MOTRAH was the best overall vintage event I have attended in the four years
I've been racing! GREAT track, super organization, very friendly folks, and
best of all, lots of TR'S and other British makes. Also, met many of the
legends in our trade, like Kas and had a chance to see the many well engineered
Triumphs out there like Uncle Jack's #59 and Jeff Snook's wesome TR3. Nothing
against all the 356's that we TR folks seem to get grouped with in SOVREN, but
it was nice to have more than two or three TR4's in DP.
My thanks to Uncle Jack and Joe Alexander for introducing me to FoT and racing
TR's with my first TR4, #24, which unfortunately met it's demise last year at
Infineon primarily due to driver malfunction.
I thank Chuck Arnold for his nice comments on my current ride, #116, and the
super job Tony Garmey of Horizon Racing did over this past winter transforming
a TR4 with history back to Boise ID in the late 60's to a great handling
vintage racer with great safety features and very professional engineering.
I had not raced at Road America before and the initial test and tune last
Thursday was a bit overwhelming with four miles of track, but I'm pleased to
say I did break three minutes with a 2:59.2 + in the MOTRAH feature and had a
blast dicing with Sean Alexander the entire race. If we have a MOTRAH event
next year, I would plan on attending again with Tony and Bill Hart (Devin TR3)
and Tony's father in law, Gene Olson. Thanks Joe Alexander for representing
TR's so well at this event and all the other things you do for us.
It s obvious I need another twenty HP's since my motor dyno's at 147 HP at the
flywheel, not 174!!!!! at the rear wheels like Keith's! I've got a good supply
of TR parts I'd trade for some speed secrets!! Bent frame anyone??
John James. #116
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> Today's Topics:
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> 1. Re: Road America - Part 2 of 3 (Keith Files)
> 2. Road America - Part 3 of 3 (Keith Files)
> 3. Nomination for PAT STARR (BillDentin@aol.com)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 18:50:54 +0100
> From: "Keith Files"
> Subject: Re: [Fot] Road America - Part 2 of 3
> To:
> Cc: 'Christian Marx'
> Message-ID: <20070522174855.6DA44187ABF@autox.team.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Part 2
>
> Jon, Denise and I arrived in Chicago on 13th May and drove straight over to
> visit Joe and Jan (the very soon to be married Alexander and Huff) in Jesup,
> Iowa. We abandoned Denise in Jesup in the tender care of Jan and Joe whilst
> Jon and I travelled onto Geneseo to see the TR4; what a treat it was to see
> it all finished and with nothing to do other than to stick it on the dyno!!!
> Again, for those with an interest in these things we made 174 bhp at the
> rear wheels but I might have got the numbers confused :-)
>
> We had so much time on our hands that Jack took us to see a friend of his,
> Dave Morgan, who restores vintage Packards, what an afternoon that was. We
> got to see a vintage Cadillac V16 (yep, one of only 4 cars made in that
> model year), a Pebble Beach winning Packard and got a ride in a 1937 V12
> Packard AND Dave even made us a cup of Earl Grey, as I said, what a day.
>
> The evening before we were due to leave Geneseo for RA we were joined by Joe
> and Jan (and re-united with my lovely, but nutty, wife Denise) who had just
> left Kas and Peg in their house in Jesup as well as Bill Babcock who was,
> sort of, just passing by. We had a great supper that evening.
>
> Thursday and onto RA which took a while as Joe has a blow out on his
> trailer, Joe was providing transportation for my car over the weekend whilst
> his son Sean towed his car to RA for him. RA came into site and now I was
> getting really excited as there was a free test session schedule for 16:30
> and I couldn't wait to get out there. Got through registration, long queues,
> deadly dull and you would think that we Brits would be used to that. Car was
> unloaded and I set of to re-acquaint myself with RA but not until after
> Larry Rossi had stopped by for a chat, followed by John Sprinzel, Dick
> Stockton and Kas himself; talk about being in good company, I was fit to
> burst.
>
> OK, the lappery itself, pretty steady stuff and nothing better than a 3:10
> but that was ok as we were still running the engine in sorting out the
> suspension settings and tyre pressures. Car then went through the very
> rigorous tech spec without to much trouble (thanks to Dave Kettle(?) for
> allowing us time to address the brake light issue).
>
> Friday morning came and so did the problems, the transmission was throwing
> oil out everywhere in the first session and then the clutch started to foul
> so that was the end of that session (3:12 being the high spot; not good). Mr
> Wood to the rescue, breather pipe on the transmission was changed, clutch
> travel was altered and we were ready to roll again. 2nd session, 2 laps in
> and the engine went sick, turned out the front rocker post had snapped in
> the head, the rocker shaft snapped and 32 little roller bearings disappeared
> into the engine somewhere. Time for some deep thinking from Mr Wood aided
> and abetted by Kas. Jon stripped everything out whilst I went on the forage
> for parts; now this is where you really see the true spirit of the FOT so
> thank you to Henry Frye for the loan of a new rocker shaft (more later) and
> 2 new posts (another one was bent)and to Dick Stockton for the loan of sump
> gasket. Jon worked through to 8pm recovering the engine (he found 31 of the
> 32 roller bearings and, as Kas said, the odds are with you so put it all
> back together and it will be fine so we did and it was, thanks Kas).
