Sunday, 5:00 amWith only four laps on our new transmission, disaster struck again. One of the gas tank support straps broke and one end of the gas tank had fallen to the ground. Hope attempted to limp the car into the pits but he only made it to the top of the hill before a hole was ground into the tank. It was losing gas quickly and Hope had to get out of the car fast. Once again, the Civic was towed into the pits for repairs. We needed a new gas tank strap and gas tank sealant. We had to wait until 7 am for Wal-Mart to open so we could purchase some plumber's tape and gas tank repair epoxy. The plumber's tape wasn't needed since one of the crew found a plastic-coated cable that was fashioned into a strap. The crew once again earned the Macgyver title by miraculously transforming common items into racecar parts. After convincing the NASA tech official that the gas tank was secure, we were allowed to race again.
Sunday, 9:30 amThis time, Higashi completed a few laps before we got black flagged for leaking gas. It turned out the gas return line was leaking onto the track during right-hand turns. Unfortunately, a NASA official, who had been in contact with the race director, informed us that our car was disqualified because we incurred a serious repeated offense. Since we were officially disqualified, we would not be allowed to finish the race even if the problem could be fixed. There were two choices: We could accept the disqualification and pack up and go home or we could protest our disqualification. We weren't about to give up now, so we protested our disqualification and at the same time the crew fixed the gas leak just it was overturned.
To overturn a disqualification, official paperwork had to be filled out and then handed to the race director. We had to have a good reason to fight our disqualification. We argued that the leaking gasoline was actually a new problem. Since the gas wasn't leaking from the original source, we suggested that the fuel return line problem was not a consequence of the damaged fuel tank. After a few minutes, the race director reluctantly granted us one last opportunity to finish the race. Whew! That was too close. We just had to finish this race.
Sunday, 10:30 amOnly one and a half hours were left in the race. Nothing else could go wrong, right? Well, not exactly. Higashi took the car out on the track for twenty minutes and he reported that there was smoke coming into his car in turns 14 and 15. The smoke was due to C.V. joint oil landing on the hot exhaust. He immediately brought the car into the pits. During the pit stop, oil from the joint boot was leaking on the ground. If the official noticed this oil we could be disqualified again. Thankfully, the official didn't notice and Ellsworth replaced Higashi in the drivers seat. He immediately reported that one of the rear tires felt flat. He came into the pits and it was determined that there wasn't a flat tire. However, oil was still leaking from the boot. Without lubrication, the C.V. joint will eventually fail and our race would be over.
I was next to drive the car with only about 40 minutes left in the race. The car felt good, but the flat-tire feel of the car while cornering was still there. I was sure the joint was failing and there seemed to be excessive play. I brought the car into the pits for one last driver change.
With fewer than 20 minutes left in the race, Hope had the privilege of nursing the Civic home. He took it easy and avoided the pesky Porsches. It was finally over and we got the most important thing to us-the checkered flag. Our crew and all the drivers were positive throughout the race and that's what made the difference in the end.
Our Civic was beaten, dented, dirty and held together with duct tape and whatever Wal-Mart had in the do-it-yourself section. We were penalized, disqualified and driving a broken car, but we made it to the end somehow. Against all odds, we finished 257 laps for a total of 771 miles and earned sixth in our class. We will be back next year to win our class. All it takes is a little luck.