Hmmmm.... I'll stay with my VARA FP "bugeye"... Seems Spec Sprite is a good
idea that is just not working out as well as expected. 8-(
Jacques Le Clainche
1985 Mazda- SCCA Spec RX7- road racing
1981 Mazda- SCCA Spec RX7- road racing
1960 Austin Healey "Bugeye" Sprite- VARA FP- Vintage road racing
-----Original Message-----
From owner-spridgets at autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-spridgets@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of David Littlefield
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2001 10:41 AM
To: John.Deikis@med.va.gov
Cc: spridgets@autox.team.net; mgtd2@aol.com
Subject: Re: Spec Sprites
On Thu, 11 Oct 2001 11:26:34 -0500 John.Deikis@med.va.gov writes:
> The issue with Spec Sprite is that it has some wierd things allowed
> and not
> allowed: like you can run
> a welded rear end (street car?) and cut down windshield, but not DOT
> race
> tires. In fact, the
> spec tire is some oddball Firestone.
And therein lies a story. Another reason I am upgrading out of
Spec-Sprite is that the "rules" are subject to the whim of one man (in
Texas, anyway). He likes a welded rear end, so they become part of the
rules. Used to be you couldn't use a quarter-elliptic car. But guess
who got a quarter-elliptic car and now they are legal? Guess who also
runs with four-wheel disc brakes? He has repeatedly told me I don't have
a Spec-Sprite because I have a Pertronix ignition in an otherwise
completely legal motor, yet his buddies have shaved heads and other
performance cheats that he turns a blind eye to. His own deviations he
excuses because he is "just a back-marker anyway..."
Spec-Sprite isn't really even a real class. None of the vintage racing
associations recognize it as such (including CVAR), so you are running as
an FP car, anyway. SVRA actually put me in GP at Watkins Glen because of
the limited performance mods and the street tires. So your satisfaction
in being in the "class" is entirely derived from your enjoyment of dicing
with the others in the class. Which is a good thing, actually, or else
you are taking it way too seriously and should be in SCCA. SCCA is now
running a Limited Prep class that is very similar to Spec-Sprite, by the
way. It does allow race tires and a few more performance mods, but not
many. I would need to alter my roll cage for that class, but I'm
thinking about it.
I'm not bitter, although it may sound like it. I consider this fellow to
be a friend of mine. He helped me rebuild my transmission for my
racecar. He is a school shop teacher that instructs troubled kids, and
building Spec-Sprites are part of his projects for doing that. He is
really a good guy. There just isn't any advantage whatsoever for me to
be in Spec-Sprite anymore. There are only a couple of good drivers and I
find I'm way ahead of them most of the time. It was a good way to start
out, though. Why burn up a good set of race tires in a season when you
are learning? You'll not use their full capability for at least your
first season, anyway.
The Firestones were chosen because the fellow mentioned above needed
tires for a race and pulled into a Firestone dealer to see what they had.
It is an OK tire. It is speed rated and it is really cheap. In a spec
class the tire is irrelevant as long as it is the same for everyone. I'm
going with race tires to compete more with other FP cars and because I
plan to race outside of Texas, too.
> Driving against others, wheel to
> wheel, on a track is more fun for me than a couple of stewardesses
> in a bathtub of raspberry jello.
Where do I sign up for a comparison!?
David Littlefield
'62 MGA MkII
'51 MGTD
'74 MG Midget vintage racer
'88 Jaguar XJ-S
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