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blocking up the front of the car to start replacing the rotor, one of our front Fox shocks fell apart, as the internal shaft nut had backed off due to vibration. For the second straight year I was bailed out by the presence of Duane Wagner, who had stopped by from his lake cabin. Duane has been working on Fox shocks with the Polaris motorcycle, so he quickly disassembled the whole unit, leaving a tidy pile of shims and spacers which all had to be put together in the proper sequence. With the help of Bob Lybarger, we were able to get all pieces back where they belonged, and commenced the 25 step process of reassembly and recharging the gas Fox. Jim Render had also stopped for his first BIR visit in almost a decade, and lent (im)moral support to the procedure. Duane also pointed out a crack in the front upright of my Swift, which I was left to ponder as I had no spare. By the time we had stumbled back to the FV turkey cookout, it had started to rain again as darkness fell, but fortunately chef Mike Vrchota, Dave Bowman and crew had plenty of great food still remaining. Mike was spectating this weekend while he takes medicine to clear up an irregular heartbeat discovered during his physical EKG, but plans to have his new car on track early next season. Well over a hundred racers enjoyed Mike and Dave’s hospitality, and we are all very grateful.
Dawn on Sunday revealed the rain had moved off to the east, although it was still cloudy and humid. Almost 20 Vintage cars got the festivities off to a roaring start. Unfortunately for Greg Wold, the roar was a bit too loud, as he was called in for noise consultation and lost about half a lap. Doug Karon’s IROC Camaro led Gerry Tussing’s Titan FF by a bit over 4 seconds at the checker, while Wold set fast race lap short-shifting at the noise meter, and was back in 8th.
The Tussing Titan could probably be competitive in CFF, as he was over a half minute ahead of Jeff Ingebrigtson’s Caldwell and Rich Stadther’s Merlyn, who were 3rd and 4th overall. In National Group 1, Andy McDermid stated that if Harvey West could beat him into turn 1 it would be Harvey’s race. It didn’t happen, as Andy led from green to checker, with a new race lap record set on the final circuit. Group 2 was a similar walkaway as John Schaller’s lone FA quickly distanced himself from the rest of the 16 car pack. Behind John things got interesting, as Ken DeNault jumped from 7th on the grid to 3rd just behind FC leader Steve Thomson into turn 3. Micky Gilbert got his FM loose in turn 7 and spun in 8, and lost a lap getting restarted. It looked like a repeat of last year as Thomson opened a gap over Gerry Kraut, and looked as if he’d run away to second overall and an easy FC win. It was not to be, as after five laps Kraut began to close on Thomson, and on lap eight Steve’s left rear tire let go just at the exit of turn two, and he coasted to a stop at turn 4. Kraut took over second overall and was the only car not lapped by Schaller. DeNault notched his first BIR win by seven seconds over Fabio Castellani, with Eric Schwartz second in FC and fifth overall. Micky Gilbert got back into the hunt and set a FM race record in futile pursuit of the leaders. John Miller had to replace an ignition box just to get started, and was almost two laps behind before taking the green, while brother Herb was 4th in FC. All we could see from the top of the tower was the straightaway portion of the SRF battle, where there were "only" about a half dozen passes in the lead group each lap. Scott Goolsbey was officially in front for only two laps, but they were the first and final circuits, as he nipped Jeff Beck by less than a car length at the checker and set fast race lap in the process, for a 1-2 for Lars Lindell
cars. Dudley Fleck was the other car in the lead draft, and he led at mid-point but finished third. Gerry Kraut’s good fortune in FC didn’t carry into this next event, as he spun on lap two to drop back to 12th at the finish. Dave Kennedy led the second group to 4th overall with Reid Johnson close behind in sixth. GT and Production cars were no contest for the overall win, as Jim Courtney’s GT1 Olds ran away and hid. Jon Brakke was over a minute behind Courtney but a comfortable winner in GT3. Glen Luening set an EP race record in 4th overall while Steve Pommer won HP.
FF was next on the agenda and there was even a hint of sun as 9 cars took to the track (Jerrod Lindquist lost his engine after 2 laps in qualifying) for a brisk pace lap. Jeff Meister led the first lap, but Dave Hopple drafted by to take the lead on the second run down the straight, as all 9 cars remained in close contact. There was plenty of dicing at the front between the early leaders as well as Ray Lecuyer, Jim Nash and Jerry Szykulski, as I held on back in 8th place hoping for a break. On lap 8 Meister attempted the always difficult two car pass in turn 3, which was half successful and put him sideways at the apex. The top 4 cars then broke away leaving Scott Hutchison, Jeff Lewis and myself in a second group about 5 seconds behind. Both Lecuyer and Szykulski led in the late stages, but Hopple kept his cool and drafted into a lead on the 14th lap that he held to the checker. Nash turned a very quick 1:44 for fast race lap, but Lecuyer’s defensive line through turn 10 kept him just ahead of Jim for second, with Szykulski alongside for fourth. On the last lap, Hutchison pulled off the two car pass in turn 3 to best both Lewis and myself for fifth, to conclude a race which hopefully had sufficient quality to make up for the lack of quantity. Hopple now has
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Tonneau On-Line November 2000
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Copyright 2000, Land O'Lakes Region Last revised: March 13, 2003
