FOT and other Friends,
It was Great!
Where could you want to be more...Road America for VSCDA's Elkhart Lake
Vintal Festival.
Sunshine and 60s when it was important that it be sunshine & 60s.
There were 7 Triumphs on the track...6 TR4s and 1 Thunderbolt. All
Triumphs that started the race, finished the race! This has to be some
kind of record.
Personal lap time records fell all over the place as well.
There is report that Sean pulled a 2:56.8 during the enduro. Not
entirely surprised. A lot of pent up competitive juices reside within
Sean. When brother Mark left the Pit lane for the second half of the
enduro, poor old #197 was smoking somewhat...time to change those 5 year
old rings, eh?
Mike Jackson will not have to hear me whine any longer about the
Hoosiers. We made some minor changes to the suspension and I ran 27# in
the tires for qualifying. We changed the pressure to 26# in the front
and 28# in the rear. The handling seemed to fairly neutral to perhaps a
little understeer. I did not press the envelope as far as I have in the
past (while I gain some more confidence in the tires) and still ran a
personal best lap. The tires seemed to "go away" a bit in the final
laps...or I was.
Bill Dentinger came to play in the Thunderbolt. This TR powered
lightweight is clearly faster in the straight and we diced at Bill's
pleasure. Then he went to play with Jack Drews for awhile. Class act! He
could have gained a couple of positions more in the race and but chose
to do otherwise.
I introduced Bill to my mother as "Father Dentinger" as he was wearing a
black shirt at the Friday dinner. Knowing I could depend on him to do
something funny, he didnt disappoint me. The girl carrying the dinner
rolls went by and he shouted at her "nice buns!!!". My mother didnt
flinch, but I did notice her eyes glaze over. About twenty minutes late
she said, "is he really a priest"?
Group 2 (our group) apparently behaved quite well. Duck Waddle (Skip
Barber Instructor) watched with great interest and was highly
complementary. There was some contact among the leaders and there was a
report of some activity at the "Kink" but he said that Group 2 ran a
clean race. I respect Duck's opinions...Many of you know him from his
many years of competition and driver instruction, eh Hardy? (he said to
say hi)
Our Team Thicko friends were there enforce. WST drove well & finished
well, and didnt change a single head gasket. He does plan to contract
for some Motorhome Driving Lessons from Duck, however. (We hope all of
those pieces go back on the side of motorhome as they should)
'Friends of Triumph' racing representation included Bob Wismer, the
Drews, and the Alexanders. FOT guests included Jim Hill (TR6 WIP), Irv
Korey (TR4 WIP), and Greg Petrolati (TR4 autocross) John Fridirici was
there, too...but driving his new Mustang Shelby 350 instead of his TR3.
I hope I am not forgetting anybody...I am a little groggy from my 2:15AM
arrival last night.
High jinks? Yes! Jack Drews brought a full sized cutout of Boby Rahal
with the likeness of Phil Hill superimposed on it, supplied by Dave
Tedore. Phil stood at attention at our canopies most of Saturday and
Sunday. Very entertaining to passerbys. It did find it's way to Mr. Hill
for an autograph. He took a look at this cutout bearing his likeness and
exclaimed "where did you get that!", while amused and a bit perplexed.
I explained and he autographed. A hoot. Phil Hill is a very gracious
individual.
A high point of the weekend was the attendance of my family, including 4
generations of Alexander's. A low point might have been the flat tire
on the trailer at the MN/IA border at midnight Sunday with my 83 year
old mother...but it wasnt. Everything came together and I was rolling
again in 15 minutes.
This is the season's end for us. Ended on a high note. Thanks VSCDA.
Cheers...see you at IRP. We may be there to watch.
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