| Roebling Road SARRC/SARRC |
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| Roebling Road SARRC/SARRC |
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Ain't it grand to spend a weekend at and on the racetrack with all your friends? We had Ruthie Cartlidge (ITC), Chuck Fullgraf (ITC), Efren Ormaza (GP), Will Perry (ITC) and Art Thompson (ITC) all driving together in the same race group for the Jim Stark Double SARRC at Roebling Road. (I drove Saturday and Ruthie drove Sunday.) Bill Perry was there as a Steward of the Meet (SOM), and Gail Perry deftly handled crew chief duties for the gang. Efren also had Stan and John helping him. When Ruthie and I learned that ITB and ITC were being
moved from the Spec Miata race group to the Production / Showroom Stock /
GT Lites group, we decided to hustle and get the Honda ready to go racin’
again. That meant moving the transponder, seat belts and radio gear from
the Miata, fabricating front and rear tow eyes, and finishing up some last
minute re-assembly from when the car was repainted this winter. Since the
car hasn’t been raced this year, it would also need an annual inspection
when we got to the track. “No problem”, we thought. “We’ll finish up the
car after work on Wednesday and Thursday, and I’ll take Friday off so we
can leave early for the track.” |
2005 Races November |
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But sometimes the track gods conspire to test your will to test your speed. The rains came in buckets as we loaded the racecar and tow vehicle Friday morning. Once we were finished loading, they stopped. Atlanta proved, once again, that Sherman should pass back through there every 100 years or so to burn the place down. The gods scoffed as 2 ½ hours of construction delays kept us from making registration on Friday. So, we camped outside the track with the intention of being first in line to get to registration and tech. The goal: get Art on the track by the time group #5 went out at around 9:30. On Saturday morning, the gods howled with glee as we wound up in the back of the registration line, having to completely re-register. As the first race group went out for qualifying, we stood in line with thoughts of giving up and heading home dancing in our heads. We finally got registered and were given our assigned number: 13. Art’s driver name: President Bill Clinton (timing and scoring had to put in a temporary name for the qualifying session). We raced to the paddock spot and unloaded the CRX, tried to start it and flooded it. Aaaaack! The culprits: fouled plugs from Ruthie’s overly thorough engine bath the day before. As group #4 went out for qualifying, we got the car started and headed over to tech. The tech inspector was friendly, sympathetic and efficient (but still thorough) and did the job in record time. Then, as group #5 warmed up on the grid, I drove back the ½ mile to our paddock spot to retrieve the wallet that I forgot to bring to pay for stickers required on the car. As group #5 roared out for qualifying, I strapped into the car while Ruthie quickly applied stickers. We did a quick double check of the essentials: belts tight, window net secure, doors closed, wallet and log book off of the top of the car, and I took off for the grid. I missed only about five minutes of a 20-minute session. It’s actually kind of a rush coming out of pit lane onto a hot track! Whew! After all that, everything just got better and better. Racing the CRX was a refreshingly familiar feeling, like putting on a well broken in pair of hiking boots you haven’t worn in a while. Getting to race in a group where most drivers actually set up and execute their passes rather than trying to bludgeon their way through was certainly a positive experience too. Even though there were more than 40 starters each day, the track didn’t feel crowded. (50 starters is the limit at Roebling Road). Adding to the pleasure was the knowledge that three of the other drivers out there with us were home town buddies, and they are all competent and courteous racers. What could be better? The only real negative was about mid-way through the Sunday race, when 81-year-old Hyler Craft’s SSB Miata flew off course between turns 5 and 6 to avoid an on-course incident, and ended upside down in the woods. The whole mess resulted in a full course yellow that lasted until about three laps from the end of the race. That gave everyone a big scare, but luckily, Hyler was OK. For Ruthie, getting back into Jack the CRX was a welcome reunion and even though she finished way in the back of the pack, she was delighted to find her racing skills improve in small, but significant ways. She says it was a real treat to be on track with all her buds, too. Special thanks to Joe and Susan Clayburn from Birmingham, who provided hours of doggie sitting and to Gail, who fed our ragged out bodies on Saturday night. That's the most fun we have had racing in about two years! Wish y'all coulda been there! -- Art Thompson |
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April 27, 2005
