Halloween 6-hour Results

1. 3 Squirrels of Fury, VW Scirocco - 186 laps

2. 58 Friends of Paul Bunyan, BMW 325e - 180

3. 27 RCMP, VW Rabbit - 179

4. 88 Halfast Racing, Hyundai Tiburon - 179

5. 42 Beach Dudes, Datsun 510 - 178

6. 2 Team Wang, Mazda RX7 - 177

7. 20 Brian Towey Surfing School, Miata - 176

8. 43 R. Petty & Parts Breakers, RX7/V8 - 173

9. 94 Partridge Family Revenge, Protege - 172

10. 98 RSI 1, Volvo 740 - 171

Complete results may be found on MyLaps.com

Hero to Zero in moments

Yesterday's race winner, the #5 Nissan entered by the Rogue Squadron team, suffered a clutch cable failure early on today and is motoring along in 4th gear only.

Early leader #72 Team TSR Camaro is out after a power steering hose leak, which led to a power steering pump failure, which ultimately led to a cooked engine.

The #83 Miata involved in last night's late race crash is running today. The team replaced a fender and the front bumper, and removed the hood, and the car is doing just fine. The #39 Mustang, the other car in that crash, is also running today, but is not very fast.

Only 1/2 hour to go.

Other Awards for Saturday's race

As you are well aware, ChumpCar has more awards than just 1st, 2nd & 3rd. We reward heroic deeds and stupidity, too.

Best Children's Costume - #27 RCMP (Race Car Money Pit)

Best Pit Halloween Theme - #31 Workers' Revenge (right, upper photo)

Best Team Theme - #23 VJJ's (Mannequin on top of Volvo sipping coffee)

Spin Cycle Award - #18 Pony Excess (My Little Pony Pinto) (right, lower photo)

Never Say Die Award - #66 Team Toxic Avenger

Old Guys Award (over 50) - #33 Last Chance

Least Likely to Finish (based on pre-race observation) - #37 F7 Motorsports Peugeot

PIR Perpetual Chicane Award - #11 Team Firechicken

The CHUMP Award (These guys understand what ChumpCar is all about) - #6 Stumptown Chumpsters "For attitude above and beyond the call of Engine Failure."

3 hours = 1/2 way

Just after Noon, the standings are:

1. 72 Team TSR, Camaro - 93 laps

2. 7 Cone Damage, Mazda Miata - 91

3. 58 Friends of Paul Bunyan, BMW 325e - 91

4. 3 Squirrels of Fury 2, VW Scirocco - 91

5. 2 Team Wang, Mazda RX7 - 90

6. 83 Fast Times @ Placer High, Miata - 90

7. 27 RCMP (Race Car Money Pit), VW Rabbit - 90

8. 42 Beach Dudes Racing, Datsun 510 Wgn - 89

9. 20 Brian Towey Surfing School, Miata - 88

10. 94 Partridge Family Revenge, Mazda Protege - 87

Only 6 laps separate the top ten. With lap times around 1:40, a five minute pit stop gives up three laps. So if a team can stretch their gas stops a little, they can gain that much advantage on the thirsty cars.

Sunday! More racing at PIR.

Today's event is more low-key, a mere six hours of track time. Think about that you SCCA and NASA types, in ChumpCar racing, six hours is a short race. That would be a full season of track time for most other amateur racing groups.

Weather is terrific, with temps in the low 60s and lost of sunshine. (The weather bug on this page says "overcast". It is wrong!) The track was damp when the racing started, but is drying rapidly.

Since it is more relaxed, I will not be posting hourly updates, but will instead concentrate on learning how to take better action photos with my recently purchased Fujifilm S2700HD. It is not quite as flexible as I had hoped, but it does offer more options than just point-and-shoot.

Results and awards - HelloWine 12-hour race

(Edited with later information. The "live" timing final results provided last night had actually been recorded with about 20 minutes to go.)

R-C Racing, a.k.a. Rogue Squadron, seems to have found the ideal combination for success at crap can racing: A cheap reliable car, consistent drivers, stay out of trouble. A large part of the reason they have won two ChumpCar races this year has been that they have stayed on the track while others were dealing with minor, and sometimes major, issues.

"We really haven't done a lot of work on the car," said team member Peter Barnes. "We took out the spark plugs and replaced them recently, not because there was anything wrong with the old ones, but we felt we should do some work on the engine."

