Questions or comments please contact: Hank Dudley (hdudley@dudleylab.com)

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Hank Dudley Racing 2008

December 22, 2008
We have finally got our aluminum table finished. It has heavy duty casters with caster locks and wheel brakes. Also, screw jacks to level it. The G-Force car is back in the shop where we can get a good look at it. Needs a lot of work. I picked up 2 Aurora 4.0L engines in parts. The Aurora is the original engine type fitted to this car. The gearbox I have is an Emco, missing all of the inner parts. I would like to replace it with an Xtrac or Hewland Sequential shift type. From what I have found out the Xtrac or Hewland units are not normally fitted to the Aurora. However, we should be able to rework the bell housing or adapt a new one to the engine. If anyone knows of a gearbox, please let me know.

The old car is getting engine reworked some, new rings and bearings. The brakes are getting new rotors and pads.

We will be away for a short vacation. I will be back to work Jan. 6th.
Hope everyone has a nice holiday.
Best Regards,
Hank and MaryLouise

p.s. Almost forgot, we won the 08 MARRS championship for the FS class. Sounds good until you know that, except for a couple of races, we were the only FS car.

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	1999 G-Force/Panoz car for 09, I think.
	1999 G-Force/Panoz Roller	1999 G-Force/Panoz on our new alumimun table. This is a big improvement over the plywood.
	9 Time NASCAR National Modified Champion. 'Richie Evans' Artwork by Bob Kelleher (rtkelleher@me.com) http://www.vintagemodifieds.com/Richie_Evans/	Fitting up the new carbon rotors and Alcon 6 piston caliperes.

October 23, 2008
We went to Millville last weekend to test on Friday, race on Saturday. Went just OK, I spun the car in the first turn and got behind the pack by about half a lap. Cought up to the back and passed a couple of cars; then we had a long caution for a wreck, finished near last, not sure.
Not a great weekend, but OK. The track is nice to drive and the SCCA ran a good show, as usual.
I think we are finished racing for this year. We have a bunch of work to do on the car to get some weight out of it. Also, the G-Force car needs a bunch of work to make the roller into a real race car. May use the IRL Aurora 4.0L V8 engine for this car. It bolts to the G-Force carbon tub much easier than the Northstar. There are a few of these engines left over from the IRL series in the 90's.

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Summit Point WV Aug. 29, 30, 31
There were over 300 cars, in many groups. A big weekend with test on Friday, qualifying on Saturday and race on Sunday and Monday, we only raced on Sunday. There were 2 other FS cars this time, Indy Light Lolas. Very nice and very fast cars. We qualified 8th on Saturday, raced on Sunday. We finished 3rd in class, after the Lolas and 7th overall.

	Photos from Summit Point Aug. 31, 2008
	Summit Point Aug. 31, 2008 - Mary and Hank	Summit Point Aug. 31, 2008 - Bill and Pam's (FE #24) Devon, Rozlyn, Bill finished 2nd in class and 5th in our group

Summit Point - August 1, 2, 3, 2008
We went to Summit Point last weekend.
Arrived about 11 AM on Friday, track practice day, to check in. Everything went smoothly.
Friday afternoon practice went good except for an engine starter problem. We worked around it by hitting it from time-to-time with a hammer, stuck selonoid. A spare starter and alternator are on order now.
I qualified 9th for the Sunday race. After the normal chaotic first lap I passed a couple of cars and was passed by some, found myself in 11th. As the race went on I got a little faster and worked my way up to 7th, finished there.

Summit Point Weekend Summary:
Went good except for the Starter problem. My driving and the car handling have improved some, needs a bit more if I am going to be completive with the fastest cars. My best time in the race was 1:19 the front running cars were about 1:11.

The Car:
Running a little hot (240 F) ordered new, larger heat exchangers from Howe Racing. Also, we are going to duct the air better coming out of the coolers.
The front rims are too wide for the slick tires. We are changing the inner half to one 1" more narrow.
Front end was too soft we are upping the rate for the front spring and the anti roll bar.

