Wormhole Racing Race Report WORCS

This was the first time Wormhole Racing went to a WORCS race so we weren’t sure what to expect. No matter what we thought about it before we got there, it was better. Having raced in a more grass roots type series, it was overwhelming to see the level of racers. We got everything unloaded and ready for practice. I had it in my head before hand that I was not going to hit the water jump and pretty much cruise. I didn’t want to push so hard that I broke something and couldn’t race. Also being the first time on a WORCS track I was not sure what to expect. After 1 lap I pulled off with a big grin. Man that was a fun track.

After practice I pulled over to tech. WORCS had decided that this race was the race for 900’s to get bore and stroke tested. Had to pull my spare off and clutch cover so he could get the tool into the cylinder. As we pulled stuff apart I kept hearing the announcer exclaim wildly when people hit the lagoon jump. Unfortunately they were 4 for 4 on people that crashed. One went end over end losing the front right wheel. He landed right side up and tried to continue, which didn’t work too well sans 1 tire. We watched the rest of practice then loaded up the #130 and headed to a car wash to clean up the machine.

As we watched some of the other races I started to worry about how we would fare. The best piece of advice I got for the track was either take the hole shot or let them go and wreck. I decided to let them go and I still had to let off as we got to the first jump as they were still rubbing each other. The track was so smooth. The WORCS guys groom the track so well. For our race they closed the water jump so I was very happy, until I got to the bail out. I tried to hit the bail out and slid farther than I wanted. This put me right between the top and bottom escape route… on a pile of sand… that high centered me…
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Once the rest of the cars that started behind us went by they pulled me off. Now I had a bunch of time to make up. With such a smooth track and the cars in front making some ruts, we were able to gain a ton of confidence and take the turns like we were on rails (or in ruts). Again I was being cautious as I wanted to make sure I finished the race. Some point during the 3rd lap I started hearing weird noise from the front end. I assumed it was my tie rod as I had been having issues with it loosening up and wiggling. I radioed back to the pits and next time around they looked but couldn’t see much so we decided I would pull off the next time for a better look. I slowed and pulled off the track to have them look next lap. No flat tires, nothing hanging down, toe and camber matched, must be in my head, out I went again.
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Still turned was hard. Right handers made weird noises and were slow and left handers were super quick. I called back saying something wasn’t right. When I passed the finish line there was only 3 minutes left of the race so I knew I would only be able to make another lap. Pits informed be they had being picking broken cars off the course left and right and we decided to save the machine for tomorrow and we headed off. When we left the track we were in third place. As I came around to the trailer we saw fourth place go by and knew we lost the podium.

Once out we saw that I had lost the drivers side front axle and the ball join had been pushed through the upper a-arm. Our weekend was done. We were still happy to have finished 4th in class and 17th overall. Smack dab in the middle, broken machine and all.