7/30/2005 - Joliet IL -- Saturday morning found the usual SPC Racing crew joined at the Autobahn Country Club by other SPC members and friends who had gathered for the SPC's 8th Annual Summer Rally.  Team driver Chris had spent some time with the car on Friday during the SPC's lapping day on this track, and had gotten a feel for how the car handled on this new track. Chris qualified the car 1st in class, 6th on the grid, and set the track qualifying lap record for ITA.

When the crew began getting the car ready for the race, they noticed that the oil leak that had been bugging the car all season was still there.  Crew members Tapp, Ryan, and Steve quickly pulled the cam cover, gave it a good cleaning, and reinstalled it along with a new silicone gasket.  With all the extra help from Rally attendees, the crew pushed the car all the way to the tech shed to check the weight so the valve cover gasket silicone had more time to cure.

Kevin under the hood.

After the green flag flew, the stopwatch showed Chris to be 3 seconds a lap quicker than his nearest ITA rival and able to maintain a good lead.  After the checkered flag, Chris was 5th overall, first in class, and the holder of the ITA race lap record.  Congratulations on another win!

The checkered flag and a first place finish.

While the rest of the club enjoyed spectating for the other races during the remainder of Saturday, the crew set about getting the car ready for Sunday's qualifying.  Tapp finally found the source of the oil leak, and had it repaired quickly.  The crew rolled the car over to the hose, and gave the engine bay and exterior a well-deserved wash.  As the rest of the crew sat down for pizza at the post-race worker's party, Kevin installed new pads and rotors in preparation for Sunday's race.

Sunday morning, the car was sent to the grid with a warning to Chris that it might smoke and steam a bit from under the hood from all the cleaning.  As the cars left the grid for their practice/qualifying session, some steam was visible coming from the car, but because of the prior warning, Chris wasn't very worried.  After 2 laps, the corner workers and race crew noticed that it was more than just a little bit of steam.  Chris brought the car in, and the crew found that a capped-off coolant line had been  leaking and the car was losing coolant.  The car was returned to the paddock, repaired, and sent back out on track in just under 9 minutes.  At the end of the session, Chris was 5th on the grid, qualified 1st in class, and the holder of the new ITA qualifying record.

The race began with a bit of excitement.  One of the grid workers was unable to verify that one of the drivers had his gloves on, so the field was black flagged, brought back into the pits, and everyone's hands inspected.  The driver did have his gloves on, but as everyone knows, safety always comes first.  The race was restarted, and on the second to last lap, just as Chris was about to lap the 2nd place ITA car, the RX-7 which was Chris's closest competition pulled into the pits with a blown motor.  The race ended with Chris finishing 5th overall, first in class, and the holder of the new ITA race lap record.  While some of the crew helped Chris celebrate his victory, several of the team helped push the disabled RX7 back to his spot in the paddock.

Kevin, Chris, and John with the event's 2 first place trophies.

The crew packed up the car and the trailer, and said their goodbyes as they all went back to their homes from all over the country.  A big thank you to everyone who came out to support the team as a part of the SPC's Annual Summer Rally.  They were witnesses to an outstanding day of racing and two first place finishes.

If you'd like to see more photos and in-car video from this event, visit the rally writeup in the SPC event archives located HERE.