Subject: [Fot] The Hawk at Road American with Brian Redman...

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 13:51:57 -0400 (EDT)

Amici...

Last weekend saw The Hawk at Road America with Brian Redman.  This major
vintage/historic racing event started many decades ago as the Chicago Historic
Races.  It has experienced many sponsor related name changes down through the
years.  Brian Redman, God Bless him, remains the only constant.  But the event
continues to lay claim as the biggest and finest vintage racing event in North
America.  It gets my vote.  This year it was beastly hot on Thursday and
Friday.  On Thursday our thermometer read 100 degrees, but it was the humidity
that got your attention.  You'd drink gallons of water, but never have to go
to the rest room.  Even standing still, you'd sweat it out before it made it
to your bladder.  Saturday and Sunday the weather was fabulous.

Not many Triumphs show up at this event any more.  They race more than thirty
classes in ten race groups, and that means not much track time.  There are
three (SVRA, Midwestern Council, and VSCDA) other sanctioning bodies running
vintage at Road America (May, August, and September), and all offer much more
track time.  There may have been more, but I counted three:  my early TR3,
Andy Willms' TR3A, and bob Wismer's TR4.  The shinning star was Andy Willms,
who keeps getting better and better.  He is flirting with breaking the three
minute lap, making the 80 mph average.  If my notes are correct, he had 3:01
and change in the second qualifying session and the Feature race.  Way to go,
Andy.  You look smooth and 'in control' out there.  Bob Wismer had a 3:14 and
change in the Feature.  His car is tired and waiting for a fresh engine to be
installed.  My TR3 did have a fresh engine, but it also had gremlins.  I only
had it out for two sessions, and it kept spitting at me through the bonnet
louvers.  The first session I ran was Saturday morning.  The car ran great,
but half way through there was a major pressure POOOOFF and an oily spray
covered my face shield and windscreens.  The car continued to run will but
kept spitting at me (editorial comment?).  We searched for problems, and
except for adding 3/34 quart of water...didn't really find anything.  The only
other session I went out for was the Feature race, but by turn five on the
pace lap I was already getting spit at, and I had not even put the coals to it
yet.  So I exited at five and parked it.  We'll have to see what that is all
about.

I skipped four of my Race Groups' six sessions, so I had an opportunity to
watch my group race.  Truth be told the racing in Race Group TWO was far
superior to the racing in the Feature CanAm race.  In the front of Group Two
you had two ex-National Champions (Denny Wilson and Vic Skirmants) going at it
tooth and nail.  Wilson won his championship in a Triumph TR6, but was racing
a Lotus Super 7 at the Hawk.  Skirmants was in his infamous Porsche 356.  And
the two of them got all they could handle from Mike Besic in his yellow Alfa
Duetto, and a gaggle of Porsche bathtubs.  But there was GREAT racing in this
race group up and down the entire field.  Very, very exciting to watch.

Road America is fantastic, and the 2013 Kastner Cup at the Elkhart Lake
Vintage Festival is going to be GREAT!

Bill Dentinger.
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