Hopefully, I can interupt the Kart debate with my little tale. Ever
have one of those weekends where you feel like quitting the sport? I
had a touch of that in Milwaukee this past weekend. I loaded the
freshly shod Neon in the bus rig and headed down to the Milwaukee region
Novice Instruction day, the event having been previously delayed by a
freak snow storm earlier in April. (A freak snowstorm in Wisconsin in
early April...yeah right) I had hoped that helping out with some
instructing once again would be like paying a sacrifice to the Autocross
gods so that thier devine light would would shine favorably on me this
year.
Things were going well until while on a short instructional run, I heard
the destinct and decidedly sickening sound of metal rapping against
metal somewhere up there under the hood. Hmmmm, "not good" was my
initial thought. "*&$%@$$*&^#$*&%" was my next thought. I parked the
dead cow and just got one of those feelings like "Is this all worth
it?" Why do I drive these stupid distances? Spend all this money and
time? It's not like I have a lot of disposable income to be throwing
around at tires that last rediculously short lives. Or on cars that
blow up. I really felt like putting a for sale sign on everything right
there, not that I could get a lot for it, and just finding something
else to do.
I was doing a sort of maiden voyage in my bus, sleeping at the site on
Friday and Saturday nights. Several other minor things had broken as
well (normal teething pains) and started to feel as though I was being
picked on. If it wasn't for a very nice bunch of folks helping me to
load up my car into the bus, I would have surely went home immediately.
(Thank you ALL) The club folks wanted to leave some stuff at the site
overnight for a Sunday event, so I agreed to stay for another day. I
might as well try to catch a ride the next day as long as I was down
there.
Steve Wynveen was very kind in allowing me a co-drive in his very clean
'94 SS Turbo RX7. I have never even driven a car with this much
horsepower, and his is well prepared, so I could hardly resist. I will
say at this point that I will now always have a soft spot in my heart
for this car...it has reminded of my love for the sport. This thing
spoke to me. It said "please don't go....pleeeeze drive me fast...I'll
whatever you want me to.. dive me into this tight left hander..let's
slide a little here...dig a little there, I'll do it...spool me up and
I'll hole-shot you down the back slalom at 80 mph like being launched
from a cannon... then I'll put your head into the windscreen at the end
of it...c'mon let's dance!" Yikes this thing was fun! Oh yeah, that's
why I do this. It is so pure and simple in purpose, yet complex and
mentally challenging, and always such a raw thrill. Can't explain
it...I love this stuff.
Anyway, sorry to bore you all with this all. I mainly wanted to thank
Steve for this opportunity...I really felt like I would be very
discouraged at this point otherwise. One thing about Steve...some
people fold up and get discouraged when getting beat in their own car,
and some people step up to the plate and get better. Steve is an
excellent driver, but showed he is a great driver by stepping up to the
plate and knocking around 1.5 seconds of his fastest time after watching
me run his car. Great attitude make a great driver. I still feel very
badly about my little Neon. I am trying to locate a replacement engine
now, (it is my daily driver too) and will unfortunately miss you all at
the Peru Pro. Fortunately, that opens up a spot for someone else.
(Sounds like it is overbooked) Don't forget to have fun!
Pat
|