Next year.

Last year my race season ended at Elkhart Lake.  This year it looks like this is place it will start.  I haven't taken the California race completely off the table yet.  I have to do a little more research, the race takes place mid-week on a Tuesday and Wednesday.  Don't know why?

If Elkhart Lake is my first event, then I really don't have to start working on the car until May at the earliest.  Otherwise if I change my mind on the Calif. event, I'll start around March. 

With the Watkins Glen event in September, that knocks out my Lime Rock race on Labor day.  One other event I was considering was down in Savannah toward the end of October.  I was looking at participating at 3 events this year.  But who knows?

F5000 Preliminary Race Schedule for 2012

• June 5-6: LSR Invitational at Laguna Seca with HMSA

• July 12-15: Road America – The Hawk with Brian Redman

• September 6-9: U.S. Vintage Grand Prix with SVRA
____________________________________________
 
Back to Watkins Glen in September, I like this schedule.  I think 3 races is more in line with today's economy.

New Zealand F5000

Eric said his first event in January will have over 35 F5000 cars attending.  New Zealand does enjoy it's motorsports. 
His car will start the journey this coming Monday and will be in New Zealand by the first race on January 21, 2012

Sour grapes

Scooter Patrick raced F5000 in the late 60's early 70's.  However his view on historic racing is not to favorable these days. This article was published in Decembers Victory lane magazine.

You can also read the story here.

Eric's trip to NZ

Eric's getting closer.  He dropped off his car and supplies in Los Angles this past Friday.   



The orange container in the background is the one the car will be loaded in.



Oil puddle

As I was walking past the race car, out of the side of my eye I caught a reflection underneath the car.  At first I considered it water, but upon closer examination at was indeed oil.  A fairly large puddle.  The car was only run a few minutes after it was placed on the stands.  I'll clean it up and place a piece of cardboard under the car and see if I can figure where it's dripping from. 

It's back!

Two and a half weeks later the Internet and TV has returned.  The cable repair guy was here for about 2 minutes before the problem was repaired.  Something must have shorted when the electrical went out during the snow storm.
The race car has been on the back burner lately, from the looks of it I don't really see anytime to work on it for the remainder of this year.  With Thanksgiving, the antique show and Christmas on the way, I think January is when I return getting the car ready for 2012.

On our road trips we're always looking for license plates from different states.  My wife gets the prize for spotting this one from Hawaii.  This was parked at the Bloomsburg antique show in Pa.

Long Valley, NJ

Nice to be home. We did find a few things at the antique show. So now it's time to get ready for the Christmas show in early December. The biggest news is Comcast is coming tomorrow to fix the cable for our tv and internet.

Youngstown, Oh

Arrived inYoungstown last nignt and planning on visiting a antique show and antique mall today in PA. The auction yesterday did not reward us with as many items as we had hoped, the prices we're just to high.  Sometimes they work in your favor and sometimes not.

Goshen, IN

Shipshewawa, IN

Converted the truck from race hauler to antique hauler and headed out to Indiana for a auction.

Leaving the hotel in Goshen, IN for Shipshewana, about a 25 minute drive  We've been to this auction a couple of times and have done ok. Hope we find the same success this weekend.

Almost back to normal

With the exception of TV and Internet, everything is back to normal. I do have to say, I really don't miss the TV but the Internet is another story. Basic work can be done on a smart phone, but that's about it.
So far I haven't heard of any F5000 race dates for next year. As for me, I know I'll be back at Elkhart Lake in July. Those hotel reservation have been made.

Storm report Thursday

We're back on the grid, our power was restored yesterday afternoon. But still a lot of folks in town will have to wait a few more days. I have a day of storm cleanup then everything should be back to normal. Still waiting for TV and Internet service to return.

Storm report

We lost electric Saturday afternoon and from reports, don't anticipate it returning until later this week. We had 15 inches of very wet snow which left trees and power lines down everywhere. It's only November, I hope this isn't a preview of winter.

October snow storm

Here we go again, 6-10 inch's of snow on the way and the trees still have their leaves on them.  This exact same storm happened a couple of years ago and it was a mess.  At least the race car and shop has been winterized, one less thing to worry about.

One more decal found



Decal I just received from a seller on ebay, vintage1970's.



I've been looking for this "L&M" decal for the past 3 years.  This photo is from 1974.



Formula one in New Jersey?

There's a very strong possibility of a Formula one race in New Jersey in 2013.  I have also received a email suggesting that the Formula 5000 association should try for a support race at the F1 event.  I like that idea.

