Thread: Electrathon - A Different Kind of "Hotrod"

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x2 on the table. my doc made the suggestion 25 years ago . without it i would likely gone under the knife. it takes a few weeks to really see results but it will give some relief right away. best 200 bucks i ever spent.

Thanks, guys. I actually have an inversion table and I'll be using it again soon. Right now it's in the garage, folded up against the wall. As soon as I'm able to wrestle it in the house without re-injuring my back I'll be on it. I'm doing much better today (Wednesday) and should be functioning pretty normally by tomorrow or Friday... I hope.

My brother has had chronic back pain, until about three years ago he started taking I believe it is called Yin Yoga classes for peolple like us who are older, It's mostly a series of stretching exercises and non of the crazy stuff you see on tv. I recently felt like I was losing my flexibility and started taking a local class by a lady who works with us older crowd. I have to say it has helped alot, even more so she is very carefull to make sure we aren't injuring anything in the process. I probably think most people here would think "Yoga, are you nuts", but like all things there are apparently a million different styles, the one I take is also for back pain and mobility. Just a thought(I do 1 hour, once a week)

5 min a night on the table works wonders. right before bed so your spine stays relaxed during the night. at my size i tend to settle so only stretching my spine will help. my bone cracker even said it was the best for me. but i dont spend the 120 bucks to lay on his rack

Well, I've really been slack at reporting this season. I missed the September opener because of my back (see above). Then I missed the October race because of a prior obligation. In November we ran at Middleton High School - it's a tight road course in the school parking lot. I generally do well at this race and my luck held again this year, but it was a rather funny circumstance. I won my class in the first race of the day. In the second race, with 14 minutes to go, my seat bottom broke loose and my backside was suddenly dragging the ground! With only .040 inch aluminum between my arse and the asphalt, I knew I couldn't make another 14 minutes. In fact, I figured in another 3 or 4 laps/minutes the aluminum would wear through and my backside would meet the pavement in a somewhat painful state. So.., I had to quit. The good news, for me, was that everyone else had lousy luck, too, and I turned just enough laps to win my class!

The December at Lennard High School race was rained out. In January I was sick with a sinus infection and couldn't go to the race at Wharton High School. No big loss there; I don't like that track.

February's race was at University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa. This is one of our most challenging race courses and most popular races. Eighteen cars lined up for the first race including two cars from Alabama and cars from both coasts of Florida. I get to brag here - six of those eighteen cars were built by me! I finished 2nd in the first race. Jerry Bristow drove my car in the second race, but had trouble with the "dead man" switch. He came into the pits with 22 minutes remaining. I grabbed my helmet and gloves and jumped back in the car and went back into the fray. I managed to finish 2nd again and we got 2nd place for the day.

I skipped the March race at St. Petersburg College - it's just farther away than I wanted to go...

April 14 was our annual "Speed Event" where the races are run on a quarter-mile track and the time is shortened to 20 minutes instead of the usual hour-long Enduro races. The short time allows us to gear the cars up and run wide open.

Back in December I started building a new car. The physical beating I took at the Cocoa race last year prompted me to build a car with springs! Also, I had a pair of 16 inch wheels in the shop that I wanted to use somewhere, so I designed a new car with independent suspension on all 3 wheels and the fronts are inside the body. The rear is similar to what you would find on a motorcycle - a swing arm with one small coilover shock. This also necessitated making a spring-loaded chain tensioner. Up front I built a split tube axle and used a coilover shock on each side. The coilovers are made for mountain bikes and quite small.

I'm happy to report that the debut was successful. I won my class in both races of the day. The car handles really well and is really smooth. My only complaint - it sucks all the dirt up off the road and deposits it in my lap! Before the Cocoa race I'm going to put a full belly pan on the car and maybe some inner fender wells. Cocoa is the race that beat me up and inspired this car, so the suspension will get tested extensively. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Incidentally, cars that I built won the Advanced Battery class, finished 1 - 2 in my class, and took the first 3 positions in the high school division.

WOW, that's great success! Congrats.

And the new car looks great too. Love the flames.. 8-)

Great deeds Jim. Glad to hear that you are still at it. Send me a PM if you would please. Perley

we need some more photos please of the new car design

That's awesome! The new car looks great and I'm glad to hear it's doing so well right off!

I'll get some more pics and post them soon. Meantime, I ran the last race of the season on Saturday (May 12) at the Solar Energy Center in Cocoa, Florida. As I said in my last report, I have installed a full belly pan and some inner fenders. I must report that... it didn't help! I still got a lap and face full of dirt!

The good news is the car performed very well. As I said above, I built the suspension in this car because of the beating I took at this race last year. I quit that race early because I was so beat up that I was physically in pain. I do this for fun and I wasn't having any! This year it was a completely different story. After two 1-hour stints in this car I was normally tired, but not in any pain anywhere. I thoroughly enjoyed driving the two races.

I would like to say that I won..., but not quite. Actually, I did win the first race (my class) by one lap. I caught and passed my good friend Rodney Schreck for the lead at about the 47 minute mark and finished almost a full lap ahead of him. In the second race I took the lead (in my class) at the start and put Rodney a lap down at about the 16 minute mark. I virtually dominated the entire race until... with less than 3 minutes remaining my right front tire went flat! It happened suddenly and caused me to brush a curb when the car wouldn't steer to the left at speed. I limped into the pits and stopped. Rodney took over the lead and turned 3 more laps before time ran out. So.., I ended up in second place for the day; Rodney won by 2 laps. The other two cars in my class were several laps down, having suffered mechanical problems in both races.

After the race trophy presentations, the awards for the season were given out. I got the trophy for second place in points! I thought I might be in the running for 3rd place, but was surprised to receive the award for second. I only ran 4 of the 7 races this season, but my finishes were high enough in points (all first or second places) to garner 2nd place.

I have all summer to make repairs and/or improvements for next season. After the success of this new car's handling and drivability, I'm looking forward now to next season. Some years ago I said I'd probably quit when I was 70 (I was 70 in March). Maybe I'll push it to 75..?

way to go Jim! I say keep on racing as long as it's fun and you can. Glad to hear the suspension worked well.

Sorry to hear about the bum tire but congrats to your accomplishments! Going out to 75 doesn't sound too bad if the car isn't beating you up anymore!

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Times 3! It'll help keep you young at heart! 8-)

Congrats on your points race finish too.

This is a neat thread to watch, we don't have anything like this around here.