Tech day for Gator-O-Rama 2011

Mary & I took the day off from work so we could get the Tetanus Neon down to MSR Houston for the tech inspection & BS inspection for this year's Gator-O-Rama. Even though we've been through tech inspections 9 times before (7 times with this car alone), there's still stress around a tech inspection because different inspectors always seem to find different little things to ask us to fix. One time it was the wiring-centric inspector who sent us back to our pit to fix lots of poorly-taped bundles of wiring, another it was an inspector who objected to the way our seat belts were anchored-- despite each of those conditions making it through several other inspections without comment.

Today's verdict: PASS, and without undue drama... though they did inspect our exhaust system more rigorously than in the past, so I'll call this a near miss.


The Red Rocket Ratnest Revival team (rebranded with a M*A*S*H theme since November's Laissez Les Crapheaps Roulez race in Louisiana) also got the once-over in tech.




Mulry has turned their TARP MR2 into a Fauxrarri, and like the new Ferrari FF it's a shooting brake. Or perhaps a baking brake, I'm not sure. They did have some front-end issues to repair, unfortunately.




As some fog rolled in after dark, we did take time for a special moment of levity. Brian's Property Devaluation Racing team was (as is typical for them) already having to do an engine swap to their Fairmont wagon, so we presented him with some, er, very special fireproof racing pants as an early birthday gift. Happy birthday, Brian! Now get back to that engine repair.


Racing starts about 10:30 Saturday morning, so watch here for periodic updates while my phone battery lasts!