On Tue, 9 Oct 2001 11:28:40 -0500 John.Deikis@med.va.gov writes:
> Dragged a Spridget to Watkins Glen to race SpecSprite?!
That would be me.
> I thought that was Texas action.
It is. We've got about 6 or 7 cars that are Spec-Sprites, or close to
it. The ranks are thinning, though, since only four or so show up for
any single race and some are going more general FP (like me) or just
getting frustrated trying to keep their cars on the track. Many of the
cars are kinda schlockly in preparation and aren't very reliable. I'm
going to put race tires on and prep the car a little bit more. I find
that I am running ahead of all the other Spec-Sprite cars anyway,
although frankly I'm not sure why. On the 2.9 mile Texas World Speedway
course I was a full 4 or 5 seconds a lap faster than the nearest
Spec-Sprite competitor. Yes, my car is completely legal, except for use
of a Petronix instead of points. The Grand Poobah of Spec-Sprite, Roger
Williams, has already cast me out because of the Pertronix (regardless of
the fact that no-one thinks it gives a performance advantage), so there
is no reason to keep it Spec-Sprite. I think at least part of the reason
I'm ahead of everyone is that I have had real race driving training (at
Bondurant).
> My Midget is prepared to Spec
> Sprite
> and (when it has a motor working) it generally has no one to race
> with...
Where are you racing? Come to Oklahoma at the end of the month and
you'll have someone to race with. See
http://www.corinthianvingtagerace.com
> Was there someone at the Glen playing the SpecSprite game?
Just me. No-one else had heard of it. However, that didn't mean I
didn't have people to race with. As a matter of fact, I had some of the
most thrilling racing I've ever had, with 40 cars in my group and I was
always running mid-pack. Interestingly, I managed to finish 16th overall
(out of 40) and 7th in GP (classed in GP because of the limited-prep
nature of a Spec-Sprite) out of about a dozen or so GP cars. I would
have placed 7th in FP, anyway, had I been classed there. And all of this
with street tires and a nearly-stock motor! I managed to pick off a
couple of Minis and had a great dice with a guy in the Collier Cup that
was driving a Midget on race tires. He'd out corner me, but I'd get him
on the straights. I think I had an aerodynamic advantage because he was
running full windscreen and hardtop. His name is Robert Peet.
Keep in mind, though, that Spec-Sprite in Texas is different than other
places, even though Roger Williams created the class in the first place.
We run with stripped out interiors and racing windscreens.
David Littlefield
'62 MGA MkII
'51 MGTD
'74 MG Midget vintage racer
'88 Jaguar XJ-S
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