Dick Tillinger, despite many woes over the weekend, took first place in his
class and 2nd overall in the Group 3 race. In all there were about 40+ cars
gridded for the race which included Tom "Iron Butt' Phelan in his 2000 and
the "Doc" in his 2000 which was being campaigned for the first time since
the early 80s.
Dick gridded 5th for the race and got a great jump on the start and was in
1st place for most of the first lap until being overpowered by an Elva
Courier close to the end of the first lap. He battled throughout the race to
remain in 2nd place with cars hot on his tail. He was eventually able to
pull away a little from the rest of the field by using his many years of
racing experience and of course the superior power and handling of the
Roadster.
As Dick told us, it was the first time he led a lap at any major race, in
the dry, as he was usually overpowered by other cars in different classes
that he ran with. Judging by viewing his prior races over the weekend, he
probably took first place by late braking and sheer guts. Unfortunately I
didn't see the start of the race as I was in another part of the track, but
all of us Roadster guys and gals went crazy when we saw him leading the race
as he passed us.
Dick looked like an Olympian with all his medals - 1st in class and 2nd
overall. I'm sure it was one of the highlights of his racing life judging by
his reactions. Later that night we all celebrated by drinking some of his
'victory' champagne (no, it wasn't French).
Tom also did very well and passed many cars during the race and he had a
fierce battle with a beautiful Porsche 356. Tom hounded the Porsche for
several laps until the Porsche driver made a mistake (probably because of
Tom's incessant hounding) and Tom took advantage of the error and passed
him. The Porsche driver, wanting no more of Tom and his Datsun, backed off.
What was so great is that the Porsche had more power and better brakes but
Tom's excellent driving skill made up for those deficiencies. And just to
think that Tom's first ever race was at Summit Point less than a year ago.
Great going Tom!!!!
Mike Unger also raced well in his 240Z beating all of the other 240/260/280s
(about 6 in all) in his race, including several which raced in another class
because of extensive modifications. Mike used his extensive racing
experience and the excellent preparation he lavished on his car to achieve
his great result. I wish I knew more about his race but I forgot :(
It was great to see all of our Datsun buddies, including many who I did not
mention, racing. In 1987, when the first Roadster Meet at the Glen took
place, there was but one Datsun racer - Dick Tillinger. It's great to see
many more participating.
Go to your race weekends and support the racers as they really do appreciate
it!!
Les Canaday made an appearance at the Glen and entertained all of us with
his great racing stories and other great stories, as well as amazing us with
his knowledge of Datsun trivia. Nice to see ya Les. Come back soon. BTW,
thanks for the gift certificate which I won.
There were many other events for the Datsun crowd including a wine tour,
museum tour and our Saturday night party and raffle.
A great thanks to Dean and everyone else who donated raffle prizes.
Great weather too :)
Mike
PS - When Dick examined his car after the race he noticed his front tires
had their cords exposed!!!! I'm sure with fresher tires he would have given
the Elva an even better run.
PPS - On a sad note, my friend Chris Gross who campaigns a 59 Bugeye, had
his car wiped out by a Spitfire :(
Chris was a National SCCA Champ in the early 70s while campaigning a Mini.
His beautiful Bugeye is a crumbled mess. Anyone know of a donor body?
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