wasn't going to go faster or improve my finishing place, so I spectated and socialized instead.

I finished 31st overall, and 5th of 17 in the Gastropod class. This result is actually better than forecast and the car drove all the way home without a hiccup. I am beyond grateful for the strengthened friendships and new bonds made. I am satisfied with the accomplishments of the endeavor. I was asked repeatedly if I am coming back. I want to. I enjoyed the event and the people very much. Looking forward to 2020 Challenge, I believe there are two reasonable options in front of me. One is to de-content the Emod Ranger until it is under budget; the other is to swap the 4v into the Bluebird. I am not sure what I want to do yet, but I know that I want more than 2.5wks to prepare!

“I am not sure what I want to do yet, but I know that I want more than 2.5wks to prepare!”

Don’t worry, we all say that every year, but it never happens for most of us. Great meeting you & hope to see you again in 2020!

Thanks Pete, was good meeting you as well!

The more I look at your car the more I want to own one, and I already wanted one a lot.

In reply to slowbird :

You know where to find me!