Iowa – The Other Side of the Wall
Writer: Stu Gedes
Photo Credit: Chumpcar Photographer
I am a driver. No, not a driver ... a racer. I may also be car builder, tuner, head
mechanic, transporter driver, gofer and chief bottle washer, but ultimately I live to race
the car. All that other stuff is the work that needs to be done so I can get behind the
wheel of the race car. I am not a lapper. Circulating around a track no matter how
fast doesn't do much for me. I want the wheel to wheel, door-handle to door-handle,
out-brake and out-handle the next guy racing experience. That's just who I am ... or
so I thought.
As a racer, I have often thought about the other people in the sport, the marshals,
the crews, the flagman, all the people that are out there watching while I go out and
play. What's in it for them, what motivates them? I recently had the opportunity to
find out.
In September of this last year, BSD Racing was invited to the "ChumpCar Chumpionship" race at Iowa Speedway, just east of Des Maines, Iowa. BSD Racing consists of myself and brothers Kevin & Scott Lachance, Rick Chandler, Taras Dushenko and Nick Clarence.
For those who don't know, ChumpCar is an endurance road race series for cars whose value is not in excess of $500. This was an invitational event, only podium-finishing teams from other ChumpCar races were asked to come out. By virtue of a first place finish at the Calgary ChumpCar race in May, we earned an invitation. BSD Racing's team of five drivers that did so well in Calgary all made the long trip to Iowa for this 25 and a half hour race. We were not sure what to expect, but we were reasonably confident that we could place well with consistent laps and solid driving. As well, our numbers-matching, 230,000km 1994 Acura Integra was pretty darn reliable!
The Friday practice sessions went well, we all got a chance to learn the infield road course at Iowa Speedway as well as try our hand at the oval. This race was going to alternate between road course and oval track at pre-determined times through the event. For a couple of us the oval was like returning home, for the others it was a whole new eye-opening experience! We set a blistering pace on the oval. By blistering I mean tire blistering, we chewed through a right front and quickly realized we were going to have to be careful once we were actually racing. But the day went well and everyone was excited about the race to come.
Saturday, race day, dawned and the race began on time at lOAM. Our car was quickly in the top ten, our rag tag group made a couple of successful pitstops on schedule and my turn to drive came up. I got belted in and off I went! By this time it was raining so things were a bit slippy but very controllable, lots of fun. It is a short track (1.2 miles on the road course and 7/8 mile oval) so with 50 odd cars you are always busy with traffic. However, about 15 minutes into what was supposed to be a 2 hour stint I began to feel ill. Nausea was rearing its ugly head and it was getting worse with each passing lap. I alerted the team to the problem and they got the next driver ready just in case. Well, half an hour into my stint I was done and into the pits I came.
The rest of the team refueled and serviced the car and changed drivers while I hung my head in a garbage can.
That was the end of my driving at Iowa Speedway. But it was far from the end of the race for me. In fact, that was when it really began.
Once I got my sea legs back, I put on a head set and took over the duties of crew chief. I knew I wasn't going to drive anymore that day so I made myself useful by keeping everything under control in the pits. This was a new experience for me.
And an interesting one! We continued to climb up the leader board. We continued to make good, clean pitstops. Each fuel stop is timed by the organizers and must be a minimum of 5 minutes. We were fueling the car, adding oil, changing a tire and a driver in exactly 5 minutes. The team was coming together, acting as a unit. It was neat to be a part of it and watch it grow. We were learning each others' strengths and weaknesses and using that knowledge to get better. By the end of the first day's 13 hours of racing, BSD Racing was up to 3rd position overall. When the yellow flag flew at 11 :00 o'clock that night, Signaling the end of the day's racing, we were all pretty pumped about our prospects.
