...this could also be called: "Michael 'Tripod' Carion's day at the
track"
....or: "Calspeed pulls a Currington"
Yesterday (9/27) was a "Test Day" for the Checkered Flag Racing
Association at Thunderhill Park in Willows, Ca. The weather was
pretty decent, except for the persistent 40mph wind blowing from the
north. Maybe the wind had something to do with the disaster which
would occur later....
It was a private event, with maybe 50 cars in attendance. One of
those cars, just maybe the prettiest of the bunch, was Calspeed
Carion's Blue 67.5 2000. Another of those cars, just maybe the
ugliest of the bunch, was my '72 240Z (by special invitation of
Calspeed - thanks again, Michael!). There were also a number of
Panteras, C5's, Boxters, 993's (or whatever the 911 is called these
days), Miatas, and the odd smattering of Integras and Civics.
The day started about 8:30 or so with low(er) speed laps to get to
know the course. For those of you who have not been there, done
that, it's a three mile course with some fun (read=scary) elevation
changes. http://www.thunderhill.com
After running my car around the track for about twenty minutes, I
had the opportunity to ride around the track with Calspeed. WOW!
That thing had sooooo much grip through the corners, I thought I was
going to be forcibly ejected;-]
First real track session for us came about 10:00 or so... After some
reorganizing of the pack, I wound up behind Calspeed, and he behind
his brother in a C5. We were COOKIN! Probably not supposed to be
going that fast on the first round, but hey, I had a "Class A"
Driving Instructor, and if he wasn't scared, I guess we were okay;-)
Lap after lap we screamed around the track, having a blast. At
turns two and three, my instructor kept commenting, "Wow, Michael
sure is going high through there"....
Eventually I let a faster car by, and it wasn't more than two turns
later that we noticed yellow flags out at the corners. And hey,
what's that huge cloud of dust over there?
That huge cloud of dust was none other than Calspeed Carion. Off
the track. Backwards. Listing like the Titanic. Did he get blown
off the track by the gale force wind?
Flags of black soon followed the yellow ones, and we were done for
the session. Out went the tow truck, and after an interminable wait
in came the 2000, rear in the air, Michael riding high like a
bronco-buster. And whoa, what's up with that right rear tire? Oh,
hey, it's not there. Hmmm, that's not quite right. It's
*partially* there. The WHEEL was broken into three pieces!
The car was dropped off in the parking lot, and inspection and idle
gossip ensued. Seems that the corners that my instructor had
commented on finally did poor Calspeed in. Yup, spun 'er right on
out. Off the track, into the dirt, somewhere along the way breaking
the wheel to smithereens. Wow. Busted the brake drum into three
pieces too. Double wow!!
A closer look at the car revealed no major damage beyond the wheel
and drum... except, his beautiful exhaust cone stuffed full of race
track. Talk about adding insult to injury!
Michael was a sport about the whole thing, and remained at the track
for the rest of the event, though his involvement was confined to a
stopwatch....
I had my Z there, so it's not really on topic, but I gotta say, for
a car that had never seen the track before, it really tore it up.
Oh yeah!
My day was just awesome - big BIG thanks to Calspeed for the invite!
____ Kyle Hagemann, Born-Again Grease Monkey From Beyond
_.;(____\____ 72 240Z, L28, 5spd, poly, etc. - The Z-Beast
| _ | | _'@`, 69 2000, U20, shagadelic baby! - El Projecto
`-(#)------(#)-< 84 Maxima, 280ZX in sedan disguise - Mr. Max
http://www.sonic.net/~kyle 240Z tech info, Win95/8 theme, etc.
"Blessed are the Car Guys."
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