Yes, it definitely sounds like a team effort. I like being part of teams that acutally accomplish things together, either big or small, commradre is a pretty good feeling.
That's one of the best (if not THE best) parts of that weekend. It isn't the first enduro that we've won, but it was the first when we really seemed to gel as a team, and it felt fantastic!
Hell, I already spend money fixing shit that ain't broke so why do fix shit that is broke or worn beyond servicability, do something I love and a have great time while I'm at it LOL.
I completely agree. Be warned, though, that like any form of racing, endurance racing isn't cheap. We always start the race on a sticker set of slicks, with fresh brake pads (and usually fresh rotors), and we go through gas at the rate of roughly one gallon every five minutes. All that being said, you get MORE than the normal weekend's racing time, so the consumables aren't out of line, and I usually convert the balance of the tires and brakes into a 3-day race weekend. The amount of fun, though, should be illegal...
I am definitely interested though, and I think I will start looking into how to get my foot in the door. Even if it's just loading and unloading the trailer to start out! So if you have any contacts, or know of anything related it this in Texas let me know.
http://nasatx.com/ How easy was that?! LOTS of events, great bunch of guys, and NASA can take you all the way from first track day ever all the way through a nationally-portable competition license. They're also the sanctioning body for the endurance events, so it's practically one-stop-shopping. If you want to help crew, take a look at the schedule, pop out to an event or two, and look for cars with a "E#" "ES" or "ESR" class sticker on the door, and go chat. Tell then you want to check out the endurance scene, and ask if there's anything you can do to help them out at the next endurance race. Trust me, you'll be doing more than just unloading trailers.
BTW, what exactly is a "stint"?
A "stint" is a segment of driving, or a portion of the race. For example, with our setup, we can change drivers faster than we can dump fuel, so we change out the driver for a fresh guy every time we come in. For the 4.5hr Enduro, we had initially planned on 4 stints based on a 70 minute fuel window, with each stint being equal to a tank of gas. The final stint would be a fast splash-n-go to the end, with the possibility of the last driver doing a "double-stint." When we figured out we were in the lead for our class, we went conservative and limited ourselves to 10-gallon dumps per stop, to avoid any pit-lane penalties for fuel spills. We wound up running five stints with our team of three drivers. Myself, then Nathan, then Joe, then Me, then Nathan to take it home on the "anchor leg."
The white Mustang that finished second was running a two-driver team, were doing double-stints (two fuel loads, then change drivers), and were planning on seven fuel stops.
I'm kind of looking (squinting, morelike) at doing the Thunderhill 25 in 2015, which is a race of a whole different animal. We'd have to bring serious spares (engine, trans, axle, complete suspension kits), and when you start talking about fuel in terms of BARRELS used, well, that's when things get interesting...
