Return from Hershey

Must of walked 10 miles, this place a like a city.

How about this for a tow vehicle?

Many years ago there was a airport right in front of the Hershey Hotel, now just a abandoned runway used for parking. Found a few Magazines on F5000 events, but that was it. Little money spent and a lot of exercise, not a bad day.

Hershey, PA

Driving out to Hershey,PA. this Thursday for the big antique car flea market. Over 9,000 vendor spaces and lots of things to see. Always looking for anything connected to F5000 or just racing.

Hans Device

Hans stands for "Head and Neck Support". A safety item that the driver is being required to wear by more clubs including SVRA which I race with. It sits on your shoulders connected to your helmet and held on by your shoulder belts. The newer race car seats has the driver in a more upright position. Maybe 20 or 30 degrees, which the Hans device is available in. My seat puts me at 55 degrees. I'm going to try a couple of different sizes and see what happens.

Back to the racer

One questioned that was answered at the past race weekend was, what held the nose on. Looking at one of the other Lola T192, it was quite simple. The nose has a pipe that runs through it and supports the outer wings. That pipe mounts on a pair of horse shoe like brackets that are on the radiator support. Mine are missing. You can see in the lower photo of a Lola T192 where the red pointer is. Another winter project.

Non race week

Been playing catchup and have had no time to work on the car. Was talking to one of the organizers of the F5000 group at Watkins Glen this past weekend. There working on a schedule for next year, hoping for races at Laguna Seca, CA., a event in the mid-west which might be a Mid-Ohio, Road America, WI. and Road Atlanta, GA. Sounds like a lot of travel.

Successful weekend

Sunday, no rain in the forecast. Eric (Lola #8)was having some issues with the engine running a little rough and unable to get past 6000 rpm. The last work was done Sunday morning, and the test was going to have to happen in the race later in the day. The race went well, Eric was able to improve on his lap times the engine sounded much better. I was able to get a lot of photos I need for my Lola, and Brian, who will do the exhaust and other work I need, was at the track and got a look at 2 other Lola's similar to mine.

Sunday Watkins Glen

Saturday started out with rain in the morning, but remained rain free the rest of the day. The first qualifying was on a damp track consisting of only 2 F5000, Eric Haga in is Lola T190 and Ted Wenz in his McRae. Midday was the drivers from the original series signing autographs.

Saturday Watkins Glen

Friday morning was a session with the F5000 cars, 8 on track. The next qualifying session would happen at 5 pm. After waiting all day, 15 minutes before 5pm it started to rain. No one went out. Saturday forecast is rain on and off all day.

Friday Watkins Glen

Thursday being the school and test day only one F5000 car was out in the morning. But later in the day a few more went out. Today, if it doesn't rain, I'm sure more will be out on the track.

The blue #21 is a Lola T192, the same as mine.

Watkins Glen, NY

I'm here, and the day is starting out very nice. Today is testing and driving schools for the new drivers. I will be crewing for Eric Haga in is Lola T190. Will post photos tonight.

Watkins Glen

Will be heading up to Watkins Glen for the historic races this weekend. Got the car close but not ready for racing. I'll be taking lots of photos and will try to get a few on here if I can find a good Internet connection.

Old exhaust

Going through a few boxes of spare parts I did find a couple of original exhaust pipes. Found three, but need eight. Going up to Watkins Glen next weekend for the historic races. Will be two Lola T192's there.

Change in plans

The engine woes have put the end to getting the car on track this year. So now there's no big rush to get the exhaust done. I think that will be done in October or November. Now with the oil pump in the right location I can start working on the oil lines.

Oil pump

The new oil pump brackets are the fix. It places the pump in the right location, but now all the other belts are in the wrong place. With the engine installed, I also see the water pump needs more space, it hits the roll bar. They make and long water pump and a short water pump. I need the short one.

Not so bad

I was surprised to find all went smoothly in the engine install. There a few items in the way, but this was discovered months ago.