Truechoice Motorsports

Upcoming event

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:12:00 +0000

If you are in the New York area you might want to attend the Tech Day that Michael Alfano put together at Wehrmann Engineering in Hauppauge, Long Island, NY.

The Tech Day will be presented By the New York Region of SCCA & Technology Racing Services on Feb. 6, 2010

There will be presentations by:
Angelo Zarra on the Development of Racing Shock Absorbers
Michael Alfano on Troubleshooting Wiring and Communication Issues

Other Presentations will include:
Race Data Management
Race Electronic Hardware and Maintenance
Performance Data from your CAN bus

There will be displays of:
Race Cars
Race Electronics Display
Data Tech Training Programs
RK Software

Also displays by:
Anze Suspension ----www.anzesuspension.com/
Technology Racing Services----www. technologyracingservices.com/
Stimola ----www.srpengineering.com/
Wehrmann Engineering ------www.wehrmannengineering.com/
IRacing.com

I talked to Mike at the PRI show and this sounds like it will be a cool deal and if Mark Wehrmann is hosting it will be worth while. (The Staff at Wehrmann Engineering are great folks)

For more Information please visit: www.technologyracingservices.com/tech_day/
E-mail: mailto:conference@%20technologyracingservices.com
Phone: Michael at 516.883.2830

Just a thought...

Argo JM 19C

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:21:00 +0000

This is a picture I found on the Internet so it's not the clients car but it gives an idea of what it looks like for the folks that haven't seen one before

If you are fortunate enough to own an Argo JM 19C or even to be able to work on one, this could be helpful. A client of ours is rebuilding one and figured out all the rod ends and spherical bearings needed to do the job. We sell Aurora so all the part numbers are our Aurora part numbers...

2 required of the AUR HXAM 7T
2 required of the AUR HXAB 5T
4 required of the AUR PRXM 7T
4 required of the AUR PRXB 7T
2 required of the AUR PRXM 8T
2 required of the AUR PRXM 5T
2 required of the AUR PRXB 5T
4 required of the AUR HAB 7T

12 required of the AUR PNB 7T
2 required of the AUR HAB 10T
2 required of the AUR HAB 12T

Hope this helps... if you need parts for similar projects we are always willing to help.

life is good...

SCCA Runoffs

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:18:00 +0000

My first trip to the SCCA runoffs at Road America Started off with torrential rains but once that cleared away it was an awesome week. This was my second trip out to Road America with the Truechoice Motorsports Support Trailer. The trailer actually makes it out there twice a year for the HSR & SVRA events but this was our first trip to the Runoffs. All I can say is WOW... this is grassroots racing at its finest. I love events with diversity and this had plenty of that. It is always nice to see the little guy racing against the factory supported guys. It was amazing with everybody crying about the economy that there were 600 plus cars in attendance. I usually end up taking a couple hundred pictures at each event so I decided to post the ones I thought were cool. Nice thing about Road America is that it is fan friendly and it isn't hard to find a good place to watch the action from.
There were campers and haulers everywhere. ( This picture was taken Saturday afternoon after people started to leave) but it was jam packed all week

I got a chance to wander down to the winners circle for a few races. You have to love the cars.

Top 5 head over to tech after the race.

I liked this spot to view the action from.

Anytime there is racing there is carnage.

Great weather for the actual races

A great spot to watch from our trailer was close to this area

Come out of the turn and up the hill.

Good cornering action.

This was one of the coolest cars I came across... Looks like a beater.

But has a pretty big inter-cooler, who would think?

Some of the manufactures set up support areas for their marques

Speaking of factory support ... look at the set up these folks had

They had some real estate roped off

What a rig for 1 car

A rig, a duellie, a trailer, a motor coach, and 1/2 a dozen golf carts.

Nice car

only 1 car though

Everybody is claiming territory. This did not seam to have any of the features of an A4 or A6

Just a thought...

Crash Video

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:00:00 +0000

I just recentally figured out You-tube videos (I know but I really don't have the time for it) so when someone sends me a link, I'm compelled to watch. This was sent to me from the Defnder people (they make a head and neck safety device) showing use of their device.

SCCA Pro Racing Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup driver Devin Cates had a high speed roll at Round 7 of the series in August........he went off big time at the infamous "Canada Corner" and sustained major damage to his car. Thanks to all of the safety equipment he was wearing - including the defNder Head and Neck Restraint - Cates was able to walk away from the crash to fight another day. He rebounded quickly, with a double header opportunity at New Jersey Motorsports Park this past weekend. Cates wasted no time, with a convincing win at Round 9. The win earned Cates a black colored defNder, which all TDI Cup Winners have received this season.

