24 hours of Thunderhill
By Steve Schaeffer, 12-14-04

I got home late Wednesday night, Dec. 1, and found a phone machine message from Carlo Sparacio, saying to return his call, urgent. I knew he was entered in the 25 hour endurance race at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, CA that upcoming weekend, so I'd guessed it was regarding that.

Carlo and his wife, Taryn, form TC Motorsports, or TCM. Alfa club members would readily recognize them as instructors on our track days. TCM has an 'Arrive and Drive' business for their Miata and RX7. Both cars race in a spec series, meaning all cars are prepared as similarly as possible. TCM would be running their Miata, and would have three other drivers, along with Carlo and Taryn, paying to drive in this event.

I returned his call that morning, and indeed, he was short some crewmembers, and needed help in the pits, would I consider going? The only thing stopping me was the annual Alfa Romeo Club's competition meeting that Saturday, one that I was truly looking forward to. I knew Carlo needed an answer ASAP, so after discussing it with a few club principles, they said I'd be nuts to pass up this opportunity. I'm glad they all agreed.

I called Carlo back and said I was in. Fine, he'd arrange flight arrangements. What? I completely assumed I'd be riding down in the back of their tow van, re-reading old AutoWeek magazines. Nope, driving down was an option, but so was flying. I opted to fly down. Chris Benny, the suspension guy from Group 2, was invited as well, and was going to drive down. I briefly considered going with him in his Milano, but I didn't want to drive 10 hours, and then be up for a 25 hour race. Turns out Chris saw the light as well, and we both flew down together. We carpooled to SeaTac airport and caught our direct flight to Sacramento.

Upon landing we got our rental Taurus, and explored Sacramento's old town for a while, then drove around the capital building and had lunch downtown. Sacramento's downtown is very nice and clean, and deserted. We didn't even bump into Arnold, the Governator. We then drove to CruiseAmerica's rental RV place, where we rented a 30' RV. Another nice surprise, that would be race central for our paddock. We both drove our respective vehicles to Willows, CA, 85 miles north of Sacramento.

Thunderhill Race Park is about 7 miles due west of Willows in the rolling foothills. Hopefully civilization won't encroach upon it anytime soon, and they can continue to run their races there for decades to come. It's a beautiful park, first class all the way. They have a 4 story control center, permanent garages, kid's playground, free paddock bikes, detailed grounds, electricity, bridge over the track, welding services, you name it. It's a 3.0 mile long track, with 15 turns, and plenty of elevation changes and off-camber turns. I haven't driven it yet, but surely must sometime soon.

We entered the paddock area with our RV, and saw that even with that, we were a small pebble in the river. This was a very high level motorsports race. We were surrounded by large semi trucks, each one nicer than the next. This race was sanctioned not by the SCCA, but by a business called the National Auto Sport Association (NASA). There were 59 entries for this 25 hour enduro, 23 in our class. Friday was practice day, which we caught the tail end of. The paddock space was already set up. They were driving in the darkness at this point.

The RV was the headquarters of the paddock. We had a hospitality canopy on one side, towards the track, that housed food and drink, then the hot pits tent, which was where all the action was. Here we kept only the tools needed for work to be done in the pits. On the other side of the RV was another large canopy equipped for more serious work, should that occasion arise.

Practice ended, and it was time to meet the crew. TCM had 5 drivers, Carlo and Taryn, then Mike Blaszczak, Sean Hester, and Chris Romney. Taryn's parents were there, as well as Crew Chief John Ament's wife, Bessie. 11 people total. Sean had his early track experience with the NWARC. Taryn's dad Steve is a frequent entrant at our track days, and John Ament longs for a GTV. Chris Benny works on Alfas all the time, so it was really a gathering of alfisti. Naturally we'd love to get an Alfa entered here in the future. None were present at this year's race.

Carlo greeted us, and immediately outfitted us with the latest TCM fashion accessories. We were given a very stylish embroidered windbreaker jacket, hat, and collared shirt. I was feeling rather special at this point. Still, we had more work to do.

Group 2 had equipped the car with the latest in Cibie lighting, but, they needed adjustment. There were issues during some of the corners, and after the crests of hills. We pushed the car out to the hot pits area, and spent about 45 minutes aiming the headlights. This would have to be our best guess, as there'd be no time to adjust them during the race. We also decided to place horizontal strips of tape across the back window to cut down on glare from the rear.

