Paul,
Glad to hear you had a mahvalous time and that the Roadster was a winner as
well as the driver, and her dad.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: Paul <9laser3@bright.net>
To: <datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net>
Cc: Walt Matenkosky <wmatenkosky@hotmail.com>; Teddy Seidenfeld
<teddy@stat.cmu.edu>; Jim & Cathy Sloan <Duecepkup@aol.com>; Ohio Roadster
Owners Club <Orocrodstr@aol.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2000 4:13 PM
Subject: 31st Annual Pumpkin chase race, Nelson Ledges, Ohio
> HEAVY RAINS BRING TEAM SLOAN TO A HALT!!!
>
> Fortunately that was Friday night on the ride to the track! Saturday
> morning wasn't quite ready yet when Paul Kort showed up at the motor home
> headquarters of Sloan Racing just before 7 AM. But he managed to wake
> everyone up to get the day started before sunrise. Cloudy, cold and very
> windy. Thursday and Friday's 75 degree temperatures had been replaced
with
> a
> cool 40. It took awhile to get the cars warmed up. Cathy Ann needed a
> battery transplant to get things turning.
> Just to prove that we could actually feel colder than we already were,
> Teddy Seidenfeld drove in from Pittsburgh in his shiny red 2000, ... with
> the top DOWN! Teddy jumped right in and helped with the final
preparations
> for morning warmups. Chris and Diane Luers drove in from Columbus, only
to
> inform us that it was much WARMER back home. So much for the day's
weather
> forecast.
> Ten minutes on the track was barely enough to get the tires warmed, but
> Cathy Ann knew her 1600 wasn't handling right. Jim said he was running
> fine,
> so we let a few pounds of air out of her rear tires. Hopefully that would
> do it.
> Qualifying gave everybody another chance at the track. The sun had
> managed to show up, but the winds persisted and kept things cool. Jim's
> qualifying laps were smooth and he qualified first for the afternoon's
> qualifying race. Cathy Ann continued to have handling problems and a new
> vibration in the steering wheel. The crew attacked Cathy Ann's roadster,
> determined to find the problem. When the words 'toe-in' were said, Chris
> commented that we had corrected the toe-in several times over the summer
and
> dove underneath to find a very sloppy idler box. A brief discussion
between
> Chris, head mechanic for Sloan Racing and Teddy, Idler box specialist
(long
> story!) resulted. A quick trip up the ramps gave everybody a good look
> underneath and the problem was soon corrected, or so we hoped.
> Lunch was served by the best track Mom a team could ask for, Cathy
Sloan
> (Jim's wife & Cathy Ann's mother). Revitalized and warmed by the sun,
which
> had finally decided to joins us full time, it was back to the cars. Jim's
> car needed the brakes bled and adjusted. Chris made short work of that
> task.
> A few minor adjustments and topping off of fluids was all that was needed
to
> prepare for the afternoon's qualifying race. Unfortunately, Teddy had to
> depart for Pittsburgh to prepare for a flight out of town. Cathy Ann's
> steering problems were on all our minds. Paul gave her a final talk on
the
> grid. "Watch how she steers through the first turn, then forget about it
> and
> race!" Cathy Ann was starting from the rear of the group after a poor
> showing in the morning sessions.
> When the green flag fell, Jim found himself surrounded by a Datsun 510
> and
> a Porsche 914, both in a different class. He was having so much fun
> swapping places every lap with them, that he never noticed Cathy Ann's
> progress. The steering problems were gone, the brakes felt good, and the
> motor was running great. Time to start passing people in her way. Though
> she never caught Jim, she did manage to turn her best lap time ever at
> Nelson's and finished second behind Jim. Dad got a big hug at impound
from
> a very happy daughter!
> Saturday evening was the year end party at the Kort's residence. Good
> food, Run-off videos, and great company. What could be better.
> Sunday morning the sun rose over the frosted fields and a hundred race
> cars at Nelson's. Slowly the silence of the night and the smell of
> breakfast cooking, was replaced with the sound of high compression motors
> struggling to start and the smell of starting fluid. Cathy Ann and Jim
had
> stayed up late and adjusted the valves on her car so it would be ready for
> the day.
> Hardship practice was slow, mainly due to really cold tires that refused
> to warm, but both cars were running fine. The sun continued to warm
> everything and unlike Saturday, no wind was blowing. By the time G
> Production's group took the track, it was actually starting to be a nice
> day. Since no race day is without a gremlin or two, Cathy Ann's car
refused
> to go into gear on the false grid when called to the track. Chris and
Paul
> were able to rock the car free of what ever had a hold of it and Cathy
> roared off to join the other cars on the grid just in time for the start.
> While Jim was running door to door with a FP CRX and a FP Midget, Cathy
> fought her way past an EP BMW 2002. Jim was off in first place in GP until
> the CRX decided to lose its motor. Jim, being the ever helpful sportsman
> that he is, attempted to help by pushing the CRX, not realizing the CRX
was
> trying to get off the track and out of everybody's way. Jim left a
> fiberglass fender behind to mark the occasion and continued in a partially
> open wheeled Datsun. This gave Cathy an opportunity to sneak past dad and
> continue her battle with the BMW. They traded positions several laps in a
> row, before Cathy decided it was time to get serious and pulled out for a
> victory in her class and left the BMW driver wonder who was driving that
> little roadster! Jim, missing one fender and sporting a shortened hood,
was
> able to regain most of the lost ground but could never quite catch Cathy
and
> the crowd she was racing in. Cathy proudly took first in class and Jim
> managed to hang on to second place in class. The impound lot was again
the
> scene of a happy family reunion. Thankfully, Jim's missing fender was
> collected by a corner worker and was returned by the SCCA Track Master,
Walt
> Matenkosky. A quick survey of the damage to Jim's 1600 showed a smashed
> grill, a bit of bent sheet metal, the aforementioned shortened hood, but
an
> unbent frame.
> The rest of the day was spent reviewing the year and discussing the off
> seasons rebuilding schedule, Everybody enjoyed another wonderful lunch
> prepared by Track Mom, Cathy. Group photos were in order, so with the
crew
> surrounding Cathy's car and trophy, proudly displaying a Datsun banner,
> another great racing weekend drew to a close.
>
> Paul
> OROC
>
|