<VV> Convention Autocross results - impressions

[Sethracer at aol.com]

Sorry for the delay in feeding the autocross results. My primary mission at 
 Sturbridge has been keeping my wife happy, secondary, manning the Silicone 
 Wire Systems booth, and tertiary, chasing down the final autocross 
results.  Dave Clemons did, indeed, take the FTD. There were three other cars in h
is  class, Norm Latullippe was a second+ back, driving Bob Peplow's car, Bob  
was third, John Egerton fourth. Dave really wowed the field, a very 
impressive  win. The fastest V8 car, in Street Mod-2, was Dave Button, in a nice  
street Crown car. Kevin Wilsons Corvair powered Street Mod-3 car bracketed  
the V8 car, with Michael Leveque a tenth of a second ahead, and Kevin 
slightly  behind. Michael's third run of the day included the most impressive 
"slide" of  the day, in the turn three/four oval. It never did come  completely 
around, but it didn't back into the outside wall either! All four  tires were 
smoking, though!  The video is already on YouTube! That is  Michael at the 
wheel, not Kevin. Kevin was shooting the video, heart rate  climbing! In the 
Stock classes, Mark Aksamit, from Arizona, was the  class of the field. He 
has past racing experience and knows which car to borrow  <grin>! He was two 
seconds ahead of any other stock class car,  running in SS-3 and in a 110 
PG car! None of the 140 4-speeds came  close! Larry Tustison took SS-1, Roger 
Ringerstetter had to beat two  Seversons to take SS-2.  Philip Levering 
took SS-4 in his convertible, Phil  Raker won SS-5 in his Greenbrier. 
Improved Stock was all over the map. IS-3, usually the largest class at the 
 convention, didn't disappoint with eleven entries. Mark Edmonds won the 
class  with a 39 second run with his 140, but Brett Aston with his 110 turned 
a 38  second run in IS-2! Just behind him was his brother(?) Bryce in the 
same  car. Notably in the IS3 class, Ryan MacLeod beat his father Stewart, a 
changing  of the guard! Allison Stewart took the ladies class  IS-3L. Larry  
Claypool thrashed the family Truckster (Greenbrier) to an IS-4 title.  Barb  
Mee has the IS-4L title.  The fastest Improved Stock car belongs  to Terry 
Stafford and it is an early model! Terry's 64 Turbo is a  longtime Lime Rock 
competitor, and is tightly tied down. He lent it to me to  drive, however, 
and I took a couple of seconds off his time in IS-5.  Terry's early model 
was easy to drive, a good thing since I hadn't competed in  an early model 
since 1982! His turbo motor was really dialed in and was fun and  rewarding to 
drive! For reference, however, Removable steering wheels  should always be 
checked for full installation tightness before getting out on  course. Please 
just take my word for it!! And don't ask! As I sit, writing this,  it is 
pouring rain outside. It started at the end of the car display on Saturday  
evening. Except for the humidity and a "warmish" outside temps, weather was 
not  a factor at the convention. And the weather gods actually smiled deeply 
on the  Autocross competitors. The Autocross day was absolutely perfect. 
Sunny, warm and  RAINFREE! The Stafford Speedway was a challenge for both power 
and handling, and  you could vision yourself driving the oval track in a 
fast car with the safety  needed for the Corvair Convention competitor, some of 
which are novices at this  racing thing.  Next year, at Western 
Michigan/Kalamazoo, look for even more  racing as the Convention moves to a hot-bed of 
racing. If you  didn't make it to Sturbridge, you should have!
 
Seth Emerson