Daytona - May  - The Daytona National Race IS NO MORE.  The Central Florida Region has decided to make it a regional only race.  A disappointment as we generally enjoyed that weekend.

Summit Point - ??  - yet another national event cancelled!

Road Atlanta (#2) - June  - The JUNE race is in MAY this year <G>

Former racer (not Vees) Jim Paschall is interested in getting back in (maybe even in a VEE!) when finances permit and has volunteered to help us out by crewing at several events this year - Thanks Jim - all help is appreciated :-).

We had 5 vees registered and it looked to be a good event.  Unfortunately, Donnie broke a crank (or at least FOUND it) on his first lap off the grid, so one car out immediately.  MY car was thankfully almost trouble free for the weekend.  I installed my second engine for this race, to give the first one a rest (been in the car since Runoffs last year). The carb was acting up a bit and I made several changes between each session - including the morning warmup on Sunday.  With the problem still evident, I elected to change the carb for the race. The fresh carb was perfect, so will have to check over the defective one to see if I can figure it out.

The weather on Friday was off and on rain.  I wasn't testing so it didn't affect me, but it aggravated several who WERE or WANTED TO test.  Saturday's weather was comfortable and partly cloudy - with an occasional threat of rain, but none of significance came down.  One interesting thing did happen.  We were sharing the track this weekend with a Time Trials (TT) event to bolster entries for the region.  That brought another 50 or 60 cars to the track in 3 groups of 15 minute sessions each.  ONE of those TT classes is F6 (F600 - an F5 chassis with a 4 cylinder motorcycle engine possibly to end up as an alternative to the snowmobile 2 cycle engines in F500, maybe just a new class altogether.).  Clint McMahan brought his F6 car to test and I dropped by to give it a look.  While there, he asked me if I'd like to take it out for a session.  Well... you know me... I LOVE to drive most anything any time the opportunity presents itself.  I went and got steward approval and then to registration to log the appropriate info and then got 'fitted' for the car. Fortunately, Clint and I are close in size so it didn't take much.  After my qualifier (I got the pole, by the way <G>), there was just one 15 min TT session before I went out in the F6.  It was going to be ... interesting for sure.  The MC engine would turn up to around 14 THOUSAND RPM and sounded much like an F1 car going by.  The DSR and FB motors have similar rev ranges and it's now difficult to tell which class is going by (FB, DSR, or F6) without looking at the track.  Clint and Dan (his Dad - a driver as well) also have paddle shift fabricated for it, but unfortunately, the foot box could not be expanded to add the clutch pedal where the normal F5 only has 2 pedals.  Regardless, there are now THREE pedals in that foot box and it's pretty tight down there - not quite enough room for my feet PLUS the pedals ... but just for this session I figured I could get by.

