[Carrera51]

Potomac Region hit another one out of the park with this one for sure. Pat and Donna orchestrated a fantastic event despite COVID messing with the program. Thanks to them and ALL the volunteers, corner workers, EV, Summit Point management and staff, and everyone else who made it possible for us to play all weekend, (well part of it in my case).

The old blue car didn't do half bad since prior to this summer, it hadn't seen the paddock or the track in 20 years. Got it through tech, missed the first two practices and went straight to qualifying. Was motioned to stop at black flag when I came through the pits and was informed my transponder was dead. I had grabbed one of the old rentals we used to have at the track store. Turns out it wouldn't hold a charge for very long. Also, it turns out I had overfilled the oil so spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up my mess and getting a little over a quart of the excess oil out.

So for Sprint 1, I got to start at the back. Had a nice start with a couple of cars passed through turn 3, and the clutch started slipping. So I backed it down and retired. Figured it was weekend over.

Then Dave Coleman to the rescue! While pushing the pedal while he bled his brakes, he said if he was still feeling up to it at the end of the day, we'd put the car up on the lift and fix the clutch. So after the Vintage photoshoot on the front straight, he pulls up in his 54 Studebaker and says, "you want to race tomorrow, let's go." So over to his place and on the lift we go. He found a useable clutch disc to swap out that was much thicker than the worn one that came out of the car. Took a break at 10:15 and I was back at 6am Sunday to help finish. By help I basically handed him tools and held the light.

Finished up at 7:45am Sunday. Drove back to the track. He ran the warm up and I got ready for Sprint 3. Started last again and had a nice race. Got comfortable in the car and went from 34th to 21st by the time the checkered came out. So yes, the Blue Phoenix finished. Without Dave Coleman's generosity, that wouldn't have been possible. It was nice to race again since I basically do it once a year. Again, kudos everyone who made this event possible.