Good Mechanical Preparation is Essential —
Whether You Race or Simply Run your Family Around Town

Believe it or not, a sophisticated race car and the automobiles you drive every day have much in common — at least when it comes to preparing them for the road.

At Borelli Motor Sports, our ASE-certified mechanic, Scott Riechers, and his staff, haveextensive experience preparing a wide array of race and street cars. The cars serviced in the shop run the gamut from a Swift DB6 Formula Ford or Lola-Mazda T-616 GTP car that won the 24 hours of Le Mans, to 3400-pound historic NASCAR stock cars and a steady stream of regular and performance street vehicles.

Tips from the track

A key thing that the mechanic team at Borelli Motor Sports has learned is that you cannot take anything for granted. There are a number of items and areas that must be frequently checked for safety and preventive maintenance reasons, regardless of where or when your vehicle is driven. For example:

• Catch tank — As the name implies, a catch tank will collect and catch any excess fluid, (engine oil, coolant, transmission, and differential fluids) and either minimize leakage or prevent fluids from dripping on the track or in your garage. In addition, regular inspections of this catch tank can allow you to identify potential problems before they occur.


• Chassis/suspension inspections — High-performance cars are subjected to a significant amount of force. Your chassis is what keeps it all together — and keeps you safe. Periodic inspections of high-stress areas will enable you to spot small cracks before they become big trouble. An on-the-rack visual inspection from underneath is a must before you sign a contract for any vehicle you are considering purchasing.


• Gauges — Don’t just rely on your warning lights. They typically come on after it’s too late. Also, regularly check your belts and hoses for signs of wear or cracking, and monitor fluid levels and keep them topped off to manufacturer’s specs. Despite all the preventive maintenance measures, race car drivers are constantly reminded to check their gauges — and you should do the same.


• Fire safety — If you occasionally take your car out on the track, the smartest way to be safe is to use a rechargeable CO² fire suppression system. Recharging is fast and economical, and foam has proven to be the most reliable method to extinguish a fire and keep it out. For most street cars — where room and comfort are issues — installing a one-pound fire extinguisher capable of putting out electrical-, oil- and fuel-driven fires should provide that measure of insurance you hope you won’t need, but someday may require.

Logs and maintenance plans

Every race car that Scott and his team work on at Borelli Motor Sports has a detailed log book used to track maintenance and repairs. By regularly recording and reviewing this data over time, you can see the trends — good and bad — of your car’s performance.

This log becomes the basis for a well-designed plan of preventive maintenance. For race car drivers, this can be the difference between winning and losing. For you, it means safe, trouble-free driving — and nothing is more important than keeping your family safe on the road. Maintaining accurate service records will also ensure that you’ll get a fair price in this highly competitive market environment when it comes time to sell your car.

Borelli Motor Sports is your car maintenance expert

Let us apply what we’ve learned prepping hundreds of high-performance race cars to help your cars perform the way they should. For secure, climate-controlled storage — with a variety of first-rate services included or á la carte — come to Borelli Motor Sports. For more information, contact Ralph Borelli. E-mail ralph@borelli.com, or call (408) 453-4700.