Their 1991 Nissan Sentra is quick, too; perfectly capable of running with the faster cars on the track. Unfortunately those other cars had to make extended stops while the Nissan kept motoring on, completing 324 laps.

Second place went to the #3 Squirrels of Fury VW Scirocco. They, too, just kept up a pace while the faster cars dropped away. At the checkered flag, they were eight laps behind the winners.

Finishing third was the #70 Pole Position Racing Toyota MR2, eleven laps behind the #5 car.

The rest of the top 10 (+1):

4. #91 Super Troopers, Mustang - 312 laps

5. #7 Cone Damage, Mazda Miata - 311

6. #11 Team Firechicken, Pontiac Firebird - 310

7. #20 Brian Towey Surfing School, Mazda Miata - 310

8. #47 Pistons are Highly Overrated, Mazda RX7 - 309

9. #45 Formula Roadster, Datsun roadster - 307

10. #58 Friends of Paul Bunyan, BMW 325e - 305

Complete results may be found on MyLaps.com.

The 2011 CCWS Schedule has been released!

You can find it on the ChumpCar forum:

2011 ChumpCar World Series Schedule

37 races, including several in Canada and ... Mexico!?!?

Full course yellow and checkered flag [edited]

(Edited following better information. Not that this is completely correct, just better.)

An accident in the racing line a few minutes before the scheduled end of the race brought out a full course yellow. The #39 Mustang finally got onto the track, but stalled just past the Festival Chicane with its lights out. The #83 Mazda did not see the 'Stang in time and hit it squarely. Both drivers were OK, but the Mazda suffered a lot of front end damage.

It looks like the #5 Rogue Squadron Nissan has captured another ChumpCar victory. Second place goes to #3 Squirrels of Fury 2 VW Scirocco, with the #70 Pole Position Toyota MR2 in 3rd.

The 11th Hour

With an hour to go, here are the standings:

1. #5 Rogue Squadron, Nissan - 307 laps

2. #3 Squirrels of Fury, VW - 298

3. #70 Pole Position, Toyota - 296

4. #91 Super Troopers, Mustang - 294

5. #20 Surfing School, Miata - 293

6. #7 Cone Damage, Miata - 293

7. #11 Firechicken, Firebird - 292

8. #47 Pistons overrated, Mazda - 291

9. #45 Formula Roadster, Datsun - 289

10. #99 Eh! Team, Honda - 287

11. #94 Partridge Family, Protege - 287

12. #58 Friends of Paul Bunyan, BMW - 287

A few quick updates:

#72 was towed in after an alternator failure and subsequent battery drainage. They made repairs and are back on track. They also had to repair a leaky oil pan; a weld failed and they have tried to patch it with silicone and duct tape. We'll see if she holds.

#51 still trying to build one engine from two.

#29 Produnk Miata: "Driver made a bad decision trying to pass another car on the outside. It was a place I knew I shouldn't have been, but went there anyway. Damaged the suspension to the point where we couldn't continue." They hope to make repairs in time for Sunday's run.

#43 Richard Petty & the Parts Breakers, Mazda RX7/V8 got into a squeeze play with another competitor and met a wall. The front tires now point in different directions. They are done for the evening.

#77 Response Time Racing, Eagle Talon, out with a gearbox full of neutral. They had been losing gears through the day, down to just 2nd and 5th, finally 0th. During the course of the race they replaced an axle and a muffler, fixed a broken header twice, and made a transmission drain plug out of a wad duct tape.

#79 Shift Autosport, Dodge Omni. Spark plug broke off in cylinder #2.

#24 Asphalt Mafia, BMW 535i. Got bumped from behind which caused the car to a spin into a concrete barrier.

Survivors at Hour 10

1 - #5 - 285 laps

2 - #72 - 278*

3 - #3 - 276

4 - #70 - 275

5 - #29 - 274

6 - #91 - 273

7 - #20 - 273

8 - #7 Cone Damage, Mazda Miata- 271

9 - #11 - 271

10 - #47 Pistons are Overrated, Mazda RX7 - 270

11 - #94 Partridge Family Revenge, Mazda Protege - 269

* Just as this was being recorded, the #72 Camaro came in on the hook. No word yet on what has happened.

#51 Honda did an engine swap, but the replacement engine refuses to fire, so they intend to take it apart and make one good one from two if possible. (Photo above right)

#9 Datsun 240Z is out after brake failure. The car suffered radiator damage earlier and that was repaired.

