Currie Battles a Rough weekend but comes out with great progress
June 06th, 2011 | News | caseyLucas oil glen Helen
Glen Helen was going to be a tough event for the team because not only did we have to prep the 4 cylinder truck but we also had to prep the v8 truck for torc the following weekend and load both haulers.
When we arrived to the track on Thursday both trucks were basically ready to go and we set up the awning and had everything ready for fridays practice and qualifying. We went to a Lucas party with the truck at a local pub for some publicity in the San Bernardino area at night and then hit the bed for an early morning.
7 am Friday morning we were at the track and making sure all final details were done to the truck for practice. We practiced at 11am and when we went out everything was good. We put a new shifter in the truck and made small small changes to the suspension so first 2 laps of practice were a quick shake down then right as we were going to put the hammer down the engine started sputtering really bad. Not knowing the problem I shut it off ASAP. When I pulled into the pits my motor builder came over right away and told us that the rocker broke and that we couldn’t have it fixed for qualifying. So we quickly decided to run the v8 truck, throwing all the safety and Lucas rules onto the truck. When we went out for qualifying I hadn’t even been in the truck since last year, hoping that everything was good I went out and drove the wheels off it. Coming off the track in the. 3rd spot the truck was awesome!
Saturday
Saturday we woke up at 6am to be at the drivers meeting nice and early. We went out for practice and it went ok, track was a little slippery but truck was doing ok. When it came time for the race I started on the 2nd row and was ready to race. On the drop off the green flag everything felt wrong. I wasn’t pulling like I was in qualifying. Every lap I was having to do everything I could not to get passed. By the 5th lap I was having to shift into 1st gear and I was going very slow, then all of sudden it made a big clunk and shut off.. Smoking and small flames came from under the hood. The fire crew quickly put it out and then I was drug off the track.
When we arrived to the pits we pulled panels off to realize that we lost a brand new engine. Since we have to go to Michigan on Monday I wanted to run the truck on Sunday. We made some quick calls loaded up the truck and headed for home. When we got home we put a new tranny and engine in, also flushing all the lines and replacing the oil cooler. I went to bed around 3am and the team around 5 am.
Sunday
I woke the guys up at 7am to drive back to the track. When we arrived we did some final touches to the truck and got it fired up just minutes before the start of qualifying. I went out for qualifying and qualified 11th which was horrible but considering the no changes to the truck and the major rush we were ready for the race.
When the green flag dropped I put my head down and was ready race. We started on the 6th row and started moving forward. At the midway caution we climbed up to 5th place and the truck was working better and better. On the straight away before retaking the green flag I closed the gap on 4 and as soon as I did the truck started making crazy noises and feeling really weird. My uncle couldn’t see anything from the spotters tower and I basically couldn’t move forward. So I did everything I could to get it around the track and then it all of sudden came back. I pulled into the hot pit to make sure a heim or suspension wasn’t broken. I got back on the track and raced around to get a top 10 finish.
When I pulled into the pits my team looked over the truck and 2 rocks had wedged between the steering arm on the upright and the wheel, bending the steering arm down and hurting a brake line. We also found out that the wheel was just skidding on the track for a couple hundred feet.
We came away from this race 7th in points and we have a lot more confidence now then we had all year. We are getting the Kinks worked out and I can’t wait for next Lucas round. I am on a mission to be the v8 guy. I want to do what everyone says isn’t possible. We also sent the hauler straight from Glen Helen to Michigan, loaded for the TORC series
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