Home Sweet Home (7/6/2019) - 7 hours - Portland International Raceway:
As is very common in the Northwest, the day starts off with some rain. It is very slick out during qualifying, but when the race starts the track has dried up a bit. I start in 12th, but get a great start and motor by some cars. By the end of the lap I have made it up to 4th place. A few laps later I am chasing the #39 K20-powered Civic of SMRT Racing and the #931 Audi-powered turbo Porsche of Uboot RennenWerks. Both cars have more power, and while I can close the gap, I can never quite make it past them. On one lap I manage to get a good run on the Porsche exiting turn 12. I am in 3rd and I reach for 4th, but when I let out the clutch it was 2nd gear! The engine zings to 8140rpm (according to the datalogs) before I can jam the clutch back in. I am kicking myself as I am concerned I just hurt the engine.
It's still drizzling as I chase them and they battle with each other. We come onto the straight and the Honda is ahead of the Porsche. The Porsche comes up on the left side for a pass, and the two cars bump and the Porsche spins around to the right and slams into the cement barrier!
There was an entire 4-page thread devoted to "Who's fault is it?" here:
How Not to Pass at Portland International Raceway
After watching through the videos again.. I see the Porsche following the #457 white BMW on the left side of the track, then he starts inching over to the right to pass the BMW on the right. He keeps inching over until the Porsche and Honda collide. It was just too optimistic that he would fit through the almost-Porsche sized gap. So to me this 100% on the Porsche, as it is also in the rules that the responsibility is on the overtaking car to make a safe pass.
The race quickly goes to a red flag to get the driver checked out (he was OK) and the mess cleaned up. While sitting still, the car starts to get hot so I shut it down. Once the red flag lifts, I go to start the engine, and it will barely even turn over. Uh oh, did I break the engine from my overrev? I try to start again, and it spins inconsistently and sounds terrible. I try again, still won't start. At this point I am panicking, thinking that our engine is toast. I try one more time, and it fires up! I finish up my stint and pit in 2nd place with a fastest lap of 1:29.9.
My dad is in the car next, and while exiting turn 7 on lap 67 the aptly named "Asphalt Mafia" car hammers the right rear of the car. My dad pulls in to self-report the contact. We lose 2.5 minutes in the pits, and that drops us down to 4th place. A few laps later, Dave is going into the chicane and the back end gets a little loose. He has it mostly gathered up and starts to pick up the throttle too early. When the car grips up it snaps the back end around and Dave ends up bumping the wall a bit with the left side of the car. Dave gets going again and at the end of his session pits in 4th place with a fastest lap of 1:31.5.
There's just the two of us driving, so I get back into the car with 3.5 hours left in the race. I chase my way up into 2nd place behind the #39 Honda, who has made up for the earlier pit stop after the contact. He doesn't get slowed down enough for the chicane, which means he has to roll through and stop. This is my chance! I make it past him and I am now in first place! I pit with a fastest lap of 1:29.395, which is our fastest lap ever at PIR!
Dave gets back in the car with 1.5 hours left in the race. He fights valiantly, but the #39 Honda passes him on the back straight to take back the lead. After a wild and crazy race, we finish in 2nd place!