DISCLAIMER: The contents of this column are only the thoughts and opinions of the author. They DO NOT represent any policy of The Tonneau and its editors, the Land O'Lakes Region of the SCCA, the Regional Executive, members of the Board of Directors, or Competition Board. On several recent occasions I have received belated reports that members of the Region staff have received heated comments regarding this column. Anyone taking issue with content can reach me via E-mail at vfdesign@earthlink.net or phone (952) 944-5034. I suppose it would be easier to turn out some pasteurized monthly patter designed to not offend anyone, but what would be the point? I hope it’s not necessary to repeat this announcement on a monthly basis.
With my motor back in Woodstock (by the time we got to Woodstock....) IL for repairs, I find myself with a couple months in the middle of race season with nothing to do but try and catch up with some other venues of motorsports. Some of that has been on the job, as I was obliged to make it back to Daytona for the Firecracker event, then the first NASCAR event at Joliet’s Route 66 Speedway, followed two weeks later by a return to the second city for CART in Cicero. Plus I even got to watch a few laps by the Target Ganassi CART team testing midweek at Road America, while company folks had a confab at
the Kohler resort. We saw most of the Daytona event but missed the emotional victory celebration by Junior; then saw enough of Route 66 to figure NASCAR needs more banking to stage exciting racing at that track, as it was strictly a single groove oval. My favorite by far was CART, as I always prefer real race cars to taxicab racing (that should light up the phones!) Chicago Speedway has a problem similar to Route 66, as they also need more banking or wider corners since the single groove makes any pass an adventure. But Kelly Brack was by far the most aggressive driver out there and deserved the win, although Gidley got screwed when Franchitti balked him on the final re-start. Dario had by far the slickest crew, with Ashley Judd a fine looking pit board flasher (I wish). I talked with Kerry and Karen Freund who were enjoying the action, and had a long chat with John Church, who along with the Mrs. continues to manage Team Green hospitality. Jackie Ickx’s daughter Vanina has been running John’s FC Van Diemen in pro events, but is on break after breaking too many parts. John hopes to get her back on track in late season for some more racing, which has been co-managed by his dad Jack. For one reason or another I have never run the mid-summer CAT National at Road America, and this year was obviously no exception. The only competitor I spoke with following the event was Steve Thomson, who was a happy winner in FC having dispatched primary competitor Bobby Wilson in the early laps to pull out a relatively easy win. There was some confusion in the late laps as FF shared the track with FC. Joe Tovo had a serious shunt exiting turn one to put his car into the barrier in a vulnerable spot, as safety crews attempted to get Joe out of the car onto a backboard.
Despite several laps with yellow flags at the corner, some racers were carried away with the red mist, and first attempted a pass into the corner (Dane Whaley) or spun at the exit (an un-named FC) which almost hit some corner workers. On the next to last lap the checker was thrown to avoid further danger to Tovo and workers, but Thomson missed it and ran the last lap at speed, not sure that he had won. Tovo apparently later protested the Stewards for not red-flagging the program and getting him and car out of danger. Offending drivers were penalized, but I have no info on the protest or Tovo’s condition (his Van Diemen is definitely worse for wear.) Jim Nash ran FF but was not in the hunt with insufficient power as Kyle Krissilof won. Our Internet has been down for several weeks so I have no other details from the CAT but understand Mike Vrchota and Dave Bowman were both back in action in FV. Got a call from Don Erickson wondering why our Labor Day event is not on the schedule (by the time this is published, I hope the race was run). SCCA has noted some safety discrepancies at CBIR which must be corrected to ensure sanction, and inspection of the track cannot occur until after the August NHRA event. Thus the race could be called off at the last minute, and has not appeared in SportsCar listings. This is an unfortunate position for LOL and will doubtless limit the number of attendees both driving and working, especially as we run against the Blackhawk National. Regarding CBlR, I understand our R.E. got static from track personnel, reference my griping about the late switch on racing on Labor Day. We all have our problems, but again the gripes are
Fubar, continued on page 4
Tonneau On-Line September 2001
Page 3
Copyright 2001, Land O'Lakes Region Last revised: March 13, 2003
