Motor Novels: books about dirt track auto racing. SUPER STOCK ROOKIE is now available!
Follow Skyler Smith and new driver Ev Barrett in their Team Weaver stock cars. SATURDAY NIGHT DIRT kicks off the series!
Dirt track racing
Race Report, May 31
With home speedway a rain-out, Team Weaver checked the weather radar and convoyed south 155 miles to Golden Spike Speedway near St. Cloud, Minnesota. The weather in northern MN was rainy, windy and 49 degrees when we left. When we arrived in St. Cloud, it was was sunny and 87 degrees. So much for early summer weather in Minnesota.
Rain showers skirted the speedway as well, sprinkling a few drops (and producing some rainbows) as both Skyler and Ev Barrett fielded their sister No. 16 cars. The track was new to us, but didn't slow Ev nor Skyler. They attacked the good-sized short track as if they had been there before.
Ev knocked off a hard charging heat race, finishing fifth. Skyler finished fourth in his heat. The track surface looked in good shape, but Skyler said it was uneven high to low in terms of traction. It also had the kind of clay that formed large "marbles"--almost baseball sized--up high. He kept getting whacked by them in the helmet visor whenever he raced a high line--but that was also where the traction was.
In the feature, Ev ran very well until a sparkplug wire came loose, fused on the hot exhaust manifold, and melted through. She lost a cylinder, and had to pit. Bad luck!
In his feature, Skyler had some initial trouble getting "stuck" onto the track, but got increasingly comfortable on a high line. In a small field of cars he finished last, in 9th place, but the "take-away" (what he learned) was his increasing confidence in running a high line close the wall. Unlike lots of small speedways, Gold Spike Raceway had a concrete wall all the way around. Crew Chief Bill Smith's thoughts on walls: "Run close to them, because you do less damage when you hit them...."
My management strategy on new speedway experiences is simple: get Skyler out of the bubble of his local speedway, and he agreed it was a great experience. He said he learns a lot from each new track, and brings some of the confidence home. Each time we go on the road to a new track, he runs faster and harder the next race at home.
Skyler also had lots of family in attendance from the St. Cloud area, as well as friend Jessica Jones and her pal from Princeton High School. Jessica's from a racing family, and we always enjoying seeing her and other friends of Team Weaver at the racetrack.
The whole team (12 of us) gathered for a late night breakfast in St. Cloud, then convoyed home in the moonlight, arriving back in Bemidji at 1 a.m.
Next appearance: River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND--where the "big boys" run. That's Friday night, June 5--always weather permitting.
Race Report, May 28
Team Weaver rolled east to Grand Rapids, MN, and their newly rebuilt "speedway in the pines." The updated track is tucked into the north side of the city, with beautiful, towering pines ringing turns 1, 2 and the back straightaway. We were excited to visit the track again. Talk among racers was of newly banked turns, and hundreds of tons of added clay worked into the sometimes sandy MN soil.
After a bad draw (my bad draw) of 122 among 140 slots, Skyler started third row outside in his heat of nine cars. It took him a few laps to get a feel for the track, and after dropping back a couple of places, he powered back to finish 6th. The car set-up felt good, he said, but he and crew changed some rubber around for the feature.
Skyler's feature slot was fourth row outside, but one other car failed to start, and so our No. 16 moved "up" to fourth row inside--bad luck for us. Watching the prelims, I could see that the traction was up high. In the feature Skyler lost some ground again before he found good "stick" higher up. One he found his fast line, he made up several places. It was great, he said, to "slingshot" down off the high banked turns.
The nice thing about the Grand Rapids Speedway was the width; there were always 3-4 lanes (some short tracks only have one good lane), and so there was far less bumping, banging--and no yellow flags. In fact, we could have used a caution flag or two. Running ninth all by himself, Skyler slowly was making up ground toward the front pack of drivers, but eventually ran out of laps. We finished 9th, and we'll take it. Overall a good night on a "new" track, and we'll be happy to return to Grand Rapids. Great people, great track.
