Green Hornet Debut – Class 11 – stock bug
BAP – Battle at Primm
April 4-6, 2025
Scott is a like a Mormon person, but with cars instead of wives. A Green beetle, new to us, provides plenty of preparation work. The engine was swapped from another Class 11 that was in storage way too long. Gasoline inside carburetor was like a gel, therefore, rebuilding was a magistral class for Kyle, that never saw a carburetor before, he is 21 y/o. Sure enough, for qualifying lap, didn’t work as expected and we got DNF. But the problem was solved by the end of the day. Kyle is a master carburetor now.
I drove from OC middle morning on Friday to avoid somehow traffic, we stopped at Calico Ghost Town as well as Baker to make fun of a short trip and get memories. Then, we watched the contingency line, car inspection for safety items that each car must have and pass, as well as helmets, shoes and racing suit.
Drove to pit area, back and forward, looking for an easy to find car, no luck, turns out that I was supposed to be in hot pit area, so I drove in that direction and found car easily. We got wristbands as well as parking permit sticker and work a little bit on more preparation. The installed Fuel cell is 8 gallons capacity and allows us to finish empty, not for long distance set-up that we have a bigger one. Tire selection was based on weight, we chose lighter set available. We went to bed early.
Saturday Race, 4 laps, starts at 8:15am, we staged 20 minutes early, as soon as possible to secure front line of DNF cars, we have 16 qualified cars ahead, Brian was well located in the first row, next to Rodriguez and Flemente. Scott was running 15 minutes a lap approximately, but seven cars were faster than that. Brian broke the belt, spilled oil and recovered from the track and got DNF. Hugo did a Green Hornet inspection after the race, he found leaky valve covers, on a long race, that could be catastrophic. Short course, easy fix, new gasket, clean parts and tie bolts. Nothing else was found, so we got dismissed early and went to Vegas. Visited 7 magic mountains, now 8, and Speed Vegas, an Alfa Romeo F1 was on display and always fun to watch the police drift car, one of these days I will jump in. We visited Bellagio, Paris, Caesar Palace and went to Freemont Street, we had food truck meal, just because it was convenient. Then, we visited relatives and talked for a few hours before going to bed early again.
Sunday Race, 3 laps, starts at 8:15am, we staged in 8th position while Brian was on DNF lot, we thought his problem was solved, ignition and other items were replaced and ready to roll. Turns out that was a pulleys issue, or I believe so, belt failed two more times in one lap, and he got DNF again. Champagne driver in a beer car, as his mother said. Scott moves up 3 positions, one because a car was out of race, and two passes on last lap in front of us, it was epic ending. The first 5 cars are in line for tech review, basically check engine stock measurements, but all racers are legal, and we end up with 5th position on Sunday. We talked for a bit, loaded Green Hornet and said goodbye to everyone.
Drove home at noon, stopped at Baker to check out Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch, it was fun to watch and stretch legs, made home early afternoon, did some groceries and fully recharged for next race, probably 5 de Mayo on track cars.
Roberto L Miranda