January 20th came and proved to be a hectic morning! I arrived with my number (13) and class (ESP) on the car in electrical tape. The information on the website indicated only novices were allowed their numbers and class in tape, and I had searched the PDF of the SCCA rules for the 2007/2008 season for the word “novice” in an attempt to find out if it meant just your first race or your first race season. The document used the term novice, but it was never defined, so I decided to roll out with the tape (which had worked admirably in my first race). Well, as it turns out, “Novice” is defined as your first race only, and there was little flexibility on this, so I was relegated to attempting to make a legible sign with some markers and paper. That’s when it happened…I was juggling my registration, keys, the tape, paper, and a marker, and had set the keys down in the trunk. I realized this was not the best place for the keys and as I reached down to grab them, the wind grabbed the trunk and slammed it shut! I had locked the doors since I had to leave the car alone in the non-secure Aloha Stadium parking lot while I was registering, so I was now locked out of my car, and tech inspections were moments away, and I was scheduled to run in Heat 1!
In my most MacGyver of moments, I removed a windshield wiper blade from the Camaro and was able to use it to break into the car (I’ll skip the specific details for obvious reasons—I’ve got a lot of money tied up in this car!). I still had to remove the rear seat, upper and lower, to get at the trunk since I don’t have the fold-down rear seat option in the ’68, and I cut my calf up and was bleeding while doing this but did eventually get the keys and get a sign made and tech in successfully. After the driver’s meeting, I ran the course quickly and then put the car on grid. I turned the Camaro off while I checked the tire pressure, and then with a few cars to go before my first run, attempted to start it. No dice. It turned over like made, but wouldn’t start. The car didn’t have a habit of not starting if it turned over, and with the fuel gauge being wacky I decided it must be out of gas. I shook the rear of the car and didn’t hear any sloshing, so I decided that was it. Luckily the event organizers had pity on me and asked me to roll the car off the grid and run in an alternate Heat later in the day, and I set off to find some gasoline!
One of my fellow racers was kind enough to provide me with a tank of gasoline, but when I was putting gas in the tank I realized there was no way the tank was empty, as it overflowed with only a few gallons added! Assuming now the car must be flooded, I got back behind the wheel and kept on cranking with the pedal on the floor but with no pumping. Soon enough the car jumped to life, but now I had to replace my fellow competitors gas, which required leaving Aloha Stadium, and navigating around the mess of highways surrounding the Stadium to top off this tank and return it to him before Heat 1 ended.