Runoff

Gateway International Fall 02

Editor's note: There are lots of photos on this page. Click on any thumbnail for a larger image. Use your browser Back button to return to this page.

The first three photos on the top here are of Andy Stark's GT6 and were donated to this page by Andy.

All the photos at the bottom of the page were taken by and donated to this page by Ken Dahman.

Andy on the track at Gateway!

News from the Pit

Gateway International, October 26th & 27th (By Andy Stark)

Well the season is over! Thank you all that came out and watched Frank and I this last Saturday at Gateway. It was a pretty successful day for what we had to deal with. First off we did not know that the weather was going to be so yucky. It was cold and rainy all day. Track and spectator conditions where not at their optimum ;o) Second, we had a mystery transmission in Franks car. Frank had purchased a rebuilt transmission for his car after the runoffs and unfortunately he found out two days before the race it was not going to work in his car. We at this point still don't know why. It will end up being a winter project. In order to make the race we had to end up putting a junk Spitfire transmission with questionable history into the car Friday night before the race. We had no idea if it was going to work or not.

Come race day it kind of sort of worked. During Qualifying is ran fairly well but was getting harder to shift every lap. By the time Frank pulled in the car was smoking terribly. Back in the pits we discovered that we had not fully bolted down the top cover of the transmission and it had leaked a considerable amount of oil out onto everything including the track. It was a real mess. We had screwed up. Basically this is what you get when two frustrated half asleep guys put a car together. The result of our screw up was a wasted tranny and clutch. I figure the clutch had so much oil on it that it was swollen beyond use. I also had bad feeling the input shaft froze up with the pilot bearing in the end of the crank. What ever it was it was making the transmission not function at all.

Now what was neat about this situation was the amount of Triumph folks getting in there and helping out. There was beehive of activity around Frank’s car and I was not one of the bees for the most part. How cool was that. Every one was lending a hand, from fixing taillights to taking the top of the transmission off. It was really great to see every one involved.

By the time Frank's race came around he had decided to go for broke. He was going to try and just muscle the car into gear. Shear will of wanting to beat a certain blue MG made it happen. We had to get the car rolling just for it to start and head to the grid. Once on the grid we had to get permission from a marshal to let us push start the car after the grid was cleared. Then the car acted funny pulling away and we had to pull the hood and see what happened. I could not find any thing and Frank was off to an uncertain start. He missed the pace lap and had to start after the field of cars got the green flag. He had to work his way from the very back. Nothing short of perfect driving allowed frank to pull all the way into second place within 5 laps. For a car that was mortally wounded it was running like a dog with its tail on fire. Lap after lap he increased his lead on the third place Blue MG. He was even making progress on the lead Datsun. It was way ahead but the gap was closing. Finally on the last lap he could not quite hold the car on the track and keep it in gear at the same time. A slight mistake and he dropped a wheel off the track. This caused a spin and put him out of the race. It was a hell of an effort. It had to be the best showing Frank has had all year in his car. It was pretty impressive. Shear will got that car around the track. It completed a successful season of no DNF's and several trophies.

During Lunch, many of the Triumph club members and I took part in a charity drive around the track to raise money for a good cause. I believe over $600 dollars was raised and everyone had a good opportunity to see and feel what the new Gateway track is like. Then we ate. The grill was fired up and we made Brats and beans. Several members brought food and snacks. We had beer and soda as well. No one went away with an empty stomach.

Now came my poor showing Saturday. Not much of an excuse other that I was not comfortable with the new suspension and having to deal with the rain slick track in practice. I took a pretty good spin on the infield near the S-turns. Completely my fault. I lifted instead of using the throttle when the car got loose on me. I was not on rain tires and pretty much felt uneasy the whole practice. I did not qualify well at all. During the race I did not fare much better. We had a dryer track to race on but I had not figured out the new tires and the new suspension yet. Add in traffic and then a fine mist of rain on the tract and I backed off completely and just concentrated on keeping the shiny side up. I did see a pretty serious accident on Turn #6. It was bad. The GT-1 car was crushed up to the windshield on the driver’s side. The driver was able to get out of the car but was taken to the hospital to be checked out. His bell was rung pretty badly. We pretty much finished the rest of the race under full course yellow. My times were pretty bad and I was not happy with my driving or the way the car was acting. The only thing that was going well was the overdrive. It was working flawlessly. Back in the pits everyone seemed to have had good time. I really look forward to next season when we can have more people out at the track. I hope most of the SLTOA gets the racing bug. It is a wonderful opportunity to grow.

