So when Eric pitted at the end of lap 2, I checked the new ultra-wicked Bilsteins to see how hot they were. Joel had removed all of our heat-sinks and ducting and said we would not need it. They were warm to the touch, maybe 100 degrees or so. I stuck my head into the cab and told Eric, "The shocks are still cool - you aren't driving hard enough." He said "I'm driving it as fast as it will go!!"
Kudos to Joel. He brought the wicked naughtyness for the fronts and the rears (the rears were actually used by another team in Baja - he rebuilt and revalved them so we would have them for this race). The old versions would have been close to 300 degrees at the end of 2 laps. These were cool enough to hold onto with my bare hands. We finished 3rd out of 12 cars. We missed 2nd by a mere 11 seconds. We only had two small issues - voltage regulator came loose so we lost a minute screwing that back on, and co-driver had to pee during the fuel stop and we lost another minute there. Still finished 2nd overall in points for the year.
Chassis is done though. We have been chasing cracks this entire season, and during this race she developed a fatal crack on the passenger side that surrounds the upper shock mount and travels all the way up through the top edge of the inner fender. If it were not for the cage being tied to the upper mount, the shock would have come up through the engine compartment. We also lost 2 of the tubes that reinforce the engine mounts. We think one more lap and the engine would have come out of the car.
4 seasons, 20 races, NO DNF's!!! And finished top 3 in points all 4 years. Not bad for the car that won the very first Jeepspeed event.
Kudos to Joel. He brought the wicked naughtyness for the fronts and the rears (the rears were actually used by another team in Baja - he rebuilt and revalved them so we would have them for this race). The old versions would have been close to 300 degrees at the end of 2 laps. These were cool enough to hold onto with my bare hands. We finished 3rd out of 12 cars. We missed 2nd by a mere 11 seconds. We only had two small issues - voltage regulator came loose so we lost a minute screwing that back on, and co-driver had to pee during the fuel stop and we lost another minute there. Still finished 2nd overall in points for the year.
Chassis is done though. We have been chasing cracks this entire season, and during this race she developed a fatal crack on the passenger side that surrounds the upper shock mount and travels all the way up through the top edge of the inner fender. If it were not for the cage being tied to the upper mount, the shock would have come up through the engine compartment. We also lost 2 of the tubes that reinforce the engine mounts. We think one more lap and the engine would have come out of the car.
4 seasons, 20 races, NO DNF's!!! And finished top 3 in points all 4 years. Not bad for the car that won the very first Jeepspeed event.
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