[Fot] Our weekend at the Glen

Wed Sep 10 07:58:33 MDT 2008

As Jeff pointed out, it's Labor Day, not Memorial day. I get those two  
confused all the time.

Portland International Raceway is an interesting track from a  
technical standpoint, and the CRC is a good race. The track was  
repaved last year and some corners were changed a bit.  You won't find  
better pavement anywhere. It's easy to run large-scale races there.

PIR is right on the MAX line (rapid transit trains), so significant  
others are not stuck at the track--they can go into Portland with  
minimal effort, and Portland is one of the most accessible cities in  
the US. Very compact--you can walk anywhere in downtown. Having been  
pretty much all over the world and especially all over North America I  
assert that Portland has restaurants, street food, taverns and  
specialty food (like artiisan bread, great bakeries, etc) to rival or  
surpass any city, including places like Paris, New York City and San  
Francisco. You simply can't find better beer, and our Pinot's stack up  
to the best.

SOVREN is very strict about racing classifications for it's members,  
but more flexible for outsiders. I'm sure I can work with them to  
ensure that anyone that wants to come can race. I'm also pretty sure I  
can get an all-triumph race. The CRC has plenty of track time--it runs  
Friday through Monday with Thursday usually available as an  
inexpensive test and tune day through the Lotus Club. You can wear  
yourself and your car out at the CRC.

The All British Field Meet runs the same weekend in the same venue  
(yes, there are sometimes some space problems but we can overflow to  
the Pro Pits which are nicer for camping anyway). They have car shows,  
autojumbles, and a big vendor area. It's a well-attended show that  
draws from car clubs all over the coast. There is a short on-track  
autocross that's kind of a PIA, but I'd like to set up a better and  
longer running autocross in the propit area--we've done that before.

I think PIR is kind of ideal as a west coast venue for the Kastner  
Cup. Seattle (Pacific Raceways) is too far from other facilities--it's  
in Kent, Washington--and the major race is the Northwest Historics,  
which is a pretty crowded event. The Portland Historics is an HMSA  
event, and they're hard to work with on car classifications.  
Thunderhill is a wonderful track, but it's east of nowhere. Sears  
(Infinion) is fabulous and wonderful Sonoma is close by, but the only  
likely event is the CSRG Charity Challenge and it's often filled. CSRG  
is an excellent organization, but they might be a bit tough on car  
classification. I'm not sure any of the SCCA cars would be allowed to  
run. Laguna is too restricted--they don't have many dates anymore.  
We'd all need sand filters for Willows.

The only limitation at PIR is noise--you'd all need mufflers.

It's not too early to start planning. How do we get this going?

On Sep 9, 2008, at 8:35 PM, Chasgee at aol.com wrote:

> Bill,
>
> Funny you should mention those two venues, because I was discussing  
> this with some So Cal brethren and we came to the same conclusions.   
> It is the West coast's turn again and I think Portland would be  
> fantastic.  Let me know if I can help organize this.
>
> Chuck Gee
> Blacksmith Racing
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Babcock <Billb at bnj.com>
> To: Henry Frye <henry at henryfrye.com>
> Cc: fot at autox.team.net
> Sent: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 11:55 am
> Subject: Re: [Fot] Our weekend at the Glen
>
> I'm thinking it's time for the left coast. Maybe Thunderhill? It's a  
> hell of a track, though the surrounding facilities suck. Portland  
> would be great, the Columbia River Classic is the weekend before  
> this SVRA race (Memorial day weekend), and it's a high-track time  
> event. Most folks are sick of racing by the time the Monday races  
> roll around. it also encompasses the All British Field Meet which a  
> lot of Triumph folks attend as well.
>
> I know I could get SOVREN to roll out the red carpet for FOT since I  
> helped to give this race a boost a few years ago. The Saturday at- 
> track party is legenday, an opportunity to get out your vintage  
> duds, and I can commit to a pretty cool FOT party at Casa Babcock.
>
> On Sep 9, 2008, at 10:38 AM, Henry Frye wrote:
>
>> We came, we raced, we marked our territory with our racecars. Some  
>> more
>> than others.
>>
>> We hung out with TS 1 LO, parked under thI'm thinking it's time for  
>> the left coast. e tent with the beer. What were
>> they thinking. Anything could have happened. Nothing happened... I
>> think.
>>
>> We shared some special moments remembering uncle jack.
>>
>> Many of us were able to put faces with familiar names. Before I just
>> knew the names. Now I have faces in my brain so I will forget all  
>> your
>> names. Sorry, that's just how it works.
>>
>> My car rose to the occasion. First, somehow it became the poster  
>> child
>> for the event, landing on the front page of the local daily  
>> newspaper on
>> Saturday.
>>
>> Then it drove into the paddock hemorrhaging oil from every orifice  
>> after
>> the All Triumph Race, but I achieved a few lofty personal goals in  
>> the
>> process.
>>
>> Then on the start of the Group 3 race my car pulled me down the  
>> inside
>> line to pass a bunch of guys in turn one, then I passed the start/ 
>> finish
>> line in third overall a couple times. Running way up there in a SVRA
>> feature race is something I never thought I would do. Then the  
>> track got
>> a little slick from rain and I backed off a bit, I will never be a  
>> brave
>> rain driver. Too much to lose, nothing to gain. Still finished  
>> well, no
>> complaints there.
>>
>> There was less attrition than I expected over the course of the  
>> weekend,
>> at least until Sunday. It was nice to spend time with our friends
>> sitting on chairs with a beer in hand, not under cars requesting
>> wrenches and sockets.
>>
>> Many big names in our sport were there, both past and present, and
>> getting face time with them was a real treat.
>>
>> Congrats to Tony Garmey on winning the Kastner Cup. This was the  
>> third
>> time I have seen the TR250K on track, it was always fast. This  
>> weekend
>> it was amazing. During Kas' presentation of the cup, he said he has  
>> not
>> seen the car go as fast since he ran it at Sebring in '68. He then
>> issued a manufacturers recall notice, but I think Tony is going to  
>> take
>> his chances!
>>
>> Congrats to Larry Young for the Bill Ames Award, well deserved.
>>
>> The Western PA Triumph gang was there in force, as was a big  
>> contingent
>> of New England Triumph folks. Bob Lang brought Khartu, his TR6
>> autocrosser for the folks to enjoy. Dave Hutchinson drove his  
>> pristine
>> Italia. If I continue to try to mention all the special cars that  
>> came
>> out to support the event I would miss several, I don't want to do  
>> that.
>>
>> Many thanks to Jack Woehrle and the rest of SVRA for treating us  
>> Triumph
>> folks better than we deserved. Jack was never too far from the  
>> Triumph
>> ghetto, and made sure we got what we needed.
>>
>> So, it was a great weekend, sorry if you missed it... Where to next
>> year?
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>
> Bill Babcock
> Babcock & Jenkins
> Billb at bnj.com
> 503.936.7660
> www.bnj.com
>
> Editor
> Ke Nalu e-Magazine
> Paddlesurfing's Web Journal
>
> Bill at kenalu.com
> www.kenalu.com
> blog: www.ponohouse.com/ponoblog
>
> =
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Bill Babcock
Babcock & Jenkins
Billb at bnj.com
503.936.7660
www.bnj.com

Editor
Ke Nalu e-Magazine
Paddlesurfing's Web Journal

Bill at kenalu.com
www.kenalu.com
blog: www.ponohouse.com/ponoblog

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