First of all, thanks to the many well wishes I got for
track school today. Youse guys are all right.
In short, today was one of the most fun days of my
life. And it would NOT have been without Flounder,
Peter C., Louis Beverly, and Scott Didntgetalastname,
a customer of Peter's. The Midwest Council school is
very intense, with 7 racing sessions, and driver's
meetings after most of them. In short I had about
five minutes between meetings and gridding, and those
guys kept me on the track all day.
First time out "Conga Line" went well, with the
ex-Sidewinder car doing nicely. 2nd time out, I got
my ass chewed because, as the only Spridget, I was
getting passed by GT1 Camaros, Corvettes, u-name it,
and I was so fried I was getting way off line. Well,
the lesson hit home, and I picked it up quite a bit.
I felt better and better as the day went. In the 5th
race, a 924 was on my butt coming out of 5 at BHF, I
waved him on, but, for whatver reason, he pulled 1/2
length behind me, and clearly could not execute the
pass before 6. I had the line, trail breaked right up
to the chirp, go to hit the apex, and he just shot by
me. He went way off, then his tires hooked up and he
came AT me. I downshifted, got on the power heavy,
swung my ass outt of where he was going, and we both
lived to talk about it. The best part of my driving
day was on the next grid, a Steward came over to tell
me he'd have sh!t his pants if it was him, and that I
did great.
Anyway, as the day went it was more fun by the minute,
although I had some issues with power, but I learned
the lesson about exit speed by necessity. If I hit 7
right, I'd be at 6000 RPM at turn 1, otherwise I'd be
at 4600! For a bonehead reason, I had a 4.22 open diff
in there. By the end of the day, I was making Flounder
proud, sliding through 4 and 5, going a little deeper
into corners, and generally driving it like I stole
it. Flounder was excellent with advice, while letting
me find my own way. I was losing power toward the
end, and on my fastest (or least slowest) lap I could
only muster 1:47, but i had a blast doing it.
Flounder, I know I'll catch sh!t for this, but after a
lot of thought, I'm not racing tomorrow, family
reasons not being the least of it. If I was 200 miles
from home it'd been different. I had a great day
today, and I don't want to push it. Plus the field
for Vintage tomoorow is Corvettes and the like, and I
don't think I can take another day of waving people
past! Council Bluffs is the goal with new cam,
repaired axle leak, and the new cam.
And if anyone is wondering, Hoosier TDs are awesome
tires, but when it gets wet to the point where the
rain line doesn't work yet and the dry line is like an
ice skating rink, you can spin your car off the track,
even on a cooldown lap. Ask me how I know.
Ron Soave
=====
"Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, give up."
- Entire text of a commencement speech given by Sir Winston Churchill
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