Road America - Day Two

We are currently somewhere in Iowa on I-80 headed west toward our destination in Pacific Junction, IA.  It is 10:00 pm and it has been a long day.  It has been a good one though as Brian has done a great job in the seat.  The final results for the Road America events are posted.  Brian finished 17th overall on the long course (officially).  In the afternoon, he finished 14th.  The effort has placed the car in 12th overall and it remains first in class with second in class 15 points behind.

Woody drove the M-Coupe to a 28th place finish in the morning session and 19th in the afternoon.  They currently sit in 22 place overall and third in class 30 points behind us.

Today was a day of serious attrition.  There were numerous cars that had mechanical failures and one with a serious off.  The off story is one I will keep very brief.  The car was (yes, "was") a Cadillac CTS-V that had a small encounter with a tire wall that caused just enough damage to make the car toast for the remainder of the 2010 One Lap.  Driver is fine and in fact has moved on to the purchase of a Dodge Crossfire from a local dealer.  He will continue the One Lap as a "participant" and we look forward to seeing the team at MAM.

Now for the really big news!  We are experiencing a clutch problem that we are not sure what the issue is as yet.  We have had the issue after pulling in for a pit stop and after leaving the track behind by 2.5 hours.  Everything is fine and then, wham.  Our issue is the clutch pedal for the first half of the travel has no resistance.  It then reaches mid point and picks up pressure.  At this point we are able to shift through the gear box and there is no apparent slipping.  We will make calls tomorrow to see what the issue may be with the best being a simple bleeding of the slave cylinder.  If that does not work, then it could be the slave cylinder itself failing which if it goes the way of the dodo then we are stuck.  If not that, then there is something even worse mechanically wrong.  There are folks with bigger brains and mechanical skills on the One Lap than mine and Brian's.  We'll consult in the am and see what happens.  If unresolved yet car can be driven, we'll try to nurse the car to Tulsa, OK and a BMW dealer or independent shop.

I am scheduled to drive MAM tomorrow and as long as we have a clutch we'll keep going.  Just another hurdle to overcome.

I am sure I will not get much sleep tonight as the worry now on the car is huge.  I hope everyone stays tuned.  For now I am going to sign off and I'll update our progress tomorrow.

Cheers (I think?)