On my first lap, I got to the back straight and the vibration was so bad, I thought the car was going to shake apart.  I felt like the tires were SQUARE! (I later found out they WERE). It was quite a handful to drive - even on that straight.  I was quite timid under braking as well as the car felt like it would swap ends in a microsecond.  I had some trouble figuring out the downshifts - it's a technique and needs a 'blip' to make it happen correctly - something I had difficulty with in that tight foot box.  I later decided that I would have to learn to brake totally with the left foot (a la F5 style) in order to make any real gains in that department.  On the second lap, I was beginning to feel a little better, but the vibration was still quite high on the straights.  I was amazed at how much small imperfections in the track surface affected the F6 - things that I didn't notice at ALL in my Vee would feel like 6 foot drops onto concrete!  2nd lap - I'm finally getting to feel the car a bit more and come wailing down the front straight - ALMOST flat through 12... but not quite<G>. T1 went pretty well - I even got my downshift in there, but thought that maybe I should use TWO downs next lap.  I was noticing that I was lugging the car in several turns, and felt I needed to go more gears DOWN in several places (really needed to use my left foot on the brake ...but not quite comfortable enough to  add that to the mix yet).  The back side went OK - still feeling the car REALLY WANTED to spin on me - very twitchy, but this time on the straight, the tires seemed to have warmed up a bit and I could actually SEE something (not much) in my mirrors.  I got through 10A/B pretty well and (with an extra downshift there) climbed the hill under the bridge.  The car was beginning to SOUND really good (I LIKE that F1 scream!).  Down the front straight again and into T1 - got that extra downshift and it felt really good .... for a moment ... then TERRIBLE SOUNDS - sounded like the chain ratcheting around the sprocket - felt like that too.  I immediately got off the gas and reached for the kill switch .. but then thought... let's see... hmmm it is still pulling.. was that my imagination? Test gas pedal ... NO! NOT my imagination.  Terrible ratchet sounds again, but only under high loads.  Maybe I can nurse it back to the pits.  I slowly and carefully guided the ailing F6 back to the pits where we found a 'broken' drive bearing on the intermediate shaft.  Thankfully, no serious damage and Clint and Dan had expected it to go sooner or later .. just my luck that *I* would be the one to take it over the top :-).  I discussed the shaking and Clint couldn't understand it.  After fixing the bearing HE went out for the next session and found out what I was talking about - THEN he remembered his spin in the first session ... followed by a slow return to the paddock ... those were HIS "square" tires :-).  He swapped for a 'less square' set for the last session and took another second off his best time.  We won't talk about MY lap times compared to his, but I was satisfied with them - I had NO intention of threatening any of Clint's times - he's way too good in that car for ME to compete with him :-).  Anyway ... it was quite interesting.  Hopefully, I'll have another opportunity at some point to drive one.  It seems like it just might be a really good answer to the 2 cycle 'hard to find' problem currently affecting F5.  The most gratifying thing was, of course, that I didn't spin or CRASH it <g>.

Back to Vee... This motor didn't feel quite as good as the old one did, but it still ran well.  My times were off a little over 1/2 sec from March times - which seems pretty decent considering 25 degrees higher temps.  The car felt good, but it was easy to feel the greasier track in the late afternoon (we were the last national race group).  I offered Donnie my other engine so he could complete the weekend and "earn" his Runoffs invitation - but the oil plumbing on his car is quite different from mine and it would be an almost impossible swap.  Donnie foraged the paddock and his cell phone seeking some way to get a finish in the race (no points needed ... just a finish).  Near the end of Saturday, Jim Vaseff - another Vee competitor came to Donnie's paddock and indicated he didn't need the finish since he wasn't planning to go the Runoffs anyway and he was more interested in Regional points than National points. He then offered that he would withdraw from the event and Donnie could run his car.  That was an OUTSTANDING offer from Jim and I KNOW that Donnie really appreciated it. They 'worked a deal' of some sort and it was done.  Donnie had a 'ride' for his finish.

At the start of the race under VERY HOT sun (96 degrees) Charlie Rogers got a great start and led most of the way to T1 - being on the inside, he backed out a tad before I had to, and I took the lead into the turn.  Michael Leonard tried an outside pass on Charlie and ran out of room - dropping off the track and losing a good bit of ground to us.  Donnie was close behind Mike and had to give room to avoid potential collision. Charlie stayed with me for 2 laps before dropping off the pace slowly.  I could see Mike and Donnie back there together as well for a lap or so.  I gradually pulled away and ... well.. that's it from where I sat.  I never saw another Vee, but it did get interesting a couple of times as I was getting lapped by the FE and FF's.  Nice that I had a good lead, so whenever it looked like it might be tight at a corner, I just let off and waved them by... they seem to NEVER wait anyway - even when they really should. MUCH better to 'give it up' and save a lot of $$$ and time fixing a torn up car (not to mention missing a race finish).

Thanks again to Rollin - ButlerEngines.com for a great motor.  Eric - Goodyear tires for some really fantastic rubber and JR - Roxannes Headers for a super exhaust system.

A clean run and win for Bullet - Mike was second after Charlie lost his fuel cap and ran low on gas - Donnie pulled in after he had over half the laps to preserve his finish (and Jim's car) and he ended up third anyway due to Charlie's fuel problem.  Bullet now leads the division with 52 points and NO more national races in division.  It seems REALLY bad that our racing is 'done' in May - I'd like to race more ... I'll be searching for a makeable out of division race, but it'll be hard to find one with Linda's limited vacation time (*I* have plenty of 'vacation' time <G>).