Photos from Summit Point Aug. 1, 2, 3 2008	-
Summit Point Aug. 3, 2008 - Gwen and Rozlyn Chance and Billy the dogs	Summit Point Aug. 3, 2008 - Roy, Wayne and Me
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Summit Point Aug. 3, 2008 Rozlyn (little sweetie)	Summit Point Aug. 3, 2008 Roy installing a new sticker
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New Jersey Motosports Park - July 23, 2008

We went to NJMSP (Millville, NJ) last weekend.
Arrived at the track on Friday a little after 12:00 PM expecting to be able to park and set up for the weekend.
However, we were very bluntly informed that since we were not registered for the track practice day we would NOT be allowed on the premises until 7:00 PM. Furthermore, we would not be able to register for the Friday practice day because registration closed at noon. OK, went home another 2 hours drive. After a day to cool off we went back on Sunday morning. Arrived about 7:30 AM to check in. Everything went smoothly, SCCA is running things now.
Since I missed the practice/qualifying sessions on Saturday I only got a couple of laps practice before my group raced in the afternoon.
I started last and finished last of about 10 cars. Still won my class, I was the only FS car. The car ran good. I used the track time to work on learning the course.

Weekend Summary:
Went good except for the Friday problem. The SCCA on Sunday was very good as usual, first class group.
The Lightning track (1.9 miles) is a good challenging course with good run-offs. We didn't take any photos this weekend, just too much to do.
We expect to go back for next month's race also on the Lightning track.

VIR - May 13, 2008

Got back from VIR late Sunday. Everything went well qualified 8th finished 5th, first in class (FS). The only other FS was, again, a no-show at race time, made the class win easy. Car was good. I am going faster with more consistent times. This race finished up my novice requirements. I can now apply for my SCCA regional license.

Photos from VIR May 8th, 9th, and 10th 2008	-
VIR May 10, 2008 -- Podium	VIR May 10, 2008 -- scan of Photo Trophy
VIR May 10, 2008 -- Pit Crew - Jim and Sandy	VIR May 10, 2008 -- Inspection area after Saturday race
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April 16, 2008

Looks like the next race is going to be May 9th (practice), 10th (qualifying) and 11th (race) at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). I have 1 more race as a rookie and I can get my SCCA regional license. The car is getting only service and new tires for this race. I am putting together 2 more rear wheels, same width ~ 13". The offset will be 1" more inset. This narrows the car ~ 2" in the rear.

There is going to be a new track soon in Millvlle New Jersey (http://www.njmotorsportspark.com/). Should be a first class operation as many of the people from VIR are involved. This will be great as it cuts our travel time to about 1.5 hours.

March 11, 2008

I attended the FAASST driving school at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) on Thursday, March 6th. Great school, it was a pleasure to attend. I got about 3 hours of track time on Thursday. The instructors were very good, knowledgeable, thorough and supporative. The FAASST school was by far the best of the driving school I have attended. http://www.faasst.com/

Friday it rained, no problem for me as I was off for the day. Saturday I was on the track for a short time just to qualify for Sundays race. The formula race was on Sunday, I finished 6, first in class. The rest of the story is that the only other in class (Formula S) car was a no-show for the race. This made the class win easy. The track time with the other formula cars was very worthwhile, these drivers/cars are very fast and know the track well.
VIR's north course is very technical, you have to hit the correct lines entering many of the sections. If you miss, you blow the whole section.

Photos from VIR March 6th, 7th, and 9th 2008	-
VIR March 9, 2008 Image scan of the Photo Trophy	FAASST School Instructors: Jim Meassick, Judy Faass VIR March 6, 2008
Pit lane photo at VIR March 9, 2008	On track photo at VIR March 6, 2008
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December 24, 2007

We have been working on the car some, not much. I pulled the engine for a quick check up, needed to look in the oil pan and timing cover areas to make sure everything was good, it's good. The clutch had a rivet pop off damaging one of the driven plates, a new disk set fixed that. I am changing the gearbox for 08, the Porsche 5 speed 5052 was OK except the ratios were way off what is needed with this engine and wheel combo. I have ordered a Hewland NLT unit. The NLT is a 6 speed with sequential shift. Sequential is much easer and faster to shift than the H pattern. When you buy a Hewland you get to pick the gear ratios from a very large list. I ordered gearing that should work well from 50 MPH to 170 MPH.
Looks like the next chance for track time is March 6, 08 at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). That weekend there is a novice school on the 6th and 7th and an SCCA race on Sat. and Sun.

