[Spridgets] SMRS GMan Results and Overview

[stanbmason at aol.com]

Well GMan did not disappoint with a great turn out of 14 Spridgets Racing!  The following is a highlight of this great weekend and attached SMRS Season Report.  I will provide some feedback from Driver Committee on Group 2 in the near future.
Gingerman 2022 Highlights

Driver School - We had 2new Spridgets join us at the Driver School. Jim Vogel who had logged some laps at PIB successfully received hiscertificate.  Dominic Rudd and his Dad Danwere there with a Midget that was purchased from last year’s student driver and1970s SCCA Legion Phil Carpenter. Dominic is a past Go Kart racer and did well with his driving skills in bothgood lap times and observing all the safety protocol.  This is an extension of their fun times of thepast Go Kart Racing.   I want to thank everyone that helped these 2students.  I think one of the mostpositive aspects of SMRS is the willingness of all of us to contribute to successof our Driver School and Spridget Students through assisting mechanically andanswering any driving questions in support. As we all know it can be can overwhelming for anyone wanting to get intoSMRS racing.  I think Jim Vogel said itbest when he said “ I have never met such an incredible group ofpeople!  To jump in and help out a guy they don't even know so I could getthrough the school was above and beyond, and I am very humbled and grateful.  I don't think I did enough to show thatgratitude, particularly to you (Stan Mason), Mark Frost, the entire Kansa Klan,Buzz Merchlewitz, and Charlie Hall and his crewman Jeff who fixed my car when Ididn't have time so it would pass tech. “  This year’s Driver School had anonline class prior to showing up at GMan with question answer section to keep ita shorter time and less boring for Thursday’s class room training.


 
Mechanically – The VintageSport Council has a site for Mechanical Failures that they collect information oncritical mechanical failures that we should all be familiar with so we canavoid then through knowledge.  I havecollected some of the minimal information they have on their site and havestarted compiling a list of critical safety failures that we should be aware ofand looking out for.  One of those areas thatare critical are front spindles.  Ourcars were not designed to see the lateral loads that they were designedfor.  Observing some GoPro G loads from YouTubeVideos of SMRS racing we can get up to 1.3 G lateral loads with Spridgets.  It is recommended that you take the time toverify the integrity of your front spindles by magnafluxing for cracksroutinely (some suggest evey 2 years). Many of us have steel spindle replacing the original forgedspindles.  Typically if spindles fail itis under high loads in a turn.  Don Kellyexperience his failure at the upper part of his king pin at the counter stepthreaded area, which is also obviously a high stress area.  His failure resulted in his right front kingpin breaking loose and moved the tire into the wheel well flat spotting histire.  This did not result in a catastrophicaccident luckily, but could have been worse.

SMRS VSCDA Support -  Our group really is amazing when it comes tosupport and this is usually something I cover as a yearend appreciation, butall of you have really given back whether it is in Driver Committee orAdmissions and of course all the other items covered above.  Charlie Hall and our VSCDA President Alex Rourkereminded everyone at the Driver School Banquet that the reason we have lowerprices in Vintage Racing is because of our volunteers.  Most of those volunteers are from ourGroup.  We had roughly 33 cars in Group 2with nearly half being Spridgets keeping our exclusive Spridget Race alive andwell for next year. 

Brat Lunches – We have traditionally done an excellent jobin this area providing an abundance of brats and side dishes.  Not so much at GMan this year and even thoughI appreciate donations of money that go to our SMRS fund for awards, it isdifficult to plan if we have more people over money over providing food.  In the future if you have not contributed, Iwould appreciate it if you would bring pre-boiled brats and a cole slaw orpotato salad or desert for all you friends to enjoy.

 Spridget Perseverance – Weall know how important this is as a Racing Spidget Team and there were manyexamples of this at GMan and other events, but what I observed was above moststandards.  Ellie and Husband Brian weretruly stellar in this category when they pulled their engine and transmissionto make the next session and even though we may have seen this many times, Idon’t think that I have ever seen anyone continue like these 2 did in a majorcloud burst that lasted 15 minutes. Congratulations for winning the unofficial “Spridget Perseverance Award”!

Cape of Good Hope and Announcements– I did not break out the Cape of Good Hope portable pub due to rain and usbeing the last run group on Saturday. This is usually a good time to discuss issues and provide updates onupcoming races.  

·        Black Hawk Farms June 17-19 Exclusive SpridgetRace

·        Schenley Park July 23-24 Exclusive Spridget Race“Donna Mae Mims Memorial Race” for Spridgets. We have requested additional information on lodging and a SMRS PaddockCompound

·        Grattan Grand Finale Awards August 12-14Exclusive Spridget Race 

Grammar – not mystrong suit and thanks for putting up with my less skills!


 

 
Enjoy Your Passion and a SpridgetLy Life

Stan Mason

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