I hope we're a little better prepared for the Runoffs this year!

June Sprints - June (Out of division)  - ??.  Planning to go if possible. Fuel prices and lack of vacation time for Linda have pretty much removed this one from my calendar.

Roebling Double National  - July  - Another race that IS NO MORE.  This event also converted to a regional only event.

Regular Season team stats -

Barber Double Regional - Labor Day Weekend - (warmup for Runoffs)

We made the trip to Barber again this year to refresh me and the car as well as semi-test (make sure they didn't fall off) some aero mods I made to the car.  The weekend was pretty good - a bit warm, but we didn't have the characteristic RAIN that we have seen in past years, so we did get some good test time.  Linda and I were both forgetting things all weekend, so it was a good event to get back into the swing of things.  The video camera on the car acted up and we didn't get much video - I later found out (at the Runoffs) that it was just a battery problem.

I had braking problems all weekend and finally replaced both rear wheel cylinders and the last session was good.  We also managed to set a new lap record during the Saturday race - generally a good thing <g>.  That would be Bullet's first lap record.  I was also breaking in a newly rebuilt transmission - no real problems there either, but I will need to swap back to the long box before we leave for Wisconsin.

That's about it for Barber - the Runoffs are coming up fast!

Runoffs -  Road America - September -

Before leaving for the Runoffs at Road America I found some 60 or 70 things to do to the car and barely got it all done in time - but we did :-).  One of the things I did was to finally get around to building a reverse lockout for Bullet.  With the long shift linkage, it's a real PITA to shift from 3rd to 2nd without hitting reverse. I've been trying to get this done for some 20 years!  I found some pix of a couple of other ideas - added that to my own ideas - scrounged around the shop to see what I had to work with and started at it.  My first attempt was a dud and I scrapped it .. but it led me to an alternative that worked.

 
In the 1st pic, you can see the aluminum assembly that clamps around the nose of the shifter housing. At the back of the car, you see the vertical 'T' square tubing that protects the shifter from cars behind me. The shifter rod has a steel piece clamped to it and attached to the shift linkage traveling off forward at an angle. It's in 3rd at the moment and moves towards the 'T' for 4th. It rotates CCW about 20 degrees to select 1st and 2nd and another 20 degrees or so to select reverse.  As shown, the reverse lockout is disengaged and the steel can rotate full movement CCW to select reverse.  The cable control in the cockpit in the 2nd pic swings the bottom aluminum piece inline with the top piece and the steel will hit it at the 1-2 angle and keep the shifter shaft from getting to reverse.  It actually works really well although I need a little longer cable housing so that the wire doesn't have to 'reach' so far outside the housing.

I studied the travel plan more extensively this year so as to NOT hit Chicago at rush hour as we did last year. We would leave Tues eve to put a couple hours on the road to get that timing. After several delays, I got in a bit of a hurry leaving...managed to FORGET to disconnect the power cord from the RV, but thankfully had connected it in such a manner that it just disconnected itself rather than ripping wires out of the garage or motorhome.  I remembered it about 10 feet out of the driveway and stopped to make sure there was no damage before continuing - thankfully, all was OK. We stopped at a Walmart in Sylva, NC for the night.

