A very cool pair of reports, thanks for sharing them. You two are having just
too much fun!
Tony Drews wrote:
> Here's the version I sent to the Nascar fantasy cup league that I run
> stat's for:
>
> I had an excellent weekend at the track and don't think I have anything
> really expensive to fix afterwards. I do have a couple of repairs, though.
> We had 3 days of practice sessions culminating in the Sunday race. After a
> minor re-jetting of my carburetors, my dad and I had virtually identical
> speed cars. We spent most of the weekend drafting by each other. I think
> one lap we passed each other 3 times. What a gas! In the race, I was
> gridded on the inside of the 6th row, and he was on the inside of the 7th
> row. At the start, I got the jump on a car or two and put them between
> myself and the old man. But, in turn 5 I went wide through the kitty
> litter, kept it going and came back on the track right behind the old man.
> I eventually got by him, and going into turn one discovered that I had
> broken the gearshift knob off of the gearshift lever. Normally that
> wouldn't be a problem, but I've got an electric overdrive and the switch is
> in the gearshift knob. So, I grabbed the knob in my right hand and figured
> out where the switch was. I spent the next 5 laps driving with my left hand
> on the steering wheel and the right on the gearshift knob / lever. This is
> 100+ MPH through "the most dangerous corner in North America"... I wasn't
> going to give in, though. The old man and I traded places a couple of
> times, but I had a lead going into the last lap. I had him far enough
> behind that he couldn't draft by on the front straight, on the back
> straight, and then through the kink on the last major straight. Going into
> turn 12 (2 corners to go), I figured I had it - his next drafting
> opportunity would be past the start / finish line. Coming into the apex of
> turn 12, I found that my gas pedal was no longer connected to the
> carburetors - I had broken the throttle linkage. I pulled off and came in
> on the rope. Still, it was a rewarding, hero drive and my left arm's not
> too sore from turning the car. Amazing 'cuz I had to brace myself against
> the roll bar to keep it turned through the carousel each lap. We've both
> got in-car video that I haven't been able to play back yet - should be fun
> to watch. I'm going to try to edit it into a video so you are watching from
> the rearmost car most of the time so you can see all of the passing that
> occurred. At one point, we went through turns 5 and 6 side by side. What a
> battle.
>
> - Tony Drews
>
> At 09:00 PM 9/22/2003, Jack W. Drews wrote:
> >I wasn't going to report on this weekend's race, but I just finished
> >watching my in-car tape (again) and can't resist giving you some statistics.
> >
> >For those not familiar with "uncle jack's racing", it consists of son Tony
> >in a red and white TR4 and Dad in a blue and white TR4. The cars are
> >prepped quite differently but both are capable of about the same lap times
> >and speed. Both drivers are about equal, with me (ahem) being a little
> >better, of course.
> >
> >Well, anyway, this weekend saw us at Road America. I was gridded directly
> >behind Tony (must be a bad transponder) for the feature race of 8 laps,
> >which on this four mile course takes about 24 minutes.
> >
> >Now, we have all had great dices, but get this: Tony passed Dad five
> >times, and Dad passed Tony six times. That sixth one came when Tony's
> >throttle linkage broke just two corners from the finish. Of course it
> >broke because he was stomping the pedal 'way too hard trying to keep in
> >front of Dad. At least that's MY story. Passes came by drafting and
> >slingshotting on the front straight, passing inside and outside in corner
> >5, 6, and 12 -- we ran out of ways to do it.
> >
> >To be able to race this way with my son gives me almost more joy than I
> >can handle.
> >
> >uncle jack
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