Cruzin' Ramblings

**CruzinBob** · 08-13-2005, 01:25 AM

I sorely miss racing wing cars...the adrenalin rush can only be bested by real horsepower...say 500+!

I want to post some observations and ramblings of my visits and would encourage others do the same provided you can do it sanely

I wanted to get to the track early today to watch and cheer for my buddies daughter, Lin Hammond/Angelica but I got started late from Ventura (1-1/2 hours w/o traffic) and it took me 3 hours to get there...

I finally arrived about 6 PM, the place was buzzing! Chris had the counter full of new parts to price.

I noticed the crew from Brasil, the Serra's in one corner & Gugu in another...saw OWH hisself in the drag tower, gently scratching his head...greeted some locals., some I knew, most I did not. Seems to be a good bunch from the East Coast, TX, Canada, fella from Australia and then was pleased/surprised to see Martin Graumann and his buddy.

Gil Gunderson came in, marched to the counter and bought a dozen or so pairs of the Jet tires...(oops! I had oriiginally posted he bought the Gugu tires and he kindly corrected me Sun eve.)

Greeted Reggie Coram from Fl/St Marten and will have to corner him for some boutique product buying tips...think he'll give 'em up?!

Monty Ohren had Mike Steube cornered recanting how he had gleefully copied one of his chassis after Mike would only allow him a 5 second peek somewhere back in the old days!

Later on Beuf sauntered in with armloads of his T shirts and we exchanged pleasantries. New baby, eh! UDAMAN

I also gave him some interesting DVD's (courtesy of Traveling Liight Media) from the early 90's when I was totally gung ho on filmling USRA events and other raceway tidbits of the time. (And, like I mentioned before, got one for you Pat from the time you opened Foothill Fastlanes & also gave some classic stuff to Monty).

Talked at length with Paul Sterrett about possible harbbody NATS @ BP in the future and he then went on to delicately place sponsor stickers on the Kings sidewalls...for hours!

Nephew Joe L arrived about 9 PM and began testing for Pro (BOX) 12, all the while Dale Garcia telling me it wasn't going to be any good...that practice should be had when the track got good n glued up...

Mickey was here, there and everywhere

Talked to Chris Radisich about the fact that 15 years ago Gp 27's were no faster than todays Gp 12's. A good gp 12 is what, $200 and even back then gp 27's were several hundred. Damn good progression of speed vs $ methinks!

I'll be back for more viewing later today...buying some tires/rims for my van off ebay that is in area. I hope to watch Pro 12's, Wednesday's show n tell and Pro 7's.

I was amazed at how many racers I watched chow down on SALADS from the Imperial Burger stand!

When I left @ 11 PM there were still 40 people there!

**CruzinBob** · 08-13-2005, 11:47 PM

Got in a bit earlier today...just in time to greet the Dokk who wouldn't let me go without apologizing for his raging rantings about Peter Jennings...nuffs nuff...tried to help him see such disdain is not good for the health...

Wandered around aimlessly trying to keep the trigger finger from twitching as the x-12's were singing sweet nothings in my ear

Kept telling myself I couldn't really afford it..even at cost...can't see anymore too...thought twice about grabbing someones car and making a mad dash to the drivers panel to see how many laps I could get in before I was dragged away...

Lin emailed and offered his new Beuf roller to ease my pain...thanks good buddy but I'd probably wind up selling it on eBay

Lots of crashing...whats new...seemed like I smelled epoxy quite a bit...whats new...noticed the crash vs yelling ratio was waaaay off...interesting

Behavior was quite good but the atmosphere seemed a bit oppressive...probably just me. Getting some strange looks...do you know me?!

Checked out Chicagolands proposal for 06 Wing NATS at the counter - nice...general consensus says yes and I'd like to go just to inspect the track!

While outside I introduced myself to Bent Rim and wound up talking to a fella from PA's track who says the new place is gonna be a winner.

Just before the main I saw an old bud, Jeff Miller who introduced me to a great fella, Gil of GT1 gears who was sponsoring todays race. Thanked him for sponsoring the hardbody race I held at my raceway last March (you may have seen the ad in SARN). Gil is one of a kind that we need more of...bust out the cloning machine. Talked about some how to articles he's working on for web site. If everyone pursued quality control like he does, we'd all be happier with our products

Talked to Jeff a bit about the closure of his hometown raceway....hmmmmm

Great mix for the Am main and I was cheering for locals Adam & Josh. Josh had hard luck right off while Adam chased Bob Lucky (not Lucky Bob, what the...) for a few heats. Last heat saw a race for 3rd place but Josh and Adam got tangled a bit being on Blue/Orange.