See the video of his Road America crash here:
Cates crash at road america

I hate to see anybody crash but it's always nice to know that they had the proper safety equipment.

Life is good...

Introducing Our New Spam-free Email Marketing Program

noreply@blogger.com (Racing Ghost) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:55:00 +0000

Or why we don’t like don’t like spam or AOL for that matter!

Earlier this year both of our companies, Truechoice Motorsports and PAP-Parts, sent out broadcast emails as our way to offer specials, discounts and other valuable information to our customers. We had been doing this off and on for seven years with no problems.

We always kept in mind people hate spam. We felt we were not sending spam as we understood it, since we were sending legitimate offers only to email addresses furnished to us by our own customers and saved in our own database. We even had clear email titles identifying the sender and the offer and we did have opt-out links for our customers to have us take them off of our email address list if they so wished.

What is that old-time saying about one rotten apple spoiling the entire barrel? Our entire email marketing program heard from the one rotten apple…an unidentified AOL user.

About a week after an email was sent out we received an email from our web store site hosting company stating that if we didn’t stop using their servers to email spam, they would have to shut us down totally and take us off their servers due to Ameritech, their IPO, asking them to cease and desist from allowing spam from PAP-Parts.

Upon receiving the notice about being labeled spammers we did what any party that thinks it is innocent would do…state we were wronged and then try to prove it to whoever lodged the complaint we were not spammers.

That is pretty hard to do in the undefined and elusive e-world. We started with our hosting company and explained that we had been sending marketing emails for years and had had no problem and even asked them to review the alleged spam. They seemed to agree but with the heat on from Verizon, they took the easy way out and suggested now would be a good time to go to a full email marketing specialist that could help us run a proper opt-in, spam-free, good-practices email program.

Our second tack was to contact Verizon. Us against the big guys! Well, sadly Verizon couldn’t tell us what we had done wrong, only that we had done it. They wouldn’t listen or allow us to show proof…to them we were spammers based only on the complaint of one single AOL user labeling us as such. The Verizon representative said the industry was riding very hard on spammers and they take the complaint of someone in the public as serious. Guilty…forget about proving it!
I bet you can guess where we headed to complain next?

That’s right…AOL. Let’s be short and to the point about AOL. Here is a company that markets itself as a leader in internet communications technology and guess how you contact them with a question about one of their customers labeling you a spammer? You write them a letter and mail it to them. I guess that is some kind of a low-tech way to hide from hi-tech complaints. Is AOL even a player in this new internet world anymore?

We were, left with a barrel of rotting apples. It was now time to check into complete broadcast email packages. The thinking for this seems to be if they can get the real non-spamming marketers into legit programs that can be tracked, edited and managed better they might be able to slowly eliminate spamming by the real internet bad apples. It makes sense, what hidden spammer is going to come out of the internet darkness and identify itself with a legit program?

Welcome to the new world of fully spam-free, opt-in-only marketing system through GoDaddy Express Marketing, one of the companies our store hosts recommended.

We sent out new Truechoice e-marketing opt-in forms at the end of June to have our old customer list sign up for the new controlled program. We waited for our customers to respond to the opt-in form, and after about a month's time we have discovered our email list has been pared down considerably.

It is going to take some time for the news to get out that the only way you will get an email from us from now on is if you opt-into the entire program as it is designed. You can only do that from your own computer by using the opt-in forms we sent out to the old mailing list customers or by going to the front page of our web stores and clicking on the Opt-in link that takes you to the form you will need to officially sign up. This is how GoDaddy and others control and prevent spamming.

To help kick-start our new Email Express Marketing program we made an initial offering good enough to truly thank those customers who took the time and opted in and one those who didn't opt in will wish they hadn't missed. Our first Truechoice email from the new program offered a full 10% off an entire order…no matter how big or what was bought. Maybe word will get around that there are real benefits in receiving Truechoice Motorsports marketing emails. Please help us spread that word. Tell other racers about the offer they missed and how not to miss other offers in the future.

Dragracing...