Time to pack up and go back to the hotel. TCM treated us all to all the pizza we could eat at the local restaurant. We got plenty of rest for the days ahead.

Saturday morning I met Chris in the hotel lobby at 7:45am. We stopped at the Wal-Mart to pick up some last minute items, and then headed due west to the track. There's nothing between the two but fertile ground. The weather was sunny and in the low 40's. We went through our paddock orientation, and discussed our duties. Pit Chief John would be fueler, Taryn's dad, Steve, would hold the fire bottle aimed at the fueler, Chris would be tire inspector, wheel changer, and anything seriously mechanical. I was the 'pit lane chief'. I got to flag the car in, then guide him/her into our pit space, then observe everyone do their pit duties, and ensure a safe pit event. Chris and I practiced changing tires and brake pads. All the details were spelled out, where to put the jack, how to start the lug nuts back on, etc.

We decided we needed even more lighting, as it was difficult to see inside the car during driver changes. This is critical when you're fumbling with the belts. So, we installed a conduit 'boom' reaching over the car and affixed a light to that. It worked out very well. We strung more lights in the emergency repair tent, too.

It's a game of huge anticipation. You try to anticipate anything that could possibly go wrong, both at the pit stop and in the entire race, and account for it. Experience is the best teacher here.

As I looked around, I couldn't believe I had been racing my Alfa all these years, and didn't have a tenth of what I saw before me. "This is what a real racing budget can do for you" I thought. There were stacks of tires, tires for dry, tires for wet, spare heads, spare axles, welders, 55 gal drum of gas, gas pumps, canopies, tools, fasteners, lights, lights, and more lights! This was an overnight race after all, and that presents an entirely new and different set of challenges.

Cars had to be on the pre-grid no later than 10:30am for the 11am start. This event had a very international flare about it. There were very colorful cars on the grid, paired up, with their crews, typically 10 or more people per car, all in their team colors. It was just a sea of people, all taking crew shots and contributing to this anticipatory, festive, atmosphere. LeeAnn Rimes sang the national anthem, then an Air Force guard slowly paraded the flag down the hot pit lane. The 100's of people drew silent as they walked by. All you could hear were the taps of their shoes. Then an F-15 flew very low over us and pulled straight up on afterburner. Like I said, this was no conference race.

The order was given to return to our paddock spaces. We would become very well acquainted with our little 10' square patch of ground next to the pit wall. The pit crew had a job to do, which meant no wandering off for the next 25 hours to look at other cars and watch the race. We had to be available at all times should the driver radio in for an unexpected stop.

The race started at 11am, and the big clock on the start/finish stand showed 25 more hours to go. The moment had arrived. Carlo would be the first driver. The driver stints were typically around 90 minutes, which were completely governed by fuel consumption. The Miata held about 11 gal, and the fuel gauge was optimistic. They knew this because TCM had entered both of their cars for an 8 hour enduro at Portland a few months back, and placed 1st and 3rd in their class. The drivers would radio in when the gas gauge was one needle thickness below "E".

The usual pit sequence went like this: I was the one holding the pit sign out on the hot pits lane, showing the driver where to pit, it's a sea of tents out there, and not easy for the driver to see exactly where we were. The driver kills the engine after stopping, for safety. The fueler then proceeds to empty two 5-gal jugs into the tank. Taryn's dad, Steve, is the required fire bottle man, standing by, bottle in hand. We were not allowed to work on the car during refueling, but we are allowed to change drivers, clean the windshield and headlights, and do a visual inspection, so, Chris would clean the glass, then whip out his flashlight and carefully inspect the rotors, brake pads, and tires for wear and any fluid leakage. Driver changes are always an adventure. The other drivers would assist the new driver getting in. The new driver is fairly immobile so it's fastest to just lay back and have the others attach your belts and communication gear. There is one person on the inside of the cabin helping attach the seatbelts, and another person outside the driver's side door attaching belts from that side. There are seat adjustments and cushions to be put in place for each driver. In an enduro, comfort is put at a premium. You don't want a cramped foot to put you out of commission.

