Wow! As a dedicated regional-race Spitfire backmarker, I'll sympathize.
I've never had the shaft fail like that -- been driving mine (street, then
race & autox) since 1966, race-prepped in '71 -- but I've had that knuckle
that connects the shaft to the rack & pinion fail a couple of times, and it
was loose again when I was prepping for my one foray into National racing
and the 2011 Runoffs. So there's a nice shiny new (2 years old now) one in
there now.
Most interesting failure was on an airport circuit at Hutchinson, Ks., where
it failed early on the 2nd lap of the race and I found by steering really
gently I might nurse it back to the pits. I'd started 3rd and had quickly
dropped to 7th. Well on that nurse-it-back lap I found if I didn't jerk the
wheel I could make it turn -- what is it they tell novices about smooth hand
movements? -- so I tried another lap. Then another. And began picking up
positions. The only corner I really had to give up was the second half of a
quick left-right chicane. Last lap I was up to 4th coming into the final
turn and the car in 3rd had gone off and was doing his airport loop to come
back on. "Car, you WILL make this turn!" I said, and it did, and I got my
3rd place back. In the paddock the car would turn no more. Had to put a jack
under it to line it up with my trailer so I could push it on.
I classify it now as one of those incredibly stupid things we do when we
squeeze our brain with a helmet. But still fun.
My one visit to RA was fun too, start DFL, finish 11th in the wet, and an
experience that let me relate more to (and enjoy) your description. I know
you'll do better than that in September and raise the Triumph flag high.
Good luck.
--Rocky Entriken
----- Original Message -----
From: "chris crisenbery" <spitracer1296@yahoo.com>
To: "FoT Triumph" <fot@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2013 4:32 PM
Subject: [Fot] SCCA Road America & HProd Spitfire Excitement
> Hey everyone,
>
> Thought I might share last weekends adventure with you all and
> also provide a PSA (Public Service Announcement) at the same time.
>
> It's been
> a real interesting start for 2013, I'll transgress a little bit as it may
> be
> interesting to some.
>
> I've been racing my Triumph Spitfire in G and H since
> 1989 and have had some limited success over the years. In 2008 I took some
> time off from racing as the economy was in the tank and I knew that even
> though I had had the track record at Road America my Spit wouldn't be
> competitive with the new tin tops at the Runoffs.
>
> So fast forward to early
> this year, I had been working out for roughly 4 months 5 times a week
> doing
> Kettlebell (a strength based aerobic workout) to get in better shape and
> to
> try and return to racing for the 50th Anniversary of the Run-Offs at RA
> and
> the last year at RA. Unfortunately I ended up injuring myself during a
> workout suffering what they call a Distal Bicep Rupture which means I tore
> my
> bicep from it's mounting point on my forearm. This is the opposite end of
> the
> bicep when you tear your rotator cuff. You look up this injury and it
> says
> it's fairly rare 3% compared to the rotator injury 96% and it's most
> common in
> middle aged men.......OUCH! Kick a guy when he's down!
>
> This injury has a
> long long heal time 5-6 months and this happened in March so I figured my
> comback was kaput! However about 2 months into recovery the doctor said
> that
> even though he didn't think it was a good idea to go racing he would leave
> it
> up to my judgment...sounded like a YES to me! So I went racing after a 5
> year
> hiatus!
>
> The Spit was carefully prepared....OK I lie, I put new belts in it
> (I was required to), I treated the 6 year old slicks with Formula V, and
> put
> some new fuel in the cell. I also cleaned the rust off of the rotors.
> Should
> have changed the brake fluid, ran the valves, resealed the 4 piece wheels,
> put
> new slicks on it and nut and bolted the car.....but hey it ran when I
> parked
> it!
>
> My first weekend out was the Major's at Gingerman and due to some
> attrition and a lot of luck I was able to score a 1st and a 2nd, so
> scoring
> enough points to make it to the RO was taken care of now I just needed 2
> more
> finishes!
>
> Last weekend I headed to Road America with my top notch crew chief
> my 14 year old daughter Sara! BTW I did do some prep on the Spit between
> the
> races I changed front springs and deglazed the brake pads! So hopefully it
> would stop and turn in, something it didn't want to do at Gingerman.
>
> Qualifying was pretty uneventful other than I was dog slow, but I also
> realized that the goal of the weekend was 2 finishes so that I could make
> it
> to the RO. Our race was early afternoon and I cruised around in last
> place
> watching the new Spec B cars dice, they look pretty fun but they aren't
> real
> fast. Our race was 12 laps long and once I hit the 6 laps to go I upped
> my
> RPM's a little as I new I had the first needed finish in the books. For
> those
> of you that know RA I was working lap 6 headed down into 5 which is at the
> end
> of a pretty fast section of down hill track. The car turned in well and I
> accelerated up the hill and under the bridge into 6 a left hand turn
> that's
> medium fast. For those that were waiting for the PSA here it comes, when
> I
> turned in the steering felt a little funny as the car pushed (or seemed to
> push a little)I chalked it up to the 6 year old Goodyear slicks. The next
> corner is a fast right hander and the car turned in
> well and I rocketed down the hill into 8.....this is where it gets
> interesting! The down hill is very fast as I'm at around 7,500 rpms in
> 3rd
> and you need to brake pretty hard to turn left at 8. I downshifted
> started to
> turn in and got back onto the throttle about mid corner when the car made
> a
> violent right hand turn........I was pretty surprised as this was
> definitely
> not a push, I think my first clue was the fact that when I turned the
> steering
> wheel I found it wasn't attached to the steering rack anymore! My initial
> thought was the wheel had come off the quick release and as I was rapidly
> sliding across the track I took a quick look to see if I could reattach
> the
> wheel, unfortunately it was still attached to the shaft. I then focused
> my
> attention towards my final resting point (poor choice of words!) It looked
> like the car might pass by the nearest tire wall and have another 20 feet
> or
> so to the next closest one, but NO the wheels were really
> turned right so it kept the car pointed towards the nearer wall......thank
> goodness there was a pea stone trap between me and the wall. The Spit
> finally
> stopped roughly 5 foot from the tire wall with no damage but a lot of
> stones
> EVERYWHERE!
>
> I won't bore you with the tow back or having to push the car to
> impound as I still finished 3rd, but I will share with you what actually
> failed. The notch that is in the tubular portion of the steering shaft
> that
> allows the collapsible solid shaft to move up in the event of an accident
> had
> developed little cracks and when I turned left into 6 it opened up giving
> me
> the impression that the car didn't turn in but "Pushed" but in fact the
> shaft
> just didn't turn the wheels as much as the loose nut behind the wheel had
> asked and then when I turned into 7 the right it closed back up giving me
> the
> impression all was well! until I asked for another left where it failed
> completely.
>
> I was able to get the shaft repaired by welding a collar over
> the notch and was able to finish Sundays race with very little excitement
> other than the B Spec that spun in front of me in turn 1 on the very first
> lap. I am now qualified for the RO and will start to prep the Spit from
> nose
> to tail with all of the items I should have done prior.
>
> I have no idea if
> any of you find these stories interesting or would like any updates, but
> if
> you do I would be willing to share a story every once in a while from my
> 20
> plus years of racing and/or the prep I do for my return to the RunOffs.
>
> Cheers
>
> Chris Crisenbery
> Rascal Racing
> HP Triumph Spitfire
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>
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