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< Back to News Home Nonnamaker Family return to the 25 Hours of Nelson Ledges for 2nd try at Chump Car Glory

Posted (10/12/2012) -

At the 2011 edition of the Longest Day of Nelson Ledges, the Nonnamaker family made a return visit to this long running event after a 15 year layoff.  During last year’s event, the family, along with partner Jacob Grimm of Brother’s Grimm Landscaping built a 1986 Mazda RX-7 into a race car.  As per Chump Car rules, the junker car needed to be $500 or less.  And with any build project that includes a $500 Junker car,,lots of problems ensued in the build process.  But the Mazda did make it to the grid, and actually did make it to the finish, finishing an amazing 11th out of 79 competitors.

 

After the 2011 event was over, there was a full list of items accumulated of what to do for the following year to improve both the reliability and speed of the Mazda.  Thus the little old most was stashed away in the back of the parking lot, with a canvas over the top, with plans for great things come the spring. 

 

As spring came, the RX-7 slowly made its way back into the shop.  As parts and pieces were pulled off the car, little projects turned into big projects.  A direct example of this was discovering that the Motor Mounts were completely worn out.  The only thing holding in the Rotary Engine was the Transmission.  Additionally, other parts were discovered to have went bad, which required more replacement of stock parts.

 

One of the big projects for 2012 was to remove weight from the car.  Even though the entire interior was removed in 2011, there was still a lot of dieting to get weight out.  In all, over 100 lbs were taken out of the from under the hood.

 

As time dwindled down in the weeks leading up to the race, completing the remaining items became even more and more difficult.  A direct example of this would be the alternator that died the day of loading for the race. 

 

Friday Practice Day at Nelson dawned clear skies, which was a relief since the weatherman predicted showers all day long.  Each driver had their turn in the car to get laps.  It was hoped that efforts put in would increase in speed from the year before.  The best lap time from 2011 was a 1:26.9.  At the end of the day, with a few set up tweaks, the marker was set at a mid 1:21,,within pace of the fastest lap set by any car in 2011. 

 

There were a few problems that did occur though on Friday.  1st off the shifter knob installed by the Drift racer fell off.  Also, it was discovered that the headlights were far from adequate.  Another disturbing situation was that with all this new found speed, the RX-7 was a bit twitchy, especially under entry to the corners.  No one know what the problem was, but all the drivers agreed it was a bit scary, especially since all 4 drivers spun the car due to this agrrevation.

 

Over night, a fall thundershower showed up and poured down rain.  Fortunately, it stopped raining before the early 10 am start time for the race.  With only 46 entries vs the 79 from the year before, the start of the race was a bit less congested.  Will Nonnamaker took it easy, knowing that this was a long race, and nothing would be won, but all could be lost in this 1st shift.  Will made it a full 2 hours on fuel, but then on the next stint by Jacob, the car didn’t quite make it 2 hours. Every stop after this continued to prove worse and worse fuel mileage, until it was discovered that the gas cap was broken and leaking fuel out the side.  Then from there forward the team was back on pace to reach the full 2 hour driving limit allowed.

 

At the hour 7 mark, a defective Radiator Hose burst.  Limping the RX-7 back to the pits, all thought that the motor was toasted.  The broken radiator hose was quickly repaired and the car was back out on track.  But all fingers were crossed, just hoping that the motor would hold together.  Fortunately, the cool Ohio air helped prevent any damages, and the motor ran strong the rest of the race.  With all fixed, the Go Grass or Pass Racing Mazda kept churning out the laps.  And except for the odd item, such as radio wire shorting out, or new shift knob falling off again, everything went like clock work for the next 10 hours. And this proved out in the standings as the #41 rose up to 4th place. 

 

Then as 4 am rolled around, Will Nonnamaker started to notice the brakes going away.  After a brief off road excursion, Will brought the Mazda into the Pits.  It was discovered that the rear brakes were almost down to backers,,,,but the front pads were almost new.  The problem was briefly solved by bleeding the front brakes, but this was only a stop gate to the inevitable that was to come.  On each successive pit stop, the front brakes were bled. But then with 2 hours remaining, it was decided to put brand new brake pads in the rear, to avoid blowing out the rear pistons, and potentially loosing the entire car in a wreck. 

 

This placed the #41 on the same lap as 4th place, with finishing driver Will Nonnamaker now facing what he describes as “the worst the RX-7 had been all race”.  This was due to what was diagnosed by all on the team as a huge amount of rear brake bias in the RX-7, an amount that seemed to be way more than stock.  The conclusion to the factor was that the prior “Drift Racer” owner had dialed in significant amount rear brakes to get the car to come around.  This is a fine solution when drifting a racer, but not one that would be highly recommended when road racing for 25 hours plus.

 

In the end, Will’s could not hold off, and conceded 3rd place.  But with the knowledge of a 90% rear brake bias Mazda, all on the team were exuberant in the knowledge that they had built and raced the fastest “Drift Racer” in Chump Car history.  Perhaps this would especially be true, since no one would knowingly actually build a “Drift Racer” for Chump Car.  But nonetheless, a fantastic achievement by all involved. 

 

And now everyone can hardly wait to get back next year and take on the beast that is the Longest Day of Nelson Ledges.

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