The next day we got on the road about 8A and made perfect time although we did have a rather exciting moment in Louisville. I was coming around a pretty sharp curve in heavy downtown traffic, doing maybe 45. About 1/2 way around, a string of STOPPED CARS came into view about 150 feet in front of me (my rig is 65 feet long!).  I was against a concrete wall on the left and had a full stream of cars on my right - no place to go - nothing to do but slam on the brakes and HOPE.  That's the first time I've not had ANY options in a towing crisis. I nailed the brakes, not having time to 'modulate' or anything else. I could hear tires screaming (I'm pretty sure they were mine), and we somehow got stopped in time - without even leaving our lane, although I can't figure how that happened.  It was all over in a flash (it was < 2 "Car-Lengths"!) and we found ourselves sitting stopped some 20 feet behind the car in front.  I even had room to spare! However, I did notice 6 flat spots on my RV tires during the rest of the trip.  I had set up the trailer brakes so that I could just NOT lock them up (they're electric), so the trailer stayed behind us as it should, thankfully.  After making a quick stop a few miles down the road to check on things in the trailer, we continued on and arrived south of Chicago about 8:30P - right on time. Got through Chicago (on those PITIFUL ROADS with LOTS of TOLL BOOTHS) and stopped at the Welcome station at the Wisconsin line to spend the night.  On Thurs morning, we ran into our worst traffic jam - over 10 miles long - between the IL/WI line and Milwaukee - apparently due simply to road construction. We finally got through that and made it to the track around noon. Parked the rig while we went to registration and got back to find our only real problem with the rig - it wouldn't start! After futzing around with it a few minutes, I decided it just HAD to be the fuel shutoff valve (thank you RV forums <G>) so set about FINDING it.  Fortunately, it was a simple fix for the moment - the screws in the mounting bracket were loose so that it didn't have a good electrical ground - tightened them quickly - cranked up and made our way to our reserved paddock spot.  I fixed it properly the next day along with a couple of other minor issues.

Test Day 1 - Friday.  I had been watching the weather closely for the last week and had finally decided to go ahead and sign up for Friday test day, but hold off on Saturday test day, since the forecast still involved lots of rain.  Friday went reasonably well - we had no REAL issues other than getting me familiar with the track since last year.  The sessions were 30 minutes long and there were very few cars - I had quite a number of really nice, traffic free, laps - something I really needed.  The last session was all open wheel mixed (meaning I was "in the way" of quite a few *VERY FAST* cars, and I elected to scrub tires rather than try to make good laps.  All went well.

Test Day 2 - Sat.  Woke up Saturday from a light overnight rain, and the sky's were heavily overcast and nasty looking ... however, it was NOT raining and the track was just a bit damp.  We would be group 3 so it would likely be dry by my session time if it didn't rain more.  I really needed the track time, so went to the 'driver lounge' where I could get some internet access and pulled up some radar maps - finally deciding that it just MIGHT be a decent day after all,  I got my wallet and zoomed down to registration, barely getting signed up in time to make the first session. 

In short, the day turned out quite nice for us.  The first and 2nd sessions (of only 3) were mostly traffic free - I got quite a few good laps with a small draft near the end of session 2 for my fastest lap of the day ... which was also the fastest Vee time of the 5 or 6 Vees out there - I was also about 1 sec faster than last year - always a good sign :-). The last session was again used to scrub in another set of tires.

We watched things on Sunday as there were some 15 or 16 Vees testing - a tad disturbing to find that several cars clocked times that were a full second faster than my times on Sat - but they were drafting in 5 - 8 car packs, the average lap time being considerably SLOWER than my 'alonely' times.  The draft is playing large! I also spent some time going over the car again and found one of my front brake shoes worn completely out again.  Glad we caught that.  Jerry (up from Ohio to help us for the event) and Linda helped me change the engine so I could compare the performance between the 2 that I have.

Q1 - Monday.  We gridded by random draw and, for once, I finally had a good starting spot.  My spot was 6th and I was surrounded by some pretty good cars to work with (at least none of them hated me <G>).  Our session was the LAST one of the day at 5:30P and we sweated out rain as the time neared - however it went as well as I could hope for, but we only had 6 'at speed' laps and EVERY lap was extremely important. It was BLOOD AND GUTS (and a large pinch of stupidity) out there. After 3 laps, I extracted myself from the 'pack' I was with and dropped back a bit so I  could get through some turns without having to slow for traffic ahead.  Thankfully, it worked and my LAST lap was the fastest for me - moving me from around position 23 to 6th on the grid.

Davis leads onto the front straight during qualifying. Eventual 2010 Champion Rick Shields is the 3rd car back - 2nd red car. The black car is Gary Blanarik, the other Silver Bullet car.

