[Fot] All Alluminum Tour is Over

[Richard Taylor]

Bill,

What a bummer! But it's not only the hardware that is at risk in events like
this.

In 26 years of vintage racing I have only made contact with another car
once, and that was at the last race at Road Atlanta. After 4 laps of dicing
in the Enduro, I tried to squeeze in on the inside of an MGB at turn One. My
tires let go a little bit and I slid up against the right side of who was to
become my newest best race-track friend, Lee Walker.  The bump was my error
in judgment and was clearly 100% my fault.  I spun out but and got back on
the track. Lee wobbled a mite but just kept on trucking. We both finished
but after the race, when I went to his pit to apologize, Lee acknowledged
that he knew what I was up to, lost me in his mirrors, and therefore he felt
some responsibility. 

To assuage his (unwarranted) guilt (perhaps) he invited me to have a picnic
lunch with his extended family from Mississippi. Lemonade, potato salad and
all that stuff. He then invited me to go to church with them the next
morning. It turns out that he is a writer and illustrator for children's
text books. That he races an MGB notwithstanding, Lee is an intellectual and
artistic guy. But more than that he is one of those few men whose high
personal qualities are right there on the surface.  I scratched that
surface; I know. 

Bill, You may have scratched the surface of a different sort of character.
But whatever might ooze out of that scratch washes right off if you catch it
quickly enough.

And it's also a shame about that trick little car of yours. I'll bet it
comes back better than ever, too.

Richard



-----Original Message-----
From: fot-bounces+tarch=bellsouth.net at autox.team.net
[mailto:fot-bounces+tarch=bellsouth.net at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Bill
Babcock
Sent: Sunday, September 09, 2007 6:51 PM
To: Steve Belfer; Friends of Triumph
Subject: [Fot] All Alluminum Tour is Over

I got squashed by a Corvette at Watkins Glen yesterday. Stupid beyond
belief--he whacked me in the back left corner trying to re-pass me in an
turn nine, and then tried to blame the wreck on me. I wound up pivoting on
his bumper, being shoved sideways down the track with a big ass 57' Corvette
rubbing my elbow and finally got shoved against the tire wall, which bent
the suspension mounts on the right front corner. He could of killed me, he
did indeed wreck the heck out of Peyote, and didn't have the integrity to
even say "sorry your car got wrecked" or "glad you didn't get hurt".

Weasel.

I've been on the guilty side of an incident like this once, and though it
was a lot less clearcut than this one (I hit a guy in the middle of his car
when I couldn't brake in time as he cut across a chicane),I stepped up and
apologized. Even paid for the guy's damage though I think it's wrong to do
that--we all assume the risk of damage or injury when we choose to race.
I'll fix my own car.

The stewards didn't "decide" on their action, which I take to mean they
wanted everyone cleared out before they decide to do nothing. They were
already making noises about "mitigating aspects" when I talked to them,
despite clear evidence like a big punt mark in the back of my car, a video
from Karon's Devin, and lots of people that saw the incident. I know the
corner worker on the scene must have been looking the wrong way--he asked me
what happened.

If I did such a bonehead thing I'd expect to get suspended, but the guy has
run with SVRA for years and I'm just a guy from Oregon that they may never
see again. They're the ones that will have to race with the weenie, I
certainly wouldn't set a wheel on a track with him again.

Anyway, the racing part of the tour is over. I'm making my way back across
the country to lick my wounds in Portland. we'll do a little sightseeing on
the way back and stop in Geneseo to pick up my motor from Uncle Jack.

I will, of course, fix Peyote.
tarch at bellsouth.net
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