To all,
Well, Grattan was fun as always. The partial repaving of the track smoothed
much of the circuit. Unfortunately, the 2 roughest spots... at the end of
the main straight on the left, and on the left coming up the hill after the
hairpin are still pretty rough.
Good News/Bad news
Grattan is still my favorite track to drive. Mosport was fun, but doesn't
contain any real late braking zones. You pass people at Mosport with sheer
will, brass balls, and managed fear. Grattan has a number of blind of camber
turns... much slower than Mosport, but fun none the less. There's a lot of
places for late braking passes at Grattan. The track, combined with the
idyllic setting, and relaxed atmosphere has made it a favorite.
Some things concern me. If I remember right, Grattan was one of the most
track time/least expensive events. It seems that the price is going up, and
the track time goes down. Didn't we used to have 4 sessions on Friday? This
was great if you couldn't get there and set up early on Friday... even if
you were there at noon, you had 2 more sessions. I'm not sure why tracktime
was allotted to Western Michigan Grand Prix drivers. It would seem that it
takes track time away from those of us who came to race Grattan??? I'm not
the only one that feels this way.
The staff at Grattan is always accomodating. Consider that to camp all
weekend at Grattan with you motorhome costs all of $20, rather than the $250
for CHR at RA. That includes a sanitation station, so you can drive home
minus the stink. (You know that $20 is off the books and goes to the
substantial beer fund.)
It's very sad that some asshole that dove in the pool despite all sorts of
signs, and than sued the track, has severely limited this wonderful track
asset. Grattan was a place whre the kids had many choices, and taking the
pool away except for Friday night is a shame.
Another thing that really frosts my ass is the new "No Dog" rule. Although
it was apparently loosely enforced, it's again a situation where the few
spoil it for the many. Many of you know, I am the owner of the "Thundering
Herd"... four 90lb+ shelter refugee dogs.When my wife left me, she left the
debt and the dogs. Speaking of debt, it cost me as much for boarding them
($232) as my race entry (hey Bill... don't deposit that check until the
31st!!!). This could put a serious crimp in future attendance.
Thicko Village was enormous, with some new faces.... the Primack's joined us
and claimed that they enjoyed themselves. Bill Dalton, John Golanty, and
myself made some music/noise at the pool party Friday. Massive animal
sacrifice was enjoyed by many Saturday. IAfter dinner Saturday, Elmo's
sister in law Ann sang a few numbers... with the voice of an angel. Some
anti-social jerk with a bunch of SuperV's (?) was less than accomodating
when it came time to rope off the end of Thicko Village Lane. Danny Neuhaus
said the guy was a real piece of work. Good things come to those who wait...
and this guy had to wait a long time to get his rig out. Hah!
Racecar wise...interesting weekend. I added double bearing hubs to the Red
Rat Bastard. They leaked like a sonnnofffabitch all weekend, despite new
seals. It made my "tail out" driving style all the more frightening to those
around me. Special thanks to John Golanty for not punting me in the esses
when I was rapidly changing directions. I had the chance to perform similar
civic duty in Sunday's feature when Carolynn Schaeffer (sp?)'s white Lotus
11 spun right in front of me. I'm heading straight for her, nose to nose at
speed... and my mind's adding up how much it will cost them to fix it after
I hit it head on. Luckily, she didn't roll backward any further, and I
managed to sneak behind her.
Phill Cull, (Judy's other half... she married beneath her species) had an
interesting time in his FV... as another FV tried to mate with his and came
over the top. Phil was fine, the car's a little bent, but will live to race
another day.
Elmo and I had a lot of fun dices until my rear hubs would make it look like
a Joey Chitwood event, and I'd have to back her down a notch. That old motor
in the RRB keeps (knock on wood in 3 or 4 continents, will ya guys?) never
skipped a beat.
The diff gave up the ghost in the last race of the weekend... funny how they
stop leaking when they're out of oil. I got the best start of my racing
life, and was running with the big dogs for a while... We're going to try to
get a Speedi-Sleeve that rides on the axle stub...under the seal, but
further inboard than the bearing.
That's all for now... thanks for a great weekend... see you at the Vintage
Fall Festival at Road America in Sept.
Flounder
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