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(a long) Watkins Glen Race Report... a month late

To: fot@autox.team.net
Subject: (a long) Watkins Glen Race Report... a month late
From: joe dirt <oldskooling@yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 18:53:10 -0700 (PDT)
Well this race report is about a month too late. But I may as well type one up 
anyway. As Henry already stated Dick Stockton did show up loaded for bear. Dick 
told us when we all arrived that the car was running the best it ran all 
weekend during the test n tune Thursday. He was able to hang with some 
Porsches who he said only seemed to be about a second to a second and a half a 
lap faster than him. I think its safe to say whose Porsches those were, but 
since no one was keeping time who knows how hard they were pushing it.

            During the first qualifying session in a node to last year the top 
radiator hose came off AGAIN. A teardown later showed that the #3 cylinder was 
scored. Dick made the decision that he would run the Qualifying race since he 
had managed to get a few laps in before the rad. hose came off. Even though he 
only clicked off a few laps during all the qualifying sessions he still had the 
fastest DP lap time, and was fast enough to start 7th overall behind some 
Porsches, a wicked Datsun, an Alfa, and a uber fast Spitfire. The race within 
itself was uneventful except for the fact that the motor developed a misfire 
that caused him to lose positions to 3 other cars during the course of the 
race. The car did manage to see a checkered flag for once so we were all happy. 

            The featured race started late do to incidents throughout the day 
(starting with the enduro first thing in the morning,). A few of the Porsches 
didnt show up on the grid, so everyone gained 2 spots, and then another when 
another car dropped out on the first lap. The start was uneventful. The next 
time by it was Skirmants, Tillinger, Swanson, in the lead and then Dick 
Stockton. Dick managed to pick off three cars on the first lap of the race ( a 
Ginetta, an Alfa, and a the TR3 of Randy Williams). From our vantage point on 
pit wall Dick managed to stay ahead of that snarling pack and actually seemed 
to be pulling away from them slightly. Then on the last lap, where told he 
missed a shift and lost a spot or two, and then somewhere between turn 11 and 
12 one of those darn Moss Motors oil pumps decided to chuck the pin and jam the 
oil pump. Everyone blew by him in the last turn due to this. Though he still 
managed to finish the race. The motor promptly seized after the start
 / finish line b.t.w. Tear down report after the race showed that the #3 
cylinder had actually lost a piston skirt at some time during the course of the 
weekend too. But the oil pump was an entirely different incident 

             I myself had a great time. I met some very nice folks, Jeff Snook, 
Henry Frye, Bruce Stutzman, Ted Shumacher to name a few. The weather was great 
and we were around some fantastic cars all weekend. As for a post-race teardown 
report, Dick Stockton believes he has the misfire fixed, and depending on how 
much a rebuild costs due to a faulty oil pump the car may sport a new paint job 
for next year. So between a misfire at WOT, a scored cylinder, a worn out 
camshaft, and 3 year old Vintage TDs he managed to run some respectable times 
(2:24s). Hopefully with a motor that is at 100%, and some better tires (non 
Vintage TDs) the car will be quite a bit faster. 

 

-Bob Adams

 

PS: Rumor has it Henry Frye is experimenting with 2 Sus on his car. Keep us 
updated Henry ;)


                
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