Fubar, continued from page 3
Nash made his first visit to Mid Ohio since his CFF days, and moved up to 15th from his start 23rd in FF. The Ford race sounded like a repeat of last year’s weather fiasco. Two drivers among the favorites to win (John LaRue outside pole and 2000 Champ Chris Winkler gridded 6th) both spun on the pace lap, and Winkler apparently got out of his car to push it out of the wet grass. LaRue got back in the hunt and was up to 6th before going off again and retiring at mid-race. Winkler was black flagged after jumping back up to second during the second pace lap, and finally ended the defense of his 2000 championship in contact with Bill Kephart on the next to last lap. Two time champ Keith Nunes seemingly had the race under control when it finally was restarted after 6 laps of pulling cars off the track and out of gravel pits. However, on lap 9 young Kyle Krisiloff made his move and pulled away until the race was called complete two laps before scheduled distance. The 16 year old Krisiloff is by far the youngest FF champ in SCCA history, and seems to be following in his father’s footsteps toward a professional career. He was one of the few top-gridded cars to start on full rains and apparently made no mistakes in this, his 22nd FF race of the season.
In SSC Greg Smith took his Neon to Ohio and wound up 21st in a big field. By the time the huge 46 car FV field took the green, the track was reportedly almost dry. This didn’t prevent a big first lap crash, but Bruce Livermore avoided trouble and soldiered to a 15th place
finish from his 28th starting position. By contrast, only 18 FMs showed up, as there was apparently a conflict with a pro race. Ken DeNault, a frequent competitor at CBIR, finished 8th. In AS Harvey West was back for his umpteenth straight Runoffs and was 20th. Thanks again Harvey, for your continuing series on Minnesota racing history, which fills in many of the blanks for me before my arrival here way back in ’74. Dean Johnson also seems to always make the trip to the Runoffs, but this year his run in FP was a bit short, as he was out on the next to last lap. SRF always brings out a tough field, and Scott Goolsbey did a fine job finishing 8th. Steve Pommer did likewise with his Sprite 7th in HP, while Jon Brakke was also 7th in his first Runoffs driving an EP Miata amongst 39 starters. Steve Thomson had another disappointing Runoffs experience. Mike Anderson broke his gearbox during the first qualifying run. He replaced ring and pinion and took it out in the rain Wednesday, only to stuff it promptly into a tire wall. Despite this slow start, Anderson grabbed the pole by over half a second with a scorching Thursday qualifying run. This dropped Thomson from 4th to 6th, after CenDiv rival Bobby Wilson also sneaked up the grid. Arie Luyendyk, Jr. was fast all week and gridded 2nd followed by Mark Defer and Dave Weitzenhof (who is even older than me!) At the start Steve reported he jumped both Wilson and Defer to move back into 4th, as Anderson held the point followed by Luyendyk and Weitzenhof in the sole Citation
entered. Actually other than lone Crossle 71, Swift DB-6 and Piper DF2C entries, the rest of the 24 car field was totally Van Diemen. On lap 2 Wilson had a run on Steve approaching the esses and both cars went deep in the braking area. Steve says Wilson dropped at least two wheels off the pavement and lost it trying to complete the pass. The two made contact with Thomson bending his left front wing and steering link. Wilson retired soon after, but Steve continued until the lack of downforce plus excessive toe-in fried his front tires and he retired in the pits after 16 laps. Jerry Szykulski gridded 10th but had a less than happy day finishing 12th. Award for the smallest field this year (as almost every year) goes to S2000 with 13 starters followed by 14 in FA. SCCA National racing has ended this year almost as abruptly as did the LOL season. For local drivers once again it’s the old refrain, "wait till next year". Only 24 drivers went home from Mid Ohio satisfied, but for hundreds of others there’s the prestige of at least qualifying for the event to temper various disappointments. As I write this, the final CenDiv Blackhawk Regional is only a week away, but my car is firmly planted on jackstands where it will remain as the snow starts to drift down. But in the light of world events, the trials and tribulations of club racers suddenly become pure trivia. Sad as a blown engine or trip into a tire wall may seem at the time, it’s nothing compared to watching people driven to distraction by fire and smoke jumping a thousand feet to their deaths. Shortly before the Fubar, continued on page 6
Tonneau On-Line November 2001
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Copyright 2001, Land O'Lakes Region Last revised: March 13, 2003
