Can you say "Ojinaga"?

Today is the last day of racing, and we're excited because we think all the bugs are out of the car. The routine stays the same from the early rise, to breakfast, to making sure we have a full tank. Our start today was as a group making a parade run down the main drag in front of our hotel. Whoever was our leader missed a turn and we made a couple of loops around and about, and then after short off-road excursion through someones backyard, we headed East. Since changing the plug wires, the Chevelle was running right, which made it feel like a completely different car. Muy fuerte! Today's trip to the first speed section was about 120 kilometers into the desert, and once we got out that way, there were some long straightaways. Chip John's Falcon was back in business, so he wanted to see who was the fastest and it didn't take long to say "Bye-Bye now Mr. Ford". It's funny, after you hit about 130mph, driver/mechanics always start to think, "did I tighten that bolt that holds everything together"? Hey it's only a little rattle, no worries. We actually had a vibration between 90 and 100 mph that came right up through the shift lever, and think it's the drive shaft slightly out of balance. The
fast sections today were great fun, the car running good made such a difference, and getting the knack of the timing and route book, all was good. We were friggin flying out there! Our turn around point and lunch stop was in Ojinaga, at the Texas border, and it seemed a sizable crowd had turned out at the Pemex station, or maybe everybody just gases up on Sunday. After a bite to eat and a couple more autographs we started back toward Chihuahua. Because we were right at the border, at about 30 kilometers back, we came to a checkpoint where the Federales would normally make sure you had an entry sticker on your car. Instead it would be the start of another velocity section. We had to wait awhile, as we normally did, to make sure the road had been cleared, and this being a downhill start, we just kept coasting up until our turn. When Rick started the car, and went to put it in 1st gear, it wouldn't go in, all we had was 2nd and 4th. Then we lost 2nd gear. It was a good thing we were on a downhill for the start, as the car ran great, he just had to use the brakes a bit more. As we went along, we realized it wasn't a problem with the transmission, but with the shift linkage. Our little vibration, had worked a stop bolt loose, and once Rick got that out, we had four gears again. We ran two of the sections in 4th gear, but it didn't matter, it was like having an automatic, the car was running so good, who needs to shift! On the trip back to Chihuahua, we kind of leap frogged along with Dean Smith in his red Chrysler 300. We'd been starting behind, and chasing them in the race all day, but never quite caught up. Once in town, we began to see Transit Police, and they in turn, began directing us toward the same plaza we started from the first day. The awards ceremony was at a government palace nearby and the organizers wanted to have us all park there and exhibit the cars. Most everyone arrived back safely despite a few bruises. Sam Berg's LT Special had bottomed out during a section and did a good job of removing the floor on the drivers side. If you look at that picture, you can see through to the ground below. We had a couple of hours before the festivities, so most everyone decided to go back to the hotel and freshen up. We probably should have left our car at the plaza as it turned out. At the hotel, someone broke in the Chevelle, and took our steering wheel and Rick's camera, despite having security around.

The party was at a government building that was enclosed with a courtyard, open at the top, four or five stories tall, very attractive, lots of tile and murals. Tonight there was some extra chit-chat from the race director, as the Governor of the state of Chihuahua was to be honored for the inaugural race. Of course he didn't show up, but an aide was there to haul back his loot. Then came the awards for the that day, and wonder of wonders, we came in 1st in our class! Next came the awards for the whole shebang, and we finished 3rd in our class, 14th overall.
We got a little trophy for 3rd, not too bad for only running two of the three days. All in all, I think we did pretty good. After the awards we went to dinner with Chip, Jo and Dorthy, and had a big 'ol steak dinner and some red vino to celebrate our our good fortune. In that I mean we met some real great folks, and look forward to seeing them again at the Carrera Panamericana.

The next morning the car was loaded back on the trailer, steering via a pair of vice grips, and we said our good-byes to our new amigos.

If you want to see what it was like out there, check this out....video. This obviously isn't us, but it will give you a good idea what it's all about.

Next Time: Pass the Red Bull and iced coffee

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Divisadero and the Copper Canyon

Life is good, we made it through the first day with only some mechanical problems, and no need for any bodywork. Last night the carb was rejetted and the power valve replaced. Don't ask me what a power valve is, but the car seemed to run better. The second day, we left towards the southwest of Chihuahua to Mexico's Grand Canyon, the Copper Canyon. Again, we were up early, breakfast, and give the Chevy the once over. It was running much better, still not 100%, but good enough to try and do some damage in the standings. We had to travel about 200 kilometers to get to the first speed section and on the way we saw a few of the cars already in trouble. Chip's Falcon passed us going the other way, not a good sign, and the remaining Mustang was on the side of the road with the hood up. Also, the other Chevelle looked broken, but caught up when we stopped for lunch.



I'd kind of gotten the hang of the timing thing, or at least our 90 second theory was working, and our communication system was functioning again with the help of a little duct tape.The Chev had truly started to show it's ability, the suspension was working great, along with the Korean tires we were using. We'd finally seemed to have gotten the carburetor right, now if we could just solve the problem with the ignition. This was getting to be fun! In the first couple of speed sections, we started behind a Chrysler New Yorker, and were able to catch and pass him both times. One of those was in a corner, where the Chrysler was literally on three wheels, that's quite a site!
One of the obstacles in this days race was the railroad tracks that we had to cross and recross a number of times. I believe the LT Special with Sam Berg had to stop and wait for a train to pass during a speed section. At one point the route book said, "CAUTION, RR crossing, 2 1/2 right with JUMP!!", we took that seriously and slowed way down and still bottomed out. It was death knell for the Mercedes 220, they hit it and removed their oil pan.

The turn around point was the end of the road in Divisadero, where a lodge is perched right on the edge of the canyon. The train, to and from the coast, stops here so you spend the night, do some shopping, or have lunch. This is where I got my first taste of what it's like to be a BIG TIME race car driver. As I got out of the car, I was immediately surrounded by 14 year old girls wanting my autograph. I got to say, that's different. I guess they'd never seen anything like ol' number 17!
After the lunch stop and a little sightseeing, everyone was off again, on the reversed course, and without any incidents. It's really beautiful country out there, wild and rugged, it would be a great place to spend more time and explore. I'm told the train ride through the canyon is fantastic.
We felt like we had done pretty well this day, even though the car still had a miss. As we tailed the other Chevelle back to Chihuahua, we decided that the spark plug wires had to be changed. If that didn't solve our problem, it was something worse than we expected. It turned out, even though we had Nomex covers on the spark plug boots, two of them had melted through on the headers. What a difference having all eight cylinders makes!
As Ricked worked on that and Logan reported about his day in a machine shop, somewhere in the backwaters of Chihuahua, solving the Falcon's oiling problems, I went to the drivers meeting. Here among other things, the days standings are announced, and the top three in each class receive awards. And lo and behold, if we didn't come in 3rd in our class and win a little bling-bling. Now, I realize that this isn't the Indie 500 or the Mexican Grand Prix and we'd lost a few cars in our class, but I don't get to accept a metal around my neck too often, and that was cool. Even Rick got a tickle out of that one. So, buenas noches, hasta manana, tomorrows the last day and we head for Texas.
Next Time: Can You Say "Ojinaga"?
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