Interim update for those that couldn't be there -
Spectacular day at BHF. Perfect 75 degree sunny day
after weeks of rain. Arrived to see the Sprites
tearing it up, with Flounder and Elmo running 1:33
times on the 1.9 mile track. And Flounder is doing it
with a 948 - he can beat the pants off the 1275's. I
don't care what you've done to your street car - he'll
beat the crap out of you. Forget all the fancy high
priced mods - he does it because he is the best driver
out there. I was constantly impressed all day. At
one point he came in and said "yeah, I overheated and
the car was missing on that last lap." Well, it was
his fastest lap of the heat. I also had the pleasure
of watching Team Thicko's Dr. Dreadful in his Porsche
almost catch a Rob Walker Ferrari. That gentleman can
drive. And I do mean gentleman - in real life about
the nicest guy you could meet. He's as calm as a
dentist on Prozac, but he lit up like a Christmas tree
when he talked about finding an extra second in his
car to catch the Ferrari tomorrow. There were a few
scary moments, with Roger "Lonely F**k" Heil stuffing
his beautiful (and FAST) Midget up to its firewall at
one point. Thankfully, he walked away.
So...for a Father's Day present my wife got me noon
touring laps. Pretty much the highlight of my
automotive life. Max allowable speed was 75 mph on a
tight track, so that was plenty for a street Sprite.
It was wild to be driving the Bugeye like a racecar
(trust me - on the street it is NOT the same). The
1275 pulled like all hell, and several time I looked
down to see I was spinnng the tach well beyond its
burial point on the 6000 RPM face, and I don't think
it went much below 5000 for the race. The car did ok,
even though it has 155 tires and drum brakes. At one
point I was running well with a Miata, and thought
he'd pass me on a straight. I waved him on but when
he pulled out he couldn't muster much of a pass.
Problem was at the end of the straight I had to stand
on the brakes about 100 feet sooner than he did, and
he zipped on by. It was hard to turn lap times with
all the traffic, but I got close to 2:00 at 2:03. I
had kids in the car at all times, so I couldn't push
it, but it was as fast as the car could deal with
anyway with the stock suspension and brakes. If I
don't go racing next year, it will be because I am
dead. I want more more more. The motor was fine
after all the abuse, but my lugnuts were extremely
loose on my right front, and there was a little axle
juice on one of my hubs. It is amazing the abuse the
real racecars take.
After the race stuck around for some of the Thicko
party. Great stuff, didn't get to meet all that many
people because the few I did struck up great
conversations that lasted a while. I had to get home
early, but look forward to tomorrow. If you can ever
get to a Vintage race, do it, do it, do it.
=====
Ron Soave
'60 Bugeye
'72 BGT
'87 325iS
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