Hallett rocks again

[Fbody383]

Unbelievable time.
Qual'd on Saturday at 1:39, by race 3 & 4 was running 1:32s and 1:33s.
Thanks to all for the encouragement, and for not running over by ass.
Back is Black.

Can't run over what you can't catch.

6-7 second improvement is awesome. Can't wait to see all the vid from the track.

[cobra132]

Another great Hallett event. Got in some cheatin bastard practice time on friday. I got a little rattled after punching out the tire wall during the turn 1 Qual episode. Could not quite keep up with Tommy and Mike, but my best lap was less than a second off of their best laps, so I feel pretty good about that. A little more consistancy and I'll be there. I feel bad for everyone that had mechanical problems, especially Raybob and Jerry. Overall, a great weekend, can't wait till next year. FMR

[Rob Liebbe]

Hallett is so bad to me, but so much fun at the same time.

Thanks to Richard Pedersen for being my motorhome co-pilot, helper, spewer of technical knowledge, and race advisor throughout the weekend.

Friday - 10 hour drive from Houston with Gary and Laura (soon to be the Robertsons) following behind. It's hard enough to have the patience to follow someone on the road and even harder when the guy won't maintain a steady speed in his damn motorhome - sorry. Arrived around 2pm and got set up.

Saturday -

Realized that I forgot my racing socks. Jeremy Gunter sold me an extra pair of new socks he had. Good thing too because they checked for socks in impound after Race 1 - that would have cost me a win.

Qualified 2nd in CMC with Glenn just ahead and David Francis just behind. This is going to be tough.

Race 1 - I forget if this is a rolling or standing start and have to back up and ask Francis on grid. ops: Turns out this is tough. Holy crap have Francis and Gary Robertson stepped it up!! I get a poor start and get passed by who knows who all and then have to try to pass them - geez. Had a second row seat behind Mitch when the Firebird hit Ballingit - that sucked. Somehow I managed to pressure the cars in front of me to make them make mistakes one at a time until I'm leading the race, thanks to Jeff Wirtz for demonstrating how well that works. Glenn predictably spun in the Bitch. Finish in first place.

Race 2 - all I remember is that the transmission went away and that the car made grinding/groaning noises in left hand turns. Turns out I blew third gear out of my good transmisison and had the RF hub starting to go out. Thanks to all those who helped me install my backup - unknown history and quality - transmission. Thanks to Wade Zimmer for loaning the transmission jack to Sam Crumpacker, it r&r'd three transmission this weekend. Thanks to Sam for lending me the jack and loaning me the hub. Don't know if Glenn spun in the Bitch or not.

Sunday Practice - time to see if the backup transmission works. It does but first gear whines badly, third gear sounds/feels a bit rough, and it grinds goind into 4th. Hub is good to go. Don't know if Glenn spun in the Bitch or not.

Race 3 - race advisor Pedersen tells me to go out and get at least a lap in so I can points for Race 4 grid. Good idea, I'll save the transmission and beat on it in the feature race. Made two laps and drove to the grandstand to watch the race from the sidelines. You guys put on a great show! Glenn spun in the Bitch.

Race 4 - gridded 5th position in CMC. Got a poor start and then decided to hang back for a lap or two and stay out of any incidents that might happen in the dog fight going on ahead of me. It's a 40 minute race after all. 3 laps in third gear is doing ok, 4th gear isn't too bad and the pack is right in front of me so I poured on the coals and started trying to work my way through from the back. It became a game of extreme patience, applying pressure, and passing when mistakes were made. The heat started getting to me. I remember going up the hill to turn 4 with Gary and Francis right on my bumper, trying to hold back a need to barf, missing the turn-in, sliding, steering, checking the mirrors, steering some more, recovering the slide, and staying ahead of everyone all at the same time - whew. I burped later and felt much better. After an eternity, I cleared the group and set my sights on Landrum who was way out front in the lead. He said he was out there just staying ahead of the fray when all of a sudden he realized I was coming and he'd better start moving. I figured if I could get up and start pressuring that he would spin out in the Bitch. He was being so careful in that turn that I almost hit him a couple of times. I even considered giving him a little nudge to spin him out - I figured everyone would just assume it was Glenn spinning in the Bitch again. I held off the temptation, Glenn held me off for several laps, I got second place in the shootout and bumped Glenn like at a go-kart track in the tech line. Post race in-car video revealed that I drove almost the entire race one-handed only putting my right hand on the steering wheel on the straights. I tend to do that when it is hot. Excellent! Glenn did not spin in the Bitch.

Ceremonies - I'm very glad we did this, I can't wait to see all the pictures, especially the big group picture.

I will post Race 1 and 4 videos as soon as I can.

Packed up and headed south. We stopped overnight in the Walmart parking lot in Ennis, Texas. Al, Randy, Todd, Richard and I all stayed in the RV. Luckily I think the smell has dissipated. Todd had a giant stack of strawberry pancakes and we headed home.

I dropped the broken transmission off to Rosehill Performance for a rebuild and will also take the backup transmission in for a freshening.

Thanks to all who worked so hard to make this event work, thanks to the Stephens family, and thanks to the Hallet crew for doing an outstanding job of running a great racing facility.

[Crumpacker]

Helluva Weekend!!!

Hallet lived up to its reputation, that's for sure. I had some awesome racing but I'll be damned if I didn't spend 10min under the car for every 1min in it. I managed to blow up 2, that's right 2, clutches between friday CBP and saturday R1. Under further review, I think the pilot bearing was to blame.

Big thanks to everyone that helped the creamsicle fight through her clutch adversity and place 5th in the final showdown! Special thanks to Jeremiah for spending his Friday night under the #54 helping with the first clutch swap... he even kept wrenching while I drove to parts store. Respect Brother! I have to thank Papa Kellam for the entertainment too... I remember one point Sun morning where Papa K was wearing a wet towl as a hat, arguing about whether or not he pissed on the trailer.

My only regret is spending most of the Sat night party down the hill, wrenching. I was there for the 5 consecutive "OHHH! Rewind, show it again!" episodes. What a hit! :shock:

Thanks to Wade Zimmer for loaning the transmission jack to Sam Crumpacker, it r&r'd three transmission this weekend. Thanks to Sam for lending me the jack and loaning me the hub.

:?

MY trans jack was worth it's weight in gold this weekend, it will definately follow me to every race! When it's needed again, come find me.

[stevecmc8]

It was really nice to see everybody at Hallett. I've missed the racing and the comeraderie all this year. Hallett is my favorite track and it was nice to hang out with everyone. I had a great time and I'll be back in my car next year, so watch out!

[GlennCMC70]

R1- Spoiler: I spun in the Bitch!
http://vimeo.com/12598582

[Tommy55]

Thank you everyone that made Hallett possible. it is by far the best race weekend of the year. It is great to see everyone from Texas and Midwest. You guys are like family. It was great to run with you Frank and Mike. What a blast. Sorry again Frank for cutting in line in Qual. Need to learn your ways a little better. Now i know. Mike, again, great racing. Sorry for the incident Saturday. The car worked pretty well all weekend with just a few setup issues. It was nice to bring home that awesome trophy. The saturday night festivities were second to none. Well worth the drive. see everyone next year and some at nationals. Can't wait