October 29, 2007

Over the weekend we went to Summet Point W. VA for my second novice school. I was on the track about 1.5 hours on Saturday, went just OK. It was very wet and slick in the morning and I slid off track once into the mud left from all of the heavy rain on Friday, got going again and finished the session. In the afternoon it was much better and I got some quality track time. The last practice session was the best except for spinning the car at the end of the front straight to avoid a Deer crossing the track. No real problem I finished the session going good. I am not sure where I go from here. I think I am going to look around for another track to run in early 08. Also, I can rent time (for not too much money) at a wind tunnel in NC. May do that some time in Jan. or Feb. The car is good. If I have time I am going to make some new lighter weight body parts.

October 15, 2007

We are all registered for my second SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) novice school at Summet Point W. VA on October 26, 27 and 28.
I have made a couple of changes to the car:
1. O-Rings between the wheel center plates and the rim sections. Should stop the air leaks.
2. Water pump speed changed from 30% underdrive to full speed.
3. Additional cooling fans on the water heat exchanger. Should help the low speed over heating.

October 8, 2007

We went to Watkins Glen over the weekend for my first SCCA novice school. Everything went very well. The car is very fast, more than I can use for now. A small air leak in the left rear tire and minor overheating at low speed, not on track, were the only mechanical issues with the car. The next event will be Summit Point WV. on Oct. 26 and 27. for my second driver school. If everything goes well I should get my competion license and be ready to race for next year.

My first time out impressions:
A car this light with about 500 HP is very, very fast off the corners and on the straights.
The brakes work very, very good. Must be the aero down force from the wings and side pods.

The car as configured will race as a Formula S
Formula S was created this year by the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) for open wheel cars not fitting into any other formula class.

August 17, 2007

Engine is running now, with the help of Mike at Mr. Gasket. Problem was the wireing harness we had to work with for the ACCEL Engine computer was designed for a front engine Chevy, it took a lot of rework to get it correct for the rear engine.

The Cadillac NorthStar Starts out 4.6 L --- ends up 291 cu in. with (bore + 0.030", stroke + 0.100") just under the SCCA limit 305 cu in. The basic engine is very well desighed, light, 4 cam. The problem with this engine is you have to work out the details for yourself. The fuel injection is Hilborn from a 426 Hemi reworked to fit with Bosch style ACCEL electronics. Rods are Eagle, SB chevy. Transaxle is Porsche turbo type 5052 5 speed. Getting a good combination of parts has been a big task and a lot of credit needs to go to the vendors for the special parts.

SCCA A Sports Racer:
A Sports Racer (regional) This little-seen Regional class is home to old F5000 (FA) cars and the second generation Can Am cars derived from F5000 cars. F5000 cars may compete either with Sports Racer bodywork or with their original formula car bodywork. Low participation is what killed this class at the National level, and this trend continues to this day. This class is occasionally mis-used to permit "unusual" cars that don't meet normal SCCA rules to get into a race. ASR permits more varied cars than those implied by the F5000/Can-Am description above; a variety of normally aspirated engines ranging from 1300cc to 5000cc is permitted, with varying weights depending on the displacement. Rotary motors of 2292cc max size are also permitted. Two examples of Weights: Rotary motored ASRs must weigh 1326 lbs w/driver; 5L (305 cu. in.) ASRs must weigh 1811lbs w/driver.

Photos of final assembly late in 2007	-
Setting up the Engine Computer	Installing the exaust pipes.
7 1/4" Quarter Master Clutch	Barnes Oil pump and Disrtibuter
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Questions or comments please contact: Hank Dudley (hdudley@dudleylab.com)

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