Grassroots Motorsports

Our friends at grm refueling the mercury racecar

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45 minutes left

We are now in 28th place. The 27 car is 8 seconds a lap fster.

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Fast stop.

12 gallons of fuel added. Had an issue restarting. But on second try she fired right up. Hawkins is in the car now. At midnight as the leading car crosses the finish line the 24 hours of automotive hell is over.

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Donald and hope... our pit chiefs

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15 gallons of regular unleaded

Gas

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Update

Peter is down to a quarter tank of fuel. He says it feels like the rear strutrod is lose agaun. This kees the rear tires pointed straight. Now down 1/8 tank. I have to go help fuel. Willupdate later

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To the bottom

Something like 77 cars started 22 hours ago. We dropped way back at the start. Made it to 19th. Then had more problems. These problems dropprd us back to 37. We are now back up to 30th and climbing.
Peter is out on the track now. David will take the checkered.


I would like to give a shout out to Rick Fon, sponsor and driver for the ModSquad team. He had duties back in Montreal due to New Years Eve. We miss you Rick.

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Black flag

The welds broke on the header and bpipe. So i welded c clamps the the flanges. The seam welded rthe parts of the flange i could get there. Then i installed a block mount to hold the exhaust pipe up so that if the welds break the bracket holds it off the ground. The corner workers did not like the spark show.

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Exhaust

Our exhaust bpipe finally fell off. Hit by a mazda under braking. It cracked and tore the pipe from the header. I welded it back in place the best i could but it finally failed. So i removed the pipe and rebuilt the exhaust from scrap. The header studs broke. So troy welded the flange together. It still leaks like a mofo. But at least it works. We also tried a fix on the failed front urethane mount. Troy is in the car now and says the car feels slower. Scary under braking. Loud as hell. We told him to just drive the hell out of tje car that he looks and sounds fast.
We lost a lot of time in the paddock. We were in 19th. No clue what we are innow.

I may get more seat time. But wont be upset if i dont get it.

Bill

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Fixed!

The broken exhaust is fixed and hopefully the broken motor mount.

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Broken exhaust

The damaged exhaust from earlier broke all together while Tommy was out during his second stint.

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Broken exhaust

The damaged exhaust from earlier broke all together while Tommy was out during his second stint.

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Fuel

We are using Shell 87 gasoline. Currntly going through 8 gallons per hour. Looks like 196 gallons is what we will use.

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Lots happened

We are now in 22. Lost a right rear tire due to cording. My last stint was great. The car is still screwed up but it very predictable.

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Switch

Troy out. Peter doane is now in. Our grand am driver

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6 hour

34 place. 22 in class

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Fuel

Troy in tommy out

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Tommy

Tommy at 0546

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Tommy

MTommy Guttmann is now inthe car

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Exhaust and rx7s dont mix

Rx7 hit the back of the car cracking b-pipe at the top near the rav4 header. Welded it the best i could. Sound bad at idle but still quiet for the track

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Wow

Had some rear suspension issues. The rear struts stopped strutting. It was quite scarry on 3 to 4 upshifts. We spent time in the pit trying to diagnose the issue. Kevin is in the car now. Cars are failing a lot.

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Problems already. Found a loose RL strut rod, bubble on the RL tire and a loose left motor mount. Hopefully this resolves our problems ...

Bill has been ready for 30 minutes now.

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Busy day. the fun begins at midnight.

KBusy day today. 1030 i suit up. 1045 drivers meeting. Race starts at 1200

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Tommy

Tommy testing the new radio system. Works awesome in the pit.

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1991 Toyota MR2

The car

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Our paddock

Themod squad paddock

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Bs inspection...

Class a zero laps

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Almost there

At the gate of pbir

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The line

The line at 715 am

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David saved a tarp that flew out of trailer. but hurt his head

Ouch

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Potential as a tow vehicle

This would be cun

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Our star driver in our crappy car has arrived in Florida

Tommy Guttmann has landedat Ft. Lauderdale airport. He has flown in from the great white north. The fabled place called Canadia.

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Savannah Georgia

Traffic has pocked up. We are surrounded by speeding ricers and suvs. Looks like everyone is headed to disney for new years.

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Somewhere in South Carolina.

We are now driving on I95 south just nortb of walterboro South Carolina. Taking turns driving the cars and truck. Gps says we will arrive at the track at12:36am. Track opens at 7am.

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On the road to warmness

On the road to south florida

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Car is loaded and we are now on the road heading to Troy's.

