Gary,
Lee is an ex-patriate Iowan and a friend...and you know how conservative we
Iowans we can be.
Anyway, I sent him a note that you guys are really as bad as you seem to be.
I knew you would be pleased with this. :-)
BTW, Lee is responsible for "James Dean at High Speed" a nicely done TV
documentary.
Marvel at WST...I will confer the same remarks to him as the surgeon in the
emergency room did to me last December...he repaired what was left of 'bird
finger' after untimely contact with carbide tool at high speed, while son and
I cracked one liners...
He said as we left, and I now pass to WST...."Man you are one tough dude!!!"
I then asked him if I could expect that finger to grow back...he said not
unless I was salamander.
Joe ("Short Bird") Alexander
Obviously, I have too much time on my hands today....
<< Lee,
I appreciate your words but honestly believe you have grossly
mis-characterized
the past few days bantering and especially the Team Thicko philosophy.
I would invite you, or anyone else, to join the Team Thicko mailing
list.
You'll get the whole story and feel of what we are all about there. I'd
be happy
to forward sign-up instructions to anyone interested. But be warned,
bring a
sense of humor or you won't last long.
We may make fun of ourselves, and our cars, but one thing is certain,
the
cars ARE properly maintained. Had there been any indication that WST's
suspension bolt was "going", you can bet he would have been advised of
it and there
would have been 10 hands there, helping him fix it. Camaraderie is a big
part of vintage racing and that is on the top of Team Thickos list. As
WST mentioned in one of his notes.... he hears the feet
of racers everywhere rushing to check their suspensions after this
incident. That's a good thing. Things like this remind us of the fact
that we are racing 40+ year old automobiles and things fail. Not always
due to poor or non-existent maintenance.
You are disturbed that we seem to sit around and make laughable jokes
about very serious situations. True, sometimes we do...we're not the
type that would sit around and cry in our soup and feel sorry for
ourselves. If you cant laugh when life hands you crap, .........
However, we all appreciate and respect the seriousness of our sport
when the green flag drops.
We generally race with the VSCDA organization. This organization has an
exemplary safety record and a serious drivers committee. Non "vintage
spirit" driving is not accepted, but that doesn't mean we have to tour
around the track as if in some exhibition race. We had the "what is
vintage racing"
discussion on this list several months ago, I don't want to revisit
that. There are as many opinions on that subject as there are surviving
Arnolt Bristols.
I appreciate the rarity and value of your cars and I am glad that you
have found a suitable organization that allows you to enjoy our sport in
a manner that suits your philosophy.
Regards,
Gary Speckman
Plover, WI
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