The Long Journey to Nationals!

neilschelly's picture

In the 2008 season, I won the Devens National Tour, the Northeast Divisional Championships, and took 2nd in the Finger Lakes ProSolo for F Street Prepared. From that successful, but largely local season, I decided to try my luck at a national scale and make 2009 the year to go all the way to the ProSolo Finale and the Solo National Championships. I began the season with two goals:

  • I wanted to do well enough in my SoloRu to get noticed.
  • I wanted to see if an Impreza could really be competitive in FSP.

SoloRu in the Snow
When the season schedules got posted, I started planning my year. I would use up literally all my vacation time this season. Since the Dixie Tour was the first event/adventure I was planning to attend, I had to struggle through snow and slush in my parking lot to get my car ready for competition.

The trip down to Georgia would be tough. I had no air conditioning, no stereo, a very stiff suspension, and an all-aluminum race seat. I also had no idea how expensive it would end up. I had a wheel bearing failure in New Jersey on the way down that began my expensive path through the 2009 season. I posted online about my problems and immediately saw the reaction of competitors and Subaru owners to help out. Local people suggested shops that could get me on the road again quickly. Friends like Keith Casey pushed to make sure I'd continue my trip to Dixie once the car was fixed. Every sound my car made for the rest of the trip (lots!) worried me more and more, but William Cook's advice about my new rear differential made it far more tolerable. I made it to Dixie with a day's delay, with just enough time to sorta fix my alignment, get registered, and get teched.

In Georgia, I met a lot of friends I'd only known online, and finally saw just how fast FSP cars were. I wasn't at the back of the class, but I wasn't even close to the front either. The car was very new to me, with very different wheels and tires, a new rear differential, a mostly-random alignment, and several months off from competitive driving. Overall, I did as well as I expected and began my trip home. A minor brake failure in Georgia on the way home was fixed in a Chinese food restaurant parking lot. An axle failure in South Carolina put me out of commission for another day, but Keith Casey connected me with a local competitor, Joe Oliveira, who's family generously put me up for the night. When I was on my way again, I made it all the way to Connecticut before my other rear wheel bearing failed on me near my mother's house. AAA, with whom I was becoming very familiar, towed me to her place and she took the day off work to take me the rest of the way home to Massachusetts. A few days later, Keith again helped me out with a day of driving to trailer my car back home.

I detailed the Dixie trip at A Dixie Story
Beginning disassembly of the motor
I spent the next few months and local events getting all my hubs and bearings replaced, all questionable axles replaced, getting brakes adjusted and upgraded, fluids changed, wheel fitment issues resolved, etc. The car was ready again for competition in early June. The New England Region had a Test-n-Tune event followed by a regional event the week before the Finger Lakes National Tour and the DC ProSolo right after it. The car felt great at the Test-n-Tune and was even doing pretty well the next day until I heard a new noise from the engine. A rod bearing was failing, which I eventually learned was a result of too much time on the skidpad at the Test-n-Tune. Some other competitors trailered my car home for me (thanks to David and Shawn Collins!) and Anthony DeFiore graciously donated a spot on his driveway for me to abandon my car for a few weeks while I figured out how to proceed with my season.

I decided I could still keep up my planned season schedule. I arranged co-drives for the Finger Lakes National Tour (thanks to Tim Kong) and the DC ProSolo (thanks to Jay Storm). The DC ProSolo co-drive was particularly significant since it was an FSP co-drive and that meant I could still qualify for the ProSolo Finale in FSP. In between these weekly events, I pulled the engine out of the SoloRu, took it home in pieces scattered about my living room, bought lots of parts, re-assembled it, apologized lots to my wife, and got it back into the car a week before the Toledo ProSolo.

Toledo would be the first long drive since the Dixie Tour and the first long drive on a newly rebuilt engine, but my luck was turning for the better. Chang Ho Kim had an open spot on his trailer, and I was able to get a ride out to Toledo. The Toledo ProSolo went pretty well. I was still overcoming some engine tuning problems, especially with my new upgraded injectors, some electrical issues that worsened as the season continued, a poor alignment, etc. The engine cut out every so often, but the SoloRu didn't suffer any catastrophes. It even served as a stand-in for Jay Storm's car so he could finish the event himself.

Shortly thereafter, at the Northeast Divisional Championships, the electrical issues became very noticeable. I had a lot of trouble starting the car, and wouldn't exceed 4500RPM or so. I actually missed a down shift to third gear and hit fifth by accident - yikes. It was frustrating, but I replaced all the ignition components before the next event. For the New England Region's annual Racing Against Leukemia event, the car was running again, but I noticed a fuel injector seal leaking gasoline on my engine during my morning setup and spent most of the rainy day under the hood getting that fixed, literally getting it ready just in time to pack up for the day. The second day of RAL was when the electrical issues really took hold, with only a few days remaining before I was to leave for Nebraska.

I had arranged to borrow a truck (Thanks Bob Lang!) and a trailer (Thanks Niall Johnson!) to transport the SoloRu to Lincoln, Nebraska. I had a comfortable drive with air conditioning and a stereo, while my car comfortably sat twenty feet behind, not getting itself broken. The first thing I did when I got there was replace the upgraded injectors with the stock ones, hoping that would fix the hesitation issues I'd been having. It helped and the car was easily drivable. The ProSolo Finale was the next opportunity for my car to have it's first trouble-free event of the year, and it went reasonably well until my last run, when an attempted shift to third gear broke a shifter fork.

We interrupt this marriage to bring you the racing season.
With just a few days before the Solo National Championships, people's help starting streaming in again. I posted online for help and a fellow Subaru owner in Minnesota offered his spare transmission (Thanks Sean Ford!). He found another Nationals competitor in his area who could transport it to Lincoln, NE the next day (Thanks Mark Yakich!). I prepared to remove old transmission out, called Jay Storm to help me with the actual physical removal of the transmission, and he showed up with a small posse of Subaru folks to muscle the transmission out of the car in minutes. The next day, when the new transmission came, I had help from Jay Storm, Tim Kong, Patrick Lipsinic, and Brian Meyer to get the new one installed as the sun fell after dinner. Having never met Brian Meyer before, I think he literally showed up on site, saw someone under a car, and came bearing tools before he even unpacked his own things. Thanks everyone!

The car was driving and shifting and pretty well aligned with what I learned from the ProSolo Finale runs. I competed in the Solo National Championships and the car didn't break. I was even able to give another FSP competitor a few runs in it after his Neon broke an axle on the first day. That was the first time this season, for any event, where the car just worked. At the end of my last run, 3/4 of my race tires were showing cord. It had been an overwhelming week for me, but I had made it. This event was a good way to end the 2009 season in the SoloRu.

I wanted to do well enough in my SoloRu to get noticed. I'm sure I got noticed and made lots of friends this year, though not necessarily because of my driving skills. I wanted to see if an Impreza could be a front-runner in FSP. Jay Storm won FSP in the ProSolo Finale and finished fifth for the Solo National Championships. I accomplished both goals I started the season with, albeit not quite as intended. I couldn't have done any of it without the support of lots of SCCA and Subaru fans and competitors and I am really looking forward to my next try.

It's been an exhausting year, but incredibly rewarding too. Thanks to everyone who's helped me out, talked to me, supported me, my sponsorship from Ultra-Shield Race Products, and most of all, thanks to my wife Jen. She put up with me, encouraged me through all the season, and traveled with me for several of the events, including Lincoln, Nebraska.

Awesome cornering force