Spun bearing sidelines Pete

It has been a couple of weeks since the last post, but we've been very busy on many fronts. So I'll jump right into it.

In a routine engine check whilst testing last month we discovered we hurt the engine. With no spare engine, this means that we will be enjoying the races from the bleachers for some time to come. The engine must be shipped back stateside for repairs.

All in all, it could have been much worse, if the problem hadn't been identified and we had gone out to the track for another pass. An attentive team mate heard a faint noise and threw the red flag. After a quick telephone consultation with Jeff Dobbins in which he suspected our engine had spun a bearing, all we could do is load up and head home.

Luckily, as Pat Musi was testing with King Kong IV as well, we asked him to give us a hand and confirm our suspicions. Below you can see some pictures taken when he was trouble shooting the Sonny Leonard 762 c.i. hemi engine.

For those who don't know what a spun bearing is or how it occurs, usually it is caused by lack of oil during high rpm's. Since I shift well above 7,000 rpm and the car is puling some strong g-forces, there might have been a problem with the oil pick up. And on second thoughts, the oil we were running might have been a tad too thin.

A shout out goes to Stephen Maduro and Eric Felix for doing a superb job of identifying the problem. Great job guys!

Thanks for reading.

Photo credit: own files.