The Classic Sports Racing Group just completed its Eyes of Texas event
at Sears Point Raceway. Don't ask me where they got the idea for that
theme. Corny music (that's spelled c-o-u-n-t-r-y) blared from the P.A.
when the track was quiet. Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma California had
a Texas state flag flying. The tech stickers were (you guessed it) a
Texas flag. I overheard the following conversation at Race Central:
"Are we supposed to initial the tech stickers?"
"Don't bother. We'll never use these again." ;=)
There was a fine barbecue dinner on Saturday with live music. Oh, yes.
There WAS some racing going on. There were 5 run groups. Group 1 was
the open wheel group with F Fords, FVees, and Juniors. That's where I
was in the Bourgeault F Jr. The announcer described it as "the oldest
car in the field" rather than commenting on it consistently owning last
place. ;=( Groups 2 and 4 were for production cars and some sports
racers, segregated by speed. There were several cars running double
duty with father-son teams. Group 3 seemed like a replay of some early
Trans-Am races with Camaros, GT350's and 911's. Group 5 was the FIA and
Can-Am cars, with some USRRC and the fastest open wheelers thrown in.
The groupings seemed to work quite well. The double duty cars got a
breather between sessions, and the slim showing of FIA/Can-Am cars got
padded with equally fast cars "promoted" from my group. We had 3 track
sessions on Saturday plus the mechanical picnic, and 2 on Sunday plus a
scratch race at the end of the day. One guy said he had too much fun
and went home Sunday afternoon feeling a little tired.
Some of the front runners had quite exciting dices going on. Marnix
Dillenius in the Alfa TZ had a marvelous race with 17 year old Spencer
Trenery in a Crusader sports racer. The Alfa had more power on the
straights, but the SR had him in the twisty bits. They traded places
several times. In this case, youth and enthusiasm DID win out over old
age and treachery. ;=) Spencer's dad Bruce, of Fantasy Junction fame
ran the Crusader in the slower group. At one point, Bruce pulls the car
into the pits. It was just not running right. His son jumps out with
some small tool in hand, makes the appropriate adjustment and the car
sprang back to life. What fun. Tom Sahines and his son Mike were both
flogging the lime green Alfa Giulietta Spider in the same groups. Tom
was close behind Marnix and Spencer's duel in 3rd or 4th. In the slower
group, the crowd was treated to seeing Peter Giddings charging along in
a 1932 Alfa Romeo Monza. The thing was running in "unrestored" dark red
paint that looked 100 years old. It had actually been repainted in the
70's.
Carnage was kept to a minimum, but there seemed to be a lot of
breakdowns. The lime green Alfa packed it in late on Saturday with what
appears to be a siezed motor. Jerry Burr was having a great time in a
Formula Ford until he lost the water due to a cracked block. I bet he
wishes he was still in his FVee. ;=) His Vee was there under the new
owner's care and did ok. Felix Chiu managed to fracture a wheel on his
Alfa Giulietta Spider. He had driven to the event and was not carrying
a spare. He managed to borrow one, as there were plenty of old Alfas in
attendance. The car was fine, but I have never seen an Alfa try to tear
the center of the wheel out before. It didn't crack at the rim welds,
it cracked a half circle out around the studs! The only major event was
when somebody had a minor coronary in the paddock. He was whisked away
to a local hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, but the
track was shut down due to having no ambulance. ;=( They actually made
up the time by shortening their mechanical picnic where drivers swap
cars and give passenger rides.
On Sunday, the local Alfa club had their track tour at noon. Everyone
had a good time, and there were no incidents. The speeds were kept a
bit slower than last time by the pace cars. Adding 50% to the lap times
did make it easier for newcomers to learn the proper line. I didn't
get to go on the tour, as I was in the last group off the track before
they went out. I was busy. I had a great time. Thanks to all the people
who organized and ran the event. You don't have to have big money and
hundreds of spectators to have a fun event.
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