Some thoughts on the Vintage Race Across America cars.
Pete's car. Very fast, easily thrown around, and didn't lack for power. In fact it felt like it would still accelerate if it had another 10-15 feet more straight away. The tires gripped enough and still allowed the car to slide. It felt like driving a 956 powered by an NC1, low, wide, fast, and very light feeling.
#1 Corvette. Very fast, but not as fast at Pete's because of the sillies. I was suprised this car was as fast as it was because of the use of sillies. Rob's track rejects anything other than Ortmann's but since the track was as clean as I've ever seen it, this car hooked up well enough.
Dennis' 152. A solid car, too solid I think though. It was so nice to drive in the corners but it topped out quickly due to the weight of the car. Within a few feet of entering the straight it was already at terminal velocity. A bit lighter, and this car would be the winner, I'm sure of that. Also I'm not sure where a "thump" came from in this car but something like the holes for the set screws or a flat spot on one tire I think might have also slowed this car just enough to drop it down in the standings. As the laps clicked by I kept trying to find more speed with this car. It was tough because of the lack of overall speed so I had to really look for extra speed in the corners and different braking points.
#15. What a great car to drive. So smooth it was (done in his best "Coffee Talk" New York accent) ...like buttah. A wonderful car to drive. I could have driven this car all night and not lost interest. It did, however, also lack in overall speed because of the weight of the car I think. Also there is some gear clicking that I think might have slowed the car enough to drop this car's speed too.
Rob's 250 GTO. Two things became clear quickly. The pin guide was a problem. And the Ortmann tires coupled with the pin guide was a huge problem. The Ortmann's grip made the car loose traction unexpectedly and without the usual type of guide to stop the car going around, there was nothing to help you recover from the slightest loss of traction. With a normal guide this car would have done much better, but I think would still not have come close to Pete's car...it's just not as fast as the top 2 cars.
#7 Corvette, light and fast, but harder to control in the corners which slowed the overall speed. Maybe a bit more weight would have helped this car, but then it might have slowed it since the NC1's really need a light car to work well.
Austin's car and Spiritracer's cars. Both car were fast, Spiritracers car was very, very fast down the straight but the corners were a huge problem for me with this car. Since the front tires were odd sizes there was a great deal of instability in the corners and unpredictable jumping out of the slot on the straights once in a while. Both car were very light and could have used a bit of weight to help them smooth out the ride. I liked the lights in Austin's car, I hadn't seen lights stay on after the car was removed from the slot or after a deslot. It was a challenge to drive these cars fast and I must admit I'm sure I held my breath most of the time driving these cars because I was concentrating soooooo hard trying to get the best out of each of them on every lap.
I hope this helps I should have taken notes but driving the cars really took a lot out of me...I'm a real light weight I guess.
While I was trying to decide whether to race the cars a wave of anxiety came over me. Boy I really didn't want to let anyone down because my driving skills are...um...a bit lacking. I know the time and care (and yes...dare I say love?) I put into my proxy racing entries...so I felt the weight of the 8 racers on my shoulders as I accepted Rob's invitation to race the cars. I did a few dozen laps total with the cars before starting each race to try and get a feel for the cars before starting the actual race. I've never raced so long with such intensity. I found it hard to keep my temper when I would deslot....more than a few explatives were hurled during the racing that night in Whiskerville CT! I take proxy racing very seriously. It's a great way to connect slotters around the world. It was truely a learning experience for me to be a part of my first proxy race as a driver.
Me trying trying to remember to breath and brake while racing the cars...I found it's impossible to do both!
DaveK
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