The Tonneau On-Line, July 2000, Page 7

FUBAR continued from page 6

ever, we aren’t doing much for the local entry-level driver by not running a School this year, and I won’t add to my collection of a dozen or so Instructor sweatshirts. Many thanks to Race Chair Shannon Murphy and all workers who put together the Knapp weekend.

My unofficial tally of cars at CBIR indicated we were well over the break even point for the weekend at $300 per plus worker perks. The open wheel gang had well over 20 cars with a Regional FV field of 7 cars on Sunday; one of the best since Jerry was running at

Damon Bosell's ITE Mustang, Joe Rothman's ITS Porsche 944 and Bill Tapper's ITS Datsun 240Z at CBIR. Jerry Winker photo.

Brainerd. Although several familiar local faces were missing, there were a dozen FF/CFF entries and four FC cars on Saturday. My first laps at the track confirmed the fact that the racing surface hasn’t gotten any smoother over the past winter, nor have my aging Fox shocks gotten any better at coping with the bumps. My main modification over the winter was getting the Swift bodywork repaired and repainted by Valley Auto in Savage, a task I had probably delayed about two winters too long. The paint job is a near copy of the Rotary Systems scheme (with lettering courtesy of Art Jaworski) as I figure if I can’t beat them, I’ll join them. For the past couple seasons I figured fate would catch up with me and I’d do some serious bodywork damage during a race. This never occurred, but I proved another Fubar rule, as the first time out I promptly locked up the fronts braking for turn 10 and drove straight off through the dirt to put the first divots in the redone nose. The next session I compounded the mistake by spinning at the exit of turn three and putting more chips in the nose and pristine sidepods. At this rate, by next race I’ll have the car looking like a NASCAR competitor after a hard day at Bristol.

Both John and Herb Miller are welcome returnees to Club Racing with their totally rebuilt Van Diemen FCs, and John had the Saturday pole by over 3 seconds. Herb had a front shock come apart the first time out and missed qualifying, as he and Gene Anderson repaired the car. Kevin Hummel had his Vector completely re-worked by Cities mechanic Tom Deatson and was rewarded with outside pole, while Jerry Szykulski drove his new Van Diemen to first in FF with teammate Jeff Meister a fraction of a second slower. Alan Murray and Don Erickson led the CFF and FV contingent.

When the green flag dropped, John Miller quickly checked out, pulling away by a couple seconds a lap. It took Hummel a couple laps, but his motor finally cleared and he pulled clear of our group of three FFs. Shortly thereafter Bill Bergeron parked his FC off turn 4 with terminal electrical woes, which first cropped up on the pace lap. This capped a frustrating day for Bill, who packed up the car and headed back to the cities where he is reassessing his plans in SCCA. Just after mid race we came up to lap the lead group of FVs with mixed results. Szykulski got

by with a clean pass out of turn 3, but Meister wound up diving to the inside at turn 7 with a near miss and near spin into eight, as I nearly locked up all 4 trying to avoid everyone. Szykulski got cleanly away while Meister and I were left by ourselves to dice for second and Bruce Livermore pulled away in Vee. Herb Miller passed us several laps from the finish and was closing on Hummel when the checker fell. Murray lost the coil on his Crossle to leave Bruce Drenth an easy CFF win and Richard Schmidt won F500.
By Sunday qualifying the sun was trying to break through a low overcast and the wind was gone, as Hummel and I pulled onto the track to try and team up for a fast run down the straight. On the fourth lap we closed rapidly on a F500 and Vee, and I backed off a bit expecting the worst. The F500 hadn’t given much indication of watching his mirrors all weekend, and he not unexpectedly slammed the door on Kevin at the apex of turn two, sending the FC swerving to the left and off the track for an expensive slide through the mud. This knocked off the nose box and front wing, bent the front suspension

