if the bearings are bad this will affect the mesh yes you should be able to tell if the bearings are weak with a small screwdriver pry the cup up and down that the center driveshaft is in if there is upand down movement then the bearings are shot

Another tip for your next race is to find out how long you can run on one tank of gas. This will be helpful on determining when to pull in to pit....so bring a stop watch.

ok good advice, also bruce, I took my center diff out and inspected the bearings. They seemed good but very dirty so I cleaned them and lubed them up and also put some new oil in my diff and the play seems to have gone away. Cant wait for my new bell to get here so I can get her back together!

One more thing for a new racer: The most important result doesn't come on a sheet of paper or through an PA system at the end of the race. It comes from taking what happened during the race day from the time you started to prep till the when you were done marshalling and learning from it. As a new racer, your learning curve is very steep, but if you look at how you raced, and what you did well in addition to what could be improved, I'm sure the next time you go out and race you'll have even more fun and possibly improved results. Sometimes, you can have a bad day and still finish decent, where as you could race your but off, and run a good race by your standards and still lose by alot. Don't measure your success off the final sheets, but by your standards and see if you are able to push to be faster, having a car that's more reliable, and having a good time. Good luck.