Look for Team Weaver next Friday night, June 5, at Rivers Speedway in Grand Forks ND.
Race Report May 29
After winning his heat, Skyler started the feature second row outside with Tim Carlson on the pole
with Adam Johnson outside. Adam charged out to the lead with Tim dropping
in behind him. Adam pulled out to a fairly sizeable lead while Tim had a
mob behind him including Gary Nelson Jr, Skyler and Davey Mills. Then the
cautions took over the race, 7 yellow flags total....
After the first caution, Skyler raced low in turn two and came out ahead of
Nelson Jr. On the next lap Skyler again worked the inside line. This time on the
back straight he passed Carlson to take over second. Skyler caught Johnson
and began to work high and low, but Adam was in the fast lane and didn't make
any mistakes. Bryan Lepier was able to make a pass of Carlson and he
quickly also caught the leaders to make it a three-car race for the lead.
Lepier used the same inside line on the back straight to pass Skyler for
second. Skyler attempted to come back in turn three but tagged the rear
bumper of Lepier, sending him spinning– bringing another caution flag out.
Skyler was sent to the rear, which ended a great run for him near the front. He
made some great passes and ran with the "big" boys for most of the race,
looking very much like he belonged there. From the rear, he fought back to finish 9th in the 20 car feature.
Race Report, May 17
On a perfect late spring night, Skyler and Ev Barrett had up-and-down nights. With another high draw (no. 22) Skyler started well back in the third heat of the B-Mods, but fought his way to finish in third place. Ev had a wild and crazy heat, bumping and spinning out once, and later going over the embankment to avoid a crash in turn 2. It was quick-thinking move, and "scary", she said, but she would have wrecked badly otherwise. However the bump-crash earlier caught up with her; she had a broken shock, which eventually took out a rear tire. We saw more and more smoke from her No. 16 Mod-Four, but it was the tire, not the engine. Whew! She had to pit, but the Barrett family worked hard and fast, and she was able to return for the feature, where she finished 7th.
Skyler started third row outside in the B-Mod feature, and ran well through the middle laps. He was solidly in fifth place, when a yellow flag caused a single file restart--with No. 71, Dustin Strand right behind Skyler. Strand was last year's runner-up in WISSOTA B-Mod points, and his aggressive style quickly came home to Skyler. On the new green flag, Strand hit Skyler hard, knocking him loose and high, allowing Strand and three other cars to get by our "Bookmobile." Skyler finished 9th, and was not happy about the bent tin on our car--but clearly learned from the incident. He ran a fine, smooth race over all, so nobody on Team Weaver is complaining. Our car runs great, the set-up seems good, and we have a fine young driver.
Next weekend we race Sunday and Monday nights. Stay tuned for more details. I'll be in Texas early in the weekend, so likely won't report back here until Monday night. Adios. Over and out for now.
Racing 2009
Finally! We kicked off the new season tonight, with the debut of the new "Bookmobile II" at Bemidji Speedway up north in Minnesota. Team Weaver has been super busy with final preparation for tonight's Mother's Day race, including the car show last weekend, and a couple of promo appearances. One was at Bemidji High School, and another at one of our sponsors, Dondelinger GM. Our new Midwest Modified is Chevrolet top to bottom.....
With a high draw for his heat, Skyler picked up several places to finish fourth. After a draw-redraw (a system no one really understands), Skyler started second row inside in the 19 car feature. The field included several serious veteran "B Mod" drivers, as well as several rookies.
After a cautious first few laps, during which Skyler slipped back to 9th position, a yellow flag closed up the field. On a restart, Skyler made some nifty moves to avoid a pile-up of cars in turn four, and picked up several places. He fought his way back to 5th, and was a completely different driver in the second half of the race. Afterward he said, "I realized I couldn't keep the car pretty forever," meaning that he had been avoiding the bump and run type of driving the older drivers were used to. He also said later that the drivers in this class were "Way more aggressive" than the Mod-Four class last summer.
