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One Lap Day 1 update....semi long and OT
Thanks for the note Michael! Reminds me of when I went
to see the Ramirez's and Mike Potter in Sebring a few
years ago (2001?). Very similar experience. We had a
*few* spectators...maybe 20 or so. :) The Raptor was
very cool, and many other cool cars.
Neal
--- "Leach, Michael" <michael.leach@lmco.com> wrote:
> The One lap of America Started Saturday at Watkins
> Glen Raceway in overcast
> cold Southern NY.
>
> Sorry this is late but I only subscribe through
> work.......so here it is.
>
> Even for a native New Yorker ...it was very cold out
> Saturday morning....I
> guess if I had a jacket it would have been a little
> better but the track was
> definitely slippery. I will get to that later.
> Anyway Brett and I met up
> in Watkins Glen and drove up to the track me in my
> Scirocco and Brett in the
> crew cab Dodge Ram.....what's up with that? He
> said he was selling the
> Roccs to get a SRT Neon......not really but after
> seeing that thing on the
> track.....I want one!!
>
> We got to the track to find that not many spectators
> come to this event and
> there is absolutely no security...go and do whatever
> you want...very cool
> with me.
>
> We caught up with Mike, Raffi, and Paul Emptying out
> the Car. Raffi was to
> be the driver for today. We turned out to be the
> only visitors they had.
> Very cool with us again. We hung out with them as
> they prepared the car and
> tried to warm up, Paul's sandals were not a good
> idea. Brett and I took a
> walk around looking at the cars. Some of the cars
> of most interest:
>
> Yarrow's 1.8T Golf.....he completely stripped out
> the interior and parts of
> the dash. Then with the custom non-cable shifter
> and steering wheel
> extender it was amazing to see that the car had only
> 34000 miles.....no way
> this thing was going in for warranty service...but
> he supposedly lost 180
> lbs with the interior. After Yarrow had passed
> Raffi on the final lap of
> the first run Yarrow hit a patch of what turned out
> to be coolant spun out
> and lightly tapped into big blue (wall) leaving only
> some streaks on his
> front bumper. Seeing this from behind, Raffi was
> able to make it around the
> patch and retake his place. Yarrow turned out to be
> faster and moved 2 spots
> ahead of Mike Raffi and Paul after the first run.
> After the run Mike and
> Paul decided that the NOS bottle was either empty or
> not completely on and
> replaced it with a new bottle. I am not sure of the
> effect of the NOS on
> the second run since I left immediately after seeing
> them run. But they
> started at 53 (coincidence I don't think so) and
> were 44 after the first
> run.
>
> Lamborghini Diablo......Remember that really cold
> track .....well since the
> Diablo is one of the fastest cars in the group it
> was one of the first cars
> on the track (second group actually). On its first
> timed lap around he lost
> it and tapped the wall with the drivers rear quarter
> panel. The damage was
> mostly cosmetic and a loss of brake lights and turn
> signals. And with a
> sawzall and some duck tape the car was back out for
> the second run.
>
> Impala SS........You ever hear, its fast but lets
> see it turn.....well, the
> Impala came back to the pits by a tow truck. He had
> gone head first into
> the wall and mashed the Passenger front and rear
> quarters. Now I know what
> airbags do to your windshield...not good....that guy
> was done for the year
> but I did hear him say that he was going to go home
> to Syracuse and get his
> other Impala. I saw him leaving later on a flatbed.
>
> A3 Jetta ABA Turbo......He was in the Econo car
> group?? Anyway the car was
> sweet and fast they were in a group with a civic SI
> and passed him.....In
> the pits we found that they were only getting 5lbs
> of boost...they were
> troubleshooting
>
> SHOGUN Festiva.......OH MY GOD that was the loudest
> scariest looking death
> trap I have ever seen....amazing!!! also in the
> Econo car group. Maybe the
> short wheelbase is not good in the turns though.
>
> NA 16v Saturn coupe.....I do not know what he did to
> that thing .....I am
> pretty sure he was running NOS....anyway it was
> Fast!!!!..he passed the
> SHOGUN....I was impressed.
>
> SRT-4 Neon....240 HP stock ...racer boys are going
> to kill
> themselves!!!....That car was also amazing...I have
> some awesome footage of
> that car on the track screaming...actually I have
> footage(non-digital) of
> all of the cars around the first three turns after
> the straightaway
>
> ~67 Mustang .....nothing really to say other than it
> was totally beautiful.
>
> Nissan 260Zor 280Z with a Chevy 350........WOW
>
> Lots and Lots of C-4 and 5 vettes.....BMW's
> Porsche's and Scoobys...oh yeah
> and then the odd entrants......Grand Caravan, GMC
> Envoy, Porsche Cayenne,
> Old Caprice cop car, Citation X-11, Cooper-S
>
> If you can ever go ...do it!! I had a great
> time....and the un-fettered
> access to the track was very cool too!!!!
>
> Now I have to start making plans to learn how to
> drive and bankroll and
> entry for ~10 years from now. The question is what
> to run?
>
> Hope you enjoyed the note......and if requested I
> will play this tape at the
> 2nd annual Cincy Garage door projector extravaganza
>
>
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