In a Nut Shell . . .

Martinsville

As part of my responsibilities at MWR, I have to travel to all of the tracks that use a lot of brakes.  There will be about 12 races that I will attend this season with the first being Martinsville.

Martinsville is truly a neat track in the fact that it is a true definition of a short track.  The corners are narrow and tight and the straight-aways are short.  You can see right into the cars and see the drivers working the wheel all while only being 10 to 15 feet away.

I must admit I was nervous, but confident going into Martinsville.  This would be our first real test on our short-track brake package.  With all three teams outside the top 35, I knew we had to be on our game.

Thursday was strictly a tech day with not too much to do for myself.  However, I took the opportunity to look up some old friends and to look at what the other teams had for brakes.  With Thursday being a tech day, it allowed me some time to schedule a meeting with the folks from Essex Parts and AP brakes.  They handle all of our brake components.  I gave the crew chiefs and AP a chance to discuss any ideas they had.  We have some products that we are trying to develop along with AP.  AP also had some new ideas to run past us.  AP and Essex Parts are two outstanding companies that are working closely with MWR.  They not only stand behind their products, but stand behind MWR as well.  It is a good feeling knowing you have people like that behind you..

That evening I tagged along with the 00 crew to dinner.  Al though we work in the same shop we don’t always see each other on a day-to-day basis so I was able to get to know some of the guys a little better.

Friday rolled around and the fun really began.  I could fee some of the tension from all the MWR crews that morning.  My tension hit hard as soon as I walked into the track.  I went back and double checked all my brakes to make sure I had spares ready to go.  Jeff from Essex Parts (AP) and I got a game plan together.  He and I would work together  and get brake temperatures and work on any problems we had during practice.

As practice started, we were fast . . . the 55 was in the top 2 for a long time.  Everyone’s brakes felt pretty good.  As practice continued and the cars began to handle better, we had to put more brake to it.  You do this by turning a knob in the cockpit that moves a balance bar which makes the master cylinders work at different rates.  The 44 car was good as far as brakes were concerned . . . it had seven rounds of bias and no issues.  His brake temperatures were good but a little on the cool side but that was okay.  The 00 felt like he could not get enough rear brake to it.  I messed with the balance bar and it seemed to get better.  By practice end, he was pretty good.  The 55 had some trouble toward the middle of practice.  We had jacked around with the bias and got a little out of sink.  They got to be good at the end of practice, but we think we had a bad set of tires for our mock qualifying run.

When practice ended I debriefed with the drivers and all said the brakes were good.  There was not much to do now, but wait and see.

The 44 was first to qualify.  He put down a pretty good lap however, said there was too much rear brake in it when everything cooled down.  The brakes will react differently as they heat up and cool down.

The 00 was next.  He had too much rear brake on his get-up-and-go lap.  He was able to crank some front to it, but the car was pretty tight in his qualifying run.  DR felt like he was going home and was pretty disappointed.

The 55 was the last to qualify out of the MWR stable.  He cranked front brake into it before his lap using the bias knob in the cock pit.  The team had adjusted the car from practice and the bad set of tires had gotten the better of us.  The car was too tight.  Michael was pretty disappointed.  When Michael made his qualifying run, David was on the bubble so either MW or DR was going to go home.

The emotional roller coaster for the 00 was on its way back up again.  They were in and the mood was cheering again.  After qualifying, we had to move everyone around.  The 55 loaded up, the 44 moved into a garage stall and the 00 moved to where the 44 was so the haulers could park in the infield.  (Because there are so many teams and we are in the back half of the points, two of our haulers had to park outside of the track prior to qualifying).

After we got everything moved and situated we headed back to the hotel.  I tagged along with the 00 crew again and we were talking on the way back.  I mentioned to them about the emotional roller coaster they were on . . . .I thought they were going to throw me out of the van!  They said they go through that every Friday.  It kind of changes your perspective of things and now I have a little more sympathy for them when Friday’s roll around.

Since the 55 went home so did the team cook.  So Friday night I went grocery shopping with Doug (driver of the 00 hauler) and Gary his co-driver.  The crew would have something to eat come Saturday.

Saturday was a new day with a new objective.  I knew I had to make the brakes last for the whole race on the MWR cars.  Both teams were running the same brake packages.  I just needed to fine tune them for each driver.  Both cars were pretty consistent in the first practice.  They both put more brake bias to the front and were pretty happy.  In between practices I had to switch pads and rotors on both cars.  They still had the stuff they had practiced and qualified on Friday.  The new stuff would be what they would race with.  We need to run it before race time to make sure there are no problems with it.  They also can not put too many laps on it, so they have plenty for the race.  During Happy Hour everything looked good.  After Happy Hour I had to check everything out . . . the brakes need to be hot bled to make sure there was no air in the system.  The 44 split a brake duct, so I had to fit a new one for it.  After that I was done for the weekend.  One final check with the 00 to make sure they had no issues then I was off to the house.  I bummed a ride with my good friends, Jeff and Ryan, from Essex Parts.  Needless to say it was a pleasant trip home.

I watched the race on television Sunday and didn’t see or hear of an issues with the brakes.  Monday I was anxious to see Frank (Kerr) and Matt (Borland) to see what they had to say.  There were no issues with the brakes and everything was good . . . mission accomplished!

I had just one day at the shop and then I was off again to Richmond for a two-day test with the COT car.  I am looking for the same results we had in Martinsville.

Thanks for checking out my Nutshell.  Look for the next one after the Phoenix race.  Hopefully I will be a third more busy with all three MWR cars in the show.  Please keep Paula, Chase, Ashley, myself and MWR in your prayers.

God Speed,

Peanut

P.S. – Post Richmond test:  Michael said if I get the brakes perfect on his car he will let me take it for a few laps.  He is pretty picky when it come to the brakes, so I guess I’ve got my work cut out for me.