Lisa Devlin's Racing Diary

Victory in the DSR

by Lisa Devlin

Just got back from the track and my very first race in the DSR!

Lots of fun, but what it took to get there! When I wrote last, we had come back from testing in late October and we hadn't found the high-end miss in the engine. We were going to try and put it on the chassis dyno and still make the 90 minute endurance race at Buttonwillow. Here's what happened next....

The chassis dyno was a bust. The car was too light to get the rollers going so we got nothing accomplished. We picked the brains of several people and finally decided to change everything that could be easily changed and just run it. We tried the dyno on Tuesday and we were supposed to spend Tuesday and Wednesday nights working on the car. Well, one thing after another went wrong and we started to feel like maybe we weren't supposed to go to this race.

The clincher was when someone in the SF Region SCCA sent out an email encouraging entries in the upcoming regional race. We had originally wanted to go to this race, but were told that there was no class for us to enter. We looked and CSR was running, but not DSR. We're about 250 pounds light for CSR (we're also waaaaay underpowered), but we were told to bring the car and run it as a CSR.

As soon as we had withdrawn from the enduro and entered the regional, things started going smoothly again. We changed the fuel pump and regulator, the coils, wires, and all the switches. Basically, we changed the entire electrical and fuel system. We also took extra mufflers and carburetors, just in case. With the extra time, I also got to make a new seat that would fit me, and ultimately go into my car. This seat is really a work of art in X40 foam, fiberglass and racer's tape.

This time the car was ready and loaded in the trailer by Wednesday night. Barring any competition, we were expecting a win.

Despite the threat of rain all week, Saturday dawned clear and cold. I was due to be on the track at 10 am, so we had plenty of time to unload the car and get everything set up. I was about to get in the car when Ted asked if I had everything.

Yep, it's all on the car - helmet, balaclava, arm restraints, ear plugs, neck collar, gloves... wait where are my gloves? I went back and started tearing through my gear bag looking for my gloves.

Ted starts opening cabinets and when he gets to the last one says "Are these your gloves?" He had gotten me the really nice gloves I've been looking at for about a year now as an early birthday present!

ready to qualify

I didn't get a practice session, just a qualifying and then the race the next day, so I was really hoping we had fixed the car. On the first lap, I knew the car had been fixed. Yes! Now I could just concentrate on driving.

And I did need to concentrate, because things were happening a lot faster than in the Mazda. Driving the car when it was running well, was a night and day difference from when it had the miss. It responded better and faster than before... so much so that my first timed lap was a 2:18 - 3 seconds faster than I had ever gone before.

From there I just watched the times drop - 2:15, 12, 9, 8, 6, 5. I hovered around 2:05-2:06 for the rest of the qualifying. Musta been the gloves.

The entry list I had showed no other cars in CSR, but that didn't account for any late entries. So here I was, driving along, relaxing into the line when this green thing comes flying up behind me. He had the line going into the turn, but he backed off. I did a point by and he passed me... well, there's my competition.

When the green thing passed me, a Spec Racer Ford also got by. I had passed him earlier, so I just figured I'd pass him again. I went for the pass after a series of esses, right before a right hand 180 degree turn onto the front straight. Coming out of the esses, I put my foot to the floor and got by him on the inside...

I still had my foot to the floor when I realized that my braking point was long gone. Decision time: aim for the corner worker or attempt to turn and spin. Hitting volunteer corner workers is bad etiquette and there was the off chance that physics had other things to do besides pay attention to little old me, so I went for the turn.

Well, physics kicked in, I did a 360 spin to the outside of the track and stalled. The SRF behind me had also gone to the outside and as I was trying to start the car, I could see him headed right for me. He locked 'em up and we clinked noses.

No harm, no foul. Even if I hadn't stalled, I don't have a reverse and backwards was the only way out of this. He did have a reverse, but chose not to use it. He looked at me, and then drove right over my nose! I pulled into the pits, Ted looked the car over and gave me the go ahead to go back out. I got one more lap in before the end of qualifying.

new sheet metal

Back in the pits, we assessed the damage. Not as bad as I expected. Besides, I had the rest of the day to bang out the sheet metal and lay down some fiberglass. No problem.

Qualifying results came out and I'd qualified 5th overall and second in class with 2:05. The green thing was 1st with a 1:57. It turned out to be a full blown ACRL car!

Sunday was foggy and cold, but dry. I was due on track at 9:05. We'd put the car away ready to race, so all we did was pull it out of the trailer and warm it up. On grid, the green car was missing. This put me in the second row to start... until I stalled it leaving pit lane and ended up starting from the back.

There we were lined up on the front straight, ready to go, green flag! I saw an opening next to the wall and I took it. I was pulling up to the leaders and I shifted... into neutral! Zing... zing... zing... there goes everyone.

I really need to get used to this sequential shift thing. I had been in first gear when I had thought I was in second.

taking the checkered flag

The race itself was pretty uneventful. I didn't see anyone until the last lap when I lapped the last place car in the group. As I went past the checkered flag, I realized that I never saw the green car, which meant I'd won! It turns out that my competition did actually show up, but he started as the leaders were finishing their first lap.

I found out later that I had gotten quite a bit of speaker time during the race. Besides being first in class, I had had my nails airbrushed in the color of the car. My manicurist had also airbrushed a 47 DSR on my left ring finger, a checkered flag on my right pinky and the passing flag on my right middle finger. The announcer made a big deal out of it and all day people were coming up to look at my hands. My sponsor was pretty happy about all the publicity.

Lisa and Ted

So my first race in the DSR ended with a victory! Now all I need is some more seat time so this one will be just the first of many.

To send a letter to Lisa, email to devlin@thunval.com

Check out the Distant Thunder archives for previous entries from Lisa Devlin's racing diary