None the worse for wear

How funny, the title for this post is one I used since I was a boy having heard it many times however just to be safe I decided to look of the meaning and I couldn't help but think how humorously fitting it was all things considered.

"Not hurt or damaged, still in good condition, okay. (Example) The immigrants were none the worse for wear after their wagon trip across the prairie." LOL!

Other than taking him out of the trailer, today is the first time that I have done anything to Lucky since the trip home. The guys put him up on the rack and other than needing some front brakes and a detail there isn't a thing that needs to be done. After giving it a good going over I am extremely satisfied with the results.
One note about the brakes; One of the single biggest factors in running a car during any long endurance race is having enough brakes to finish the race. Typically speaking, it's almost always required to have to change the brake pads and sometimes the rotors during the race which naturally takes up time that would be better spent on the track. In this case, Lucky's brakes lasted more than long enough without having to change them and very easily could have gone much farther. With two days left in the race Jon and I dialed in some rear brake bias and I could not believe the improvement to what already seemed to be the very best brakes I have ever had on any Mustang or Shelby.

Lucky's brakes are beyond my wildest imagination. I want to thank Jeff over at SpeedToys.racing for his friendship and excellent service and advice over the years. Jeff has been a fountain of information when it comes to dealing with "CORRECT" FACTS regarding racing brake pads. About three years ago Jeff hooked me up with some racing pads from Raybestos Racing Compounds that are designed specifically for endurance racing and were new in the market place. After we agreed to be test them I found out these are without a doubt the hottest thing going and having put them thru their paces the results are nothing short of amazing. After using these Raybestos Racing Compound pads Jeff had made for this race I am pleased to report this is the first set of pads that would have actually finished the entire 25 Hours of Thunderhill. It goes without saying that these will be the pads Jon and I will use in the upcoming endurance series.


In 2500 miles of all-out racing under some of the most demanding conditions any race car could asked to perform under, the car didn't have one single drop of oil, water or anything else anywhere. I am changing the fluids and installing new brake pads and rotors and the crew is detailing everything else. We will be able to place Lucky back into the trailer in the morning so I can head up to Thunderhill Raceway to take part in even some more race history as honorary pace car for the 25 Hours Of Thunderhill.

The only item on the entire car that showed any wear was the custom built skid bar I had made to protect the oil pan primarily that being from the large Mexican speed bumps better known as Topes. If you look closely at the photo you can see how much shaved off the bottom thus doing exactly what it was designed to do. During the transit stages there where hundreds of Topes and there was even one stage alone where there were a several hundred Topes in a hundred miles! Having the comfort of knowing the skid bar was under the car was awesome especially when we saw so many other cars have such a difficult time with the topes. Most of them not only had to come to almost a dead stop but also had to drive across them on a sharp diagonal turn which resulted in a lot of scraping on their undercarriage and exhaust. It's very impressive that there isn't one single scrape on Lucky's undercarriage or exhaust.

You know what the answer is when asked, "How can you tell a happy biker when you see one? By the bugs on his teeth." If that's true then Lucky has got to be one of the happiest Mustangs ever driven. I remember telling Jon during just after we came out of a high speed stage, "It's getting to where I can tell how fast we're going by the size of the splatter on the windshield. At 100 they splatter but at 160 they vaporize!"

By this time tomorrow I should be on my way to the track and I am really looking forward to it. There will be the United States Air Force Color Guard and the low fly-over by the United States Air Force and then Lucky will be followed by a United States Air Force Hummer complete with 50 caliber machine-gun and the best part of all is they say the weather is going to be awesome.

I am happy to report the editing for the upcoming HD DVD is coming along very well and is looking like a very exciting show. As soon as possible I hope to make some sort of teaser available so stayed tuned!