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Race - Stage 3, June 27
Today's trek took us through the hot, steamy
jungles of Kentucky, and now we're in the welcome air conditioning
in our hotel in Louisville. Here is a very
short MPEG clip driving through the Kentucky backwoods route. Sorry
its not long enough to bother with popcorn.
We're still working on dialing in the performance
of the Rover. It's running great, and the engine hasn't
used a drop of oil or coolant despite running hard in 90
degree plus heat. It will do whatever we ask of it, we're
just not always asking the right questions.
We're still making big changes. This morning
we raised the tire pressure on the speedo sensor wheel
by 10 lbs. to 50, to try to get the tire growth to be more
consistent. This required yet another factor change, then
we had to see how it worked.
Since we have no idea of our scores during
the rally, we compare notes with other race teams, specifically
the 'seconds out': if all of the cars start at one minute
intervals, and they're running accurately, the seconds
will all be the same: only the minute changes. The morning
run looked to be running late compared to other teams,
so we concentrated on making sure we did things the way
we had practiced them. This sounds simple, but fatigue
in the high heat and humidity tends to slow down your reactions,
and you have to push by that.
This is typical of a Greatrace rest stop.
The city is Maysville, Kentucky, and it's a 'pit stop',
something between lunch and overnight for us to take a
half hour break for restrooms and a snack. This town outdid
themselves. They had a cooler full of snacks, more food
in the shade, a big band, special glass mugs, little pies,
homemade chips and salsa, white chocolate "Maysville" logos
and who knows how much else. The crowd was enthusiastic
and gracious, even in the 90 degree heat and high humidity.
Easily the best 'pit stop' we'd ever been to. They are
in competition themselves for a $5,000 prize, but you get
the feeling they would have taken good care of us regardless.
These communities are the heart of our nation, and it really
raises your spirits to be in them.
The afternoon scores looked better. We overcorrected
on one leg, but we did get our first 'Ace', a zero error
leg, and that's good: it pays $50. We're still trending
late at low speeds, so we'll compensate for that tomorrow
without doing any other big changes and see if we can get
that score down some more.
The Rover is running great: Pat Young's
engine skills are really shining through. Several GR veterans
have commented on how good it sounds, and they are amazed
that it goes so well for a 'small' four cylinder engine.
(Remember, Model A's are a 200 cid four before being bored
and stroked, over 50 cid bigger than the Land Rover.) It
has used no oil, never gets over 165 with the fan on, and
it's even getting pretty good mileage.
The pit stops and our lunch stop were great;
the folks in these small towns really turn out. Our host
in Williamstown, Kentucky told us that it took 300 volunteers
to run the whole deal, from the sit down lunch with full
'waiter' service for the 200 racers, to the city police
that closed off the streets, and the official greeters
that met every car with the goodie bags they had assembled.
They had to bus the volunteers in from the high school
parking lot to save parking downtown for the racers. The
Mayor and State Senator for the region met each driver,
we were presented with keys to the city, and were made
official 'Kentucky Colonels'. Remarkable.
We did run into our first rain storms today.
This is actually the first rain this vehicle has felt since
its completion. We left the door tops off and the canvas
rolled up; it felt pretty good and we didn't get too wet,
at least on the timed portion where we were running at
low speeds. On the freeway coming into town it was a different
issue. The low pressure area behind the tailgate sucked
the road spray inside, all the way to the windshield. The
wipers were on but it wasn't helping! We wiped off the
inside of the glass and the rearview mirrors and we were
fine. We were wearing our BP 'Expedition' hats with the
flap on the back: perfect for rain spray! We expect more
weather like this tomorrow and for the next several days.
We're not likely to use the door tops or flip the canvas
down unless it's a heavy and constant rain.
Model A woodies are a rare sight on a high
banked speedway, but then again so are Land Rovers. This
is Kentucky Speedway, a medium sized race facility with
excellent amenities. Between the ARCA practice sessions
and testing, we went out in 3 groups, and it was quite
a sight. Our speeds were set by a pace truck at about 50,
but that was plenty fast enough on the steep banking. We
had an official photographer in the back, a great platform
for shooting some one of a kind film, such as a '32 DeSoto
wheel to wheel with a '32 Ford. Here is a very
short MPEG of the view from the track.
Our time today was :28 seconds. Once again
the results are not posted as we're writing this, but we
do know that the top ten for the day started about :21,
so it probably isn't too bad. We will keep working on it,
though: our car is running well and we're improving, so
hope springs eternal.
The leaders right now are Greg Cunningham
and Sam Goeppinger. Greg started 7 years ago running Greatrace
through his High School shop class in Ponca City, Oklahoma.
He knows his Model A intimately, built it himself, and
he's a very nice guy to boot. Being in his early 20's his
age and enthusiasm are getting the best of us old folks,
including the past champions. It's great to see young people
involved in the old car hobby, and who knows, this could
be the youngest team ever to win GR. With daily scores
of 2 and 3 seconds total, while we're still trying to get
3 second legs, they are going to be tough to beat.
There's still a long way to go, though: will old age and
treachery win the day over youth and enthusiasm? We'll
see. Our goal is still to crack the top 20; we're not there
yet, but we'll keep working on it.
Steve & Janet
BP
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