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:03:00 +0000

I know, why is a dragster in a Truechoice Motorsports blog? Isn't Truechoice Motorsports a road racing company? The answer is easy... Truechoice is a motorsports company. Yes, we do have years of experience in the road racing venues but we also have experience in a lot of other forms of motorsports also. So, why a Jr Dragster in this blog? I chose to write about the Jr Dragster for 2 reasons:

It's my daughter's car
It shows some of the diversity of Truechoice

For example Jessica uses:

Bell helmet

Racequip suit

Racequip gloves

Racequip shoes

Racequip neck brace

Racequip arm restraints

Racequip belt pads

ISC racers tape

Intercomp pressure gauge

Intercomp durameter tester

AN Hardware

Camlock fasteners

Dzus fasteners

and I can think of a dozen other things that we will end up with this winter.

Check out what it is like to be an 8 year old going 0 to 50 mph in about 12 seconds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JELHcR1hEOg

Check out Jessica's page at Bell sports:

http://www.bellracing.com/public/index/drivers/detail/1171/

Check out Jessica's web site:

http://www.mikieracing.com/

Just a thought....

Mid-Ohio with the SVRA

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:06:00 +0000

This was my first time working an event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The SVRA Hosts an event every year in the latter part of June at Mid-Ohio. This year it was my turn to work this event which worked out really well because I only live about 45 minutes away. We brought the Truechoice Trailer up and a few cars. Michele and Rich from KFP Magnum Pads came to the event to market there pads and do some field research.

My daughter, Jessica, spent the weekend with me at the track showing off her Jr Dragster (I know but it's a long story) which turned out to be one of the more popular cars at the event. We also brought out the freshly restored McLaren to show off. (if you know anybody that needs one, it's for sale)

It looks fast just sitting there. (it would be a blast out on the track)

Of course, I got to have a close-up of Jessica's car (it is way cool) in front of the Intercomp banner. (they are one of her sponsors and Jessica is always willing to promote them)

We had Author Bert B.S. Levy signing books in our display this year. He has had 5 published,

The last open road, Tolley's ghost, Montezuma's Ferrari, The Fabulous Trashwagon, & Potside companion. Jessica helped him out all weekend bagging books and passing out flyer's.

Jessica loves to be in the seat of a race car. ( I can't wait til she wants to drive something that turns, not like her Jr dragster)

And of course, no weekend at Mid-Ohio would be complete without rain.

Life is Good....

Columbus Motor Speedway

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:11:00 +0000

I made my first trip out to the Columbus Motor Speedway this year on June 6th. (I usually end up out there at least a couple of times a year) It always brings back memories of my younger days when I drove at Mt Clemens Raceway. It was fun even though I didn't get to see much racing because I spent most the evening talking about Head and Neck Devices. I was trying to get the word out about Truechoice caring both the DefNder and the HANS. I love being in the pits the only thing that would make it better would be being able to turn some wrenches. It was a great group of people and a nice facility to race at.

Life is good... imagine having a job that you get to hang out at the race track, how cool.

MITTY at Road Atlanta

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Sat, 16 May 2009 19:19:00 +0000

One of my favorite races of the year is the Mitty at Road Atlanta. (I get to go to my fair share of races with Truechoice Motorsports) This is the HSR's Big event so it is always fun. People come from across the country to race at it because of it's reputation and of course the challenge of Road Atlanta. The Mitty is as much of a social event as it is a racing event. (the food is always good)

Just a touch of rain and everything is closed up tight

This years featured cars were the Group 44 cars... they had a nice display and the cars were in great shape

I guess they all had some sort of 44 theme plus the matching green paint

It was cool to see racing history on display and parading around

I took this for my daughter because she has a thing for pink race cars

A motorize bar stool with 2 seats and a trailer (In Ohio a Guy just got a DUI on one of these)

Just a Thought...

Roebling Road

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:31:00 +0000

One of my favotite racing venues to visit with Truechoice is Roebling Road Raceway in bloomingdale, Georgia. Every spring I get to make the trip to Georiga for the SVRA spring race at Roebling road. It is always a great event featuring a large varity of very nice vintage race cars. This year was no disapointment, great cars, great racing, great folks, really what more could you ask for?

For those of you who have never heard of Roebling Road before here is a little history lession...