At any rate, he found some good bite down low, and made his final pass on the last lap to finish a very good 4th place--his first race in the new car. We'll take it. All in all, a fine opening night for Team Weaver.
Ev Barrett drove our Mod Four "Bookmobile." She finished well back in her heat, mainly because she forgot to put tear-offs on her helmet visor, and couldn't see well. In the feature, she finished in the last third of the pack, but seemed to gain confidence as the race went on. That's all we asked--that and to have fun--which we all did.
Stay tuned next Sunday night for the race report.....
p.s. The Team Weaver May trip to multiple schools in Texas went up in smoke because of the big 'flu scare. A real shame, but it allowed us to be better prepared for opening night at the speedway, plus visit a couple of local schools.
A Big Hello to Rockport-Fulton, Texas, Sixth Graders!
Wow, thanks for all the comments on the Team Weaver Racing blog. Great to hear from you. I can't wait to head to South Texas--mainly because of the weather up here in Minnesota. There was another blizzard this week, with 8 inches of new snow. This morning it was -15 degrees. We still have about 20 inches of snow on the ground, and people drive all over across the lakes.
So there are fun aspects of winter! Lots of kids learn how to drive a car out on the lake ice. You can spin around and slide--and never hit anything! Snowmobiling is fun, too, along with flat-land skiing and snowshoeing. We try to make the best of winter, but about now, it would be nice to be in Texas.
I'll actually be in Austin this coming weekend. My son goes to UT there, and my wife and I will visit him. I like Texas more every time I come down....
Keep working on your writing, which I enjoyed. The main thing is to write in complete sentences. One way to test a sentence to see if it's complete (and not a fragment) is to look for 2 general parts: "Something" and "Happened". If I write, "The ice on the lake", I have only a Something. If I write, "The ice on the lake slowly melted away, until the car fell through" I have both a Something and a Happened. (Cars actually do break through the ice sometimes!)
The next step up from sentences is the paragraph. Think of a paragraph like an egg. An egg has its own shape, it has an important central part, and it has important stuff surrounding it. So does a paragraph, which has a topic sentence that is surrounded and supported by details and examples.
A letter, an essay, a research paper--they all proceed paragraph by paragraph. There! You've just had English class for today....
Motors 101--Part 3
Crew Chief Bill Smith has now installed the crankshaft (bottom of engine). The eight, piston connecting rods bolt onto the crankshaft. When the crankshaft turns, the pistons move up and down in that 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 rhythm. The valves, which let gas-air mix into the cylinder and also let out the combusted exhaust, have their own rhythms, precisely directed by the camshaft. A camshaft is the conductor of a valve symphony. In many areas of the engine, Timing is everything– I'll say more about Engine Timing soon, when we get to ignition, spark plugs, etc.
Another thing I should mention is lubrication. The camshaft turns at incredibly high speed, and literally floats inside its collar bearings in a fine coating of oil. As well, the crankshaft is positioned just above the oil pan, and is continually coated by flowing oil. A racing oil pan holds around 8 quarts (size varies). The average highway car holds 5-6 quarts.
The valve assembly needs oil, too. After the two Heads bolt onto the top the engine (covering the top end of the cylinders), two Valve Covers go over the heads. This allows oil to continually pump over the valve assembly to keep them lubricated and running smoothly.
Be sure to look at photos that follow our engine building sequence.
Motors 101--Part 2
Having trouble moving 8 fingers in different rhythms? 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2? That gives you an idea of how remarkable engines are. One of the ways an engine gets those pistons and valves to move up and down in perfect rhythm, is the idea of the "cam." Technically called a "cam shaft", it looks like a pipe with ears spaced along its length. The 'ears' (another word is 'lobes') are actually the cams. They are oblong, and each is tilted differently than the next one.
The cam shaft runs horizontally through the middle of the engine (see photos), and is connected to another crucial cam-type device, the Crankshaft--which is really what moves the pistons up and down. The two shafts are connected by a Timing Chain, and together they turn the pistons and the valves in just the right rhythm.
Take a looking at "Camshaft" in Wikipedia. It has a moving illustration of how a camshaft operates.
