"St. Louis Blues"
May 9, 2002
St. Louis is the Gateway to the west, the home of the blues and the home of Gateway International Raceway (actually on the Illinois side!). On Thursday evening the mysterious Gooseman (?) and I rolled into the garage area amidst a disconcerting lack of security. The next morning I have to say things went very smoothly in spite of or maybe because of the hosting MARRS groups loose ship method of race organization.
Practice Session One. Shook down the car and finished breaking in the mighty Honda. It was obvious that we needed more gear and a bigger jet, the thick Mississippi river air was deceiving. The Gooseman (?) dutifully changed the gear while I studied the data to determine jetting. (It's a tough job but someone has to do it!)
Practice Session Two. We found ourselves in the position of pacesetter this time around and had plenty of speed left on the table. So far so good!
Practice Session Three. Furious thunderstorms invaded Gateway International for the next four hours. Geez shades of 2001! Suddenly the conditions changed and the track dried. Franticly getting the Phoenix ready and on the pit lane at a dead run we were greeted by, Yep another thunderstorm. Friday is over.
Saturday A.M. The track is dry and we are ready, when the Gooseman (?) became rebellious and while holding a schedule in one clenched fist he declared " I don't care what this says I'm not doing it!". The Gooseman (?) animatedly pointed out that practice began at 8 AM but we could not start engines until 9 AM. Referring to the obvious misprint the Gooseman ranted "I am not pushing you around this track for an hour before we can start the engine, I don't care what they say!" GROOOAAAN! In spite of all this practice went smoothly and proving the adage that "Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes." We continued to set the pace. With a little time on our hands we thought we would play it safe and address a small exhaust leak installing new springs on the exhaust system as we reinstalled it.
Race Time. Although there were in actuality two classes of 125 on the grid, there were only two WKA 125 entries and approximately forty CIK 125 cars gridded up. We gridded third in the CIK division and made a pretty decent start holding our own in the lead draft on the first lap. On the second lap it finally occurred to me that we could run with anybody out there and could pass almost at will. Despite the strong car a breakaway was not in the cards with the fast (Nearly 100 MPH Average!) track layout meaning the draft was king. Nonetheless we managed a five-car breakaway that eventually became a four pack after one dropout. I found that as long as I was in fourth position and no more than two lengths back that I could beat the pack back to start finish. Drawing on more than a few years of experience I settled into rocking chair staying in the draft waiting to make a last lap dash for the win. We never got there. Remember those new pipe springs? Yep, they broke allowing the exhaust system to loosen and we were out. Once again we have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory! Sunday we tested some pipes and silencers before going back to the proven setup for the race.
Race Time. This time we gridded second in the dominant CIK 125 class and the start was not awe inspiring (my fault!). Still we came around in the lead draft again and once again seemed to have nice long legs. The pace was nearly one second faster than on Saturday and once again we participated in a five-car breakaway. The draft seemed somehow more effective than the day before and it was going to be a real shootout at the end.
Last Lap. The five-pack franticly looked for the dancing partner that would lead them to the win. I had hoped to follow Mark Barth onto the oval with myself in third, planning to use Mark's draft to slingshot past leader Eric Weinberg. Entering the esses Barth moved into second with me on his bumper, Perfect!! Looking down track I saw we were catching a lapped car as we entered the long sweeping carousel corner. Racing for position on the last lap we swarmed the lapper like gnats on road kill. To make a short story long one of the lead pack (Steffke?) had an engine event of some sorts and slowed. The lapper zigged to avoid the slowing car and Barth was launched butt over teakettle over the top and proceeded to do a tumble that was a real nightmare. Although I was now in second and on the leaders bumper I backed off waiting on the red flag that was sure to come. Sure enough the red was out at the next corner. The officials rightfully called it a race and reverted the scoring to the last completed lap. Result fifth! Good news was that Barth was more mad than hurt after his wild ride.
Epilogue. While I can't say that we got what we wanted or even what we deserved, we were thrilled with our performance and I think that for the first race out we should be pleased.
Coming up next is a real grind, a MSSS race at Grattan Michigan May 10 thru 12 followed up by a WKA National at Mid Ohio the following weekend. We will need to be well prepared and in shape for these. Now, if I can just get the Gooseman to push the car!
Race Hard, Race Safe and God Bless America!
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