Roebling Road Raceway is a 2.02 mile (3.25 kilometer) road racing course located in Bloomingdale, Georgia. Opened in 1959, Roebling Road is relatively unique amongst racetracks in that it lacks any accommodations for spectators — there are no grandstands, no picnicking areas or any other sort of viewing facilities. The track was designed by John Rueter and held it's first SCCA event June 11-12, 1960. The track was financed by and named after SCCA supporter Robert Roebling, great grandson of John A. Roebling.
Roebling Road hosts events >300 days per year. Events range from media, pro teams testing cars, club racing, and performance driving education events. Club races include the Sports Car Vintage Association (SVRA), Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), BMW Car Owners Club of America (BMWCCA), Porsche Club of America (PCA), North American Sports Car Association (NASA), and the Vintage Drivers Club of America (VDCA). The track is used by cars, motorcycles and karts.
The track is a very safe and forgiving track, making it ideal to learn on. It is characterized by large amounts of run-off room and only a single wall.
Roebling Road is unusual in that it is owned by a local racing club, the Buccaneer Region of the SCCA. As a not-for-profit, non-spectator oriented track, it is one of the most inexpensive tracks to run on in the U.S.
Roebling hosts several driver's education oriented events each month. The format varies with the hosting organization. There are relatively expensive events where the organizers provide high performance cars and, there are significantly less expensive events where you bring your own car. As you work your way up in skill level you are allowed to drive on the track "solo". And it's far harder then you think. But it's every bit as fun as you imagine.

Detroit Autorama

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:45:00 +0000

Some folks ask me "why?" I think it as about passion or maybe love because it sure don't make sense. Yea... I'm talking about my obsession with cars. I just spent the last 5 days at the Detroit Autorama and logged almost 80 hours. (crazy ah) I can honestly say it didn't feel like it just like when I go to the race track with Truechoice Motorsports. The coolest thing about the Autorama is there is something for everybody. Car people have an interest, love or passion that bypasses most social and economic bounties. It's really not about age, gender, race, social status, political views, religious views, or any of that stuff, it's about the art form known as cars and that is the common ground for all involved.

A Chip Foose Creation

Jess had to have a picture in front of the pink car.

(still her favorite color even though she "grew out" of Disney's Princesses)

Way cool '45 Merc Woody

I love when people change the stock stripes

A super model posing in front of the Mach 5

Very cool Jr Dragster

It's gota Hemi

From the Mad Max movie

Oldie but a goodie

I really don't care for these type of cars but you have to respect the effort and vision of the builder

It is like a '60s flash back

Our friends at Waterford Hills had a nice display

They had some very nice cars in their display

Of course they had car stars

Life is good...

Sebring in the rain

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Check this out... I met Thomas Bonatz at Road Atlanta last year when I was out there with the Truechoice Trailer. I really admired his ambition and determination. He is an inspiring young race car driver that is racing in the Skip-barber series. This is video of Thomas racing at Sebring in the RAIN. I think this is a cool video because of all the rain. I can't imagine being in an open car at high speed because I hate driving my street car in the rain.

Wet Ride

Life is good...

PRI Show

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:50:00 +0000

WOW... Any car nut would go crazy at the PRI show in Orlando, FL. There is more to see there them time to see it. Truechoice has had a booth there since the begining of the show almost 20 years ago.
Very cool booth

Amazing that everything came out of 2 boxes

The transformation is amazing

Boxes and stuff everywhere to a impressive show in 3 days

I enjoyed the industrial round table because it was great to hear other peoples opinions on the future of motorsports

Breakfast was great (food, networking, and speakers)

Dale Inmann (Richard Pettys Crew Cheif) was guest speaker

Amazing how many people show up for the reception (I think free beer and food help)

Surprising the lines were not that long and they had plenty of beer and appetizers

Hsr Season Ender at Sebring

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:55:00 +0000

WOW! My first trip to the famous Sebring International Raceway. This was a great trip for many reasons. First of all it's December and I'm in Florida (much nicer then Ohio). This place is amazing, it is so big, it was hard to figure out the best place to park the Truechoice Trailer (I bet the paddock is 3/4 of a mile long). This was another smooth running HSR event where checking went well, the racing was great (4 hour enduros at dawn ROCK), and the awards Banquet was great. The HSR is sponsored by Rolex so I got to see them give out a ton of watches to the points winners. It was nice to hear Derek Daily speak. All and all it was a great trip but i did not take my usual ton of pictures.

Great weather, just look at those sky's

A beautiful sun rise overlooking a race track what more could you ask for in life.

Just imagine cars thundering around that turn!

Life is Good...

