Well, it was definitely a happening! Once there, and you looked around and
saw that we were really racing a vintage car race, right through the downtown
streets of Los Angeles, you had to stop and say, "Wow, this is something!"
The logistics that went into this event were overwhelming, if not
smooth....just pulling it off at all was an amazing event. How many other
races are there where you ride from your hotel to the paddock on a sub-way
train???
But, what about the racing??? In my conversations with numerous drivers,
there were obviously mixed opinions, some hated it, some loved it, and some
took it for what it really was, a Hollywood-style show for the people of Los
Angeles. Many of those who took it as a more serious race ended up going
home early and/or with bent cars, as the course was VERY unforgiving of
overdriving. Unfortunately, some of these "red misters" either took out or
damaged many of their fellow competitors cars besides their own. I, for one,
would encourage judicious use of the 13 month rule for these dim-bulbs. The
course just wasn't one for agressive driving. After visiting black flag
myself on Saturday for locking up brakes and almost ending up in the run-offs
of two corners in practice, I decided to dial it down a notch, and was happy
to run mid-pack with an undamaged car.
The course was billed as 1.6 miles, but someone supposedly measured it at
closer to 1.3. It had a little of everything. Starting with the long main
straight, right down Alameda street in front of the beautifully restored,
art-deco, Union Station. A HARD left hander at the end of the straight (not
quite 180 degrees) took you back Main Street, then up a hill to turn 2, a
gentle, wide right hander that was almost a full-throttle power slide in the
Cortina, onto Desar Chavez Ave. You continued uphill and gently turned
right, until you made a left onto Broadway, actually part of old Route 66
(talk about vintage!!). By using all 4 lanes of Broadway, this turn was also
quite fast as there was adequate room on the exit to drift out without coming
alarmingly close to the K-wall. After cresting a rise and crossing over the
101 Hollywood Freeway for the first of 4 times, it was hard braking, and
setting up for a rapid funneling down into a NARROW 90 degree left hander
onto downhill Aliso Street. Then a series of short, 1 block straights, made
up the esses or chicane as the back-side of the course. Down Aliso, left
onto Spring (and now back over 101 again). Right onto Arcadia, Right onto
Main (back over 101 again), left onto Aliso again, and left onto Los Angeles
St (and back over 101 for the final time), then right into a short downhill
chute on Aradia, going far right and setting up for powering onto the long
Alameda St. front straight. These 1 block chicanes were trecherous, as there
was really only room for 1 car to get through here safely at a time. It felt
narrow to me in the Cortina...I can only imagine what it was like to thread a
Formula 1, Formula 5000, or Can-Am car through those needles....a little
early on the turn in, and there was lots of concrete there to bite you (both
left and right!). The front straight was perfect for enjoying the big
block and big-horsepower sounds that race cars are supposed to make. One
competitor had inquired about noise restriction requirements....the answer
was..."as loud as possible"...this was a show!!!
Turn 1 had a nasty bump on the inside line apex that caused most cars to
bottom out severely. One bugeye even broke an A-arm on it. Most other
places the surface wasn't too bad for a street course. They had ground off
the pavement to make it smooth....but it also made it SLIPPERY. Traction in
my car was a fraction of what I'm used to. The course also took a heavy toll
on brakes. The turn 1 runoff and tire barrier at the end of the long front
straight, saw several cars come to grief there after losing their brakes.
But overall, it was a fast, challenging, and fun course (except perhaps for
the back chicane, which you simply got through). Rumor has it that if this
event happens again next year, the course will be moved to run around the
Civic Center. This would lose the quaint ambiance of the infield concession
area, right on historic Olivera Street, and Father Serra park, where the
concessions intermingled with the full-time Mexican restaurants and tourist
shops.
The event started rough, when on Saturday the track wasn't deemed ready unti
after noon (was supposed to start at 8AM!!). The lack of catch fences and
tire barriers supposedly caused the delay, which should have been avoidable.
Paddock space was another cause for complaints among the competitors. Each
entrant supposedly had a 10 X 20 ft. space for EVERYTHING, due to limited
paddock parking. Of course, the mega-buck transporter guys ended up with
more space than the individual entrants, so it didn't appear to be fairly
divided for everyone. We had 6 cars, plus a small motorhome and support
trailer in 6 spaces, so we were REALLY tightly packed. It was too tight...
This was partially due to the 400+ entries for the weekend (I heard 800 had
applied!!). The largest run groups were the production cars in D & E
production with 55-60 car grids. Parking was a nightmare with support
vehicles and trailers 2 blocks away from the paddock, the hotel 2 miles
downtown, and the track in the middle of it all. We found the best way to
get from the hotel to the paddock was the Metro Red Line subway from downtown
to Union Station!!
One of the highlights of my weekend was ending up on the grid next to Tim
Allen (yup, the Tool Man himself). I told him I was a big fan, but that
wasn't going to cut him any slack. His 240HP, Yenko Corvair looked nice, but
I never saw him again after the green flag. He did say something on the grid
about needing MORE POWER (UGH UGH)!! He did confide that he wasn't
particularly happy about the Alfa driver who had caved in his quarter panel
the day before, however. (Somebody needs to buy him some Binford bondo and a
grinder).
Finally, in spite of a few rough edges, congratulations and thanks are
heartily offered to all who made this event reality. It was a unique
experience...not the best vintage race I've ever been to, but certainly one
I'm glad I didn't miss. Special thanks to Mark (thumbs up) Smith and all the
corner workers...to LA Events, Ford (John Clinard and staff), and all the
other sponsors for their generous sponsorship (great free Mexican food at the
Sunday night party!!)....and of course to VARA. My advice is register early
if they decide to do it again next year.....
Regards,
Myles H. Kitchen
1965 Lotus (slow and safe this weekend) Cortina Mk1 #128
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