Wet and soggy...but what a track! 3.27 miles without a zit or blemish,
brand new buildings where the bathrooms have heat AND air conditioning,
grass for camping, gravel for paddock, and a bar on campus. Definitely
worth the 700 + mile tow-- even though the two-laner over the mountains
started a fire in my right front caliper. Good thing Rick Fisk, erstwhile
crew and morale booster, still had a half cup of coffee in his travel mug.
He quickly put out the flames and we were back on our way.
It was a real pleasure to meet up with a few more listers, and see a huge
turn-out of Spridgets for Groups A and C and for the All-MG race. Got to
meet the Chuckster and watch him flail his father's Saab-powered, but
"spritely," buzz-bomb sportsracer. Despite this Swedish diversion, the
Lustbus still had enough LBC parts to provide me with a side-entry dizzy
cap. David Littlefield and a bunch of other Texans driving squarebody cars
came up and showed us how to spell f-a-s-t. His "stock" engine and skillful
driving raised several eyebrows in my paddock. And he brought his mom and
dad along to crew! Lister Ralph Giro proved that he has in fact quit racing
a Corvette in SCCA and taken up the gentlemanly sport in a white Midget.
Bob Van Kirk and Bob Spruck attended and Spruck showed me that old
motorcycle trick of "lane splitting." Just before we hit the checker, he
plowed through the middle of the two-lane grid, foot to the floor. Didn't
even flash his high beams! Astonished, I tucked in right behind him but
couldn't keep it up through the traffic jam at Turn 1. (We're talkin' 70+
cars on the track AT THE SAME TIME). Believe I saw him mowing the lawn a bit
later, though. The rain soaked turf around the track stranded most who had
off-track excursions, but the real schweinerei occured in lap 5 when an oil
slick at the end of the front straight put 7 or 8 cars out of commission.
With the red flag out, I pulled over and within about 3 minutes my radiator
blew, sending a rather dramatic cloud of steam up around the "Works
Midget."
The real surprise of the weekend was watching Jack Cassingham, already known
in MG Vintage Racer circles as one fast driver of a '66 Midget. To give you
the picture: in Sunday's feature, he finished 7th overall with a fastest
lap of 2:28.041. Ahead of him were only three MGBs, a Lotus, a Ginetta, and
a full-race Fiat 124 Spyder. In the All-MG race, run in the rain, he turned
2:43.296, beat only by an MGB GT V8 and the three fastest vintage MGBs
running on the east coast. Talk about fast!
BTW, the track ran a "American Thunder" race of cars powered by American
V8's, among which they were willing to include the Rover/Buick/Olds
derivatives. Englishman Jerry Richards, driving what used to be his daily
ride MGB-V8 in the UK (but since significantly race prepped), came in third
behind a Boss 302 and a Mark Donohue-style Sunoco Camaro right out of the
old Trans Am series. He trounced a collection of specials, Vettes, a
Sunbeam Tiger, and assorted American pony cars by a huge margin. Go LBC!!!!
The crowd went wild.
See what ya missed?
-JohnD
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