With a huge effort by Bob Yarwood and Keith Sears, Peyote was ready for
the Historics after the disaster at Sears Point. Total damage was much
worse than I first thought--the frame was bent front and back, plus it was
bowed like a banana. Probably a lot of the bending was from initial
construction, but it's straight now. Two broken wheels, extensive body
damage, and lots of new suspension stuff. Anyway, it's done, and the new
front suspension is pretty cool. We used late TR4 components to add in the
3 degrees of caster. It makes the steering MUCH heavier, and I don't know
if I'd do it again, but it's quite stable.
At the historics I had quite a bit of trouble with distributors. The
Mallory that was in the car showed two distinct timing marks with the
strobe. I pulled the distributor apart and found the drive shaft bent at
the top with about .020" runout. Should have known--the impact moved the
engine enough to bend the motor mounts and smash the distributor cap.
Couldn't fix it, so we stuck in a Lucas, which worked okay for the
"qualifying" race on Saturday (finished second) and then showed scattered
spark. I could shake the point cam at least .010". Bob Yarwood had a new
Lucas and a pertronic unit, so we put that in for Sunday and that looks
really good and returns the engine to period looks.
Group 1 included Don Orosco's Scarab and Tom Black's Lotus 19. I presume
the organizers wanted the Scarab to be shown in the best light and wanted
a car for it to race with. Hard to come up with another reason why a group
of two liter cars included a fuel injected Traco Wundercar and a Lotus
with a formula one engine in it. But what fun--I had the best seat in the
house to watch these guys. My race was going to be with Cameron Healy's
Pooper.
Saturday the Scarab got loose on the start and did a major antler dance
well before the chicane. Lots of power and moderately skinny tires. He
wound up swinging across the track a couple of times and knocking the
right rear corner off the Lotus (just cosmetic) and dinging some very
pretty aluminum on the Scarab. I stayed on the gas and got into the
chicane in third. Had a nice dice with Cameron while the Lotus and the
Scarab pulled away. They were lapping about 4 seconds a lap faster 1:34
for me, 1:30 for them. That surprised me--I can usually do 1:31 at PIR.
The Scarab came up behind me with one lap left to go. I thought "no way
you're lapping me, bud", and tried to get away, but he got me on the
straight before the checker. Turns out he was a lap down--they pulled him
in to chat about contact. So I got second.
Sunday they lined us up the same way, even though the Scarab finished
eighth. Fine by me, I didn't want him charging past me in turn 4. I lined
up behind the Lotus 19 with Cameron behind the Scarab. At the green flag,
the Scarab took it a little more cautiously so I was able to blitz him
going into the Chicane. I wished I had a camera on--I figured I'm not
likely to ever pass a Scarab again. He passed me in the short straight
before turn four, but I was able to get under him in the turn and
repassed, then I came up on the Lotus, who was probably being careful with
cold tires, and almost got by him in turn six. In the back straight both
cars got well in front of me, but they were taking care in the turns, and
I was able to catch up. I stayed in tight contact for the first three
laps, when the Scarab suddenly slowed and veered, nearly collecting me. I
got past him and he pulled off the track. Blown magneto rotor.
About that time the Pooper caught me in some traffic as I chased the
Lotus, and got by. We had a wonderful dice of it, staying inches apart in
the tight stuff. Peyote is much better in the turns--the Pooper lifts
wheels and zooms around in a very arty manner, while Peyote just simply
rocks in corners. Cameron can pull me a little in the straights, but not
much, so we have epic battles in the turns. I finally got past him, and
pulled out a little lead. A lap later he disappeared with a broken axle.
I suspect the Lotus waited for me a bit so we could play, and we did. We
swapped the lead a few times cutting through traffic, and were having
great fun--the thing really hoofs it down the straights. I think it's got
about 250HP. Finally, going hot into turn six the Lotus spun to the
outside. I touched my brakes to avoid him and spun to the inside. I
managed to get Peyote pointed in the right direction before I stopped
sliding, got the engine restarted while it was still going backwards, and
kept momentum so I didn't get stuck. I got back on the track quickly but
the Lotus didn't. Turns out he dumped his water and spun in it, and I spun
in his water. The last few laps were uneventful--nobody to play with. I
finished first. Turned 1:32. The track was kind of slippery.
Great fun, great weather, wonderful cars to play with. Who could ask for
more, or for a better return to competition for Peyote. What a wonderful
car.
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