Richard Taylor wrote:
>
> Fellow FOTers,
>
> A quick note.
>
> Wednesday a week ago I drove ole' #196 (TR-4) from Atlanta to Daytona
> (450m.)for the HSR Vintage race. The only en route mishap was a broken
> tach cable.
>
> Towed my trailer 'o race tires, replaced my everyday windshield with my
> cute little Booklands windscreen and lined up with all the big boys. As
> for representing the Marque, there were no other TR-3s or 4s so I
> dominated! Yes, there were some Spitfires which did very well, but they
> were pitted somewhere I couldn't find.
>
> The Saturday Enduro race was a ninety-minute affair in which I took fourth
> place behind a Lotus Cortina and 2 MGBs. Daytona is a very fast track with
> high banks (30 degree+) and balls-to-the-wall straight-a-ways. My old
> machine topped out at 113-mph lap after lap going into turn One. No, this
> isn't as fast as most of you go-fast racers, but when you drive your ride
> home that fast, you do give it some thought.
>
> Paul Newman almost bought the farm going into turn 1 in the fast car races.
> He was running third in some kind of Nissan rocket ship when first and
> second place crashed. It was one of those horrible NASCAR type things with
> tires and engines flying out of an end-over-end tumbling car flashing in
> and out of a ball of fire.
>
> The race is red-flagged.
>
> I watched the crash from the hot pits; a couple of hundred yards away.
> Like most of you, I've watched with no small fascination these sorts of
> things in video replays, and find them kind of compelling. But this simply
> isn't supposed to happen in OUR sport. We're still trying to figure out
> the relationship of compression ratios to cam timing and fuel octane.
>
> I went back to my pit just feeling terrible. Somehow I don't know if I
> felt betrayed or if I realized that maybe I have been betraying myself.
>
> Within 5 minutes the overly loud loudspeaker blares out that the drivers
> have both been extracted from the cars and appear to be fine. They will
> both have to go to the racetrack hospital to be checked out but everything
> seems to be just fine.
>
> Well, that was a week ago and I am still struck by the potential downside
> risk of our sport.
>
> That night last week I ran into Newman at the bar in our hotel and asked
> him about the incident. He ordered a Budweiser (which the bar tender gave
> him gratis) and answered by talking about how much more he liked driving
> the Porsche 962. My sense is that Newman is some kind of very good racecar
> driver who also does pretty well making a living in his sideline business.
>
> On the way back to Atlanta I stopped in Warner Robbins for a couple of
> hours to visit the Georgia Aviation Museum. For some of you aviation
> types, just speculating the curvatures (and planar [it has both]) angles of
> the SRT-71 is some kind of serious emotional delight.
>
> I apologize. I thought I could make this just a brief report on Daytona,
> but I got caught up a little bit in the meaning of what racing is all
> about. At least sorta of what it is to me.
>
> Richard Taylor
> Atlanta
> TR-4
>
>
Richard et al: I was running about a half a lap behind Riggins, Baldwin
, and Newman in the TR-8, when the accident happened. Baldwin got
pinched up to the wall in turn one when Riggins moved over to avoid two
backmarkers in 911's who were being lapped. Jack went up the wall, a
fence post ripped the fuel cell out, a fire occured, the car spun and
the fence ripped the front clip off at the firewall as he went OVER
Riggins Buick. It destroyed his Trans Am winning carbon fiber Camaro.
Jack is a good friend and we were garaged together. I can tell you that
he was very upset and bordered on shock. After all his years in the
Trans Am, Busch Grand National, IMSA, and IROC, I can assure you it was
the worst experience he ever had. A problem, particularly in the big
car class is the mixture of cars and driving talent. Lots of fast cars
with mediocre drivers.
It may interest you to know, theat PLN told me the Nissan pumps out 610
dyno'd HP. The TR-8 pumps out....when fresh 360+. Newman and his pal,
Michael Brockman were lapping close to, or just under 2 minutes
flat....The TR-8...high 2:08's and low 2:09's. For all you FOT's, I did
pass a few Winston Cup cars in the qualifying race and finished 8th
overall (just behind a Jack Roush Mustang) on Sunday's sprint race.
Beat all the Porsches except a 944GTR (I think a Dave Klem car) and a
Turbo Porsche (934?/935?/Homebuilt?) and ahead of a Dekon Monza and some
Winston Cup aberation. The Heartbeat of Coventry. Bill Warner
|