Road to Redondo - SmartBall 2021, Harlem Edition

This will be where I journal my SmartBall 2021 experience for future days to confirm or refresh a fading memory from a time when I was directing my own adventures.

So, SmartBall for me began in May of 2019. It was at the end of my 2019 Brock Yates Jr. "One Lap of America" tour. I drove the entire tour, 8 days covering 5,000 plus miles. I drove my 2014 Smart Car dubbed "The Harlem Edition". I had a fantastic time running state to state with the pack of One Lap competition cars. I did not enter my Smart as a competition car. My goal was to see the event up close and then actually compete in 2020 's One Lap. By the end of that event it was fully apparent it would be near impossible for me to build a competitive Smart car. As Brock Yates Jr. said "find some horse power". Though there was a Smart Car that was entered Competitively years past, to me the only way to make it fun and not just be in the way out on the track would be to convince 5 other Smart Car owners to also run in 2020 and then we would compete against each other.
I quickly put that thought on the shelf and scrapped any plan to run One Lap in 2020 in the Harlem Edition.

With that I began thinking PCH. As the One Lap tour took us as far west as Nebraska, I figured the Smart would be up for the trip. And that is how I decided to take The Harlem Edition out west and run some Canyon roads and the Pacific Coast Highway from San Diego to Seattle.
2 weeks in May of 2020.

Then Covid 19 shut down the world..............

Instead of Redondo Beach. Why don’t you head, for smart madness, in Signal Hill California. 40 minutes South. smart car, candy store.

Covid-19 Paused the 2020 driving season. The Harlem Edition found its self confined to the tri-state area NY ,NJ and CT, but for one run down to Va to pick up a set of winter tires. (Those same wheels will be on the car for SmartBall although they are shod with Summer Tires.) But over the pandemic pause time. I was glued to Youtube watching cross country drives, PCH drives and most of all sports cars on the California canyon roads. With the false pride of saying "if it wasn't for this pandemic I would be driving those roads." Of course the CanonBall runs come into focus and with 2 record runs made during the shut down it came to notice that May 1971 was the initial year the first Brock Yates CannonBall route test run. 4 drivers in a Dodge Van and 40 hours and 59 minutes later the Cannonball run was an American Culture Icon. That makes May 2021 50 years.
During the pause, to get the Harlem Edition out to The California coast was a solid plan. But the cross country drive went back and forth from a nice easy drive with some Route 66 exploring, saving the car for spirited canyon road driving or a quick pace across country. Then conversations and post tuned the focus towards a CannonBall style run in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the of the first run with the Brock Yates van, and that became The May 6th 2021 SmartBall. A chat with Brock Yates Jr. (who was with his father as one of the 4 drivers of the Dodge Van in 1971) about a pack of Smart Cars running across the country prompted a giggle and prediction that it would be the "slowest CannonBall in history". .. WHAT..... a Villain is born....lol.. and the call to "BEAT THE VAN". hence the 40 hour pace I intend to run.

So now the car. My Smart was purchased with front end damage. I bought a new passenger fender, front bumper cover and service panel. I then duck tapped, screwed and Glued it all back together. Made it functional and pretty and had it that way for 2 years. It made it through the 5,000 mike's it took to follow the 2019 Brock Yates Jr "One Lap Of America" tour, and got in some laps on the Watkins Glen track during a Rally at The Glen Smart car event. About a month after the tour the cracked radiator support was now allowing the radiator fan to wobble and rub. Since all of my field surgery patch work would have to be removed to change out the radiator fan with a new one. I had the shop change any broken or damaged piece they came across. ..., They did $$$ and 7 days later I had a really nice riding fully serviced Smart 451. Plan was to massage it all winter and then Spring of 2020 take it to California coast and do some Canyon carving. All was on target ..... Then came Pandamainia...... So it has been and still is, a treasured daily driven, street parked, go to work, grocery getter restricted to the NY, NJ, CT tri-state area. It did manage a trip to Virginia to score a nice set of Alutec Grip 3 wheels with Continental winter tires. That blessing prompted me to sell my 17 inch Black Genius Darwin wheels and tires. It seemed like a long winter and in that there was some car neglect. I drove 6,500 miles on that oil change, double the usual 3,000 mile interval. Little nicks, scratches and bumper rash began to show through the normally. High waxed shine. Now I am fully vaccinated and with a break in the weather and my full commitment to The SmartBall run, can I get the Car cross country canyon carving ready? Or is it ready or not here we come time.

The Car; 2014 Smart Fortwo Passion Harlem Edition
1.0 3cl, 70hp @ 6500 rpm, 68 lb-ft torque @ 4500 rpm.
5 speed manual sequential shift transmission
Curb Weight 1808 lbs
Rear Wheel Drive
Stock Springs and Shocks
Alutec Grip 3 wheels 15x5 front, 15x6 rear
Kumho Ecsta PS-32 tires 185/55 15 front, 205/50 15 rear
Bendix Front Disc Pads, Bosch Rear Drum Shoes
Mobil 1 0w40 european formula oil
KnN Air filter
Premium unleaded fuel
Fuel Capacity 8.7 Gal
Exterior Black
Interior Black
Counter measures None
Cruise Control manual ankle angle application
Driving Strategy Speed limit plus 7mph alone or second fastest in flow of traffic groups.

Sponsor PMD Motorsports


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Well My Smart is just not happy with me right now Monday May 3rd, Running a little hotter then I'm use to. Although new pads (3 weeks old front and new shoes installed Sunday) ABS/Traction control issue has emeraged, I am not goint to do anything about that because car driving feel is soooooooo much better with abs traction control assist off. And its to late to have touch much poking around on the car before the run, a good mehcanic is bound to do something to put it out of service. I have been promising the car I would be putting on the new red undertray for months now Sunday the lift i intended to use was out of service and it was rainning so no laying on the ground to put it on was going to happen. So I dont see anytime left now to put it on for the trip. So my Smart is pouting and frowing at me, even started beeping and flashing lights at me for a key fob battery. So with two years of planing this west coast drive, I managed to have the car soooo not ready. There is only one way to handle these situations........ Zero out the credit card buy a new battery for the Key Fob and head out. We will sort it all out in California.

40 min later.. Well it's what I asked for and it looks good... Yes.. it is louder. As well as louder not a great tone, I'll will revisit the overall sound after we get to California. Changing my under dash sub woffer to an exhaust install at Smart Madness for sure. Lol. Now some Silverstar Ultra white H7 head light bulbs. Lucas injector gas treatment. Prolong engine treatment (just a dash in case I am running hotter) not gonna debate the merits of prolong its just in all my vehicles since 1995. replaced the Bosch envision passanger side wiper that has been loose since I broke it trying to install a year and a half ago. Dont want it to blow off and scratch the windshield. I also took out my KnN filter to clean it, it was very dirty. I replaced it with a STP filter. I'll wash it and let it dry re oil and install it at some point on the trip. I Had an appoint ment for 12 noon for a wheel alignment was told it would be pushed back to 230 to 3pm ...... cancle that another thing to deal with in California. It is rainning so flex tape is ready and at some dry point tomorrow I will sure up my undertray.