Got a big hug from Lenore before I left and she inspired me to write some more

Remember my dear friend, you used to make me blush praising my writing efforts for the SoCal USRA way back when

I'm just a son of a coal miners daughter.

How about some heat by heat reports tomorrow? Paul, you can kick me anytime you feel the need

**Slapshot** · 08-14-2005, 12:08 AM

CruzinBob:

Cool Blog.

Keep it up all views are welcome.

Raymond

**Mark Woday** · 08-14-2005, 07:51 AM

Keep it up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This great for the guys that can't be there.

**CruzinBob** · 08-14-2005, 08:21 AM

I failed to mention I also miss writing about the racing action

There's always enough action to keep a half dozen reporters busy!

Also forgot to mention the omnipresence of Bill Vanderziel, Scale Tech Dir and Race Dir with IRON FIST

He's had his rows with folk in the past and I'm very glad to see he keeps his leathers on and deals with it! On Thursday he had a box load of parts that were submitted for approval - some 40-60 scale bodies of which a handlful were apoproved...no cut lines, cockpit too low or too skinny were some of the problems. I thanked him for his FREE LABOR

Just about time to hit the road, got some new tires/rims for my van yesterday...hoping to increase mileage with aluminum instead of steel?! Can't beat the big city for buying power, got a good but slighty used set that woulda cost me about $600 for $200 and judging by the seller, they were legit!

Will be helping Joe Lisciandro today who should be wearing his neck brace

May have to make up a sign to paste on his back - PLEASE DON'T PAT MY BACK! He got rearended bad in the nasty SFV traffic a few days ago. Some $35K damage to his leased Beemer.

**CruzinBob** · 08-14-2005, 11:17 AM

Sunday Pro 12

Just arrived @ 11 AM to a house full of racers & spectators. Rough count shows 70+ here

First round qual Pro 12:

Shelby Thomas 2.340 (TX)
Kenny Richins 2.346 (WA)
Jim Swofford 2.347 (BP)
Larry Blanton 2.354 (CO)
Joe Redmond 2.376 (GA)
Rich Curnutte 2.380 (BP)

1st round complete. Please remember this is unofficial reporting!

Looks like the Beuf balanced Koford arms are the ticket!

If Jim can get a smoother lap seems like his car has a 2.2 in it...

2 round about to begin.

New World Record!

Joe SSS 2.318!
Shelby Thomas 2.328

What a production this is...ever think about what goes into racing? Think about racing alone....NOT!!

Lots of excitement, still think there's a 2.2 coming!

Kenny Richins is in the deadman patting glue and Rich Curnutte is taking care of the lead on. Beuf is ever presen tweaking n adjusting mid qualifying for his customers!

Here comes Jim...no pressure! 25 seconds...2.32...drifts off in the deadman...5 sec...no time...Chubbsy holds on!

Reggie catches a 2.3, says he's glad to be in top 16!

Rich Curnutte up and motor sounds unreal! 2.4 n loose...Beuf calls for a dot in the lead on which Joe lays down a nd pats...Beuf takes the car, rolls the tires in some glue and then meticulously rubs in the glue...still too loose, great attempt!

Looks like Chubbsy will hold on to a well deserved title

Tim Tyler is near the top with a 2.347. Gugu helped out by cutting more off the braid and bending up the spoiler a bit. O the little things that mean so much!

Qualifying complete, time to race

**CruzinBob** · 08-14-2005, 01:27 PM

D 'Q Final

1st heat deadman TRACK! Reggie knocks out motor. Kenny leads.

Heat 3, Kenny, Jose, Wendell, Brad & Ed Battling. Running 2.7's-2.8's. Kenny 2.687 on green, Brad moving up with a 2.6 on orange. Reggie coming back, could still make the move.

Heat 5, mid race tech is a common occurence now...good thing! Check tires size, weight & cursory motor peek. Pretty good heat, Kenny, Jose & Wendel no deslots. Jose trails Kenny by 3.

Heat 6 not bad, little messy. Kenny, Jose, Wendell & Ed. Jose trails Kenny by 1, Reggie just 3 out of move up.