>
> We were scheduled to run the Enduro with Mike Hughes, the UK Race Series
> Chairman, but all he got was to do the lunchtime tour in his son's road car,
> sorry Mike.
>
> End of part 2
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 18:51:35 +0100
> From: "Keith Files"
> Subject: [Fot] Road America - Part 3 of 3
> To:
> Cc: 'Christian Marx'
> Message-ID: <20070522174936.A81E4187ABF@autox.team.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Part 3
>
> Saturday, a better day, the first session saw me down to 3:00 dead with a
> car that was doing what it was supposed to do; now it was down to the driver
> to get it set-up and get it right. As the car was running so well we decided
> to let Mike do the Group 3 Qualifying race to make up for missing out on the
> Enduro, he was very careful with my toy and ran a conservative 3:12 before
> going missing (can you imagine what was going through my mind?). The car was
> returned on the end of a tow rope but with no visible signs of damage, what
> could it be this time? Believe it or not the throttle cable had snapped!!
> Jon again came to the rescue; he really should wear his underpants outside
> of his trousers :-)
>
> The final session of the day was the MOTRAH Qualifying race and, guess what,
> the only time over the whole weekend that it rained. Now, we Brits like the
> wet (no option really as it rains a lot over here) and despite being at the
> tail-end of the grid I decided to enjoy myself; the highlight was ignoring
> the advice of Duck Waddle who said in the wet you should always take the
> outside line in the carousel as there is more grip there and taking the
> inside line and slithering past 4 cars in one go - they probably just got
> out of the way of the crazy Brit more than anything to do with my wet
> weather driving skills. Upshot was 6th place and a 3:20 lap time.
>
> Sunday, all ready for my 2 races after yet another late night out with the
> team and Mr Snook in the Brown Bear - I was stunned that they served
> Gordon's Gin in pint glasses and had the best ever pinball machine, way to
> go. The MOTRAH race was great, started near the back but the car was on song
> and ran a 2:53 which was truly amazing given my previous best times now I
> was really ready for the Group 3 race.
>
> I started the Group 3 race 2nd to last and had a real blast up to turn 1,
> took 9 cars before the turn, this car has so much torque, by the time I got
> to turn 5 I had overtaken another 3 cars and I was chasing the next group of
> cars that included Randy Williams. At the start of the 2nd lap I got a tow
> of a Sprite on the start finish straight and managed to overtake him whilst
> he was overtaking Randy and then I got passed the Toyota Celica going into
> turn 1; 15 cars in just over 1 lap (I have a video clip of all of this that
> I will upload when I get some time); now the chase was on for the next group
> which included Jeff Snook himself. I was getting ever closer to this group
> at every turn and was confident that I would soon be joining in the TR3,
> Morgan +4 and Healey 3000 battle that I could see ahead of me but, alas, the
> engine went sick again. Guess what with this time, yep, bust another rocker
> shaft post, the rear one this time and messed the rockers, sorry Henry. Btw,
> managed to run a 2:51 before it all went to pot; now that really put a smile
> on my face.
>
> We will be back again next year, had hoped to be back this year but pressure
> of work will prevent that; boring I know but it pays for the toys :-)
>
> I consider myself really lucky to have so many friends in the US and I would
> like to take this opportunity to especially thank Joe Alexander for making a
> dream come true, Jack Drews for building the car, Jon Wood for being Jon,
> Henry Frye for his endless parts supply and enthusiasm, the wonderful Kas
> and Peg for their endless encouragement and, most of all to my lovely, but
> nutty, wife Denise (btw Peg, she has taken a real shine to Kas so keep a
> close eye on her :-)).
>
> There are many more of you who have supported me in my US ventures and I
> would also like to say a big thank you to all of you as well.
>
> Cheers, Keith & Denise.
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 14:01:23 EDT
> From: BillDentin@aol.com
> Subject: [Fot] Nomination for PAT STARR
> To: fot@autox.team.net ('fot@autox.team.net')
> Cc: starr001@umn.edu
> Message-ID:
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Amici...
>
> I wish to nominate PAT STARR for membership in the FOT.
>
> Many Midwestern racers will know him well. He has been racing the same TR
> powered MORGAN since the mid-1960s. He was up at ROAD AMERICA this past week
> end, having a great dice with Jeff Snook (and others). Pat's other claim to
> fame was owning and racing Bill Babcock's PEYOTE for years. Pat looks forward
> to
> exchanging information with FOT members, as he wishes to beat Jeff Snook (and
> Tony Drews for that matter), and he needs help. He is still running 83mm
> pistons and has made no other upgrades. He is looking for ideas.
>
> Pat's email address is: starr001@umn.edu
>
> I am not sure, but I think he owns the University of Minnesota. I know when
> I ran the two MINNEAPOLIS GRAND PRIX street races a lot of people were
>calling
> him Doctor Starr.
>
> Bill Dentinger
>
>
>
> **************************************
> See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
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> End of Fot Digest, Vol 6, Issue 35
> **********************************
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