Tues - day "off" - rain was forecast for the whole day, so it seemed nice that we had that day off - however, the rain again failed to materialize with only a couple of light drizzles during the day.  The temp was up into the 80's and the sun peeked through on several occasions.  Going over the car again, I changed more brake shoes and ALL of the wheel cylinders since I was having trouble with dragging brakes almost every session.  Also, after studying my data and considering just how it "felt" out there, I decided to change back to the engine that I tested with.  Both engines are "good", but it seemed that the Monday engine needed more time to seat the rings ... something that MIGHT not happen at all in time for the race.

Q2 - Wed.  This session was at 10:30 AM and was forecast to be the best session ... as long as the track was DRY .. and it was.  From this session on, we are gridded by qualifying position so, again I was in a good position.  I tried to be SMARTER this session since I wasn't quite so desperate as many in the class.  The engine pulled really well and on my second lap I moved up a spot on the grid with a good time.  I was also able to put another really good lap together at the end - everything being as good as I could hope for with 5 cars to draft to the finish line coming out of the last turn.  AARRRRGGGGHHH! The lead car of that group SPUN coming onto the front straight.  I visually 'measured' the positions of all the cars and decided that I could JUST get by the spinning car before I had to start passing (can't pass under yellow till past the 'incident'). I had to crack the throttle just a tad as the other cars fanned out to avoid, but I got by - unfortunately loosing that wonderful draft I was hoping for.  I was pressing as hard as I could on the 'go pedal' as I passed under the checker for the session.  It turned out to be my best lap anyway and that great lap moved me BACK into 6th - I would have ended up somewhere around 10th otherwise.

At the end of the day, we attended the, now famous, Womer FV party/get together.  Most all of the vee participants showed up and a few others as well. The food was great and a good time was held by all - Thanks to Ed and Kathy for hosting that for the last several years.

Q3 - Thurs.  Another threat of rain that didn't materialize. Our session was at 2:30P and it got pretty HOT (mid 80's) although the sun was in and out.  The winds were pretty high and the humidity was really high.  As it turned out, no matter how hard I tried, we could get nowhere close to the Wed times - neither could anyone else and only a few spots at the back of the pack changed.  We had the 4th fastest time of the session, but the highest change of position was Ed Womer jumping to 15th to drop Brian McCarthy to 16th. I found out later, that a car broke a head stud and dumped oil on the track for, pretty much the entire session. The wind continued to build throughout the day and was near gale force at the top of our hill by nightfall.  I was quite surprised to see most of the awnings around the paddock still intact (most had duallies or at least golf carts and race cars holding them down).  One tractor-trailer rig did have it's HUMONGOUS awning wrapped up over it's top and torn to bits, but that was the only significant damage I heard about.

Now... 2 days to watch the other classes race before we hit the track again on Sunday morn at 9:30.  Some great racing - we watched SM, FF, FB/FA, F5 and a whole ton of others ... a LOT of red flags and crashes, but some GREAT racing as well.

We were the second race on Sunday morning.  STU and T1 combined were the first.  I walked down to the front straight to watch the start before getting into my suit. The STU pack (split start) came screaming by toward turn one with a good start (in a VERY small group of only 5-7 cars).  I waited for the T1 start - friend Chris Ingle was starting at the back due to a blown motor on Monday and I wanted to see how many spots he could gain before T1.  The cars were JUST out of view from where I was when the green waved - I watched and waited, but the first thing I HEARD was *CRASHING*! WOW - what a mess. Seems one of the front row cars missed a shift and got tagged from behind - spinning him broadside in front of the rest of the (once 15 or so) cars.  NO ONE CAME THROUGH CLEAN!!  The track was completely blocked and EVERY car that managed to come down the track at all was severely damaged.  I was a ways away and it looked like someone had dropped a BOMB on the start/finish line - smoke drifting into the air and no one moving.  To be brief, no drivers were hurt, but at least five cars were DONE - most, severely done.  It took over 45 minutes to restart as the cars had impacted the concrete walls so hard that several WALL SECTIONS had to be replaced! WOW.  At any rate, they did finally restart the races and gave them 6 laps - we ended up starting our race about 30 minutes late. Chris was fortunate to not be involved in the accident and moved up to finish 3rd at the checker.

