Tom Patton and Team Tiger had a great week at the 1997
Runoffs. The car ran fast all week, with Tom setting his fastest ever lap
in Wednesday qualifying. He was on the front row one tenth of a second
off the pole sitting defending nine time champion in the Toyota. As in
previous years the start would be critical. This time Tom was on the
front row with know one to block his move to the front. As expected Tom
took the lead at the start. The crowd loved it. He pulled away to a good
5 car lead and started to settle in to a rhythm that would maintain the
lead but allow his tires to warm up and get stronger as he used up his
fuel load. He turned his quickest consecutive laps ever at this his home
track as he lead the first 7 laps. On lap 8 in turn five the car just
quit. He tried to restart.Engine turns over, good oil pressure but no
fire. Upon return to the garage we find that the coil wire to the
distributor has come off. Watching the in car video tells us it was loose
from the start because you can hear it in the audio. It finally fried the
coil. No it was not the ending we had hoped for after a great week and as
many of you know a challenging season with the crash at Road America. Tom
will be back for another try in 1998.
|