[Spridgets] Elkhart Lake Weekend (Pt 2 of 3)

[Ron Soave]

Larry, Frank and Peter arrived Friday AM. I must comment that of all the cars at Elkhart, I don't think there was one more photographed than Larry's Austin A60 Ute. You can't help but smile. I had left a few things undone (clutch adjustment and bleed, tranny fluid change, brake pads...), but got them done Thursday night at the track. Frank looked remarkably bored at first, but once the first practice session was over there was plenty to do, capped by an engine tug and clutch change on Jeff's car. White Trash was running a little funky at first, with EGTs about 100F too high that were easily rectified by undoing all the dyno adjustments we made and going back to my initial settings. The car truly ran like a raped ape the rest of the weekend. The car needs to be restored and I will be prepping a new car, "White Trash Too", for next year, but me and that car wring more out of each other than we have a right to. 

Jim Johnson and his nephew Chris Streit, an amazingly talented Porsche racer who's driving I always admired when he ran with VSCDA before getting more competitive, rolled in separately mid-afternoon Friday. After the clutch pull, we all went to downtown Plymouth to DeOmally's pizza pub for a great meal and a lot of laughs. We finished at 52 Stafford, a 120 year old Irish Pub where I also happened to be bunking (free cookies and an Irish Pub downstairs; extra credit when a place plays to your favorite vices).

Saturday was a great day of racing and camaraderie, with Dave Woerpel, David Lieb, Scott Sprangers, Chris Manuel, Flounder, and many other paddock guests. We went downtown to the Vic Village for a few before heading to the Gathering on the Green concours show complete with Flounder and his big band playing smoking hot swing music, absolutely top drawer. I'll leave it to Jim to comment on the appropriateness of the venue we've got for the 50th. 

pt 3 coming