Svra ends season at Road Atlanta

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:54:00 +0000

Wow... It's hard to believe that this season with SVRA is over. It was a chilly weekend in Atlanta but as always it was great racing. I am excited about taking the Truechoice trailer to the 2009 events already.

Mission Foods did a great job with the party... Got to love those Car-amigo guys

A little sangria always helps

Lining up on the false grid

Waiting for my Pace truck ride

Always my favorite view

my favorite photo:

http://www.svra.com/SVRA/photogal.nsf/plinks/SVRA-7KNVGD

life is good...

SVRA at Watkins Glen

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:55:00 +0000

This was my second trip to Watkins Glen and what an experience. As always the SVRA put on a great event. This weekend had a little bit of everything thrown into it; racing, a reenactment of racing down town, a big car show downtown, a big party downtown, FOG, more racing, 50 years of Lola, a party at the track, and did I mention racing. It was also the 40th anniversary of HOT WHEELS cars so they had a special display down town (“ Hot Wheels turn 40” Blog).

The weekend started off like just like any other Vintage-racing event in the Truechoice trailer. The registration and getting the trailer parked went smooth as always. (SVRA did a great job with the golf shirts) Thursday had beautiful weather and great practice. Friday was awesome… the downtown race/car show/party rocked. Saturday great racing until the FOG rolled in (WOW it gets foggy fast) but the social was nice, a little cold. Here are my pic’s with commentary:
You can almost envision the original downtown racing

This was a great environment.

Saturdays fog rolling in

Saturdays fog rolling in 15 minutes later

Saturdays fog rolling in 10 minutes after that.

Kind of scary...

Saturdays fog rolling in 10 minutes after that.

Reminds me of the movie the FOG.

Display cars celebrating 50 years of Lola

There were 6 super nice examples on display

Fog's gone... a bit chilly but the party must go on

Why do they need so many?
Have you ever heard some of the racing stories?

A few bottles of wine got consumed which makes sense being in the Finger Lakes wine region
Got to make sure when you leave you are not seeing double

His other car is a Lola

VERY NICE LOLA'S

A little carnage

Perfect sky's on Sunday

Bring your own cheerleader.

Yes, she is holding pom-poms.

My favorite view of the track
(Being on it)

Life is Good...

Hot wheels turn 40

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:43:00 +0000

It’s amazing that Hot Wheels have been around for 40 years. I guess it’s nothing I have ever given much thought to but it was a very cool display they put on in downtown Watkins glen during the SVRA event. I don’t think I would have driven across country to see it but it was an added benefit to already being there with the Truechoice trailer. Walking through the display defiantly brought back some memories of my childhood collection of cars. I think for a lot of folks, Hot Wheels played a role in defining what kind of car guy you grew up to be. Could it be that some of us had already started to form our auto interests at a young age? I don’t know for sure but it’s uncanny that my little brother’s Hot Wheels were all beat up, scratched, used, and abused and today he is the owner/driver of the Avenger Monster Truck. (Still abusing cars today) I did get my complementary collector commemorative Hot Wheel car at the event. Here are a few Pic’s from Watkins:

Traditional Hot Wheels drag racing (they just took the orange track off)

1968 to 1978 do you remember?

The history is way cool

I missed this era (I'm an old guy)

Getting to know this era (I'm a Father)

1/8 scale models of popular Hot wheels

LIFE IS GOOD!

Miss November

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:17:00 +0000

What has got to be one of the greatest things about working at Truechoice is meeting all the new people. In the course of my travels I have met some very interesting people. I have got the greatest job in the world, think about it hang out in a racing environment with car people. Who could ask for more?

Anyway… the point of this blog is that good things happen to good people. I have attached a link at the bottom about Colbi Bradley. The reason for this link is that I meet Jay Bradley on my first trip to Georgia with Truechoice. He was nice enough to help me with some logistics with our trailer. (Super nice guy) Jay runs Simpson Racing for Steve & Diane Simpson while they are busy running HSR. Jay gave me a tour of the shop and there is a “Colbi” section of the shop with her hero cards on the wall, her kart, and such. When I asked Jay about her, he beamed with pride as he told about her racing career so far. (Much like I do when I talk about my daughter) I love the fact that he is encouraging his daughter to break some of the traditionally male stereo-types. Motorsports needs more women involved. Motorsports levels the playing field and it’s nice to see women excel at it. We have all heard of Lyn St. James, Shirley Muldowney, or Danica Patrick but we all do need to cheer for some of the new round of women racers. Colbi is somebody to watch in the future.

http://www.trackchic.com/wbw/

JUST A THOUGHT...

