[Fot] The Miata Anti-dote

Fri Mar 20 14:14:46 MDT 2009

Amici,

This article was sent to myB  SCCA region's (Blue Mountain Region)B newsletter
editor.B  I have no experience with SCCA's version of vintage racing, but I
thought it was amusing enough to pass along.

Rich Rock

B 

John discovers the Miata Anti-dote

By Paul Paparella

This is the story of John. Back in days when the local mechanic still knew
what a carburetor looked like, John was an avid SCCA racer. After years away
from the track to raise his family, John decided to get back into racing. If
nothing else, it would take his mind off of his wife leaving him for that
tennis pro in a red Miata. So off he went to the next SCCA regional to check
out the current scene.

John struck up a conversation with some racers in the paddock. bWhatbs the
hot car if I want to race a production based sedan?b he asked. The response
was bSpec Miata is about the most popular thing going.b Well, of course,
John wasnbt too excited about that. bWhat else do you have?b he asked.
bWell, you could try Showroom Stock Miata,b they answered. Not happy with
the way the conversation was going, John walked over to the fence to watch the
first race.

As it happened, the first group out was GT. After seeing the lead cars go by,
he thought this was kind of interesting. At least it was, until a couple of
GT3 Miatas came by, followed closely b
y a GTL Miata. That just got him thinking about how much money he lost when
his former business partner skimmed from the top to buy a new Miata, then
skipped town.

So back to the paddock he went to look around. John was never much of an open
wheel kind of guy, but he looked at those too. Of course the first one he saw
was a Formula Mazda. It had one of those annoying bzoom zoomb decals, just
like the one on the Miata that the kid down the street drove, with the big
boom box that wakes John up at 3 AM every Sunday morning.

Eventually he came upon some old timers standing around some cool old cars,
like the ones John raced in the late b70bs. Turns out they were Production
racers. bTell me more about Production,b John asked, bI kind of like the
older cars.b bJohn, webve got to be honest with you,b one guy said,
bwe love the old cars, too, but these days you need a Miata to win in
E-Prod. bOr, if you donbt want to spend so much on the engine, you could
run a Miata in FP.b bThose damn Miatas are everywhere,b he thought, and
then remembered that the IRS agent who audited him last year drove one.

By now it was afternoon, and there were just two races to go. Starting to feel
discouraged, John wandered over to the false grid to see who was lining up for
the next race. As he approached the grid, seeing an i
nteresting mix of cars from the 1970bs up through new models, John got his
hopes up. Then as he walked down the line, he saw three Miatas in ITA, and
five in ITS. One of them looked a lot like the car that ran a red light and
wrecked Johnbs classic Alfa last summer.

B 

Continuing down the grid, he passed one SSB Miata, and a couple in T3. The
last one he saw was the same color as the one his daughter was in when she got
pregnant. bI give up b I guess SCCA just doesnbt have anything for
me,b he thought..

John went to the food stand for a late lunch, and then headed for his car, not
wanting to stay for the last race. As he walked towards the parking lot, he
noticed crowds of people gravitating to the fences. Then he heard the rumble
of the pack as it approached the starting line. As the green flag flew, he
heard a roar of V-8bs like he hadnbt experienced since the heyday of
Trans-Am. He turned towards the track just in time to see the leaders approach
Turn 1. bWhat the hell is that Mini doing in between that Stingray Vette and
the Shelby Mustang?b he thought. Then he saw a couple of BMW 2002bs, a
beautiful Jaguar, three MGbs and a Corvair. bMan, these are the kind of
cars I remember racing with,b he thought.

After watching several laps of close racing but no bumping and rubbing, he
realized these guys knew what
they were doing, and were having fun doing it. He pulled out his stop watch,
and saw that some of these cars were pretty darned fast, too.

After the race was over, he went back to the paddock and found a bunch of the
guys from the race. They were all having a great time talking and laughing
with each other, but were quick to answer his questions and offer him a beer.
After hanging out with the guys for over an hour, John decided that SCCA did
have a place for an old school guy like him, after all. The Northeast Division
Historic Racing Group was just what he was looking for.

It wasnbt until he was halfway home that it hit him. He realized that,
besides being a great series, HRG was the only closed wheel race all day that
didnbt have single one of those damned Miatas!

--------------------------------------------------

This is a fictional story. Any similarity between the cars in this story and
actual Miatas is purely coincidental. However, HRG is the real thing. For more
information, look up HRG on www.nescca.com or www.historicracing.org.

---------------------------------------------------

NEDIV SCCA Historic Racing Group Schedule:

July 3-4 at Lime Rock (with VSCCA and Jaguar Club)

July 25-26 at Watkins Glen

August 22-23 at NJMP

Sept 19-20 at Watkins Glen

Oct 17-18 at NJMP

B 