Alexander Joseph H wrote:
>
> FOT and other Friends,
>
> It was Great!
>
> Where could you want to be more...Road America for VSCDA's Elkhart Lake
> Vintal Festival.
>
> Sunshine and 60s when it was important that it be sunshine & 60s.
>
> There were 7 Triumphs on the track...6 TR4s and 1 Thunderbolt. All
> Triumphs that started the race, finished the race! This has to be some
> kind of record.
>
> Personal lap time records fell all over the place as well.
>
> There is report that Sean pulled a 2:56.8 during the enduro. Not
> entirely surprised. A lot of pent up competitive juices reside within
> Sean. When brother Mark left the Pit lane for the second half of the
> enduro, poor old #197 was smoking somewhat...time to change those 5 year
> old rings, eh?
>
> Mike Jackson will not have to hear me whine any longer about the
> Hoosiers. We made some minor changes to the suspension and I ran 27# in
> the tires for qualifying. We changed the pressure to 26# in the front
> and 28# in the rear. The handling seemed to fairly neutral to perhaps a
> little understeer. I did not press the envelope as far as I have in the
> past (while I gain some more confidence in the tires) and still ran a
> personal best lap. The tires seemed to "go away" a bit in the final
> laps...or I was.
>
> Bill Dentinger came to play in the Thunderbolt. This TR powered
> lightweight is clearly faster in the straight and we diced at Bill's
> pleasure. Then he went to play with Jack Drews for awhile. Class act! He
> could have gained a couple of positions more in the race and but chose
> to do otherwise.
>
> I introduced Bill to my mother as "Father Dentinger" as he was wearing a
> black shirt at the Friday dinner. Knowing I could depend on him to do
> something funny, he didnt disappoint me. The girl carrying the dinner
> rolls went by and he shouted at her "nice buns!!!". My mother didnt
> flinch, but I did notice her eyes glaze over. About twenty minutes late
> she said, "is he really a priest"?
>
> Group 2 (our group) apparently behaved quite well. Duck Waddle (Skip
> Barber Instructor) watched with great interest and was highly
> complementary. There was some contact among the leaders and there was a
> report of some activity at the "Kink" but he said that Group 2 ran a
> clean race. I respect Duck's opinions...Many of you know him from his
> many years of competition and driver instruction, eh Hardy? (he said to
> say hi)
>
> Our Team Thicko friends were there enforce. WST drove well & finished
> well, and didnt change a single head gasket. He does plan to contract
> for some Motorhome Driving Lessons from Duck, however. (We hope all of
> those pieces go back on the side of motorhome as they should)
>
> 'Friends of Triumph' racing representation included Bob Wismer, the
> Drews, and the Alexanders. FOT guests included Jim Hill (TR6 WIP), Irv
> Korey (TR4 WIP), and Greg Petrolati (TR4 autocross) John Fridirici was
> there, too...but driving his new Mustang Shelby 350 instead of his TR3.
> I hope I am not forgetting anybody...I am a little groggy from my 2:15AM
> arrival last night.
>
> High jinks? Yes! Jack Drews brought a full sized cutout of Boby Rahal
> with the likeness of Phil Hill superimposed on it, supplied by Dave
> Tedore. Phil stood at attention at our canopies most of Saturday and
> Sunday. Very entertaining to passerbys. It did find it's way to Mr. Hill
> for an autograph. He took a look at this cutout bearing his likeness and
> exclaimed "where did you get that!", while amused and a bit perplexed.
> I explained and he autographed. A hoot. Phil Hill is a very gracious
> individual.
>
> A high point of the weekend was the attendance of my family, including 4
> generations of Alexander's. A low point might have been the flat tire
> on the trailer at the MN/IA border at midnight Sunday with my 83 year
> old mother...but it wasnt. Everything came together and I was rolling
> again in 15 minutes.
>
> This is the season's end for us. Ended on a high note. Thanks VSCDA.
>
> Cheers...see you at IRP. We may be there to watch.
In having fun last night I forgot to include my little embarassment in
December. In November I replaced the 45 year old wooden overhead garage
door in my attached garage. It fell apart as we were removing it.
Three weeks later while backing the big black beast in, I failed to
notice that the garage door had gone up but had somehow started back
down again. The cab (above my line of sight) contacted the lower panel
of the door and proceeded to destroy the 2 lower door panels and ding up
the cab roof. Since it was a custom made door due to the no-standard
height, it took 6 weeks to get the replacement panels and then I had to
do what I tried to avoid. Install a garage door the first week in
February when the temperature was ZERO! I subscribed to some lessons
from my next door neighbor who drives an 18 wheeler, and have considered
adding a periscope device on all vehicles. Does anyone know if JC
Whitney has them somewhere in their catalogue????
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