THE RACE - Sitting on the grid, I planned my 'strategy' - after considerable thought I finally decided to just go as fast as I could and hope for a great outcome <g> (what else can you do?). I knew I needed a really good start and planned to be as "nice" as I could for the first few laps while making EVERY effort to help create a small lead pack and BE IN IT!!  As we came up the hill for the start, I tried to position myself and anticipate the green and I got a PERFECT START!  I started to pass Roger, but thought better of it - just don't GET passed - you don't need to pass anyone right now!  Rick Shields got caught napping and he dropped in behind me - Mike had the lead, but we weren't far behind. Brandon had the inside, but backed out at the last second, which turned out to be a VERY good thing as we were then able to stay right on Mike's tail down the hill into T3.  Going towards T5, we all closed on Mike, but no one passed.  I had a good run myself, but stayed with the plan - no passing at the moment unless necessary or "really easy" (hasn't happened in a LONG time <G>).  We all made T5 without hurting ourselves too much and got good runs into T6/7/8 and into the carousel and through the kink.  Going through the Kettle Bottoms, I finally had a sec to glance in my mirrors ... and, except for Rick, it looked pretty empty.  I could see 'something' back there a ways, but no idea how far back it was.  Through Canada and up the hill - then onto the front straight.  Roger took the lead from Mike and I relinquished 3rd to Rick.  Going into T1 I glanced again behind me .. hmmm... nothing there really close - I think this is a GOOD thing!

Down into 5 again - we're all clean again - down to T8 and into the carousel, kink and back straight.  The lead 3 are pulling me into the carousel, but I close back up at Canada. Up the hill and onto the front straight again. Roger, Rick, Mike, me ... and a gap!  We have a LEAD PACK and **I'm IN IT!!** Mike takes the lead into T5 - down to T8. Mike is pressing to get away - Mike blasts into 8 to get a good run through the carousel, but NO - there's **OIL** in T8 ... LOTS of it.  Mike goes wide and spins, Roger dodges, Rick clears, leaving Mike DEAD IN FRONT OF ME BROADSIDE! I'm in the 'bumpers', but manage to dodge and get by.  In the carousel, Rick slows as we encounter several cars off in the gravel trap - I'm in 3rd, but I see no yellows. Rick slows more and Roger pauses, then falls in behind him.  I look around and there are NO flags - we're past the incident.  I'm expecting a Full Course Yellow (FCY), but it's not out yet.  They're still going slow, so I pull out and go by and TAKE THE LEAD!  Short lived, though - as soon as I start around, Rick realizes the same thing and passes me back as we go towards Canada.  JUST as we get to Canada, the FCY flags come out.  I'm in 2nd with Roger behind me and this would be great... EXCEPT that it means that the 3 car lead pack will soon become a 36 car lead pack - that really sucks!

4 laps under the FCY as time ticks down toward our 40 minute limitation.  The race will probably be cut 1 or 2 laps short.  I ponder all the issues as I lamely and pitifully attempt to clean the lens on my camera without ever ONCE hitting the lens - which continues to get crappier with every lap.

