Oregon Raceway Park Race Time

Posted on May 19, 2013 by jrhaile

Jared and I went down to AAF today before the Dyno Day to try and put the M5 back together and get it on the dyno. We got to the point of putting everything back together after 30 minutes but quickly found out, we were missing a gasket needed to do the job correctly. We could have RTVed the hell out of it but instead we waited and will do it right. Parts will be here Tuesday to finish the job and prepping the car.

We only have a few things to do to the M5 before ORP but lots to do on Adam’s E36 M3 before he runs it next weekend, looking forward to another busy week and hopefully running the Hard Motorsport E36 M3 with Adam.

The overlooked M3

Posted on April 25, 2013 by jrhaile

I spend so much time on the M5 that I often forget my M3 needs some attention too. Jared from Northwest AutoWorks spent an entire day installing Hard Motorsport fender flares, Garth Vadar Motorsports VMR 18×9.5 ET22 Wheels wrapped in 275/35 Michelin Pilot Super Sports. And Adam from Hard Motorsport showed up in his beautiful E46 M3 to help out too. Thank you both!

: Stopped at AAF to pick up rivets and found this beauty :)

: Adam’s sick E46 M3

: Adam’s sick E46 M3

: Adam’s sick E46 M3

: Wheels off on the M3

: Marking where the flares will mount

: The mark

: Going 3/4″ below the outline of the fender

: Punching the flares before drilling

: Drilling

: Jared cutting away

: Went and bought a cutting wheel

: Jared still cutting away

: Front cut out

: Rear cut out

: Front wheels on

: Jared welding

: Jared grinding

: Finally on the ground

: Picture I snapped yesterday while Downtown

: And washed up

AAF Dyno Day

Posted on April 21, 2013 by jrhaile

Went down and watched the AAF Dyno Day. Lots of cool cars and nice people, great event – Thank you AAF and Taste of India for the excellent food.

The Ridge Enduro Aftermath

Posted on April 9, 2013 by jrhaile

The last 5 days can only be summed up as crazy. Crew Chief Tommy Ridgeway and myself spent nearly every waking moment preparing the car for this Endurance test. And finally on Friday night we had the M5 on the ground and loaded up in the Hard Motorsport Trailer and we were on the road headed for Shelton, Washington.

Getting to The Ridge would not have been possible if it wasn’t for Hank, Dave, Rich and John at Advanced Auto Fabrication, Adam Harding from Hard Motorsport, Jared Correia of NW Autoworks, and Northwest BMW Club Members Jake Dunkin and Bryan Corder. And all of the upgrades for this race would not have possible if not for contributions from sponsors DataPro Solutions, Gary Stenzel of Spokane Family Law, Gareth Campbell of Garth Vader Motorsports and Jamie and Raza from RK AutoWerks. Thank you everybody!

Going into this race we only had 3 goals; Have fun, shake down the M5 for the ICSCC Season and finish. We accomplished 2 out of 3. An o-ring problem on the coolant manifolds plagued us all weekend and ultimately forced us to retire halfway into the race. The team did an amazing job on Saturday taking apart the intake plenums and thermostat housing to put in a make shift repair as we didn’t have the correct o-rings for the job. As racing goes, it’s always the small stuff and the fix didn’t last as we had hoped.

Before retiring, we were running 5th in class despite having missed qualifying on Saturday and starting from the back of the grid. Anthony Kalcounis drove an amazing first two hours and handed it off to myself (James Haile) right around the 2 hour mark. I had to bring it in after 50 minutes because I noticed the coolant tempature rising quickly. The leak from hell had returned and after pulling it around the wall and locating the leak, Tommy and myself decided not to risk the S62 and retire from the race 3 hours in.

We missed our last goal of finishing but the weekend was overall a great success. The team worked great together and I could not ask for more from the Hard Motorsport Racing Team. The pit stops went great and most importantly we all had a ton of fun and got to see our West Side racing family including Scott and Cam Norton.

Photo by Ron Standley – Thank you, Ron!

