The racing gods must have figured out I deserved a great weekend after all the hard work and preparation on the Race Wagon, and who was I to argue. We went down to Buttonwillow Raceway for a Friday test day and got 5 half-hour test sessions in. No leaks, nothing fell off, started every time, I was ecstatic. The handling was very predictable, the power was excellent, and we got faster every session. One of my crew members, Tim Arnett of Arnett Engineering, took it out for a session and came back with some good suggestions and compliments of how nice it handled right out of the box. Paul Moore at The Moore Speed Co did a great job picking out coil spring and sway bar rates, I was expecting to have to test a couple different combos but I think we hit it on the first try.
Saturday and Sunday I ran with VARA for their annual Octoberfest race weekend. Saturday had an Open practice, a timed Group practice, and a Group qualifying race. I ran in Group 4 which was made up of the large four-cylinder classes, with cars like BMW 2002s, Porsche 914s, Volvos, Triumphs, MGBs, a Capri (!), and of course Datsun 510s. We had 35 cars running in Group 4, and Saturday I was running mid-pack. The weather was hot and clear, light winds, and it was great to be back at the track. I hadn’t taken a green flag in over two years, and I’d forgotten about the chaos of turn one: 35 cars trying to squeeze in the room for two, man I missed this stuff! And it was great to see a lot of my old racing friends at the bar-b-que hosted by VARA on Saturday night.
By Sunday I was getting my groove back, I was getting used to the stiff suspension on the wagon, and a couple adjustments were paying off. I had a good warm-up session in the morning, and was excited about Sunday’s Flag race. I started 14th in Group, had a few great battles, finished 7th overall, and 3rd in Class. And the best finishing touch – I drove it on the trailer to take it home!
Special thanks to my weekend pitcrew of Cuffy Crabbe and Tim Arnett. It sure makes a race weekend go a lot smoother having some good buddies there to help you out. It was fun having lots of people stop by the pits saying they love the wagon. Some asked “why?”, some appreciated the unusualness of it all, and some just shook their heads. I’m exhausted and the wallet is empty, but it was worth it. Can’t wait for the next track session…
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