Super Model Maimed

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:36:00 +0000

Super Model Maimed… Not really but I think this is much worse.
To a car guy this is the equivalent of a super model with broken nose or Michelangelo’s David falling over or a wild fire in a national park or a Picasso falling off the wall or… I think you get the point.

This is a real GT-40 with race history
This “super model” is not headed to the plastic surgeon but back to a body shop and a race shop
Tough racing at Watkins Glen for this GT-40

The SVRA event is always a great one at Watkins Glen and on occasion there is some carange that the even the Truechoice Trailer does not have the parts to fix.

Just a thought...

24 HOURS OF LEMONS

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:04:00 +0000

I'll start from the beginning, a few months ago I stumbled on some information on what is called the 24 Hours of Lemons, I began looking further into this "series" of races which are held at various locations across the country and learned that there is a 'Detroitish' event to be held in Toledo Ohio. It did not take long to come up with a short list of people I know that would think this is too cool, and would definitely take part.
O.k. now we have a "team", so the next step is what kind of car should we get, since the total allowance is $500 bucks, that includes the car purchase and the repairs needed to make it 'competition ready' :)
The search begins, of course the first place to look would be e-bay, auto trader etc. Even better would be if someone we know would be willing to donate an old crapper that is sitting around, preferably something like an old Rx7, miata, something small but sporty so driving this thing could almost seem like actually being in a race car in a real race. After a couple weeks of dead end searches one of our team members suggested an 87' BMW 325i that has been growing weeds for about two years. PERFECT. It's a four door and in line six which means somewhat reliable and smooth power band, but not too small of a car that we would get pushed around the track by say a huge Lincoln or old Caddy weighing more than a modern day SUV. At first glance the car looks decent for a car with 275k miles or at least that is the last time the Odo was working. Some rust through spots on the roof, drivers lower door is nearly gone and the ground could be seen from various angles inside the car. Which is not a bad thing, less weight right. However the power steering was non existing and leaking from every hose in the system. The cooling system was scary as well, corrosion had overgrown the entire t-stat housing assembly which covered the hoses and hose clamps. The rules are clear on leaking fluids, NO LEAKING FLUIDS. So we replaced anything that was potentially a source of a leak.

The car began the strip down process right away, two piles were made trash in one and to-be-sold in another. The 500 bucks max budget can be offset by items sold that are taken off of that car. Many interior items IE door panels, HVAC controls, etc. actually sold on e-bay which offset our small leak re-hab repair costs.
Safety items which include roll cage, harness, brakes, wheels and tires are not added to the max budget of $500, for good reason obviously. So work began on the brakes which received new rotors and Cobalt Friction Technologies pads. Special thanks to Andie at Cobalt for all his help and support. Working with Cobalt has been a great learning experience, Truechoice Motorsports and Cobalt have developed some brake pads commonly used for vintage racing applications which came directly from the Rolex Grand Am DP Series racing program of Southard Motorsports.
The car was then taken by a team member to fabricate and install the roll cage. Keeping in mind the non-existing spare time a new father has as well as a job which takes him away from home as well he did a great job. With the cage finished work began on the interior items seat , harness , fire extinguisher system , car radio for pit communication- this is jumping ahead but I don't want to forget to tell this. This is budget racing at its comical best, if one does not want to spend the money and time on installing a car radio system what are the options, you have a pit board and that is it right-WRONG- I witnessed some interesting methods, when the car passes the grand-stand the driver would signal the crew by beeping his horn which I assume means he is coming in because five or six people stood up and walked down to the paddock area, another was someone in the grandstand had a handheld air horn and would blast the horn when their car passed the grandstand. These are the ones I witnessed so I am sure there were other techniques I just was not aware of happening, but if anyone has information on other methods I would love to hear about it.
O.k. back to the build up of the car, along the way we all pulled together to find any and every way to raise money and source items to reduce our financial load.
The greatest news was from a team member that had secured sponsorship from a biker bar in South Carolina, Suck Bang Blow. What a great name. We all are very grateful for their generosity and assistance in making this LEMON car a pleasure to be associated with THANK YOU. The seat position was finally settled on and the column lowered about an inch to bring the steering wheel closer to the drivers. Harness was installed and adjusted to a length that would accommodate all five drivers. The windows were removed and any unnecessary items like trim pieces etc. All safety and hardware items were assisted by Truechoice Motorsports, special thanks to them. All five drivers would be using the Hans Device so all helmets were prepared for that as well as radio harness installed inside of each helmet.
Decals were made and were the last items to go on the car, some creative art work for the headlights and taillights (see photos) and proper graphic placement aided in covering up alot of rust holes.

