Nice racers-Etc.

One of the nice things about EMRA is that it is a low-key race club.
Many of the race cars are cast-off SCCA cars that are no longer *guaranteed* winners or they are "last years model".
Fine. We have just as much fun with them anyway. More, probably.

But once in a while it's nice to see a high-end car and we had a few at our recent Summit Point (Nov 18-19) weekend.

This year, we had a Porsche Chayenne "stretch limo" as our pace car. Pretty nutty looking, but the flaggers liked riding in it.

Here's a Ferrari Challenge car trucked in by Ferrari of Long Island for our Big-Bore Sprint Race (if I moved into their transporter, it would be an upgrade)....



And here a real, genuine rocket-fast Trans-Am Mustang......(the Craftsman truck is one of five "regulars" that runs with us).



We also had some fancy tow-vehicles show up....



Some of our grids look more interesting than the current SCCA grids (there was a FIAT 124 Coupe' gridded in front of this Elan).



And we always have our usual "EMRA characters".
It's always fun to see our resident EMRA photog, Dave Z., take "The Volvo From Heck" out on the track (a sign on the left-side of TVFH pays homage to Warren Weith and Ken W. Purdy....2 points if you know who they are). The ALFA mural is only painted on the right side.



Then there's Chris, Mike and Bruce...."The 1275 Posse" (before Chris grenaded his engine)



Speaking of Chris...



Would you believe that this is a "Photo Finish" (OK, I admit...he was lapping me).



We finished well in the enduro, despite some "Keystone Kops" moments in the pits.



Looking forward to '07....I miss racing already.

Sigh, looks like so much fun.

Nice shots! I wish that we could make it all the way up there one day soon. Looks like fun

It's a real treat to experience both the relaxed attitude of S Point and the "lets just have some fun" approach of the vintage crowd. My previous visit was for a SCCA event in 1975 because my SP250 mechanic was racing...what a difference a few decades makes. Really will try to catch some of your EMRA events in '07, Nial.

Nial,

I've got an old Ken Purdy paperback around here somewhere.
And I've got a bunch of old Car & Driver,s,with
columns by Warren Weith.

- Doug

Hey Nial, I designed and built the prototypes of the mirrors on that Chevy tow truck!
One of these days I'm going to have to come and play with you guys.
Jeff

"Looking forward to '07....I miss racing already."

Nial--

I'd like to come play with you guys in 2007--I'll stay tuned to the EMRA website for a list of upcoming events.

Best--Michael Oritt, Elva Courier #82

Thanks for the photos Nial. Even with my mistakes this year I had a blast. That Ferrari was not happy that it couldn't catch the Craftsman Truck. We were working station 4 on Saturday and he was trying to drive deep into the shoot, under the truck, but just couldn't pull it off.

Doug:
You win the 2 points for your Purdy/Weith reference!

Chris:
I was up in the tower watching the Ferrari race the truck and the TA Mustang...it was actually a decent race. Glad you liked the photos.

Jeff:
You call those *mirrors*! On the Aeronca, they'd be control surfaces!
But really...that was your job? Neat!
And feel free to come and play whenever. I'd love to get out to Mich when I'm finished paying my dues in The Wonderful World of Work.

Guys:
Our '07 schedule will be up soon...I'm working on it right now. You are all welcome to stop by at any of our events.

Anyway, here's more pix:


This 350Z rolled at a Friday practice (not an EMRA event) and was waiting to be trucked away. I'm told that driver and instructor were unhurt.



This lovely ALFA sedan (seen here before crashing) rolled in the Sprint event on Saturday. It was still rocking when I came down The Shute after it. Fixable, but the right side of the car was pretty beat up....probably mucho Lira to fix.



The Entropy Racing "creative car carrier". All these are for rent (as well as a Lotus 7).



Me in #23 passing a flagger's "mushroom"



Son-in-law #2 in his '04 Mach 1. Had a great time and got it to 140 on the main straight.




Not *everyone* had a great weekend. This took 20 minutes to clean up.



During practice.
#23 was painted with some left-over FIAT orange paint.



The overall winner of the 4-Hour was the Buchel #5 CRX with a stock, 1500cc junkyard engine (and the old-style, crude TBI fuel injection system). Let's hear it for Small-Bore Cars! Beat the NASCAR trucks, the Miatas, the Mustangs, etc. Did 148 laps (we did 132).

Bet the driver of the rolled 350z is hurting in the wallet!
I just nosed the TR4a into the tire wall and it was $12,000 to fix.
Thanks for the pictures, impressive spin by the Spridget!
Simon.

More New Pics: Nice racers-Etc.

Here's some more snaps for our EMRA event in Summit Point, West Virginia.

Thanks to Roy D. for the pictures. His site (with over 400 pictures of the event) is at

https://www.desrx.com

TR4 takes an inside line on a Mustang II






Fast 2002


Official Team Name for this car: "Those Talon Guys".




























Oversteering!




Locked brakes on Mini

Re: More New Pics: Nice racers-Etc.

I have seen a turbocharged Talon do that before!
Apparently the guy had not filled the tank/fuel cell sufficiently so on a long corner the pickup ran dry. Because of the turbo pushing in air and no gas for the injectors the engine went critically lean in an instant and piston(s) melted.
Possibly a stock chip might have reacted to shut off the ignition quickly enough, but if the modified chip incorporated that type of safeguard it didn't work!
It looked like your photo, from what I recall.
Simon.

Re: More New Pics: Nice racers-Etc.

Cool pictures!

In case anyone wanted to know, that TR4 runs SVRA in DP (D-Production).

Nial,

That was the Triumph's drivers first time back at Summit Point in nearly 30 years. With more seat time (only stayed around for Sat.) he surely would have gone much faster.

.. fun stuff