Everyone said their goodbyes and then it was time for Jack and I to go to work on my car for Sunday. Dave Massey stayed around to help until we had the suspension reset for the next day. We also went around the car and fully checked it out for loose bolts. I was very nervous about the rear axles. GT-6 worst weak point is the rear axles. I now have huge sticky slicks on them and I am running very fast down the straight with the new OD. Saturday’s rain was really a kind of a relief. Because it was slick the tires would break loose before any real pressure was exerted on the axles. Sunday would be much different if it was dry. It also took away any excuse for being slow due to weather.

Sunday came and it was dry. It was cold as heck but dry. My nerves were on edge. I kept having a vision of a tire passing me on the oval and me ending up in the concrete wall. Qualifying went fairly well. The GT6 felt a lot better with the new suspension adjustments. I also really got a feel for the new slicks. They are pretty strange compared to the D.O.T. autocross tires I am used to. By the end of qualifying I was getting somewhat comfortable in the car. The only issue I had was a vibration at high speed on the oval. I figured it was the drive shaft going out of balance. It had never seen these kinds of speeds before. It was unnerving.

I ended up qualifying a second behind the Ford Pinto. This is where ego takes over. I could not really stand in my mind being beat by a Pinto. (Even though they tend to be pretty competitive.) I went into the race with the one goal of staying with that Pinto and passing him on the final lap. This turned into a heck of a race between the two of us. Lap after lap I followed him and checked his line and planned for the pass. I had more horsepower than he did but he was obviously a more experienced driver and had good handling car. Mid race I started making moves on him and passing him. We swapped positions several times during the next several laps. I would out power him and he would out turn me. I was learning from every move he pulled on me. Then I started to use his moves on him. I found his line and used it to my advantage. I closed the door every time he had a chance to get me then I capitalized on the way my car was running down the front straight. Soon, after a couple of laps, I was able to start pulling away from him in the turns. I had finally found the groove my car and I could run in. The last three laps of the race I was really moving. The only places I backed off were the oval and turn one. The vibration had become worse but I was not going to let it put that Pinto in front of me. Two of the last three laps I hit 7,200 rpms in O/D. That is over 130mph according to my Excel spread sheet. It felt like it too. The car was really singing at that speed. Slowing down into turn one was a heck of a thrill from that speed. It was hard to keep it in line. Finally the checkered flag was waved and it was over. Over all in the race I did not do that well. The Rx-7's were amazingly fast. One set a track record and they all lapped us. It is a heck of a goal but I plan to run even with them someday. I believe the Gt-6 can do it when I figure out the suspension and learn to drive it. Then I will put in a real race engine with about 50 more horsepower.

When it was all over I actually was surprised to find out I had made my quiet goal of 1:15 per lap time. This was eight seconds faster than Saturday!! I set a goal early on that I would like to see my car get into the 1:15's its first season. Then I figured it had potential. And I beat a Pinto! ;o)

Jack and I loaded up the trailer and called it a year. Darn near got misty eyed.

See you all next year. I will keep you updated on the car as I go this winter. The plans are for new axles and possibly disk brakes on the rear. Also a bit of fiberglass will show up on the nose if I can swing it. Then it will be lots of playing with corner weights and suspension settings.

Happy Motoring, Andy

The pits are a beehive of activity. Everyone in the club pitches in and lends a hand.

Frank Axelrod, his Spitfire, and helmet. Cool guy, great driver!

The following photos are the lunch-time fun-run.

Mel & Gail Parentin in their beautiful Austin Healey.

Brian Borgstede and John Lamberg in Brian's TR250.

Creig Houghtaling and Arlie King in Creig's TR6.

Dave Massey in his TR8. Andy Stark, Tom Stark, and friend in Tom's Mustang.

The following photos are of Andy and Frank on the track.

Andy... On your mark... Get set... GO!!!

Having fun on the track!

Below: Fun in the pits!