<VV> Mitty Update, Coda

[Rick Norris]

Sunday morning dawned cold and rainy and did not let up.

We had to decide to hang out and see if the weather would change and be able
to make the afternoon Group 2 Feature race or call it a day and check out
before 11:00 at the hotel and cut out for the house.

So far the weatherman had been dead on so, we checked out, hooked up and
boogied for the home twenty after saying good byes at the track.

It never quit raining during our trip across four states! Saw several
accidents in South Carolina where someone spun out from hydro planning and
punched the center barrier. There was a lot

Of standing water there. We came through the front door at 7:00 PM on the
dot. It was a stressful drive with the wet roads and dodging the dumbasses
that shouldn't even own a car much less be driving it on public roads.

 

I elected to not unload the car until today as we were both very tired from
the weeks activity and the drive home from a very different Mitty
experience. I guess I was feeling a bit anti-climactic from all the
excitement of last year with nonstop Corvair racing and engine changing
action but, it was a total success not only for me but the rest of our
group. No catastrophic engine failures! Let me repeat that, Nobody blowed
up!  It was a nice change to be able to concentrate on the fun and
excitement of racing and being with great friends instead of worrying about
which part gave up or was making noises like it wanted to.

We had good weather from Wednesday through Saturday but as predicted Sunday
was wet and cold. For the first time in five years of attending the Mitty I
cut it short by a day and we didn't go to Sonny's Bar B Que on Sunday
evening for supper with the group as has been our tradition. I missed that.
All that being said we as a group and me in particular had a very successful
event. 

 

After last years' experience with engine failure and running on a sick
backup engine I was really anxious to see what my new race motor would do. I
went through a lot of issues not to mention money to finally get one built
that would run right. The engine sounded good on the test stand and it
looked like I had the right jetting in the big bore carbs so, it went in the
car and to the races.

I always have signed up for the Thursday test day sessions at the Mitty for
several reasons. First off it gets the rust off me after the Winter months
and it lets me know I still know where the track goes! Also if there are any
engine or other issues, you have some time to attend to them. After running
the second test session and having a few fan belt issues which were
pronounced cured during part of the last test session it was obvious the car
was running and handling great.

 

Friday was practice runs, one of which cut one short when the belt came off
in turn 7 and I nursed it back to the pits keeping a close eye on the
cylinder head temps. I put my fan on top to help cool it off as it did get a
bit warmer than usual. My last practice run of the day was with 55 freakin
cars on track! It was fun picking off the slower ones and there seemed to be
a lot of newbies who were very unpredictable in the twisty bits. I had great
fun chasing these guys. Some of the lighter cars were better on the
straights but I was sucking them up in the corners. There were a few who
were so slow I'm not sure they should be out there but, I remember what it
was like my first time.

At Mike Levine's suggestion I decided Saturday in lieu of making a
qualifying run to pop the tops on the carbs and lower the fuel level in the
carbs. Earlier while trying to start the engine first thing in the morning
it sounded like it had a weak battery but Mike said when it caught it blew
raw gas out the left side pipe so he thinks it was hydraulically locked. May
have washed down a cylinder wall but, there was no evidence of gas in the
oil. I did go out of course for the Group 2 Feature race in the afternoon.

I learned an interesting thing which James had told me about. If you stand
on a practice lap for your starting position you are gridded in a second
group of cars doing the same. The cars that ran qualifying are grouped in a
first bunch which means a lot of the slower than you cars will be ahead of
you. It makes for some more fun getting around but your class position
finish will be lower because you waste time getting by them.unless you are
James Reeve that is!  

I was held up by a 1971 Mazda RX2 that I couldn't pass on a straight but was
killing in the corners. He made two laps with all the corner workers waving
the blue flag and me all over him until he got the message to let me by. It
was a great time to be sure. After getting by I began to catch a red MGA-B
who was in my class, EP. I finally reeled him in but for the life of me
could not out accelerate on the straights. I began to see where I could
squeeze by in a corner as again, I was killing him there. By the same token
his being slow in the curves broke my momentum coming off the corner. About
that time I saw the white flag and thought I have one last chance to get by
but, I didn't want to do anything stupid on the last lap so I just followed
him. On the back stretch I gave him a thumbs up as it was a good time racing
him. 

That's it for now, Momma says I gotta go unload the track and car.

 

Rick Norris

1st CORSA President, 1971

www.corvairalley.com <http://www.corvairalley.com/> 

Hurricane WV