[Spridgets] Vintage racing question

[Deikis, John G]

>Ron Soave soavero at yahoo.com said:



>...It isn't ANYTHING without the

>people....

>Ron Soave





My racing is fueled by my interest in cars, not racing. I restored an
'53 MG, joined clubs, took it to shows, drove around...it all started to
get a bit boring. I did some BMW and Porsche Club track events and a
weekend at Skip Barber. When PCA started their club racing, I considered
it. But racing a slow car seemed much less expensive than racing a fast
one. I sold the Porsche and bought an MG Midget and a trailer. Racing
looked like something exciting to do with an old MG.



SCCA was too much of a commitment and too much money, even in the IT
classes (and they pretty much screwed up Showroom Stock, as far as I
could tell).  Autocross just never quite hooked me, although I should
mention I never got very good at it.  Vintage racing was all
make-believe-bring your toy and make believe you're a real racer. The
"serious" guys are not taken very seriously by anyone but themselves and
the folks who put on the best theater, emphasizing the
"museum-in-action" aspect of enjoying  cars, are the heart of the show.
The people around me, the other racers, their friends and family, the
spectators walking the paddock, make it all worth it.



I started by crewing for a friend. He wanted a race buddy, so he sold me
one of his cars. He took me to driving school and crewed for me a couple
of times. That was 1999. I asked for crew help on the spridgets list and
met Rick Fisk who is a far better mechanic than I and has a laid back
personality that generally does not get too excited. We are pretty much
"the team" as my family has little interest in playing with cars. I like
to hang-out with the Spridget racers because they seem more
down-to-earth than some of the semi-trailer "carpet-and-awning" crews.
List people like "SuaveMan", "Flounder", LAD, and "Peter the Parts Pimp"
make my race weekend and I probably would have moved on to ultra-lite
flying if it weren't for the folks I've met vintage racing.



-JohnD