I try to set myself up for the restart, but do a terrible job of that as well.  I'm 2nd when the green comes out, but 3rd into T1 as Roger goes by - then 4th into T5, but back to 2nd behind Roger at Canada.  Then they gang up on me on the front straight and I am demoted to 6th into T1. Around to Canada once again.  Linda's giving me the lap count.  I'm 'on' the pack, but there's still 2 laps to go and everybody's blocking like crazy - just hold the position.  Down to Canada - one more lap to go.  I'm close, but no place to pass - I crack the throttle and close to the right of the track to protect the inside. I'm OK - nothing in my mirrors... then I HEAR IT.  There *IS* someone on the inside - one of the Jennerjahns DIVES in - 2 wheels in the grass and then !!! holy CRAP !!! there's ANOTHER CAR behind him (Mike)- they CAN'T make this turn.  Mike hits the inside curb and SPINS - RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!  I have to lift and dodge and I loose some 10 car lengths to the leaders.  Coming to the last lap - onto the front straight and up to T1. I see Nubie in my mirror now and he gets me going into T5 but screws up the turn and we're both slow.   If we work together, maybe we can make it up.  Closing around the carousel, kink and down to Canada for the last time - I can see all the way to Rick, now leading - we're close, but not 'passing' close.  Through the Benny Michell Bend and onto the front straight - pedal CRAMMED to the floor. Rick is leading, Brandon is behind him, Roger pulls out to pass going up the hill to the checker, Brandon pulls out beside Roger - Nubie and I are just watching at this point - not close enough to do anything else.  They flash toward the line - Chris Jennerjahn pops out at the last moment - I can see the FOUR CARS at the line just in front of me.  Rick raises his fist in victory, but I certainly can't confirm that he won it.  Those 4, then Nubie, then me - not sure how close Ron was behind me, but it's OVER. (and we're alive and in one piece! Yaay!)  My fastest lap was the LAST lap (3rd fastest race lap) - that same lap Nubie set the new track record (2:41.722).

Sadly, I am JUST out of this picture right behind Nubie (the blue car)... sure looks to me like Rick is putting up his hand BEFORE they cross the line <g>.

The tower confirms that Rick won ...by 0.017 secs over Roger, then Brandon for the podium.  The smallest measured FV Runoffs victory margin since they started measuring them electronically, but it took several people LOOKING at the finish to really decide who won. There was only 0.132 secs across the front 4 and only about 1.5 secs through Nubie and back to me.  For those so inclined, I have posted my video of the race on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/15366085) such as it is (I should have skipped the FCY laps, but was in a hurry to get it posted).  The best part is at the front before the FCY and it's pretty much useless at the end of the race.  I PROMISE to practice wiping the lens properly before I post any more videos <g>. If you're REALLY a video freak, here is another video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGo-nG7gkNQ&feature=channel) link of the second part of the race from Chis Jennerjahn (4th place).  It shows the freight train blasting past me on the next to last lap, but he didn't wipe his lens either <g>. (We need to have CBS or SPEED make us some affordable cameras with those rolling plastic protectors, don't we... I wonder how F1 does it?)

Well, we made it to impound again - somewhat sadly, but still proud to be running at the front.  Sadly, because we now have to sit around and WAIT for several more hours while they tear Rick's engine apart - but NICE to be CLOSE enough to (almost) touch the leader at the line. Musing back on the week ... 6th in qualifying on Monday... 6th on Wed... 6th on Thurs and, guess what? SIXTH in the race.  I guess there's something to be said for consistency <grin>.

As always, I'd like to thank Eric, Mike, Jim, Steve, Norb, Frankie and all the guys at Goodyear Tires, Rollin of Butler Engines, JR of Roxannes Headers,  and of course, Jerry, who took time off from his busy (retired) life to come help us again this year, not to mention my lovely wife of 35 years - Linda - for putting up with all this crap (and actually pretending to ENJOY it) for all these years (of course she did insist that I upgrade to a nice RV from the popup tents <G>), and Lee, who helped me get ready and load up and took care of our animals and home while we were traveling.

We finally got loaded up and left the track about 3 PM (eastern time) - put in about 8.5 hours before stopping for the night, then finished up on Monday and got home about 6P.  The terrible roads beating the RV and trailer up during the trip ripped my trailer door rack and tool box off the walls - dumping crap everywhere, but thankfully no real damage (the tool box JUST missed the nose of the car).  Every time I go on these trips, I get reminded just how GOOD our roads are compared to most other states.  It beats the living daylights out of our RV, trailer and equipment while traveling - and CHICAGO is by FAR the worst place I've ever driven through.  You'd think with all those blasted toll roads they would have decent roads, but no... 

Yes - it's often a mess, but not THIS bad :-(.

A little rest and relaxation in store for now.  I'd LIKE to go to the Bill Scott Memorial race at Summit Point in a couple of weeks, but I doubt we'll be up to it in time.  Just too much effort goes into this event.  We need time to unwind a bit and get back to the chores that have been ignored for the last couple of months.
 

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