For Want Of A Nail, A Shoe Was Lost..............

........for want of a shoe, a horse was lost, then the soldier, regiment, battle, king and kingdom were all lost, or so goes the old saw from centuries past.

That was nearly the case for S&T's Baja this weekend. After the requisite judge-mandated modifications, they managed to re-enter tech inspection, gain approval, and head for the skid pad arena, but the engine wouldn't re-start.

No amount of hauling on the starter rope succeeded, so they pushed the beast to Briggs' support center where they found the flywheel key had sheared. Easy repair, except nobody had one, so they resorted to every engineer's stand-by equation; extreme force, to tighten the flywheel. Worked like a charm and after a rainstorm delay they handled skid pad and acceleration with aplomb.
The next task, maneuverability, was not so easy as their right A-arm tore off at the bottom of a steep drop.

Such was the end, albeit temporary, of qualifying for the Miners that day.

Time to borrow a TIG welder and let Wes Thomas do his aluminum magic. After what was probably a sleep-free night for the five-man crew both A-arms were repaired and strengthened and un-named car was ready for the all-important 4-hour endurance race. Did we mention there was a slight water hazard on the course?