So we are ready then........................
Off we go on Friday afternoon from Columbus Ohio driving in the rain with a horrible outlook of nonstop rain the whole weekend,,,,,great.....:(
Well at least we don't have to worry about tire wear. We arrived at the famed Toledo Speedway at about 5pm, I was personally impressed, someone said that's good that you set your expectations low enough for that to be possible. All kidding aside they were friendly, helpful and helped us have a great time, if only they could stop the monsoon. Saturday morning, make our way to the gate roughly the 5th-6th ones there and wait for the gates to open, crew and hospitality in tow, special thanks for the hospitality accommodations. Find our spot under the power lines and unload in full rain gear, set up the ez-up and power the lights yep still raining. First ones to tech and there they are the infamous Judges in full costume, wig and all. This is too cool. Pull the car in and run through the checks, just when we thought we were clear, here comes JAY LAMM 'OK how many BS points are we giving these guys' oh no I thought, 'wait it really isn't that nice' I tried to explain. After showing him all the rust and explaining the mileage and condition it was in before we built it up he agreed with his Judges and no BS points were given. Heuy,,,, We read about some guys getting as much as 1000 laps penalty so they spent half the race getting there lap count up to 0. Alright lets get ready for qualifying, which has been interesting to say the least, at other events they held. The rain stopped any of that because they did not want to get wet to set it all up. Can't blame them there. So they started circulating the cars and dropped the green flag randomly.
too be continued.........

Dreossi Special

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:59:00 +0000

My favorite thing about the vintage racing is the unique cars. If you live cars as much as I do it’s worth taking in either a SVRA or a HSR event. It’s museum quality cars RACING.

This is a very cool car… a Dreossi Special owned by Doug Elcomb. This car was built by Ray Dreossi and Cece Simmons up near Toronto in 1961 as a Canada Class car. It also conforms to the early rear engine Formula Junior rules having less then 1100cc, drum brakes, and a production gear case. Going through the SVRA Tech line

The car is monocoque structure (no tube frame) built from a drop tank from a F86 Sabre Jet.
Almost a fighter jet cockpit
The cars steering uses a cut-down NSU Prinz rack
The front uprights/brakes are Standard Pennant (pre-Triumph Herald)

The rear uprights/brakes are Austin Mini 850 front ends

When you look at the wheel/tire combination it is hard to believe that this car will go 115 on the top end powered by a Sprite motor (948cc bored to 1001cc) with only about 75bhp. The transmission is a Fiat 600 gearbox mounted upside down. The cooling is done by a Fiat 850 radiator.

I had brought the Truechoice Suport Trailer to Watkins Glen for a SVRA event. This car was doing well in the feature race up until Doug "ran out of talent in the Inner Loop on lap#2!! recovered to finish 12th after a good fight with Travis Engen's Lotus 18". (Doug's Words)

Life is Good...

Thunderbolt Raceway

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:43:00 +0000

My first trip to South Jersey was actually very nice. I was surprised how nice the area was because I had heard so many of those “New Jersey” stories. The drive was good even through the city of brotherly love but it is amazing how fast it gets rural once you get on 55. This was actually our first trip with the Truechoice Support trailer to the Thunderbolt race track at the New Jersey Motorsports Park.

It was another GREAT SVRA event as always. The SVRA always does a great of putting on events. The weekend was good overall but there were some issues. I believe that the New Jersey Motorsports Park will be an awesome track a year from now. The Air Force theme is really neat and the club house is very nice too.

The security cars all had a WW2 look to them

The club house was very nice (NJMSP is a country club track)

This building that looks like a hanger has an observation deck and a banquet hall

SVRA's podium

False grid in use

It is far from being finished. It lacked grass, grandstands, and organization. Having any racing on it other then club events is probably way too premature. If you wanted to put a positive spin on the track, what more could guys want construction equipment and race cars in the same place (Tim Taylor of the “Home Improvement” TV program would be in heaven)

Far end of track

Front end of track

Construction equipment track side

Mother Nature would normally not be a factor when deciding when to schedule events but the lack of grass or any type of ground cover created massive dust storms.