: RK AutoWorks Oil Cooler Installed

: EBC Orange Brake Pads

: Wheels courtesy of Garth Vader Motorsports

: Bryan Corder working on the M5

: Loading up

: Loaded

: Saturday morning

: The Ridge

: Jared filling up before practice

: Out of the trailer and ready to go

: James Haile going out for practice

: AAF and Bullet Racing

: Still thinking about our lost but never forgotten friend, Peter Berg.

: Adam Harding going out for practice

: AAF 3rd Place Finishers John Dashel and Craig Powell

: Dave from AAF and the Hard Motorsport Racing Team tracking down a water leak

: Back together after 90 minutes

: Jake Dunkin looks confused

: Team Dinner

: Anthony Kalcounis getting ready for the start of the race

: Hank repairing an issue on the AAF PRO3

: Will Cutter refueling during a pit stop

: Anthony freezing in the car

: Driver change with James Haile getting in

: James Haile and Tommy Ridgeway looking at data

: AAF PRO L2 Class Winner

The Ridge Enduro Preparation Updates

Posted on March 31, 2013 by jrhaile

One week to go until the opening day of the ICSCC Racing Season at The Ridge in Shelton, Wa. Our driver lineup has been finalized with James Haile, Adam Harding and Anthony Kalcounis of Calgary, Alberta. We plan to run the M5 Thursday at Spokane County Raceway and then pack it up and head to The Ridge on Friday. Test and Tune on Saturday at The Ridge and then the race starts on Sunday at 9AM and goes until 3PM.

The guys at Advanced Auto Fabrication have been very busy with the car building a custom S62 Heat Exchanger block-off plate, new aero parts, Differential and Transmission Coolers and more.

The RK AutoWerks Engine Oil Cooler will be here Tuesday for install and 2 more sets of wheels and tires will be delivered on Wednesday as well courtesy of Garth Vader Motorsports.

Gary Stenzel of Spokane Family Law has signed on for another year of sponsorship. Thank you very much Gary!

And finally DataPro Solutions has agreed to sponsor our Entry Fees into the The Ridge Enduro. Thank you DataPro Solutions!

Good things are happening. See you all next weekend at The Ridge.

: M5 on its way to Advanced Auto Fabrication.

: 2 New sets of VMR Wheels courtesy of Garth Vader Motorsports

: Dangling at AAF

: Primer on new bumper

: Base coat

: Finished product after clear

: Passenger side throttle-body cluster removed

: Intake runners installed

: S62 Modified Tstat housing by AAF

: S62 Heat Exchanger Block off plate by AAF

: Intake plenum back together

: New AAF Trans and Differential Coolers

: New AAF Trans and Differential Coolers

: The Advanced Auto Fabrication Shop

Racing at The Ridge, RK AutoWerks Joins RacingM5

Posted on February 18, 2013 by jrhaile

Oh what a crazy 7 weeks this is going to be. Because I am sick and can’t wait until May to run ORP, I have entered our M5 into the 6 Hours of The Ridge Enduro Race running on April 6th and 7th in the Unlimited Class. I have locked in Adam Harding from Hard Motorsport as the second driver and our good friend Scott Norton from Norton Racing Team as our 3rd driver. A 4th driver may be added but that’s still undetermined.

We have no unrealistic expectations about this race, we simply want to prepare the car as best we can, finish the race and most importantly have fun with our teammates and ICSCC friends.

I also want to say a huge thank you to Raza Khalid and Jamie of RK AutoWerks for their support for the 2013 Racing Season. RK AutoWerks produces the highest quality E39 M5 parts on the market including SuperChargers, CF Intakes, Oil-Coolers, Custom Built S62 engines and more.

RK AutoWerks Dual-pass E39 M5 Oil-cooler
RK AutoWerks MAFLess Dry Carbon Fibre Cold Air Intakes
AAF Transmission and Differential Coolers
Custom front splitter and rear diffuser
New built differential
Rear wing
Wheels
Tires
Tires
Tires
Tires
Tires
Tires
Tires

Racing M5

BMW E39 M5 Road Racing