Local racer Chad Call, shown...
Local racer Chad Call, shown here working on a carburetor, makes it a point to examine his oil filter for metal shavings that could cause engine problems.
Clean Up
Once you have made a habit of safety checks, it is time to move to the items that will contribute to a consistent, reliable machine each week. As the ad says, "All the experts agree," and so does our championship panel. The first thing to do between races is clean off the equipment so you can see what may be camouflaged under grease and dirt.
"It's our weekly routine," says Mark Setzer, 2001 Hickory Motor Speedway Late Model Champion. "Monday-clean car top to bottom!"
Roger Dale Newton is the father and chief mechanic of Roger Lee Newton, 2001 Concord Motorsport Park Pro Truck Champion. He says his son usually handles the cleanup chores. He "gets the air hose out, blows all the rubber stuff out, then he takes the MP-20 and sprays under the chassis, inside the body and wipes it down."
Aside from the benefits of exposing hidden damage and the comfort of working on a clean car, there is the familiarity factor. If you spend a couple of hours each week rubbing on your racing machine, you'll get to know it really well. Soon, with just a glance, you will be able to easily spot changes and damage that otherwise might slip notice. The more time you spend snaking through your car with a cleaning rag, the better chance you have of spotting a crack or separation in its early stages. That's better than trying to figure out what to do after the tow truck driver has picked up your wayward, now squashed, exhaust tube off the track surface during the five-lap feature warm-up. That hurts.
Racer Mark Setzer first cleans...
Racer Mark Setzer first cleans his car each week, then performs a thorough check of all the fasteners on the car from front bumper to rear.
Check Fasteners
After cleaning the car, perform a thorough check of all the fasteners on the car from the front bumper to the rear each and every week. "We nut and bolt everything and make sure it's tight," Setzer says.
"We do a nut and bolt and visual inspection," says Kenneth Cook, 2001 Concord Motorsport Park Limited Stock Champion.
Nutting and bolting your race car each week may seem redundant on the surface; but in fact, it can be one of the best preventative measures you can take. First of all, racing is hard on equipment. Parts loosen up without invitation. An Aussie open wheel mechanic we know is fond of saying that every time you start a race car, it is trying to destroy itself. The bigger the engine, the harder it is trying. You can expand that by saying that the smaller the track and the heavier the car, the harder it is trying to self-destruct.
The amazing speed in which tight bolts can unexpectedly loosen is amplified when the vehicle is being thrashed around a quarter-mile circle of asphalt or dirt. A weekly check of every fastener you can think of will lead you to weak points and let you know what to expect and help prevent failures when it's time for that extra-distance, championship feature race.
"I do keep an eye on wear-and-tear stuff," says Concord Mini Stock Champion Mini-T-Bird driver Jeff Whitley. "Something like that little bolt coming out of your transmission mount or something, it could cost you the race."
But aside from the obvious, by spending time with a handful of wrenches, locating and then tugging on every nut and bolt you can reach, you not only make sure everything is tight but, again, you get to know your race car intimately. That familiarity will help immeasurably in the dark shadows of the pits when you are trying to locate and repair that strange knocking sound that showed up during the heat race.