NAXJA Racing is BACK!

Today was tough. We failed tech inspection for our cage. We knew that the standards would be tougher than an off road event or rock crawl; we spent a lot of time making things really right, only to find out the inspectors were being really, REALLY picky.
























So we borrowed a welder from our paddock neighbors and fixed the issues, which took several hours. In the end, we didn't get out on track for testing, but we were able to pass tech, with about 8 minutes to spare. I'm exhausted, drained mentally and physically.

I only took about 5 pictures all day, that's how busy we were. Hopefully I'll have more time tomorrow to snap a few shots and relax a little bit. Oh, and KICK SOME ASS!

-----Matt-----
 
I knew somebody was going to bring that up. :)

This entire deal has drained me of every single solitary cent I have, because as a team we have pledged not to take any cash donations to pay for the racing effort. Everything we raise goes to Children's Hospital. So yes, my membership lapsed, and even though I'm the director of marketing for Master-Pull, a NAXJA titanium sponsor, I will be renewing my membership once I've recovered from this crazy endeavour.

On a side note, I've been approached by a lot of fellow competitors who have confessed XJ ownership, and it's great to hear that they think it's going to do well, or at least end up finishing. We're never going to be the fastest team, but if we can stay out of trouble and get some long overdue good luck, we should do alright.

On the other hand, I've had as many people tell me it's too top heavy, it's an SUV and therefore worthless, and we're going to roll it for sure. We sure to prove them wrong!

Thanks for all the words of encouragement!

-----Matt-----
 
IXNAYXJ said:
I knew somebody was going to bring that up. :)

This entire deal has drained me of every single solitary cent I have, because as a team we have pledged not to take any cash donations to pay for the racing effort. Everything we raise goes to Children's Hospital. So yes, my membership lapsed, and even though I'm the director of marketing for Master-Pull, a NAXJA titanium sponsor, I will be renewing my membership once I've recovered from this crazy endeavour.

On a side note, I've been approached by a lot of fellow competitors who have confessed XJ ownership, and it's great to hear that they think it's going to do well, or at least end up finishing. We're never going to be the fastest team, but if we can stay out of trouble and get some long overdue good luck, we should do alright.



On the other hand, I've had as many people tell me it's too top heavy, it's an SUV and therefore worthless, and we're going to roll it for sure. We sure to prove them wrong!

Thanks for all the words of encouragement!

-----Matt-----
Click to expand...

Top heavy? Man, they sure havent seen how poorly XJs do in roll overs... The roof is like a tin can. (Thank God for the roll cage right??)

Best of luck to you and your team. Post some pictures!
 
I have been planning on entering the 24 hours of Lemons up here in the Northeast myself... and planned on running an XJ. Ya beat me to it, son-of-a... :laugh: I plan on getting around to entering an XJ in the race up here, except my friend who was going to do so with me just moved to TX so I will have to do the prep work and have him fly in for the race.

Good luck! I will definitely be frequenting jalopnik and the lemons site for the updates on the race!

Ba-Riedo said:
Brakes, cage, seats, and harnesses are not included in the $500.

Good luck Matt!

-Alex
Click to expand...

IIRC tires are not counted either, though it will be frowned upon if you show up with race slicks

RCman said:
Awesome! The wing and the windsheild banner are just perfect.

A few of use were talking about doing this same thing around the fire at LobsterFest. If we can get it together the funds with a decent enough XJ, we might be able to have West and East coast teams!
Click to expand...

If you need more people for the team give me a shout!
 
Good day, bad day.

Good: The SuperCherokeeBird has completely silenced everybody who expressed doubts. In fact, we were turning some very quick lap times in the range of much better and (theoretically) faster cars. The Jeep was a lot of fun to drive, very composed and predictable; in other words an ideal endurance racer.

The bad: After about two hours on track, we were black flagged and informed that our transponder hadn't been transponding. It took about 40 minutes to get that sorted out and back on track. Then, at around 3 this afternoon, I noticed a clunk from the steering and pitted. Steering box had a couple bolts backing out. With that fixed and fluids checked, driver #3 took the XJ out.

After only a half dozen or so laps, we saw the Jeep being towed back to the pits. Our hearts sank. Harmonic balancer let go and flung the belt off. Luckily, the local NAPA had everything we needed and we got it fixed.

We only ran 200 miles (far less than we wanted, or were capable of), but as a 'proof of concept' the day was invaluable. We were hitting over 100 on the straits and up to ~85 in the challenging turn 8. I have to say, I think our tire choice has played a huge role in our success. Toyo Proxes 4's in 245/50R16 on Allied Daytona steelies have proven to be grippy, tough, and predictable. We had more grip and corner speed than LOT of true sports cars out there.

Internet has been sporadic at best, so no pics until tomorrow...but they're worth it!

-----Matt-----
 
Tough to hear about the bad luck, but awesome to hear that the XJ got on the track and did well. Go get 'em next year!!!!!!!!
 
Glad to hear it did well (when it was running)
 
I hope yall do better than our team did this weekend, that's all I have to say. GOOD LUCK!!! and have some fun!
 
Phew! We did it! Final results haven't been posted yet, but at last count we should finish in the top third of teams. I'm pretty damn pleased; to even finish is an accomplishment, let alone in something as untested (in road racing) as a Cherokee with home built mods.

273.jpg


Yes, we are passing two Camaros in this pic. :D

-----Matt-----
 
:yelclap: Glad it survived! Any part failures at the track, and if so, what?
 
Looks good passing those two!
 
kastein said:
:yelclap: Glad it survived! Any part failures at the track, and if so, what?
Click to expand...
Harmonic balancer let go on Saturday, had to be towed back in and run into town for parts and a puller. Cost us a couple hours. Rear shock came loose in the final hours, but it was still handling okay, so we just pulled it and I kept racing. One of the bigger issues we had was fuel; it's only the 13.5 gallon tank, which limited up to about 2 hours of racing, and we could only get it so low until it would start sputtering in long sweepers. A 20 gallon tank and revised fuel pick-up is in the works.

It was good the race ended when it did, we were losing power (stock exhaust was working its way loose), and we could increasingly smell gear oil (blown seal on the D35). Tranny was still shifting stong, but there are some things we'd like to do before flogging on it for this long again. We're planning to be at another LeMons race in March, at Sears Point (Infenion Raceway). We've got a couple little things to do, but it worked so well we're hesitant to chance too much.

-----Matt-----
 
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