<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Well written, Jason!<div>I can't write as eloquently as Jason on my GT6 run, but I know I had at least as much fun - I started near the rear, as i did not run the rain session and was gridded based on car number. I had a great run, though, climbing to 14th with some great racing along the way. I flogged the car harder than perhaps I ever have, knocking two seconds a lap off my best previous times for the weekend. Looking at the cars and drivers who finished in front of me, I have no complaints with the outcome. Well, perhaps two - I think if I can get the stock brakes to run cooler and bite harder, I can certainly turn better times on this track. The entry to turn 5 was killer, coming from 120 mph down to a mid-second gear turn at the end of a downhill - as Peter Egan says, the turn "smokes about $10 of brake pads every lap"! And, I know I'm leaving something on the table in the Kink. But, I'm not leaving paint on the concrete walls there, so I guess that's a good thing!</div><div>There was a sense of comfort racing with all Triumphs - knowing many of the other drivers, and the feeling that the cars, all designed by the same people, somehow behaved in a predictable manner out on the track - I felt like I knew what moves they would make, more so than when racing Porsches, Datsuns, etc, which each dance to a different tune. Finishing the race flat out up the hill on the main straight to the checkered flag, right next to one of Sam Halkias' TR6s, being driven by Jack Madison, that was a finish to remember!</div><div><br></div><div>I'll be back to Road America, and I hope the Cup event will be there again soon too. I don't think I'll beat Jason's times, though - he's out there performing on one tire size smaller than mine - amazing! </div><div><br></div><div>I'm still smiling, even after a 16 hour tow home.</div><div><br></div><div>Scott</div><div><br><div><div>On Sep 11, 2013, at 11:06 AM, Jason Ostrowski wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div dir="ltr"><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">From my perspective, the weekend was met by perhaps the
fiercest multi- GT6 contingent seen in America since the 1969 runoffs at
Daytona. Right off the bat, it was Chuck Gee’s immaculate yellow beauty setting
the quickening pace for our group 8 coupes. Early on, it was seen that our
GT6’s would have to be in the low 2:50’s to even be a contender for the Cup.
Road America seems to eat GT6’s up. I knew that from a disappointing trend of
half-finished race weekends there over the past few years. So, going in I had
focused very hard on presenting a car that was stout enough to go the weekends
many session distance requirement. VSCDA weekends offer over 3 hours of track
time in a variety of different races, practice and qualifying. My weekend goal
was simple and threefold; get in enough track time to feel totally comfortable,
beat my own personal track record and without-fail be the fastest GT6 in the
end! (When Chuck set that time pretty easily right off the bat, clearly it was
going to take some real inspired driving to be running at the front.) Like any
race track disguised as a gorgeous national park, Road America can take the
very best cars and put them on the trailer early. Such was the fate of the
booked-about hot-rod of my new friend Chuck Gee…broken on session 3.</font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">Enter Scott Janzen and Clark Lincoln. Scott’s car is set up
with an eye for high quality. His giant, daunting, Webber Carb set-up brings
the hot breath of a mid-evil dragon to the 2 -liter table. Scott’s car has a
great vintage history and he has updated it beautifully. Surely a bit more seat
time and better qualifying race conditions would have put him closer to the
front. Clark’s orange and black car has taken the rear end of the GT6 into a new
and totally different dimension. Rich in fresh conceptual development, the #71,
is a fearsome new contender. His hard thought choice for a transmission set-up
ratio at Road America made him a bullet on the front stretch. And he turned out
to be the one in my sights or in my mirrors as the weekend progressed. Jeff
Clark also brought a car that he and his inspired crew stuck with and maintained
all weekend, against diversity, a long way from home. (Nice work) <span> </span></font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">Friday, I broke a velocity stack. It fell off the car at
full song towards the end front strait. The noise was significantly explosive
as it popped the bonnet upwards. I rolled in under my own power back to the
paddock. Like a factory sponsor, my dear racing friends and trick part’s
supplier Alexander Racing immediately provided me with an updated ARE stack
with reinforced flange welding.</font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">In the first qualifying session Saturday, I went careening
off the track in spectacular fashion at turn7 as the bottom of my right front upright sheared
off at the top of the trunnion. Through the gravel trap, into the grass and near
ye wall. John Reed jumped on car like a young George Bignotti and had the whole
thing taken apart and determined what we needed to replace. Pretty quickly, he
had the upright, and ball-joint replaced from our magic parts bin and a new
trunnion was sourced from Scott Janzen. We were back in action before the lunch
break. Yet, the removal of the “kitty litter” rocks, measured by the pail,
continued for quite some time. </font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri"><font size="3">Then it started to rain. I really like to race in the rain.
