Mazda Motorsports: Prep-It-Yourself

Mazda Motorsports recently posted an article about DIY maintenance, including tips, tricks, and wisdom about being ready for the track, as well as how to have a good, easy-to-wrench-in spot at home. Our own mechanic Brian Falcon was quoted in the article and shares some solid insight!

“It might seem like a daunting task, but I wouldn’t get too nervous or anxious about [prepping a race car out of a home garage] because when we’re at the racetrack, we don’t have the comforts of a full shop," says Winding Road Racing mechanic Brian Falcon. "We have what we bring in our trailer [which is generally a full set of tools, scale pads, spare parts, generator and nitrogen]. We have to do gearbox swaps on our backs on the ground when we need to, so if you have to do the same thing in your garage, it’s not that bad of a task."

Todd Therkildsen, manager of Winding Road race services notes "You do, however, have to know what you're doing. I can't tell you how many cars we see in our race shops and at the track where work has been done incorrectly, leading to failures and bad handling. There is a lot of technical knowledge needed to get race cars set up right because the race track is a very demanding environment. If you have that experience it helps immensely." Therkildsen also notes that some jobs are just physically hard. "Alignments and gearbox changes, for example, really are two person jobs, so you will need a skilled helper," he observed.

Mark Nichols of Iron Canyon Motorsports based in Santa Clarita, CA offers up some good tips as well, such as utilizing battery and electric tools to cut down on noise, using a Bendpak Quick Jack, and having really good lighting.

Check out the article here.

What sort of tips and tricks would you offer up to someone who’s maybe new to wrenching on cars, particularly for HPDE or road racing? Or, have any tales of paddock wrenching that proved to be a ton of work, but paid off in the end?