Hour 9 has passed. Here are the standings.

Darkness has taken over.

1 - #5 - 260 laps

2 - #72 - 256

3 - #91 - 251

4 - #17 - 251

5 - #29 - 251

6 - #20 - 250

7 - #3 - 250

8 - #70 - 249

9 - #99 - 248

10 - #11 - 246

8 hours of racing

A new leader has emerged from the pack, the Rogue Squadron Nissan Sentra that won at Spokane, just keeps running strong. #72 Camaro was black flagged for passing under yellow, and would not restart after stop-and-go penalty. Early leader #51 Honda has a blown engine, but they are working to replace it.

1 - #5 Rogue Squadron, Nissan - 222 laps

2 - #72 Camaro - 218

3 - #99 Honda - 216

4 - #3 VW - 216

5 - #91 Mustang - 216

6 - #29 Mazda - 214

7 - #17 Honda - 214

8 - #20 Mazda - 213

9 - #11 Firebird - 213

10 - #70 Toyota - 213

Unfortunately not all cars are still running. Some are behind the wall making repairs.

#0 Crash Test Dummies, Honda - transmission. They have retired.

#22 Cash Cab, Nissan - engine management computer issues

#39 Full-O-Bull, Mustang - still making front end repairs

#69 Renewable Resources, Duster - Spun and hit a tire barrier damaging the right side. Lost a power steering belt. Back on track again.

#86 Dirty Drifters, Corolla - Leaking oil pan. Attempting repairs with JB Weld.

#41 Dirty Drifters, FX16 - Torn axle boots, replaced axles. Replaced brake pads.

#66 Toxic Avengers, Neon - After 4+ hours got back on track with new clutch. Lost alternator belt and have gone to fetch a replacement.

#33 Last Chance, Maverick - Noise in engine, possibly a worn camshaft.

#36 Killer Zom-Bs, MGB - Carb issues. In several times attempting adjustment.

Red flag for #4

The #4 Mazda RX7 of the Apex of Failure team has had a rough weekend. The team had replaced their rotary engine again prior to the race, but it was smoking from the start. Initially they thought it was because they were mixing some oil in the gas to keep the apex seals lubricated, but about an hour into the race the smoke got thicker and thicker until it was clouds down the straightaway.

They had a spare engine, so did an engine swap in about three hours and hit the track again. The driver reported that it was running better than it ever had. He was even passing Miatas on the straight! Coming into turn 8 it got crossed up and rammed a concrete barrier with the left front. The impact was so hard that the floor buckled and the seat tilted a little. The oil filter on the engine smacked the brake master cylinder which normally sits about 8 inches away.

Team member Leo Clark says the driver is OK, but the car is a write off.

To add insult to automotive injury, the crash happened in the same place where Leo crashed another RX7 in February. The driver said he even saw the red paint on the barrier where Leo had crashed just before he hit.

Halfway done. 6 hours of ChumpCar at PIR

1 - #72 Camaro - 173 laps

2 - #51 Honda - 172

3 - #5 Nissan - 168

4 - #29 Mazda - 167

5 - #17 Honda - 165

6 - #3 VW - 165

7 - #99 Honda - 164

8 - #91 Ford - 164

9 - #20 Mazda - 164

10 - #70 Toyota - 163

5 hours down, 7 to go

1 - #51 JZ, Honda - 150 laps

2 - #72 TSR, Camaro - 149

3 - #5 Rogue Squadron, Nissan - 146

4 - #29 Produnk, Mazda - 143

5 - #99 Eh! Team, Honda - 143

6 - #20 Surfing School, Mazda - 142

7 - #17 Rusty Igloo, Honda - 142

8 - #70 Pole Position, Toyota - 142

9 - #3 Squirrels of Fury, VW Scirocco - 141

10 - #91 Super Troopers, Crown Vic - 140

More photos posted on the Flickr page.

Rain continues off and on, mostly on, but pretty light. Temp remains in the mid-50s.

After 3 hours

1 - #72 Camaro

2 - #51 Honda

3 - #10 Audi

4 - #20 Mazda

5 - #70 Toyota

6 - #99 Honda

7 - #5 Nissan

8 - #22 Nissan

9 - #29 Mazda Miata (Produnk)

10 - #95 Datsun 280Z (SSTP)

2 hours

Bonus and penalty laps have been applied since our earlier posting, so the standings have changed considerably.

