Well, a HUGE thanks to all of you who contributed in getting our race team out to Summit Point for the North American MINI Cooper Challenge Series! We had about a week and a half with the car, and in that time replaced the clutch, the front subframe, the a-arm, several suspension bits, the bonnet, the door, the front wing and other bits and pieces. Did I mention we did a Turbo Kompressor on it as well? Whew!

We had to drive straight through the night to get to the event, with a stop in Indy at the MINI dealer for an ECU reflash to use the piggy-back computer needed for the TK kit, but we made it, albeit with no shake down time at all. Practice went well, with the car performing surprisingly well considering the lack of set up time. Then qualifying time came, and the car lost power steering on the first lap - then it wouldn't turn at all to the right! I brought the car in, and we quickly discovered the issue - the powersteering line had been burned through because of its proximity to the downpipe of the turbo. A make shift line was fabricated (with plenty of heat shielding) and we got the car to the grid just in time. Our out lap was good enough to get the car on the front row during qualifying!










Crazy power steering fixes on the spot!

We did have a slight boost leak, so I was going to take it as easy as possible and still win during the race. Short shifting at 6000 RPM, that's exactly what I did - and it worked! We won the first race of day. Steve was an excellent competitor and finished second in the Madness car.


See ya!





The second race looked to us like it was going to be a repeat. It started out with Steve getting a jump on the start due to the Mule getting a bit too much wheel spin on the start, but by the end of the straight, I easily passed Steve, and with braking problems Steve had, actually had a nice gap despite not pushing too hard. Eventually, Steve went off and gave me a ton of room, so it looked like it was all over. Then, two laps from the end, the car sputtered and wouldn't run! The fuel gauge still read 1/8 tank, and by our calculations, we should have had enough to run to the end and then some, but after loading up the car, it was that simple - the car ran out of fuel! The point had been made by then though (we set fastest lap in the second race), and anyone who bore witness saw that even in unsorted trim, the Mule is a very dificult force to be reckoned with. We can now control the race at will!

As a side bar, Phil did an excellent job, with a very thorough pre-tech inspection of all of the race cars and driver equipment. All of the cars were more than up to the task (both of ours have both NASA and SCCA logbooks).

I would like to thank all of our sponsors - first and foremost the enthusiasts (you guys!) who have raised over $4000 for our effort. I would also like to thank funny man Eric Savage with Helix (who makes the Turbo Kompressor kit now housed in the Mule), Unichip, White Roof Radio (YOU GUYS ROCK!), TCE and Todd and the Gintani guys.

I would also like to thank my wife, who has been unbelievably supportive, Brian@WebbMotorsports who helped put the car back together, Todd Pearson from White Roof who did the graphics as we drove through KC (and made Brian and I some great burgers!), the Indianpolis MINI dealer and Rob who helped us get the car all buttoned up, and Way from Way Motorworks who did some logistical phone calls while we were on the road.

Thanks to all of the other racers who came out too! It was a lot of fun dicing with Steve, and I wish the MadDog Turbo had been up to snuff, as three out there all tight would have been unbelieveable!

I will post some pics in a bit as I sort through them.

Thanks!

Randy Webb
Fastest Road Racing MINI in the USA!


Thanks to Donna and gnhovis for the pics!

 

Added pics...