Foxey Bobs Racing

What was once the gateway to the west for our wagon traveling brethren, was the gateway into full blown track driving for Foxey Bobs Racing.

Unfortunately it almost wasn’t, but as it turns out a few strokes of bad luck may have really been the saving grace of the Foxey Bobs Sti.

Final prep started at the beginning of the week prior to the event.  While most was going smoothly, by the end of the week things were just getting back  together.  Thursday night before the event it was someone’s bright idea to test fit some different wheels.  Well the now five year old wheel studs in the rear decided to fail, and the late night frantics began.  Of course it was about nine that evening, so there wasn’t much to be done.  With the Foxey Bob’s crew still needing to put in a day of work at their daily 9-5 on Friday, things got TIGHT after the 3:30 clock out.  Needless to say, workable studs were found and promptly multiple installed in the rear.  With the rear wheels back on, attention was turned to the fronts and as the last lug goes on – it strips!  Of course all the extras studs had been used up.  This could have been the final nail in the “this isn’t going to happen this weekend coffin” but a delivery driver was commissioned, and with new studs on the way the crew was playing the waiting game.  While waiting for new studs, it was discovered the clips for the brake pad retaining rods were left off the front!  What surely would never have been found without the stud failures, was quickly resolved.  A few more new studs later, and the STi was loaded up, and it was off to get to St. Louis before the sun came up.  Oh, and of course the brakes were bedded on the way down!

Rolling off about 4 hours of sleep and a rockstar or two Brian took the ten minute journey  from the hotel in Illinois,  to the track in St. Louis.  With the sun coming up on a beautiful Saturday morning, He found himself at the track, teched, and ready to run.

While the day got off slow start, things got up to speed quickly.

For those that have never been, Gateway was run as a roval, using half the nascar track, and then the infield.

Gateway Satellite Image

As this was Brians first time back on track in a few years, Saturday was a day taken a little slowly (there’s a lot of concrete around this track!) But things were going well, and He was getting faster by the end of the day, but how long could all this last?  The answer was until the last run of the day.  The Sti  was low on fuel, with no full fuel cans left – but it was thought he should have enough to finish off the event.  Well, he did, but unfortunately had a backfire blow out an exhaust gasket.  He spent the rest of that Saturday evening hunting through the local parts store’s gasket bins.  The STi was fixed in the Hampton Inn parking lot , and things were good to go, at least for another day.

Sunday was another good day.  Brian was pushing the STi harder, but was really over working the poor tires.  The STi was sporting older Azeni 615′s and while they were holding up better than expected, they were a little on the unpredictable side.  The brakes held up well, with no issues on track, though Brian managed to turn the right front caliper into the classic “brown-bo.”

Other than that, Brian was impressed with the feel of the car, as the suspension was pretty close to stock, only running some springs, and anti-roll bars.  Otherwise, he didn’t have much else to say stating that he’d tell us more, when there was more to tell.