The two-week-in-a-row marathon at Joliet, Illinois’ Route 66 Raceway is finished for 2009. Both Jeff and Andrew Veale stayed at the track in between events, buttoning up some things on the car, and moving up to ensure a good pit space for the second weekend.
On the first qualifying pass Friday evening, things were pretty much left the same as the final qualifying shot from the previous weekend. The timing was the same, leaving at 58 degrees, 60 degrees at .6-seconds, and 63 degrees at 1.2-seconds. The fuel system had the same main pill, and the bdk had 25 lbs at the step, ramping up to 75 lbs at 1.35-seconds. The only difference was that Ethan pinched down the number five cylinder to 49/48. The team also switched from the Hoosiers, replacing them with the worst set of Goodyears that were in the shop. It was sort of a test to gain some wheel speed at the hit.
The car left hard, with a 1.02 60-foot, and around 800 feet, the steering wheel came off. Jeff did everything he could to try and keep the car straight, but ended up taking out the finish line timing blocks, and finally came to a stop without any further contact. The front wing was smashed in pretty badly, leaving the team with the task of servicing the car, then repairing the wing.
Opting for an aluminum wing over a carbon fiber piece kept the team in business for the weekend, as a late night thrash had the wing ready in the morning. An old body panel that was sitting around the shop was brought to the track that night, the old crumpled sections were cut out, and the wing was fitted with a new, temporary skin. A quick vinyl wrap, got it looking a little better and the team was ready for the second pass.
For the second pass on Saturday afternoon, Andrew added 35 grams to the primary levers, for a total of 475 grams. Ethan turned the bdk valve “t” in three full turns, raising the system fuel pressure to 400 psi. He also stepped up the air to the bdk valve, increasing it from 25 lbs to 35 lbs, then ramped it up to 75 lbs. This increased the fuel by 1.0 gallons at the step. The car ran a 1.0 60 foot, and picked up quite a bit, netting a still somewhat soft 5.82 at 251 mph.
After doing the routine service back in the pits, with everything looking good, and nothing hurt, the team was ready for the third and final qualifying pass. The clutch was fitted with 40 more grams, for a total of 515. The bdk was given another 1.5 turns, and the air was increased to 75 lbs at the step, ramping up to 95 lbs at 1.3-seconds, and holding there until 2.85-seconds. The car left hard, with just a slight stutter at the step, and the Racepak verified a little glitch with the fuel system. The car drifted a little to the left around 800 feet on a good looking run, with Jeff getting out of it around 1000 feet. This yielded another 5.82 at only 225 mph.
All in all, it was a good weekend. The car seems to be responding to the changes being made, and the graphs on the computer look good. This week the car will be serviced, cleaned, and polished at the shop for the car show this weekend, then the team will load up and give it another go at Norwalk the following weekend.