Remember what I said about experience? TCM had learned at Portland how to modify the venting of their 5 gal gas cans so that they could tip them nearly vertical and quickly drain them. The improved venting allowed them to burp air much faster. The team next to us, another Miata with Circuit City sponsorship, hadn't caught on to that fact yet, and their fueling took twice as long as ours. I timed one of their pit stops at just over 4 minutes, ours were typically half that. Two minutes is nearly a lap, and multiply that over a 25 hour span and you get the picture.

Once fueling was finished, the fueler gave me the thumbs up, which allowed us to work on the car. The driver change was the bottleneck, which was fine. If no tire changes were to be made, Chris would try to clean off the insides of the wheels from the retired tire rubber goo that mounds up. As the driver was nearing his change I would ensure we had radio contact, and then send them back onto the track. Vrooom!

So, the race began, and so did the wait. Turns out there's no huge lulls as the 90 minutes between pits comes up fairly quickly. We'd refill our two 5 gal jugs, and occasionally the 55gal drum of gas. We had a system of charging the batteries for the cordless lug wrench, and radio communication gear. Having radio contact made the race a lot less stressful. This came in handy if the driver witnessed a pass under yellow, or needed to make a contact report with another competitor. The racing was indeed rude, as several TCM drivers reported bumps and nearly getting shoved off track. However, in 25 hours of racing, there were no unscheduled pit stops. The Miata ran like a freight train throughout the race. That was the one constant, the car just kept going. We checked the oil once. We bolted on the auxiliary lights at dusk.

The lighting changes we made were superb, all drivers reported that lighting was no longer an issue. Exterior lighting will be added for the next time. From the pits, it's impossible to tell which car is yours on the track during the night. Many teams adopted highly creative ways of differentiating their cars. Lots of little neon lights sprouted from fenders and rooftops.

The night was clear and COLD, down to the low 30's. Full hot meals were presented to the crew during the night, but in the end, we'll bring a propane heater to huddle around, and soft rubber mats to stand on and insulate against the cold, hard ground next year. Thank goodness it never rained.

Milestones came and went. The first milestone was the first pit stop, all went well. The next was the 8 hour mark. TCM had raced 8 hours before, but now it was uncharted territory. Next milestone was the ½ way mark, then DAWN. Just give us some heat, please!

Twilight was visible around 6:30am, and boy, was it welcomed. This meant the sun and warmth would soon come our way. Turned out to be a gorgeous sunrise and morning. We removed the auxiliary lights after sunrise, both for aerodynamic reasons, and to protect them, in case one of the TCM drivers got a little 'pushy' out there.

Teams were allowed to change only one tire per pit stop, which definitely saved $$. We ended up changing all 4 tires during the race. The brake pads made it, just barely. We had the choice whether to change the rears towards the end of the race, but decided it wasn't worth it. The final milestone was near. Carlo had the final leg, and would conserve the car till the end. Nothing like 'full metallic' brakes for the last two hours of the race.

Two laps before finishing the teams were allowed to run to the pit wall right beside the straightaway. The cars zoomed by us, inches away, kicking up debris into our faces. What an emotional moment for all parties involved. The checkered flag was shown, and the cool down lap completed. Carlo drove into the pits for the final time, and his head just sagged into the steering wheel, overcome with emotion. It was the highlight of the weekend. It had all come down to this. We'd finished the race, 612 laps,1836 miles, and 16 pit stops later. We had finished 11th overall, 3rd in class. A podium finish!

The awards ceremony was well done, too. They even had two California babes there, hugging the crew and posing for the photographers. It was a very proud moment for the TCM team to stand on the podium, facing 100's of people, to accept our awards.

The Seattle area was very well represented. The overall race winner was the Porsche 993 entry of Crazy Redhead Racing, sponsored by Greg Fordahl. They drove 681 laps, 30 more than the 2nd place entry.

Finishing at noon had its benefits. We had plenty of California sunshine to aid us in the breakdown of the paddock space. This was quite the monumental effort, taking several hours to stuff everything back to where it came from.

We returned the Taurus and RV, and caught our flight back to Seattle, touchdown at 10:30pm Sunday night.

After 25 hours of racing, we'd had our fill, of Thunderhill.