At 11:57 AM 8/4/97 -0700, you wrote:
>Would also like to get other perspectives from partcipants as I
>didn't get to watch many of the other groups.......
Ted....I was the corner worker with the big orange thumb at turn 7. I'll
add some to your postings of the event......
>There were I think, 13-14 race groups and 300+ cars.......I was in group 9,
>A/B production cars and a few old Ford Nascar looking Winston cuppers......but
>mostly the usual suspects, GT350s, Cobras, Tigers, Corvettes, a neat BRG XKE
>coupe. There were some "Group one"(authentic period spec restored) cars which
>was where I fit in but it was mostly bigger HP cars.
I bel;ieve there were a total of 14 race groups, of which 5 were "pro,
non-vintage" groups. As for cars in your group, I don't remember seeing any
"NASCAR" cars, as the only older NASCAR entry ran in the Exhibition group.
>
>The scheduling wasn't great as there were too many groups. I ran Fri. mid
>morning and mid afternoon(good), Saturday early am and late afternoon and
>first out Sunday at 8:00 with a race that didn't start until about 7:00pm.
>Left early for the long tow so didn't do the feature....
You think it was bad for you, try working corners in the sun for 11 hours
straight...but I do know that VARA had little if nothing to do with the
schedule. The PRO groups (Trucks, Stock Cars, and Russel Cars) all got
their scheduled race amounts, where as the Vintage groups were shortened.
This was not VARAs fault, as the Promoter was running the show.
> There was a good amount of bent metal and fiberglass. The trucks
>and stock cars were colorful in that respect but busted cars were not limited
>to those groups by any means.........the worst part is that incidents really
>screw up the schedule for everyone and this event seemed to have it's
share....
If you consider having 90 cars on a 2-mile track at one time, the amount of
contact was very minimal. The racing surface, with its wide spaces leads to
many different lines, and the false impression of an easy ability to
outbreak. This lead to most of the incidents, but I do no believe there
were not that many. I do know that in my turn alone, I had significant
damage done when 2 Pro Russel cars met nose to nose, sending on edriver to
the hospital, but that is typical PRO racing
As for the schedule, the last race of the day on Sunday was scheduled to
start at 6:30.....it started at 6:20.
If you look at the races from the big picture, to show how impressive things
were, the EP race on Saturday started 50+ cars. The top 6 cars changed
places every lap. And not a scratch on them. I would have put that race up
against any Pro race anywhere anytime. It was totally awsome (lister Mordy
Dunst was right in the middle of it all!). How often do you see 50 car FF
grids? I dont believe there was much of a way of car damage in this event
either, as the top 4 of 5 swapped positions throughout the race.
>
>Would I go back next year........maybe... though It's an 8 hour tow one way
>and there are too many run groups and not enough track time to justify it.
>We're spoiled here in the Bay area with Sears Point and Laguna Seca within an
>hours drive. I have to hand it to VARA though, this is a huge event to
>organize and run especially when you consider that they're putting on the "LA
>Vintage Grand Prix" in downtown LA in just 30 days. They managed to pull this
>one off pretty well so thanks and kudos all around.........
Well, not to be a na-sayer, but expect 400+ cars at LA, and expect 9+ race
groups....seems to me there will be lots of cars on the track at the same
time, with short run periods.......but hey, VARA will do the best they can
at giving everyone the most amount of time they can that will fit within the
Promoters schedule and priorities...
>Ted
>
>
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