FUBAR continued on page 8

Tonneau On-Line
July 2000

Page 7

Copyright 2000, Land O'Lakes Region Last revised: March 13, 2003
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FUBAR continued from page 6 ever, we aren’t doing much for the local entry-level driver by not running a School this year, and I won’t add to my collection of a dozen or so Instructor sweatshirts. Many thanks to Race Chair Shannon Murphy and all workers who put together the Knapp weekend. My unofficial tally of cars at CBIR indicated we were well over the break even point for the weekend at $300 per plus worker perks. The open wheel gang had well over 20 cars with a Regional FV field of 7 cars on Sunday; one of the best since Jerry was running at	Damon Bosell's ITE Mustang, Joe Rothman's ITS Porsche 944 and Bill Tapper's ITS Datsun 240Z at CBIR. Jerry Winker photo.
Brainerd. Although several familiar local faces were missing, there were a dozen FF/CFF entries and four FC cars on Saturday. My first laps at the track confirmed the fact that the racing surface hasn’t gotten any smoother over the past winter, nor have my aging Fox shocks gotten any better at coping with the bumps. My main modification over the winter was getting the Swift bodywork repaired and repainted by Valley Auto in Savage, a task I had probably delayed about two winters too long. The paint job is a near copy of the Rotary Systems scheme (with lettering courtesy of Art Jaworski) as I figure if I can’t beat them, I’ll join them. For the past couple seasons I figured fate would catch up with me and I’d do some serious bodywork damage during a race. This never occurred, but I proved another Fubar rule, as the first time out I promptly locked up the fronts braking for turn 10 and drove straight off through the dirt to put the first divots in the redone nose. The next session I compounded the mistake by spinning at the exit of turn three and putting more chips in the nose and pristine sidepods. At this rate, by next race I’ll have the car looking like a NASCAR competitor after a hard day at Bristol.	Both John and Herb Miller are welcome returnees to Club Racing with their totally rebuilt Van Diemen FCs, and John had the Saturday pole by over 3 seconds. Herb had a front shock come apart the first time out and missed qualifying, as he and Gene Anderson repaired the car. Kevin Hummel had his Vector completely re-worked by Cities mechanic Tom Deatson and was rewarded with outside pole, while Jerry Szykulski drove his new Van Diemen to first in FF with teammate Jeff Meister a fraction of a second slower. Alan Murray and Don Erickson led the CFF and FV contingent. When the green flag dropped, John Miller quickly checked out, pulling away by a couple seconds a lap. It took Hummel a couple laps, but his motor finally cleared and he pulled clear of our group of three FFs. Shortly thereafter Bill Bergeron parked his FC off turn 4 with terminal electrical woes, which first cropped up on the pace lap. This capped a frustrating day for Bill, who packed up the car and headed back to the cities where he is reassessing his plans in SCCA. Just after mid race we came up to lap the lead group of FVs with mixed results. Szykulski got	by with a clean pass out of turn 3, but Meister wound up diving to the inside at turn 7 with a near miss and near spin into eight, as I nearly locked up all 4 trying to avoid everyone. Szykulski got cleanly away while Meister and I were left by ourselves to dice for second and Bruce Livermore pulled away in Vee. Herb Miller passed us several laps from the finish and was closing on Hummel when the checker fell. Murray lost the coil on his Crossle to leave Bruce Drenth an easy CFF win and Richard Schmidt won F500. By Sunday qualifying the sun was trying to break through a low overcast and the wind was gone, as Hummel and I pulled onto the track to try and team up for a fast run down the straight. On the fourth lap we closed rapidly on a F500 and Vee, and I backed off a bit expecting the worst. The F500 hadn’t given much indication of watching his mirrors all weekend, and he not unexpectedly slammed the door on Kevin at the apex of turn two, sending the FC swerving to the left and off the track for an expensive slide through the mud. This knocked off the nose box and front wing, bent the front suspension FUBAR continued on page 8

Tonneau On-Line	July 2000	Page 7
Copyright 2000, Land O'Lakes Region	Last revised: March 13, 2003	\| Previous \| Next \|