Racin' them Healeys
Corinthian Vintage Auto Racing held their fifth annual Vintage Fall Festival
at Texas World Speedway again this year in mid-October and, as usual, the
weather was perfect. This is always the best event for spectators. It's
the last vintage race action of the season, and the usual good weather
brings out a large field of competitors. This year's event saw some changes
in the format that made the weekend better than ever before. There was a
Ladies Race on Saturday, and for only the second time in CVAR history there
was an All-British-Car race. Large or small bore engine, open or closed
wheel construction -- if it was British it was eligible. Caterhams, Jaguars,
Lotus sports racers, MGs, Triumphs, TVRs and, of course, Austin-Healeys big
and small mixed it up Saturday afternoon. It was great watching the old
cars circulating at speed, but the big news of the weekend was the formation
of a completely new race group for cars manufactured in 1961 or earlier.
Since Fred Crowley's BT7 Mark II was considered a 1961 design, all four of
the big Healeys running as Team Healey Texas were invited to join the new
Race Group 6. Jimmy Johnson was leading the season points contest in Group
2 (the small-bore group in which the Healeys had previously been classified)
so he elected to run there one last time to clinch the Group 2 championship,
but will run in Group 6 next year. Meanwhile, for the remaining three big
Healeys it was like a homecoming.
Group 6 is a collection of cars that raced against each other decades ago.
There were, besides the big Healeys, a Bugeye, a Triumph TR3, a Porsche 956,
an Elva Courier, a Kurtiss, a couple of Abarths (Italian) plus a few I can't
remember. It's a natural grouping which makes for some excellent racing!
It's a sure thing that the group will grow to include even more cars in the
future.
The actual racing began Saturday morning. Of course for the racers the
preparation goes on throughout the year, but let's just jump to Saturday
since that's where the real fun happens. Although I had DNF's (Did Not
Finish) last August in both days of racing (I couldn't keep a fan belt on),
I thought the car had been handling well. Still, I felt a slight
adjustment in tire pressure might make things even better. I had been
putting 33psi in the front tires, and 31psi in the rear. I decided to go to
32psi in all four tires and see what happened. The result was not favorable.
The car seemed seriously twitchy, and it was an effort to keep the back
end from passing the front. My times were decent but not impressive. Still,
it was only a one pound change in each tire (down one in the fronts, up one
pound in the rears). I couldn't believe it had made such a difference.
By Sunday I was convinced. I set the pressures to 32 front, 30 rear and
proceeded to go out and set the fastest qualifying time for the big Healeys.
In fairness, Fred was just playing around, and there was only about one
second separating all the Healeys. Still, it meant I got to start the
mid-day race on the front row! That was a new sensation for me. The
fastest qualifier was an Elva Courier, so he occupied the pole position with
me next to him on the outside. Behind the Elva was Fred in his BT7 with
Bobby Ward and his BN2 directly behind me in the #4 position. Over another
half-dozen cars made up the rest of the field. This was the last race before
lunch, and as things were a bit behind schedule the drivers voted to shorten
the race from 12 to 10 laps so the workers could have a decent lunch break.
It's vintage racing -- we can do that! As we approached Start/Finish (S/F)
on the pace lap, the Elva started accelerating. I hit the throttle to match
speeds just as the starter threw the green flag. The race was on! My main
objective was to keep Bobby behind me through turn one. Our cars are so
evenly matched that whoever is in front has a huge advantage, since the
other driver can't count on any performance edge to make a pass. The only
way we can get by each other is for the lead driver to make a mistake or
through some other consequence. It happened on lap six.
I was running a cautious race, maintaining control through the turns where I
knew Bobby couldn't get by me, and making sure I hit the straights smoothly
and hard on the accelerator. Fred had motored by everyone on the start,
only to split an oil cooler line on the second lap and retire. The Elva was
running away, and by lap four was completely out of sight. It was a battle
for second between Bobby and myself. On lap five we encountered our first
back markers. I made my way past them with little difficulty while Bobby
hung onto my tail, practically chewing my bumper off. We made it halfway
through the ten lap race and I was still ahead of Bobby, holding on to
second place. As I came around to the main straight again I looked ahead
and saw another car crossing S/F. I was hoping I could catch it before turn
one, but quickly realized that I'd have to be going twice as fast as it was
to pass it while it was still on the straight, and that wasn't going to
happen. Through turn one we zoomed at just over 120mph, Bobby's 100/4
still looming very large in my mirrors. The car ahead was setting up for
turn 2 when I caught it, just as the driver started to turn in. I hesitated
for a moment, and Bobby's experience showed up instantly. He analyzed the
situation in a flash, cut around to the outside and was by me before I knew
what had happened. @#%&$*!!! I cut to the right and followed him around
the lapped car, but he was now in front with just over four laps to go. His
BN2 was slightly quicker in the tight turns, my BN6 a little faster in the
high speed corners. On the straights we were almost even. Three laps
remained, then two. I was within a few car lengths of his rear bumper, but
there was no place I could pass. As we went by S/F again the starter was
holding up one finger. One more lap to go. Bobby wasn't making any errors,
and there weren't any more back markers. Besides, he had already shown he
was better at getting around them than I was. My only chance was to execute
the last series of turns perfectly, and get the fastest possible entry on to
the straight. From there it would be a drag race to the checkered flag.
Bobby was playing it smart, making no mistakes. I screamed through the
middle section of the track, I'd have to be close when we got to the
straight. As we flew into the final corners, I focused on style and form.
I was closing. I pushed the gas pedal to the floor through the last turn,
swinging to the outside and needing every inch of pavement to stay on course.
The tach went to 5,000rpm, then 5,500. I shifted to fourth and wound it
back up to 5,000. No need for overdrive, we're only going halfway down the
straight this time. The tach showed 5,500rpm, then 6,000rpm. I was gaining,
only two car lengths behind. Then only one car length separated us. I
inched closer but there was just not enough remaining track. The starter
waved the checkered flag with Bobby still a car length in the lead.
They say old age and experience will overcome youthful exuberance every time.
Bobby's not really that old nor am I that youthful, but Bobby's experience
made the difference that Sunday. Regardless, it was an thrilling race and
we had a number of fellow racers who stopped by to congratulate both of us
on a close and exhilarating contest. Me, I definitely think Group 6 is a
keeper.
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