9/18/06

Consistency is my middle name. I'll be going to the courthouse this afternoon to have that changed, by the way. Saturday morning I went to the Motorsport Ranch expecting to find several Sevens out there. There was one, two if you count mine. Dick Brink was getting ready to go out on the track and told me that Bernie was having alternator trouble. We decided to go ahead and sign me in on Dick’s membership and worry about Bernie when he showed up. I signed in and rented a driving suit. The track official showed me the map of the track and explained how things were going to work. I suited up and we headed to the course, Dick and I. Once on the track I began to think about working myself up to speed. I noticed a Porsche in my rearview but was on a section of the track I had never seen before. I wanted to let him by but didn’t know where to point him around. I overcooked turn seven, ironically, and went off the course. I turned on the hazard flashers and went around to the pits. One of the things the official had said was, “If you have ‘four off’ come in so we can assess the damage.” He looked it over and sent me back out. I was slow. I came in at the end of the session thinking, “Well, that proves it. I'm a ‘tater from now on.” I was ready for Bernie to show up so I could be magnanimous and surrender my guest pass to him to let him drive. He wasn’t there. Dick and I talked about the course and he showed me some lines. Of course he had never driven the new course either and had no sage wisdom about it. When our second session came around I went back out while Dick made some phone calls. Oh, we had heard from Bernie that he had a pinhole leak in his radiator and would not be joining us. I was stuck. So like I said, I went out for the second session. Lap one, turn seven, Porsches behind me, and I'm off the track. I limp around to the pits for a once over and am sent back out. I'm slow. I'm telling myself I'm slow. I'm berating myself for being a “rolling chicane.” I get another pack of Porsches behind me and go off in, you guessed it, turn seven. This time I foolishly heeded Dick’s advice and held the car straight until it scrubbed off speed. It was foolish for two reasons: 1) I wasn’t going that fast, and B) it put me out over some rocks. I decided to go ahead and call that session done and drove back to the paddock. When I got my helmet off I noticed the huge hole in the passenger floor! I crawled around and looked the car over real good. There are two big ripped holes in the passenger floor, a dent in the aluminum outside the frame rail on the passenger side, and two dents in the oil pan. I'm really lucky I didn’t hole the pan! I'm also lucky the speedometer cable wasn’t ripped out. I cleaned the “salad” out of the suspension, radiator, wheels, brakes, and wherever else I found it. I went to find Dick to tell him I was done but he was still on the phone. Our third session came up so I went back out. I'm not sure why. I told myself I was just going to drive my line and stop worrying about the other cars. It worked! I began to pick up speed. I even figured out why I was having so much trouble with turn seven. It is a decreasing radius and I was hitting the apex way too soon. I began to get faster and faster. I wasn’t the “rolling chicane” I had been earlier. I wasn’t seeing the same cars in my rearview every lap. I was still slow, don’t get me wrong, but I wasn’t a hazard this session. I noticed my engine temperature creeping up so I eased back a bit for a lap the wicked it back up when it cooled back down. I actually finished the whole session without an off. I found Dick afterward and we discussed it. The track closed for lunch so we went to Subway for a sandwich. We talked about the 7/7/07 event at the Tail of the Dragon and decided we’d get all of the local folks who are interested in going together to hammer out some plans. Mom called to tell me a package from Summit had arrived so I told Dick about Mr. Wiggly. We finished eating and headed back to the track. We decided to skip the next session and digest for a bit. While waiting I heard someone in the paddock say, “Well why don’t you ask him? He’s sitting right there.” It was Kevin talking to his son and some other kid. I got out of the truck and showed the kids the car and we talked for a bit. Pretty soon the motorcycle session ended and it was time for our last session. I suited up and went out. I started out slow and worked myself up to “speed.” I was beginning to get the hang of things and noticed the temperature again. A few slow, ok slower, laps and then back up to “speed.” When the session ended I headed in and began to get ready to go home. Kevin asked if his kid could ride with me to the shop so I opened up the passenger side of the tonneau. We headed out and parked the car in the shop then Kevin drove me home. I had a look at the package from Summit and found the windshield wiper package on the back porch. See, FedEx delivers to the front porch whereas UPS drops off on the back. It is kind of annoying. Anyhoo, I take a quick nap and head back to the shop. I play with the wiper and get it “mounted” in a place where I think it will “work.” We’ll see. I'm not ready to go home yet so I start playing with an air filter for the Weber that will go on Mr. Wiggly. I didn’t really come up with anything and finally decide to go home. Around bedtime I notice that my shoulders and arms are very sore. I take a few Tylenol and hit the hay. Sunday they feel better but I sit and watch TV all day anyway. I didn’t leave the house once. So, here we are on a Monday and that’s the report of the weekend. I'd like to offer my thanks to Dick Brink for getting me out on the track. Thank you sir. Well, that’s about all I have for y’all. Have a day.