View out the back of the Truechoice Trailer

Common sight after the wind gusts

We did sell our fair share of Pipercross Air Filters, helicopter tape, Bell visors and tear offs after the driver’s sand blasted the racing on the course.

We will probably be cleaning dust out of the Truechoice Support Trailer for weeks to come.

Nasa’s Travel tips for Millville, New Jersey:

Country Inn & Suites is the nicest hotel in the area.

Serafina’s is a restaurant that you got to eat at. The wait staff treats you like family. It serves “real” Italian food with generous portions. UNBELIEVABLE

All the stores are Vineland (2 exits up on 55)

Life is Good!

A visit from a racing legend

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:36:00 +0000

This week: racing legend, James Hilton stopped by Truechoice with local ARCA race team owner, Greg Sarff (Capital City Motorsports) to get some Earls plumbing and Gaffer’s tape. It was great to be able meet and talk to a living legend like Hylton.

Can you imagine having a racing resume that reads:

Worked as a mechanic for Rex White in the late 50’s (1960 NASCAR champ)
Crew Chief for Ned Jarrett in 1964 thru 1967
Started as a Grand National driver in 1964
Nascar Rookie of the year in 1966
Became an Owner/driver in 1968
Won Talladega 500 in 1972
Moved from NASCAR to ARCA in 1982
Has 71 ARCA Starts
Oldest driver to start a NASCAR Race (Milwaukee June 2006)
Attempted qualifying for the Daytona 500 at 72 years old
Has driven in NASCAR, ARCA, Grand American, IMSA, USAC, GN East

Nascar Stats:

Starts 601
Wins 2
Top-5 140
Top-10 301
Poles 4
Laps Led 979
Avg. Start 17.0
Avg. Finish 13.5
Earnings $1,478,096

Probably the most impressive thing is that James was working on a race car with Greg to get it ready for the Nashville ARCA race. When you think about it, not very many folks at 74 years old would still be wrenching or racing. It had to be great to have almost 50 years of experience helping prep the car for Sarff’s new driver, Ben Stancill of Ayden, NC.

It’s exciting to meet somebody who is still that passionate about anything after 50 years but it is a bonus if that passion is racing!!!!

I have always believed that if you find work that you love, you will never work a day in your life or at least it won’t feel like work. Life is too short to spend doing things your not passionate about.

Just a Thought…

Brickyard 400

noreply@blogger.com (NASA) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:01:00 +0000

Brickyard 400

This weekend was our annual pilgrimage to Anderson and then on to Indianapolis, Indiana for a racing-filled weekend with the guys. What could be better then hanging out with your buddies, smelling rubber and exhaust and watching racing? LIFE IS GOOD, or so I thought

OMG… what a screwed up weekend of racing!

To start the weekend off on Saturday we watched the IRL race at BW3’s over some wings and beers. Boring!! HINT to the IRL: If a race is suppose to run 95 laps and runs out of time at 90ish laps that means either there were a lot of slow laps or too many cautions which translates to boring racing. LETS JUST RUN THE 95 LAPS for excitements sake. (We were waiting for the weekly Danica Drama)

Normally we go watch pavement late models at the Anderson speedway but they were running the USAC sprints so we opted to watch the Nationwide race at BW3’s. Yes, still at BW3’s, more beer, more wings! Good race even though Brett Rowe and my old team crashed out early. (Kind of miss the action but watching is the next best thing)

The low-light of the trip was Sunday’s Brickyard race itself. It was to be the highlight but we still had a blast. What were they thinking? Goodyear wrecked a great race with a bad tire. A yellow flag every 10 laps or so. Competition cautions they called them. Yep, they sure were not “racing” cautions (It kind of felt like Heat races on the local track) I felt bad for the pit crews since 15 pit stops in a race is a lot of work. The poor tire guy must have worn out his Intercomp tire gauge. Jimmy Johnson won so not all bad, but I do have a visual few observations:

It would have looked better if they had used colored racing tape when fixing the tire blowout damage to the cars.

Tires with 10 laps on them should not blow up during a burn out

Proper racing etiquette dictates you don’t stand for a large part of the race if it’s not exciting (if you paid for the seat use it)

But all being said it was still a BLAST

LIFE IS GOOD