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55gallon fuel drums.

They had glycerine 96% usp natural. Any issues with gasoline?

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Ready to go - Introducing the Anti-Castro MR2!

Introducing the ModSquad Racing Anti-Castro MR2. 2200cc of mid-engine fuzziness. South Florida bound! 

Weather Gods... please make it nice...

Well yesterday, Christmas day, a nor-easter started working its' way up the east coast of the USA. I live in Central Virginia, the race car is at TwosRus in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. So far we have got a bit over four inches of snow. David stated that the weather service was saying that there was going to be much higher amounts of snow fall in the Harrisburg area. The trailer is in New Jersey and I know they will get a few inches of snow as well. Hopefully everyone will be able to get to our meeting point in Fredericksburg, Virginia with no issues.


Tommy, our international race car star driver, will be flying in from Canada and meeting us at the race track. Hopefully the storms do not delay his progress.


Looks like we are all set with preparations. 


David had to replace a leaky front brake caliper. Looks like the seals are only lasting about two 24-hour events before they break down from the heat. David gave the chassis a good look over, changed the oil, and wired up the car for the Kool-Suit cooler that we also used with awesome success in the MK1 Chump racer at Sebring a few months back. I removed it from the car when I realized that I failed to empty the cooler of water and "Love Bugs". So there was a Love Bug infested ice chunk in the cooler. Luckily the pump still works fine and was easily thawed in my warm basement. There was a Love Bug outbreak in Florida when we raced there, coated the car and everything that sat still had the damn things in them.


Once we get to Florida all we need to do is:

1. Bleed the brakes with new ATE Super Blue Brake Fluid . 
2. Install the Kool-Suit cooler tank in the trunk.
3. Check the alignment.
4. Install the extra fire extinguisher.
5. Install the in-car cameras.

We may, upon discussion with the boss, install another set of large el-cheapo driving lights. 


This race is very different from previous races. We are running from midnight to midnight. I believe this will put a lot of stress on the drivers. 10 hours of daylight is all we get.
December 30 - 
Sunrise: 7:08am
Sunset: 5:37pm
Moonrise: 2:34am
Moonset: 1:38pm
Day length: 10h 29m

December 31 -

Sunrise: 7:09am
Sunset: 5:38pm
Moonrise: 3:37am
Moonset: 2:26pm
Day length: 10h 29m

Weather forecast for West Palm Beach Florida.


Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 54. East wind between 6 and 8 mph.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 74. East wind between 9 and 13 mph.

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy and breezy, with a low around 58.

Friday: Mostly sunny and breezy, with a high near 75.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy and windy, with a low around 59.

New Year's Day: Mostly sunny and breezy, with a high near 75.

24 Hours of Lemons - Saturday Racing, Summit Point 2010 24 Hours of LeMons

Team t-shirts

We made team shirts for all of the drivers and crew. Team gear will be available soon.

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Testing sms posting. Most updates will be via sms texting.

Welcome to the new ModSquad Racing Blog!

We will start out the blog with details of the 1991 Toyota MR2 that we will be racing at Palm Beach International Raceway over the New Years Eve weekend.

1991 Toyota MR2

Car Owner: David Hawkins

Engine: 1991 5SFE 4-cylinder

Size: 2200cc

Transaxle: 5-speed

Sponsors: TwosRus.com, Racing Strong Motorsports

Top Speed: 275mph (metric) downhill, with the wind, on TV inside my Playstation3.

Meet the drivers for the Miami 24 Hours of LeMons Race:

David Hawkins - Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Bill Strong - Piney River, Virginia

Troy Trugleo - Fredericksburg, Virginia

Kevin Tulay - Conyngham, Pennsylvania

Peter Doane - Medford, New Jersey

Tommy Guttmann - Montreal, Canada

Our Drivers have an extensive history of racing Toyota MR2s in various forms of racing. 

Here is the race schedule. All times are Eastern Standard.

SCHEDULE

Pre-Race Track Testing: 9am-5pm Thursday Dec 30th. $100 per driver, register with the track Thursday morning.

Thursday, 30 December 2010

8am: Gates Open

12pm (noon) - 6pm: Mandatory Tech inspection. Every car and at least one driver per team must be present for Tech Inspection on Thursday.

10:45pm Mandatory Driver's Meeting

11:45pm Cars enter track for transponder checks

Friday, 31 December 2010

12am: Start

12pm: People's Curse

Saturday, 1 January 2011

12am: Checkered Flag

12:30am: Awards and New Year's Celebration