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See ya at the track... |
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Short story (for those of you with ADD): It was a GREAT (!!!) weekend on multiple levels. Next event is the SARRC Invitation Challenge at Roebling Road (Savannah) the weekend of Sept. 23 & 24, then we'll start getting ready for Road Atlanta Nov. 9-12. Next
event at Nashville SuperSpeedway is Chattanooga Region's Track Trials event on
October 14 & 15. Their 2005 event is what sparked our/my interest in doing a
road race there. More info is at
http://www.rivergate5speed.com = = = = = = = = = = Longer story: Atlanta Region has "owned" the Labor Day weekend on the Southeast Division SCCA racing calendar for a number of years. Up through 2003 we would run a three-day Double SARRC at Road Atlanta that was one of the best-attended and premier events in this part of the country. I first participated at that event back in 1984 (pause for fond memories of "The Dip"), but I'm pretty sure it had been going on since the early 70's. In 2004 the AMA used their financial influence to usurp that weekend on Road Atlanta's calendar and we were forced to move the event to Atlanta Motor Speedway. A number of factors contributed to low attendance that year, then in 2005 it became apparent the last week of August that we simply didn't have the necessary support to adequately conduct the event so we made the very difficult decision to cancel the race one week before it was scheduled to happen. Perhaps the racing gods were telling us something, because an event called Katrina blew through town later that week and pretty much disrupted life as we knew it for a while. Longtime readers may remember that Eric Bartel (aka - "Data") and I, at the urging of Bill Perry, shared Cuervo at the Chattanooga Region's Track Trials event at the Nashville SuperSpeedway in October 2005. Part of the motivation was to reward Data for all the help he's given me over the years, but I also wanted to see if the facility was a viable venue for our Labor Day events. I found the track to be short and twisty in places, but it also had high speed sections and was certainly wide enough to allow side-by-side action by cars of equal performance. There were some serious logistical issues to be overcome putting on an event 250 miles away from our home base, but it was a moot point since the track was already booked the first weekend in September by another organization. Bill Perry was not to be denied, however, and when he called in January to tell me the conflicting event had been moved the wheels of change were set into motion. The plan was adjusted as things bumped along and obstacles were overcome, but despite some concerns that again reduced attendance (like most people, racers don't like change) the 2006 version of the Atlanta Region Labor Day races were held on the east side of Nashville, TN. The bottom line is we took a hit to the bottom line ("just doing my part to maintain our not-for-profit status, Ma'am") but all indications are we'll be running in Nashville for a long time to come. EVERYONE I talked to was extremely pleased with how the event went. Although there was some question about how the track would race (mostly among those that had never driven it in anger, which was pretty much everyone but me), all the racers and workers had rave reviews for the layout and "raciness" of the track. We had handling sections, top end sections and braking sections (more on that later). Yes the laps at 1.41 miles and just over one minute are shorter than any other track we race on in SEDIV, but the racing was excellent and, perhaps more important, you could see the entire track from just about anywhere. We watched the Pro-IT race on Saturday afternoon flag-to-flag from the top of my trailer and it was exciting to be able to follow the multiple races going on all the way around the track. The facility is first-rate and the track staff is an absolute joy to work with. Track manager Rick Fredette did mention that we were the most aggressive racers they'd ever had using their road course, but he also laughed and said at least now he knows where to install the gator teeth for 2007. I have to admit there was a bunch of dust in the air (some of it mine) when the serious racing started. Things went so well that we are already on the track's calendar for Labor Day weekend 2007, and we've gotten approval from the PTB to go to a two-day, Double SARRC format. We'll have a test day on Friday (which should be better attended since the first session on Saturday will be qualifying), qualify/race on Saturday, qualify/race on Sunday, then still keep Monday as a travel day for those that want it. We also had extensive discussions with Phil Harris of the Mid-South Region (Memphis) and they are planning on co-sanctioning the weekend with us as part of their Mid-Am Series. Combine the draw of the last Double SARRC prior to the SIC with fifty or more MWDIV drivers seeking points for their regional series and I can foresee 200+ entries as early as next year. Talk about some dust in the air! On a personal note, I was the only GTA car entered so all I needed to do was complete 11 laps of the 22-lap SARRC race on Sunday to get our fifth win of the season. To save wear and tear on the car we decided to skip the seven-lap qualifying race on Sunday morning and instead start from the back of the 11 car field of SPO, AS, GT-2, T-1 and T-2 cars. I knew we didn't have anything for the front-row SPO cars (Todd Carter's Pontiac and Bob Mayer's Corvette), but it would be fun to see how many people I could pass as the race unfolded. Ends up starting at the back was so much fun I decided to do it TWICE! Harriett & Data called the race from the NASCAR spotter's stand high atop the control tower, so I can't even lie about what happened. The green flag came out and I was eighth as we crossed the start line the first time (you can pass as soon as the green is displayed under SCCA rules), then moved up to fifth before we got to the TIGHT decreasing left-hander that is Turn One. I followed the Corvettes of Jerry Onks and Ed McClain through the twisty bits, then powered by Jerry on the front straight to take fourth overall as we finished lap #1. What happened next (for all to see) is subject to interpretation:
Ed moved left to protect the inside line as he should and I tried to go around the outside to take third place under braking for Turn One. After sailing off the outside of the track surface (and waking up everyone in the Control Tower) I briefly thought about continuing on around the oval, but since I was the one who wrote the Supps any argument that I didn't know the rules would likely fall on deaf ears. Following proper procedures I turned Cuervo around so I could re-join from where I went off, stalled the engine for good measure, lost twenty seconds in the process and let the entire field go by. So much for getting a phone call from Roger Penske on Monday! Bottom line is I moved my way back up to fifth overall, first (and last) in GTA, first car one lap down (I moved over for Todd and then Bob as they came by on lap 19). We did manage to run faster than we'd qualified (and faster than we did last year as well) to establish the GTA track record at a 1:06.070. Only Todd and Bob had faster best laps (1:04.095 and 1:04.554 respectively), so had I not gotten greedy I would have had a decent shot at finishing third overall (but then I wouldn't have stories to tell my grandkids, would I?). We still got that all important fifth SARRC win, so now Steve Magowen and I are tied with five wins and a second going into the SARRC Invitational Challenge in two weeks (Sept. 23, 24). Whichever one of us finishes ahead of the other at Roebling Road will become the 2006 SARRC GTA champion, so we'll be doing everything we can to make Cuervo (and the driver) as reliable as possible in the interim. We'll finish 2006 with the American Road Race of Champions Nov. 9-12 at Road Atlanta, then if we have any money left over we might head to Central Florida to have Thanksgiving dinner with Mom and run the annual Turkey Trot race at Sebring. For those that want to get more experience at the Nashville SuperSpeedway, the Chattanooga Region is again conducting a Track Trails event there the weekend of Oct. 14,15. For more info visit their website at http://www.rivergate5speed.com/scca/timetrials/nashville05.html. Contact David McDaniel at hoserracing@charter.net if you're interested in driving and/or helping out. Thanks to all who helped make our first road racing event at NSS a rousing success. As Bill Perry said earlier this week, putting on a good event is almost as satisfying as winning a race. See y'all at the track... |
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