It was a great weekend at Grattan. Grattan is one of those tracks where you
have a good time even if your car isn't running as good as you would like. Some
additional observations:
1. Matt Primack broke his first Sprite axle.
2. Matt was wondering how to get the broken axle out, as soon as WST's name
was mentioned, the axle removed itself.
3. The mechanic with the FV and Super V trailer was the real piece of
work. Dan and I had the end of the paddoc row staked off, he pulled in and I
told him we were saving space for several large units. His response - "They
aren't here" Every time I came in from a session he had something or other
blocking the paddock lane and my shelter. You're damn right it took him a long
time to get out Sunday.
4. I was down by Turn 1 during the FV and USRRC races Sunday. Great fun
watching 5 FV's nose to tail at full speed going into the turn, except when they
were two abreast.
5. Also great fun watching the Red Rat dribbling its right rear wheel
through Turn 1.
Fitz
"Wm. Severin Thompson" wrote:
> 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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