A disappointing trip to Iowa.

Well, the inevitable happened in Iowa - we lost our engine. Not that we've misplaced and it hasn't turned up but rather, it let go and we have no powerplant for the remainder of the season at this point.

We were having a rather good day in that Jimmy had found a good set up for the shocks and springs and had the car settled in where he wanted it. He was enjoying running the high banks of Iowa and was able to run on the high side or the down on the apron. It was shaping up to be a good night and we were looking forward to a good run. The qualifying run was so-so but Jimmy thought that the car had potential and was ready to give it a go.

Jimmy qualified the car in 14th but was able to secure a higher starting position due to some issues with two other competitors. He rolled off in 13th starting position and was holding his won through the first 10 - 15 laps. He had passed a couple of cars and we had started to feel good about what the night might bring. A steady run and a good finish were looking like distinct possibilities.

A caution came out on Lap 21 shortly after Jimmy had been lapped but he was still staying strong and was looking good. A flat left rear tire, though, was about to change things.

We called Jimmy in and changed the tire while still under caution and were ready to push him back out when he called over the radio that the engine was not feeling right. As we listened for a moment, we could hear that it was running rough and did not sound good. Jimmy reported that the temp was running high again and was asking if we should proceed. The call was made to give it a go and see if running through the night air would bring the temp down a bit.

Jimmy rolled down the pit lane, completed another lap and as he dove into Turn 1 while still under caution and a puff of white smoke emanated from under the hood of the car. "The engine just died and I'm bringing it in on the back stretch" was the last we heard for the night.

Upon pushing the car in and removing the hood, we found a puddle of oil under the left front corner of the block and oil seeming to seep from between cylinders 4 and 6. The initial thoughts would have to be researched more after we got back to the shop as it was now after dark and tough to see what the real issue may have been.

Upon pulling the hood off in Brownsburg, we discovered that there was an issue with a spark plug. It almost appeared to have been nicked by something and therefore had no doubt misfired and caused the engine to stop running properly. While we still have some work to do, it does not appear that our engine is a total loss and may be recoverable. However, we still need to decided what we're doing for the remainder of the season and whether or not to pull this one and work on it later while we convert another powerplant.

We'd still like to consider ORP at the end of July but we'll see what happens. There are many decisions to be made and all of them are, as I like to say in the military, "above my paygrade."

So, as it stands right now, we're remaining hopeful that we may be running at ORP and the remainder of the schedule but it's way up-in-the-air. As soon as we know something, we'll be sure to report and make sure our fans know too.

In the meantime, keep cool and we'll see you at a racetrack somewhere...



- Gar