This played into my hands quite nicely as a drying track allowed me to leave
the rain tires in the trailer and go out on dry tires in slightly wet
conditions. I played it fairly conservative in the slippery conditions and
posted a 3:03 for a final qualifying time. Somewhat to my surprise, that meager
3:03 had put me 3</font><font><sup>rd</sup></font><font size="3"> on the grid for the Cup race. This was golden
for FGR, as Sam Halkias was choosing to start in the back to wage war with the
250K. It was an all GT6 front row for 2013. </font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">The pace lap was slow and my car was acting funny. Some
strange fuel delivery gremlin seemed to haunt me from the get go. I yelled at
myself through my helmet; something to the effect of “This is Your Race to
Loose! Drive this Car! This is your chance!” (Really, I did).<span> </span>I was in the perfect mindset; totally psyched
yet almost calm. I felt a sweet confidence in both myself and the car, and just
kind of told myself to drive through the fuel problem and push it like I never
have before. And so I did. In a nice little drag race and a game of same-direction”
chicken” with Clark Lincoln, I led the pack into 1 and got a pretty good run
out of 3. I led through 5 and up the hill… but the car, she coughs a bit. Under
the circumstances, things were really ticking along good until the car cut out bad
coming out of the kink and opportunistic Mark Weatley and Tony Drews were able
to slip by. Seeing my good racing buddy Tony go by really got me focused on
staying up front. In a wonderfully spirited Battle Royal Tony and I swapped
spots back and forth several times each breaking our own track records during
the fight! Clark was back there too, but we were going so fast that the rear
view mirrors showed nothing but vibrating nothingness. Somehow I seemed to pull
away a bit until I saw the grey and blue Ken Knight in shining armor on a
charge from behind.</font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">As I entered Canada Corner with the Knight in my mirror,…
the car, she breaks. And in a poetic lost Joust, I violently bounced across the
rumble strips, skipped across the runoff and coasted along the grass. I came to
a stop close to the wall, no contact, but beaten by equipment. I gave it all I
had but it was not my year to win the cup. This time the #69 broke it’s other
(right) front upright in the same spot. This has never happened before, yet,
here… twice in one weekend.<span> </span>Surprise,
surprise, as we all know… it is fairly easy to make these toys go faster and
faster for shorter and shorter periods of time. For what it’s worth even though
I had to break the wheel off doing it, I met my goal and set the fast GT6 time
of the weekend in the Cup race with a nice and tidy 2:52.7. The GT6 class win
went to Clark Lincoln in his ready to race #71 hot orange coupe. <span> </span></font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">In spite of my defeat, the personal rewards for me were
great. The positive comments I got from Kas will keep me chasing the cup for as
long as there is a cup to chase. I got A Big Bear Hug from Tony Drews and lots
of complements from so many drivers and some of my favorite FoT folks. I’ll be
smiling all the way to Eagles Canyon.</font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">A big thanks to my crew chief John Reed and our FGR mechanical
genius Brian Garcia. Brian went out Friday afternoon and sourced a new tach and
got me out there Saturday with some well needed RPM info, as the Friday sessions
were ran on a glimmer and a hope that I was in the proper range. John did
everything he could to keep the car running up front all weekend. The car carries
with it his long legacy of front running and it was an honor to drive it his
way and to his approval…we were fast and at the front. <span> </span>Having a good performance and racing with the
best of my Triumph Friends in front of Triumph legends…Don’t wake me up! I
think I must be dreaming. Thank You ALL!</font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">Jason Ostrowski</font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">Friendly Ghost Racing</font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin:0in 0in 10pt"><font size="3"><font color="#000000"><font face="Calibri">Owner/Racer of 2 original privately owned historic GT6+
racecars. <span> </span>#27… The David Dooley SCCA
National Contender. And, The #69 Zippy Racing, Crystal Tack Cloth “Zippy” ; the
most raced GT6 ever.</font></font></font></p><font color="#000000" face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font></div>
_______________________________________________<br><a href="mailto:fot@autox.team.net">fot@autox.team.net</a><br><br>http://www.fot-racing.com<br><br>Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html<br>Archive: http://www.team.net/archive<br>Forums: http://www.team.net/forums<br>Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/fot/sjanzen@me.com<br><br><br></div><br></div></body></html>