Unofficial Final Jose, Kenny, Wendel & Ed. Reggie missed by 1/2 lap! Kenny on orange seemd a bit rattled as Jose poured it on...on red!

Power is good, times drop off only about 5/100 (1/2 tenth?!) but it is only 1st race.

C 'Q Final. 1st heat John, Larry P, Tim & Rich. A bit rough but still had a 40 lapper. Almost had a booboo but Bill caught a computer (or operator) mishap which started race @ 3 min heat instead of 2.

Heat 3 was a bugger...Tim broke (& fixed) chassis & Rich had gear trouble. John, Larry P, Larry L & Rich, Tim 1 lap out.

Heat 5. Jonathon, Rich, Larry L & Tim. Tim cuts a 2.64 moving up! Larry P had problems and is 11 back of move.

Unofficial Final. Rich, Jonathon, Larry L & Tim.

Buddy Jeff Miller got into someone having problems in deadman in first heat after only 3 laps and bent chassis.

B 'Q Final.

1st heat Oswaldo, Erkle, Bruno, Ken. Fairly good heat.

This one is gonna be changing quickly. FAST stuff, heat 2, 4 of em in the 2.6's.

Heat 3. Erkle, Jason, Ken, Oswaldo. This one was messy, still quick. Swofford's out.

Heat 5. Erkle, Jason, Ken & Oswaldo. Fast heat but there's now 7 w/Swofford out. 3 42's & 2 41's.

Unofficial Final. Erkle, Jason, Ken, Bruno.

A 'Q Final. 9 man round robin. No totals, just avg laps.

Heat 2. Real messy 1st heat.

4 of 9. Joe S, Brian, Doug & Chris.

Joe's running away with it.

Unofficial Final. Joe S, Doug, Micky, Chris. On to the semi's.

Can we get a Sunday WOO HAH?!

B Semi:

After 5 - Tim, Ed, Wendal, Rich w/Kenny & Larry L tied one lap back of Rich. Apparently Jonathon broke an axle.

After 7, Tim 274, Kenny 273, Ed 272, Rich 271, Larry 270, Wendal 268. Yea...Beuf did a motor change for Rich who posted some low 2.5's and ran a 43 while Kenny ran 44.

Unofficial Final. Mid race tech caught Kenny's tires too small and as he changed em lost about 6 laps, missed move by 4. Moving on UP - Tim, Ed, Rich, Larry L.

A Semi:

After 2, Jason 83, Chubby & Mickey 82, Bruno & Kent 80. Jason & Chubby are just about thru black on the way back up. Doug had problems 1st heat loose and in 2nd heat was cutting out thru bank on red. Couldn't find problem.

Unofficial Final: Chubby, Erkle, Kent & Chris. Jason one lap off.

**Chasegtp1590** · 08-14-2005, 03:02 PM

What happened to Shelby?

**CruzinBob** · 08-14-2005, 03:06 PM

First heat said he couldn't get thru deadman

**swiss** · 08-14-2005, 06:53 PM

I remember the deadman being awesome on that track.
What's going on?

**Quickerthanu** · 08-14-2005, 07:24 PM

They dont know how to glue the Deadman......They're either over gluing, or way undergluing

Josh B.

**swiss** · 08-14-2005, 08:11 PM

Not trying to stir up trouble. I just remember it being the
best one I ever ran on and almost impossible to fall off on. You made 3 references to it.

**Quickerthanu** · 08-14-2005, 08:53 PM

C'mon, Where's our Sunday Night WOO HAH?! LMAO

Josh B.

**CruzinBob** · 08-14-2005, 09:07 PM

Strangely enuf a friend emailed me same time as you made the post that he had experienced problems with the deadman on Fri so I checked with a few folk who said they'd had some problems too.

Finally got a thorough answer from Kenny Richins who said he thinks the braid MAY be a bit deeper there and that when the glue tracking on the outside builds up, it becomes a problem.

Now, seems like ALOT of racers are doing just fine but let's see how the lap totals wind out.

One thing I've been wondering is how does the AC venting effect track conditions? Standing in the deadman, the air is VERY STILL. This would lead me to think that if it were slightly warmer there, it may cause a slime problem but the few I spoke to said they went sliding, they were popping?!

There ya go, I like to find out what I can and post it straight up. Unadulterated reporting and I really am not into starting trouble but tellin it like tis.