"The Long and Winding Road"
August 1, 2002
Two races in three weekends has kept Team Rapid Racing busy as of late. Mid States at Putnam Park was in a word Hot! Attendance for this event was better than anticipated with full fields in many classes with the 125 shifters leading the way once again when it came to entries. Practice went smoothly but was frustrating. "Lucille" our new Tony Mitox was faster than most but just wouldn't get down to leader times, a problem that would haunt the Gooseman (?) and I for the entire weekend.
Saturday's race once again pointed out the problems of multi wave starts with the huge shifter fields. Confusion seems to reign supreme for racers and officials both. Case in point was after a lengthy drivers meeting where the start procedure was carefully outlined and then not used when time came to start the race. The ragged start combined with "Lucille's" lackadaisical performance resulted in a dreadful, by our standards seventh place finish.
Sunday morning's practice still did not show the turn of speed that we needed and we had to wait until the last race of the day to prove that we were to be stymied once again. A hard run had "Lucille" lurking in fifth place late in the race only to have the carb retaining clamp break in two on the last lap! Needless to say we were out on the spot rewarding the Gooseman (?) and I with a big fat DNF. So much for the home field advantage.
Fast forward to Grattan Raceway with CES and SKUSA Great Lakes Pro Tour. A strong shifter turnout (Surprise? Not.) carried the weekend as entries in the more traditional classes were at best light.
Friday practice went smoothly with the mysterious lack of pace from the MSSS at Putnam no where to be found. The Gooseman (?) and I went on a serious development program testing pipes, silencers, chassis settings and even playing with the bodywork. We were rewarded with personal best lap times each time out.
Saturday morning was hectic to say the least with two rounds of practice, qualifying and the race itself in the first two hours. "Lucille" produced fifth quick time out of a strong field of 125's and we hurriedly prepared for the race, only to be confronted with an unscheduled lunch break while we milled around on the grid.
Finally, race time came and sure enough I managed to fluff the start and fall back to tenth on the first lap. While SKUSA Pro Moto winners Josh Schreiber and Nick Bussell streaked away from their front row starting spots I had to move forward as soon as possible. Working heavy traffic I discovered that a change in line and shifting patterns through the esses was a big improvement. This proves that an old dog can learn a new trick every now and then. Lap after lap a personal best lap time would flash across the dash display as "Lucille" began to pass car after car eventually working our way back to fourth and setting third fastest lap along the way with only Schreiber and Bussell going quicker.
Sunday morning dawned with the violent thunderstorm that seems to be a part of nearly every race weekend at Grattan Raceway. Somewhere between one and two in the afternoon the rain stopped and as if by magic the track dried. That was the good part, the bad part was practice and qualifying were scrubbed and SKUSA director Terry Riggins had no choice but to set the field according to season points. Since this was our first SKUSA start this year we had to start scratch on the field. We knew that we had our work cut out for us, but sometimes that is part of the fun. After the Formula One style warm-up lap and grid procedure Head Flagman Earl Clements waved the green flag and (Surprise!) I made a good start passing a few cars on the run to the first turn. A few damp spots made the first lap interesting to say the least and after surviving the first lap I put my head down and began to charge towards the front. Into the top ten on the second lap I arrived on the bumper of a driver heretofore known as Bonehead, in a team car of a fairly well known SKUSA team. Mr. Bonehead seemed more interested in aggressively defending his tenth place position than trying to move forward and as I pulled alongside on the pit straight Mr. Bonehead proceeded to push me onto the grass at 100 MPH! Fighting for control I tried to ease my way back onto the track only to be met by the side of Bonehead's car as he swerved at me once again. This time however Bonehead's car rode up onto "Lucille" and we began a long lurid spin down the pit straight locked together in a tire smoking embrace. Mercifully neither one of us turned over despite each car spending some time in the air. At the last moment the two cars separated only to come to a halt in the grass on the opposite side of the track in full view of the entire pit lane. Quickly assessing the damage to the front wheel, side pod, and spindle I got out of the cockpit and was accosted by Mr. Bonehead who proceeded to prove his class to everyone by loudly and obscenely questioning my heritage. I guess we will classify aforementioned Bonehead as "Does not play well with others."
At least nobody was hurt and damage was relatively minimal. Team Rapid Racing will now get a short break in our schedule giving us a chance for some more R & D work. Our performance at Grattan was heartening to say the least and we look forward to the next event where we plan on opening a few more eyes in our quest for the outright win.
In the meantime, Race Hard, Race Safe and God Bless America!
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