1. - #51 JZ Motorsports, Honda Civic

2. - #91 Supertroopers, Ford Crown Vic Police Interceptor

3. - #20 Brian Towey Surfing School, Miata

4. - #10 Squirrels of Fury, Audi

5. - #27 RCMP, VW Rabbit

6. - #72 TSR, Camaro

7. - #99 Eh! Team, Honda

8. - #70 Pole Position, Toyota MR2

9. - #11 Fire Chicken, Pontiac Firebird

10 - #1 Team Pony Express, Ford Escort Pony

And the rain has begun to fall....

A few updates

First of all, thanks to a few folks who are out here this weekend. Armadillo Racing Enterprises and Competition Motorsports are BOTH on hand with loads of racer parts and driver gear. Thanks!

The #23 Volvo, Team VJJ's (pictured), is providing hot BJ's coffee for FREE. Since the air temp is all of 52F, thanks for the warmth! By luck of the draw, the #23 also took the green flag first.

#4 Apex of Failure Mazda is burning way-y-y-y too much oil, so they are planning a drivetrain transplant.

#39 Full-O-Bull Mustang found cracked brake rotors so did not make the start, but they are working on the car and intend to join the race.

#71 TSR Camaro suffered a starter failure prior to the start, but they have acquired a replacement and it will also be on track momentarily.

#6 Stumptown Chumpsters Camaro blew an engine, but they, too, intend to make a transplant.

#87 was apparently struck in the right rear by another competitor and had to make some body repairs around the wheel well, including cutting away some metal.

#66 Team Toxic Avenger Neon had a clutch failure and it trying to locate parts.

#59 Got Thomas Honda is out with a camshaft bearing failure. They do not think they will be able to make repairs.

#84 Recycled Racers Mustang replaced a leaking radiator last night, but the replacement was not up to the task. They are looking for a heavy duty radiator from a local parts source.

It's... Green!

Yes, friends, the green flag has been waved and racing is underway. But before that, some of our heroes have been in the pits for attention. The #4 Apex of Failure Mazda RX7 and the #80 Free Range Toyota MR2 visited the pits, reasons unknown.

66 cars are on the track recording laps. Not running are:

#39 - Full O Bull Mustang

#44 - Sloppy Seconds Corvette

#71 - Team TSR2 Camaro

#80 - Free Range Toyota

#84 - Recycled Racers Mustang

Several have already been towed back to the paddock for work.

After about an hour, the leaders are:

1 - #72 Team TSR Camaro

2 - #51 JZ Motorsports Honda Civic

3 - #5 Rogue Squadron Nissan Sentra

4 - #99 Eh! Team Honda CRX

5 - #22 Cash Cab Nissan Sentra

6 - #10 Squirrels of Fury Audi 5+5

7 - #3 Squirrels of Fury 2 VW Scirocco

8 - #27 RCMP VW Rabbit

9 - #20 Brian Towey Surfing School Mazda Miata

10 - #11 Team Firechicken Pontiac Firebird

Entry list by Car Number

Team Name Car Num Manufacturer Model Year Crash Test Dummies 0 Honda CRX-H 1987 . Team Pony Express 1 Ford Escort Pony 1991 . Team Wang 2 Mazda RX-7 85 . Squirrels of fury 2 3 VW scirocco 1981 . Apex of Failure 4 Mazda RX7 1987 . Rogue squadron 5 Nissan Sentra 1991 . Stumptown Chumpsters 6 Chevrolet Camaro 1984 . Cone Damage 7 Mazda Miata 1996 . Slingshot Racing 8 ford maverick 1974 . Rutabagas 9 Datsun 280z 1977 . Squirrels of Fury 10 Audi 5+5 1982 . Team Firechicken 11 Pontiac Firebird 1987 . Racey Diva Motorsports 14 Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo . Team Rusty Igloo 17 Honda CIVIC HATCH DX 1992 . pony excess 18 Ford Pinto 1976 . Village Thunder Racing 19 Ford Thunderbird 1983 . The Brian Towey Surrfing School 20 Mazda Miata . 5 liters of fury 21 Ford Mustang LX 1988 Cash Cab 22 Nissan Sentra 2004

