Race Report (LONG)
RACE REPORT from Texas World Speedway - Part One
Good Weekend (adj.): A two day period during which a big Healey is raced and
then driven onto the trailer under it's own power
PREPARATION:
Yep, May 20 & 21 was a good weekend. As usual, if it wasn't for the last
minute nothing would get done. This time it was the installation of the
tri-carb setup on the 100/6. I had acquired a set of RuddSpeed manifolds
and, after well over a month of sworking (swearing and working), got the car
running Wednesday night before the race weekend. On a left-hand drive car
the steering column gets in the way of the rear carb. The factory solved
this problem by lowering the steering column a bit, but I just had some
'manifold extenders' fabricated in a local shop to locate the carbs beyond
the column. My Chevy driving friends kidded me about using high-rise
manifolds on my side-draft carburetors. I put in richer needles to mix
additional gas with all the extra air I hoped to induct and balanced them as
best I could. Then it was time to load and go.
The going was to Texas World Speedway near College Station -- home of several
members of the SOL mail list. I arrived okay, got through tech and waited
for the rest of Team Healey Texas to arrive. There's four of us nut cases
racing big Healeys in vintage events around here, and it is nice to have the
support of a group. Jim Johnson has a VERY well-prepared BN4, which
consistently runs at or near the front of the pack. Bobby Ward has a BN2,
and Fred Crowley (VP for racing in the AHCA) has a BT7. They both do well,
running in the front half to third of the group typically. All three of them
are from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and are in the North Texas AHC. Me, I
have a bone-stock (well, almost) BN6 that runs somewhere in the middle of the
grid. We unloaded the cars at the track, found some dinner and turned in for
the night.
SATURDAY: Re-Education
The weather was pleasant; warm but with a light breeze. Texas World Speedway
sports a 1.8 mile road course that shares a straight with a NASCAR 2-mile
oval. I didn't exactly burn up the track in the morning, running lap times
around 1:37 and a fraction. My times in the event last January had been in
the 1:35+ range. Fred and Bobby typically turn out 1:29+ times, while Jimmy
has seen some 1:26+ laps. I just didn't seem to have the rhythm. The same
was true in the races that day. I was consistently mediocre. There was a
final practice session at the end of the day, and I considered sitting it
out. Jimmy's car had developed a vibration in the engine, so he was out of
action, and Fred had decided to call it a day and relax. He and Jimmy
headed off toward turn 1 to play spectators. Bobby persuaded me to go out,
saying the best cure was more track time. He volunteered to lead me around
the track for a few laps, so we suited up and made our way to the practice
grid.
Following Bobby was a great learning experience. I not only got to see how
he entered and exited the turns, but his braking points as well. NOTE:
Bobby has disc brakes on his front wheels while I have drum brakes all
around. Turn 1 is at the exit of a fairly long straight, and is a wide,
sweeping left hander that Bobby and I took flat out (flat out = about
120mph). Turn 2, another left hander, requires a jab on the brakes to get
the speed down close to 90mph, and exits onto the second longest straight
which is several hundred yards long. Turn 3 requires heavy braking, and goes
to the right. I could tell that I was braking early for turn 3. After a few
laps, I closed up on Bobby's Healey and decided I would brake at the same
place he did for turn 3. WHOA! -- drums v. discs, and the score is -- discs
1, drums 0! I barely made it through, and was out of position for the entry
into turn 4. Okay, that was interesting, but I don't think I'll try it
again. Overall however, following Bobby around definitely helped me get
'back in the groove.' We swapped positions a couple of times, and did about
15 to 20 laps before heading in. I felt a lot better.
SUNDAY: Things Improve
In the Sunday morning practice Bobby's help was obvious. I checked my lap
times afterwards and I was back in the low 1:35 range. I was finally getting
more comfortable with the car. I've always been nervous about pushing it
hard in the turns, not knowing exactly what it was going to do. Bobby was
right, there's no substitute for seat time.
There's a Triumph Spitfire that shows up for most of the vintage events that
is nicely prepared and nicely driven by Ed Barnard from Louisiana. Ed and I
often find ourselves racing together. He's faster in the turns, and I've
always been faster down the straight. Saturday morning, it was obvious he'd
been working on his engine, as I could barely make up a couple of car lengths
on the straight. After playing follow the leader with Bobby, though, I
started getting a faster entry onto the straight which let me get up to top
speed sooner. With this change I could again pass Ed's Spitfire with
relative ease, assuming I was close enough to him when we hit the straight.
Ed and I got to know each other after I spun right in front of him in turn 10
last year, requiring a change of underwear for both of us.