The key part of today's lesson is the idea of the mechanical cam: a moving part that moves other parts. You can see how, when the shaft turns, the lobes (or cams) make other things move. The invention was an important part of early farm machinery and the Industrial Revolution (before hydraulics), and dates way back in history. What a great invention.
Motors 101: Building the Chevy Smallblock
The V-8 engine is so-named because of its shape. Hold up your hands. Put the butt of both palms together and make a V shape--that's how an engine sits your car. Hold your thumbs in, leaving four fingers upright on each side. Those are the four cylinders. (Many engines have only four cylinders, and so have a different shaped motor).
Inside the cylinders are pistons. Each cylinder has one. A piston goes up and down inside the cylinder, and its flat, round top compresses a mixture--a mist--of gas and air.
The gas and air are let into the top of the cylinders via the the "heads". There are two heads--think of them as a four-hole cover–that sit on top the V-8 block. In the heads, there are 8 valves. Valves look golf tees, only larger, and are made of smooth steel. Each cylinder has two valves. One valve (the bigger one) lets in the gas-air mixture. The smaller, exhaust valve is needed, because a spark plug (one for each cylinder) sparks, and the gas-air mix explodes.
The explosion inside the cylinder is called combustion (hence, the "internal combustion" engine). The force of that explosion drives the piston downward, turning the crankshaft below. The pistons fire in a particular order.
Back to your hands and fingers, let's number your fingers on the right hand 2,4,6,8. On the left hand, 1,3 5, 7. The firing order in the Chevrolet engine is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. Try waggling your fingers in that order!
All the pistons are hooked to the crankshaft on the bottom of engine. The crankshaft looks like a short section of dinosaur's spine--and it has the same crucial function. It holds everything together, and helps transfers power. Eventually that power goes through the transmission to the drive shaft, to the axles, to the wheels--and move you down the highway....
Enough for today, class. See pictures of engine block, heads, valves and etc. in the photo album. And good news: there is no Quiz!!!!
Chevrolet All the Way
I know, I know--there's lots of you Ford and Dodge people out there, along with you import dudes, too. I've always been a Chevy guy, but also have been totally impressed with the 2.3 four cylinder Ford motor that we ran the last two summers. It's a tough, zippy little engine. However, Team Weaver is excited to be moving up the Modified class with a Chevy 360 v-8. There's nothing like the sound of a v-8....
Crew Chief Bill Smith is working on our motor as we speak. Due to cutbacks in our budget, we have opted to do a home-made motor rather than buy one from a speed shop. We found a solid Chevy 350 last week. Bill tore it down to the bare block, then took it to our local technical school, Northwest Technical College (NTC) in Bemidji. They have a great high performance engine building program.
First things first, Bill put the bare (and greasy) engine block in large washing tank with caustic solution to degrease it. Then the block went to an oven to bake away any remaining residues, and dry it thoroughly.
From there the squeaky clean block went onto a boring and honing machine to freshen the cylinder walls and "deck' the top side--that is, mill and flatten the surface where the heads fit on. From boring, our cubic inch displacement went from 350 ci to 360 ci--standard for the Midwest Modified class. (If you're a true motorhead, see engine machining photos in album.)
Now that the block is bright and shiny and fresh, it's ready for pistons, crankshaft, etc on the bottom end., and the heads and their valve assembly on the top side. We'll buy a package of "claimer" pistons from Speedway Motors, a great mail-order place down in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photos of these will be added later, so you can follow the whole engine building process.)
Let me explain "claimer." The MIdwest Modified, also called B-Mod, is in a Claiming Class. That is, another driver can claim our engine if he thinks we're cheating. He pays us a small fee for our trouble, and we have to take his motor. This rule is designed to even the playing field, and keep car owners from investing big money in their motors. The larger goal is to keep at least some car classes affordable for all.
With engines being generally consistent, the emphasis returns to chassis and set-up technology--and of course the driver. The ultimate goal is to see who is the better driver--not who has the most money to put into an engine.
