No, don’t freak out or anything. Our MR2 will be fine for the race (so long as we can run down this starter problem or rewire the electrics, which probably wouldn’t be a bad idea anyway since we’re probably carrying 40 pounds of extra wire around at this point).
But we need a second car for the test day next Sunday. Anybody got any leads on this? It needs to be a manual transmission. It would be very nice to have a second car so we can each get some significant seat time. Bueller? Bueller?
Logistics, MR2
Author: Pat
You know it’s just 8 short months away, so I started cruising craigslist for the next TARP Special.
http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/cto/1025005937.html
http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/cto/1019026427.html
http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/cto/1013033647.html
The last one is the best. The description had me in tears. Its FULLY LOADED! Oh, it does need a new battery…
(wait for it)
and a transmission.
But hey, whats that white thing hiding behind it? Mazda?
ed: fixed link
Tomfoolery
Author: Stevo
Enough got done on the car yesterday that we opened it up for a driveway testing session. Caroline supplied her own helmet:
Read more…
MR2, Race Prep
Author: Pat
Pat asked me to get Sampson Racing Communications to agree to loan us their “Expert Package” radio system plus the crew package for free. They said, “Sure…except for the part that bolts into the helmets. Once you put those in, you can’t use them again. Each helmet setup will cost you $140.”
So, the question is, do we want to pay that?
Note for the hygenically minded: It’s not as nasty sharing helmets (from a radio perspective) as you might think: Sampson would give us sets of ear buds for each driver. That’s the part that actually goes in your ears.
Logistics, Parts, Race Prep
Author: Brad
ChaseCam, one of our many generous sponsors, agreed to send the camera equipment early so that we would have it in advance of our track testing day. Pretty exciting stuff for a technodork. Anybody know any of those around here? It’s a whole brown box of really cool equipment. Thanks again, ChaseCam!
Logistics, Parts, Race Prep
Author: Pat
From looking at the coverage of past LeMons races, it’s clear that this event is half auto race, half costume contest. The teams that have well-exeuted themes (like TARP, or so we hope) seem to have more fun and evidently get better treatment from the BS judges. Which, of course, means fewer penalty laps or (sometimes) bonus laps added to the ticket.
Along those lines, I have been picking up bits of costume for our drivers and crew to wear during the BS judging portion of the event. Most of them I’ll save for the day so that you can enjoy the surprise, but I had to share this find. Punchline after the jump:
Read more…
MR2, Team Strategy, Tomfoolery
Author: Pat
You may or may not have noticed that the TarpBlog was unavailable for about 12 hours last night and this morning. I was trying to “update” the WordPress installation. To put it kindly, the “update” didn’t work and took out the entire blog. I tried to repair it and was met with no success.
Stevo, however, worked his magic and made everything re-appear. He’s kind of like GOB Bluth in that way, only successful. And Stevo doesn’t have a Segway, although I’m sure he pines for one.
Anyway, a big big thanks to Stevo for saving my bacon. And the blog.
Tomfoolery
Author: Pat
Here’s an interesting article about how to drive faster when racing identical (or nearly identical) cars. Pretty interesting focus on the details.
Too bad we’re not racing, really, but running LeMons, which is sort of a race and sort of Survival of the Fittest. Or Survival of the Least Un-Fittest, really.
Driving Tips
Author: Pat
Not that the headline above is setting the bar too high or anything; I don’t want you to misunderestimate me.
To paraphrase Ron Burgundy in the greatest film of all time, “Anchorman,” this past weekend was kind of a big deal for the TARP Team and the TARP Special (a/k/a “Tarpy”). For those of you out there who are executives, here is the executive summary: we got a lot done on the car. It’s not totally ready to race yet, but we could put it on the track today if we had to. Now go back to doing whatever it is that executives do. Execute, I guess. For the rest of us proles, here’s the update (now would be a good time to hit the bathroom and refill the coffee).
To start with, let’s recall what the car looked like when it went out to Jesse’s shop early in January, and then I’ll begin the tale of the long weekend past:
(continued after the jump:)
Read more…
MR2, Race Prep
Author: Pat
Turns out that Matt and I have only one degree of separation (aside, of course, from Pat).
Spirit’s ad sales account manager for the Southeast, Erin Kavanagh, is Matt’s neighbor in Greensboro. Their kids swim together at the local pool.
Wild stuff.
Tomfoolery
Author: Brad
Recent Comments