Henry, I lost my front brakes at the Glen a few years ago (must be
somewhat contagious with TR's), but only after loosing the rears due
to a leaky rear axle seal. It was during qualifying, so I was able to
rebuild the front stuff, to make it through the race the next day,
with the still leaky rear seal. At least I knew to take it easy on
the brakes. I often find my self using them too much anyway, so it
taught me a lesson. Joe(B)
----- Original Message -----
From: Henry Frye <thefryes@iconn.net>
To: <fot@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2001 9:44 AM
Subject: The Glen
> The weather was spectacular, albeit a tad hot... The Triumph gang
ran well
> overall, with a few disappointments. I had a blast, but had my share
of
> hard luck.
>
> On Friday night driving the race car into town to participate in the
> festivities down town, I bottomed out hard on a steep elevation
change in
> the road. The resulting jolt caused the engine to shift enough to
open a
> hole in AN fitting for the Accusump feed. I dumped 3 quarts of oil
on my
> way down to Main Street. I was sort of wondering why that Corvette
behind
> me was staying so far back! The SVRA guys had arranged for wreckers
to be
> at the ready, so I was back at the paddock on a flatbed before the
running
> of the original road course even started. With the guidance of Russ
Moore,
> (put a Guinness or two in Russ's hand and he will provide all the
guidance
> you will ever need!) and the help of Russ's son Patrick, the pierced
> fitting was removed. Naturally I thought that finding a #12 AN 90
degree
> compression hose fitting at the track was a lost cause, but Russ
directed
> me to Kent Bain's outfit, Vintage Racing Service. Yup, they pulled
one off
> the trailer in 30 seconds... Even asked me to replace it at VIR as
opposed
> to paying cash money for it! After a few well placed swings of the
BFH
> modifying the engine compartment to insure this never happens again,
the
> new fitting was installed and we were back in business.
>
> This was the first race with a new header. In my haste I installed
the
> header without a heat shield. I suffered from poor hot starts all
weekend,
> and a significant drop on power as engine really heated up on track.
> Raising the hood pins and getting some additional air flow under
there once
> underway helped the power loss problem. In the false grid for the
feature
> race I could not get the engine spooled up until the grid was
emptying, so
> I was put out last. Not that I didn't enjoy myself immensely working
my way
> up the pack! Great fun until my brakes went away that is. I had
picked off
> a handful of cars and was setting up to pass my buddy Lane Malley in
his
> beautiful 356 in the boot. Lane braked a bit for the uphill right
hander,
> and I knew that I was not going to outpull him up the hill that
never ends,
> so the plan was to tuck in behind him on the line and get him before
the
> front straight. Problem was as I hit the brake pedal it went to the
floor.
> A couple of very fast pumps on the pedal and switching out of 3 OD
> prevented the contact I was expecting.
>
> I persevered, let a few cars I had passed get by me and found a big
piece
> of open track to play in. About 10 pumps gave me a little braking
action,
> so the pucker factor was not all that high. Took the checker and
clocked a
> 2:35 in traffic.
>
> I finished a couple spots lower in the grid that I should have if I
would
> not have had any problems, but had a great run and learned a few
things
> about excessive heat in the engine compartment and the calipers in
the
> process. I was down to 2:33 in the qualifying race with brakes, so I
was
> rather pleased.
>
> Nothing major to do before VIR next month, so life is good. See ya
at the
> races!
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