The Sunday morning race started with about 15-20 cars. I was gridded in 10th
position. Ed was right behind me in position 12. We went around on the pace
lap, got the green flag and TOOK OFF! I got boxed in by a Caterham 7, and
watched in frustration as Ed roared by inside me through turn 1. Through
turn 2 and into turn 3 we sped, the Caterham following Ed's Spitfire, with me
trailing close behind. On the straight the Caterham ran away from both of
us, but it had kept me too far back to make a good run at Ed down the
straight. Lap 2 went much the same way, except when we got back to the
straight Ed managed to get around a Mini Cooper which he strategically placed
between us. Through the twisty sections we went, Ed, the Mini and me. I
kept trying to figure out how to dispatch the Mini before Ed got completely
away, when going into turn 10 we happened upon a Bandini (beautiful car)
which was slowing to enter pit lane. The Bandini bunched us up, and I
figured if I held back a little I might be able to get a running start and
overtake at least the Mini as we entered the straight. Back I drifted, going
a little wide to make sure I wouldn't get caught by the Bandini if the two
cars in front of me somehow got around it unexpectedly. This was my lucky
day! The Bandini went to the left into the pits and the Mini went right to
try to get around Ed's Spitfire. I hit the loud pedal and cut to the left,
gaining momentum as I watched the Bandini clear the track and enter pit lane.
I came abreast of the Mini, passed it, and then it was a drag race with the
Spitfire. Ed has good top end with his new engine, but his little 1100cc
motor just can't accelerate with my 2600cc six-banger from an even start. I
managed to put enough distance between us to insure that I could hold him off
through the twisty sections and headed off in pursuit of the cars ahead.
I next came across the very quick Austin A-40 driven by Steve Torrance and
maintained by Graham Davies. These two make a mostly unbeatable combination,
but their luck was apparently as bad as mine was good. I don't know why, but
the A-40 was momentarily parked between turns 2 and 4. As I went by the
A-40, Steve came back on the track. He chased me through the rest of the
turns and then ran me down on the straight. Normally the little A-40 dices
with the front runners, but today, even though it passed me on the straight,
I managed to hang on to its coattail for several laps, and finished about 10
or so lengths behind it. This was FUN! Several of the corner workers
commented how delightful it was to see the big Healeys running "with their
long nose announcing their arrival long before the rest of car arrived, then
slicing through the turns with tires squealing and exhaust roaring." This, I
believe, is why they were created.
Faster and Faster:
In the afternoon practice session Fred volunteered to be my mentor, and the
two of us ran round and round the track, nose to tail. Fred led for several
laps, then signaled me by so he could observe my performance. Then we
swapped again. I think I enjoy practice sessions like this almost as much as
the actual racing. Driving at speed with another car only a length away is
almost as challenging. Again I learned a few things from watching Fred, and
again the lap times proved it. I managed to take over a second off my
previous best time, posting a 1:34.203. Mine is the only big Healey in the
group without overdrive, and with the improvements elsewhere, I'm finding the
major limitation to better lap times is that I now run out of revs about
three-fourths of the way down the straight and have to feather the throttle.
Running out of revs for my race car means 6,000 RPM! Maybe it's time to put
in that taller rear end that's sitting in my garage.
The last race was quite exciting, but not for the usual reasons. I got a
better start, and led the Spitfire around the track until it got by me in
turn 10. Alert readers may recall that this is the turn where, last year, I
spun while directly in front of Ed. This year he somewhat returned the
favor! It was in turn 11 this time, and Ed had some help in the form of a
broken rear axle shaft. He nosed by me in turn 10, and I was determined to
stay close behind him so I could pass him back as soon as we hit the
straight. Suddenly his left rear wheel came off and he went sideways right
in front of me. Uh-oh, gonna need to change my fireproof undies again. I
straightened up the car and stood on the brakes until I got it slowed down
and somewhat under control. Ed was still sliding sideways down the middle of
the track and I was closing on him fast. I exited the track to driver's
right and cruised through the grass, just as the Spit stopped sliding
sideways and started rolling again. You guessed it, it took off to driver's
right. Further into the grass I went, but by now I had slowed to a
manageable speed and I was able to drive around the slowing Spitfire and stop
on the downstream side. I glanced at Ed to make sure he was okay, and
signaled the corner workers I was all right and able to continue. They were
running full speed for the Spit and only 50 yards away, so I took off again.
There was no chance of catching the pack now, so I figured I might as well
have fun. I noticed a Bugeye a quarter of a lap ahead and set off to catch
it. The driver was Roger Williams, president of the Gulf Coast AHC. Two
laps later I was on his tail, and I followed him around the circuit for
another lap or two until I saw the leaders coming up in my mirrors. I passed
Roger, let the lead cars go by, and then tangled with a Sunbeam Tiger for a
couple of laps before letting him go by on the straight just as the race
ended.
It was indeed a good weekend. A full share of racing and the Healey was
still running at the end of it all. Next month -- the Abiline Sunburn Grand
Prix on 17 & 18 June!
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