I thought this was good enough to forward from wheel2wheel to
vintage-race.. enjoy!
> ----------
> From: dye@stg.com[SMTP:dye@stg.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 1997 1:53 PM
> To: wheeltowheel@abingdon.Eng.Sun.COM
> Subject: event report: visit to SCCA's "Bizarro World"
>
>
>
> This last Friday I visited what must be the "Bizarro World" of SCCA.
> A friend had asked last Wednesday if I wanted to go to Sycamore
> Speedway (1/4 mile clay oval about 50 miles west of Chicago); I
> asked "what is running on Friday", and he replied "_We_ are!
> 'Spectator
> racing', I've got a '73 Fury and a '68 Electra 225 ready to go".
>
> Instead of a GCR + classification specifications, the SCCA Bizarro
> world's
> rules fit on a single sheet of 8.5x11" paper. Not much there, no
> safety equipment save for seatbelts and a helmet, all glass/lights
> must be removed (smashed!), cars must have stock suspension settings/
> stock tires. Fuel cells were allowed, but not mandatory.
>
> The Bizarro World paddock had 2 sections; one right next to
> the track, behind a fenced off area, and one in an unfenced
> area right next to the other. The only difference was that in
> the fenced off one, you couldn't have beer. Guess where everyone
> paddocked?
>
> The Bizarro World pit pass was $20. That included a car entry
> fee if you wished. Anyone with a pit pass could run in the
> races. The Bizarro registrar didn't even ask for a drivers
> license, let alone a competition license.
>
> We found someone with paint and brushed the numbers they
> gave us on the side of the cars. Jim (my friend) had already
> prepped the cars: smashed the windows/lights, cut the swaybar
> on the buick, (don't know why, the rules just said all GM cars
> had to have this done), the front and rear fender panels had
> been clearanced so they wouldn't cut a tire down upon collision.
> The Fury's torsion bars had been tweaked to raise the ride height
> a bit. It actually ran pretty good for a 2 barrel carb.
>
> A Bizarro World tech inspector wandered by. All he did was shine
> a flashlight up under the car to see if the front suspension had
> been modified. I asked him what he was looking for, and he was
> simply looking for cars with cheater suspensions. I pointed out
> a local car that had obviously been around a few times (it was a
> wreck) that had at least 5 degrees of negative camber on the passenger
> front tire, and he said "well, that car has been hit". Guess
> you have to get hit in the right place. He asked if we were
> from Sante Fe Speedway, a Chicago subarb clay track where similar
> events are held. Guess he got sent over to check if the Chicago
> guys were trying to run cheater cars at their event.
>
> Bizarro world's qualifying consisted of all the cars, in an
> unorganized fashion, lining up in several different lines.
> The Bizarro grid chief would point at one of the lines and send
> the cars out, three at a time. One lap, then out the side exit.
>
> Qualifying seemed to be only used for the "trophy dash" race,
> the first one. All other races, anyone could enter. No qualifying
> orders were used, cars simply lined up in several different lines
> and the lucky ones were picked by the grid chief to go first.
>
> The second and third races of the evening were 25 lap "feature"
> races. Jim and I entered the first one, and we got lucky, our line
> was
> the first to go out. I ended up about 8th out of 25 cars, Jim
> ended up just behind me.
>
> I got a good start, got a few cars at the first turn, started
> picking off some of the others. Lots of cars smashing into
> each other, tried to avoid most. A big Lincoln passed me
> by coming into the turn too hot and using me as a guardrail.
> I simply tried to go fast and avoid incidents. Another car passed
> me in a similar fashion, the next corner I popped him in the
> drivers rear, he did a 270 degree spin which enabled me to
> T-bone his passenger door in.
>
> I finshed the race; Jim's Electra 225 had a motor lockup halfway
> through the race. About half of the field didn't finish.
>
> We spend the next couple of races trying to get the wreckers to tow
> the buick off of the track and into the paddock (didn't know the
> motor was terminal at that point). Finally get it back, then
> the Fury won't start. Change the battery, still no juice at all.
> Find that a battery cable quick disconnect had come loose; jammed
> it back in place and taped it closed.
>
> A friend of Jim's (who in retrospect shouldn't be allowed to drive
> a street car, let alone on a track) took the Fury out in the
> last of the heat races. He didn't make it 3/4 of a lap before he
> clipped one of the tires on the infield, and plowed full bore into
> the Bizarro flagstand, which was also on the infield. Since it
> was in the infield, it was pretty substantial (concrete/steel), and
> with
> no tire wall in front of it, the Fury lost that argument.
>
> The front end was pretty screwed up. It took us 10 minutes just
> to get the car back and get the hood open. It still ran, but
> wouldn't move, as the transmission cooler lines had snapped off
> and all the fluid was gone. The radiator was shot too. Jim
> decided to Demolition Derby the car over my objections (it
> seemed pretty fast, and as it turned out, I took second place
> in the first 25 lap race). We crimped the AT cooling lines
> shut, dumped in 4 quarts of fluid, and sent him out to the
> track where, without coolant, he just barely made it into the
> last event (the Demo Derby).
>
> I didn't get to see what happened, I had to lock the tools away,
> and get the video camera. Went to the gate and found that they
> don't allow video cameras due to lawsuits and rough driving
> disputes. By the time I got back, the demo was over, the Fury
> totally smashed; both doors (even drivers!) caved in by 1.5 feet,
> Right front tire buckled over (broken upper balljoint), and there
> was a 5 foot trophy next to it. Somehow he had won the thing.
>
> The Bizarro world track owner paid Jim $35 for the wreck. After
> a few beers, we went to get my trophy, where the Bizarro world
> trophy lady gave me $25 cash for my second place, and $100 to Jim
> for his demo win.
>
> I've been paying $150+++ roadrace entry fees since '92, thousands of
> dollars in car prep, hundreds of hours in car prep time, and never
> seen
> a f(*&%^&* penny come back. This was truely the most Bizarro thing
> about the place. People were actually paying $10 a head to watch
> us "race".
>
> --Ken
>
> --
> Ken R. Dye '67 Bonneville ragtop "Juan":
> suncar
> U.S. Robotics, Skokie, IL '68 Bonneville hardtop "Anna":
> partscar
> (847) 222-2019 '84 Pontiac TransAm "Jesse":
> racecar
> dye@stg.com or kdye@usr.com '95 Chevy K2500 "????":
> towtruck
>
>
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