[94teener]

In the end, I had a great time at the event. A little eventful for me, but thanks to some great people it ended on a really high note going into the winter.

The very first session for me ended after 4 laps or so when I had just made a pass after T9 and going into 10 hit the gas and .... nothing ... just the whistling of the wind in the car. Hit the gas again as I'm starting down the front straight and nothing, no gauges, no engine, nothing ... I go from low horsepower to no horsepower, so I pull over to the left as far as I can and wait. Get a tow back into the pits (sorry about the black flag ), pop the engine lid. Everything looks OK, but no power. Turn the ignition key halfway, and jiggle the positive battery cable and viola, everthing comes to life. Undo the positive battery connector, clean everything, put it back together and I'm in business .... or so it seems.

Second session, my instructor was nowhere to be found, OK I say, it's gonna be one of those weekends. I had him paged twice, still no instructor, I find Dirk and explain my predicament. Blue is out now for 4 or 5 laps and I'm not.
Fortunately, Tony graciously offers to ride with me for the remainder of the session. I get a few laps in and at the end of the session, going through the pit to exit into the paddock, I'm stopped and pointed to park on the right ... what did I do now??? I'm asked, "You wanna go out in green to get some more time?" So they find another instructor for me as I'm sitting there watching the green group go out. Tuffy walks over to my car and says, "OK, let's go!" Tony and Tuffy back to back, I would've really liked this ... but the car had NO GRIP!! I'm really, really slow, drifting, sliding, didn't even feel like it was my car ... great way to show what little driving skill I have to Tony and Tuffy .

Last session of the day, my instructor is finally reunited with me. As I'm going to pick him up, my prescription glasses literally fall apart. C'mon, you gotta be kidding me! I remember that I have a pair of prescription shades in the glove box.. whew. Session starts, the track is pretty wet, and even more treacherous with my lack of tire grip. Not a really great first day. Sunday has gotta be better.

Sunday morning I reduce the tire pressure, instructor is at the designated meeting place. Alright ... we're one a roll! Car feels good again, have some grip, make a couple of passes, playing around with John Fort, keeping the Pfeiffer orange 914 in site ... great. Then as I getting on the gas around 6-7-8-9 the car feels like it's missing, John is waiting for me to pass again, but I've got nothing, car is sputtering, not the battery this time. OK, I guess I broke something in the engine for real. As I pull into my paddock spot, comptemplating my next move I hear shouts "TURN IT OFF!! TURN IT OFF!!" Fuel is dripping, no, pouring out on the ground by the driver's side rar tire. Turns out one of the float pivot screws came undone and created a mileage reducing orafice squirting fuel out as fast as I could feed it with the gas pedal. The tank was full at the beginning of the session, it was half empty by the end of the session. Unknowingly, I was on the way to becoming a human barbeque going down the front straight.


I know this is long winded, and I really don't talk a whole lot, but I just wanted to really thank everyone this weekend and especially Dave Coleman. As I was walking around the paddock saying I needed a screw (yea, that didn't sound too good), Marvin points out Dave to me and says ... that's your man. Dave not only had the part, but ushered me into his '54 Studebaker, took me to his shop, gave me the tour, really good advice (about an hour's worth), drove me back to the track, disassembled my carb, replaced the screw, reassembled and adjusted it. He says "Now you're taken care of". I say, "Now I want to take care of you" (when this all began I asked if he took credit cards. He says "NO, cash only"). So natrually I want to give him compensation for his time and trouble. All he says is "Go have some fun". No really Dave, I want to take care of you for your efforts. " Go have some fun" he says again. I'm really floored and speechless. Stand up guy as far as I'm concerned.

So now I can make the last session. I had told my instructor earlier I was done for the day so I get yet another instructor for the last run ... John ?? can't remember his last name. I tell him what I need to work on T3, T5, shifting. After a few laps he says, I really don't see anything wrong ... just don't tilt your head. I had grip, carrying a lot of momentum, car ran flawlessly, great run for me.

Four instructors, two mechanical failures, almost two mental breakdowns, wrong car setup ... but as someone earlier said, Alls well that ends well.

Sorry this post is so long, but again, just want to give a really BIG THANKS to such a great group of people and again, especially Dave Coleman. See you next season!