Thickos one and all,
What a spectacular weekend for fall racing in Wisconsin. Thursday evening
was a "3 Dog Night", and I was 2 dogs short, so the furnace in the Team
Thicko Land Barge took up the slack. All 3 days were absolutely gorgeous,
and the fall colors seem to be just a little earlt, providing a beatiful
backdrop to the racing efforts.
The track was in great shape... very smooth... and that's a lot of blacktop
to keep smooth. Some of you may have read some corner worker placement
comments I made on the vintage list. The only other complaint was 3 lap (+
warmup... under what they call double white flag conditions... which mean
you can go ahead and pass, but remember stupid... you're on cold tires...)
practises on Sat. & Sun AM.
This event saw the debut of the newly revised Red Rat Bastard... still just
as ugly, lust a little less "sideways". It definately took some getting used
to have actual understeer to deal with. Also, a little more body roll than
I'd like with the new "softer" rear springs. Maybe it's just my perception,
but I suspect the rear tires lock up a little easier than before... maybe
I'm getting more forward weight transfer... which in theory should plant the
front end better. I didn't play at all with tire temps or pressures. best
time of the weekend was Sunday Am warmups, where Dr. Dreadful had me at a
3:04. Not under my 3:02 best, but after looking at my tires, acceptable. (I
bought Chris Ducklow's old tires because they were better than anything I've
got on the car...I'll run them at IRP because I hear that A70 13 Hoosiers
are out of stock everywhere right now...)
The 1 hour enduro for the grand sum of $5 has to be the best value in
vintage racing.
I managed a class win in the Enduro... which, the real challenge is just
finishing in one peice. An hour is a long time to spend at 7500 rpm...
I ran the USRRC challenge... (I was invited after I promised Elmo will be
Pam Shatraw's houseboy for a month). On lap 7 I think of a 9 or 10 lap race,
I was going at it prtty good with the #411 Silver 356... when coming in to
Canada Corner, I saw the temp gauge jump to 265. It had been creeping up
steadily all race, so I was keeping an eye on it. Upon inspection in the
pits, a compression check showed no ill effects, and we discovered that both
brass nuts holding the center branch of the header were MIA. So, no wonder
the plugs looked REAL lean. That's what perc'd the water out. She ran great,
no problems, 185 degrees during the feature for another class win. Craig
"Eddie Haskell" Bielat played Dale Earnhardt with me on the long
straights... inching up to a clear coat (as if the RRB had a clear coat)
between us, and draft pushing me dpwn the straights. We tried to put on a
good show for those that stayed late for the Group 2 race.
Some of the Spridgeteers came and brightend the place up... good to see
them.
Bob Brown, long time TT crew member even made an appearance. (I'm working on
nickname... be afraid... be very afraid...)
My only hairy moment was when Bill Dentinger spun the Tornado Thunderbolt
right in front of me in the kink. He managed to avoid the wall, and I
managed to avoid him.
The party was fun, although it ended early. Sometimes the candle burns
bright (and faster).
Thanks for all of you racers, crew and fans that made Thicko Village another
success.
And now the hype for IRP will begin...
Flounder
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