Team VJJ's Powered By Espresso 23 Volvo 242 GT 1979 . Asphalt Mafia 24 BMW 535i 1985 . R.C.M.P. (Race Car Money Pit) 27 Volkswagen Rabbit 1979 . Produnk 29 Mazda Miata 1991 . ProOne 30 Chevy Camaro IROC 1986 . Worker's Revenge 31 Honda CRX 1989 . last chance 33 ford maverick 1972 . The Killer ZomBees 36 MG -B 1977 . F7 motorsport 37 Peugeot 505 505 1986 . Full O Bull Racing 39 Ford Mustang 1984 . The Flying Lumberjacks 40 VW Fox 1988 . The Undead 41 Toyota fx-16 1987 . Beach Dudes Racing 42 Datsun 510 1971 . Richard Petty & the Parts Breakers 43 Maztang RX7 1983 . Sloppy Seconds 44 Chevrolet Corvette 1985 . Formula Roadster 45 Datsun Roadster 1967 . Pistons are Highly Overrated Racing 47 Mazda RX7 1985 . Scorpion scooter club and race team 49 Toyota Corolla FX16 1987 . Killer Whale 50 Ford Thunderbird 86 . JZ Motorsports 51 Honda Civic 1991

. The Soccer Moms 52 Dodge Caravan 1993 . PontiAxed 55 Pontiac Fiero 1986 . The Friends of Paul Bunyan 58 BMW 325e 1985 . GOT THOMAS 59 Honda CRV 1991 . iron horses 61 . swedish iron 63 Volvo 745 16 valve 1990 . It's a GM Bailout! 64 Chevrolet Camaro 1991 . Team Toxic Avenger 66 Dodge neon 1995 . POP racing 67 Volkswagen Golf 1986 . Renewable Resources 69 Plymouth Duster 1976 . Pole Position Racing 70 Toyota MR2 1985 . Team TSR2 71 Chevrolet IROC Camaro 1988 . Team TSR 72 Chevrolet Camaro 1987 . GERI-AT-TRICKS OR TREATS 73 Honda Civic 1991 . Response Time Racing 77 Eagle Talon 1992 . Shift Autosport 79 Dodge Omni 1985 . Free Range Racing 80 toyota MR2 1989 . reversed darwinism 81 Ford P71 CVPI 1997 . Autosport Lab Rats 82 Mazda Miata 1990 . Fast Times @ Placer High 83 Mazda Miata 1990

. Recycled Racers 84 Ford Mustang 1984 . Dirty Drifters 86 Toyota Corolla 1982 . Shelby CSX (DD) 87 Shelby CSX 1987 . Halfast Racing 88 Hyundai Tiburon 1997 . Team GI-SHO 89 Ford Taurus SHO 1989 . Super Troopers 91 Ford Chumpstang Police Interceptor 1986 . Partridge Family Revenge 94 Mazda Protege 1999 . Team SSTP 95 Datsun 280Z 1978 . Mjöllnir 96 volvo 142e 1971 . Team Tequila 97 Volkswagen Rabbit 1978 . RSI 1 98 . Eh! Team 99 Honda CRX 1989

Last minute preparations

It's about 15 minutes to the green flag, the drivers meeting has been completed, and drivers are getting into their cars. The #89 "GI-SHO" Ford SHO is circulating the paddock with the "Flight of the Valkyries" blaring from their stereo, trying to psych out the competition.

Weather report: Overcast and about 60F. Forecast is for rain midday. So we can expect some slipping, skidding and sliding on the race track later in the day.

You may recall the memorable flyby of a B2 bomber at the Spokane race during the drivers meeting. There was another flyby today, of several thousand Canada geese who apparently live nearby.

There are 71 teams entered, and it appears they are all here. We will get an accurate count at the start.

It looks like the longest distance towed was by the Friends of Paul Bunyan who brought their BMW all the way from Minnesota, about 1800 miles. Oddly enough, there is a Paul Bunyan statue about a mile south of the track. They plan to get a team photo there before the weekend is over.

Happy Anniversary to US!

Portland, OR -- It is the anniversary of the 1st ever ChumpCar race, held right here at Portland International Raceway. To celebrate, a few hundred of our closest friends have brought over 70 crap can race cars to duke it out on Saturday in a 12-hour Battle Royale. Pictured here is a row of ChumpCar machinery lined up on Friday night, getting some last minute attention.

For those who have followed the exploits of the many ChumpCar races and racers this season, we will be trying to bring you live updates via the blog. Let us know how it works for you. At the moment the page design is pretty minimal, but we can change that with a little more time to design.

Also hoping to have more of a photo gallery for each event, starting this weekend.