Rain tires

Starting to look for rain tires.  I'm going to call Goodyear, but I don't think they make them.   I know Avon has them.

Talking about tires, here's a photo of what happen on our most recent trip to Virginia.   Leaving a gas station I ran over a deer antler(really) that went through the side of the tire.  Fortunately it happened on the rear tire.  Having dual tires on the truck gave me the advantage of driving home on one flat and 3 good tires.   The truck was almost empty, so overloading the tires was not a problem.


 



Coronado video

A video from Eric's onboard camera at the Coronado event. 

 A very bumpy airport layout.  Eric finished 2nd in class. 

Ebay photo

A ebay find.  Ron Dykes at the Long Beach Grand Pix 1975. 
This was the cause of his retirement.

Eric's races.

Heard from Eric, here's what he said about his past 2 events.

"Coronado was very rough, an airport circuit, and I broke the strut to wing diagonal brace attachment points to the underside of the wing. A friend told me that I had made them out of ".02Light" material! It was a great race and I ran with one of the slower 332's for the whole distance in the qualifying race on Saturday, then finished second in class on Sunday. I had carefully set up the car to Bob's recommendations, that cured my Road America handling problems, and reworked my intake manifold to take care of the overheating that I experienced at Road America. Only damage at Coronado was a broken nose (Lola's) from hitting a traffic cone course marker, but I fixed that in the week between Coronado and Infineon.

At Infineon things went well on Friday and into the qualifying race on Saturday when one of the Super V's did a Bonsai move and hit me in the right rear wheel and knocked off the valve stem, had to retire because of a flat tire. Sunday morning I experienced a slipping clutch in the AM warm up, and Sunday afternoon I just couldn't get with it so just finished the race and brought the car home in one piece."

Photo Dennis Gray

Now he gets ready for 3 races in New Zealand, car gets shipped in November.

Radiator A OK

Hooked up the radiator to pressure test it.  No leaks.

Rims

Before I start to clean and inspect the 4 tire rims I got from Eric,  should make sure they fit.  No problem, front and rears fit like a glove.

Back to the car

Placed the car back on the stands.  First thing to do is install the radiator. 

This damp area is on the bottom of my left rear tire rim.  At first I thought it was brake fluid leaking from the caliper.  But upon closer examination I discovered it was the oil from the shock absorber.  I guess a seal was leaking.  More for the to do list.

Coronado race youtube

Youtube from one of the F5000 races at Coronado.  I see Eric toward the back, it's good he's still running!  The high wing on his car looks just like it did back in the day.

Update

Heard from Eric the other day.  Said he's ready for the Coronado event.  Did some testing last weekend and felt in sorted out the problems he had at Elkhart Lake. 
We're in the second day of the antique show and not doing to bad.  The weather predicted for Thursday was rain all day.  Guess what, not a drop all day.  That kept the crowd a little smaller then normally.  Still have today and tomorrow to sell. 
Hope to get back to the race car in October.

Update on radiator

Removed and sent back to Eric the T190 radiator and set in position the T192  radiator.  Already I can see it will be a much better fit.  Haven't worked much on the car lately, getting ready for another antiques show this coming week in Kutztown, PA.  It's a setup on Wednesday and sell Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  About 800 hundred dealers attend this show.

Water everywhere

It doesn't happen to often, but when we get a ton of rain the shop gets water.  It runs from the back corner and exits by the window.  Once the water table drops, it will stop. 

Radiator

The radiator Eric sent me is much better.  The 2 lower hose connections are more straight out and not curved up like the T190 radiator.  It should fit like a glove.

Lime Rock Park

I had mentioned in a early blog that I might go up to Lime Rock to check out the vintage event today.  The forecast for western Connecticut is rain, thunderstorms and a flood watch.  Think I will stay home.

Electric back

Electrics back and the UPS site has my radiator being delivered this morning.  Good news all around.

Internet has returned

Shortly after my last post, lost the Internet.  That's back, but still no electric. We're in good shape for the antique show that's coming this weekend.  Started early last week in preparation, so 70% is already to go.  Spotted a few utility trucks out and about, so maybe tonight the electric will return.


Think I would hold off on the chicken for the next couple of days




Oh...no power

Just when I thought we we're out of the woods, the power and phone went kaput about a hour ago.  Now running on our generator.  It least we still have the Internet.  I got a feeling this is going to be a long time before the power is restored.

Hurricane Irene con't

 

Center of Long Valley is flooded.  This is the worst I've seen it in 20 years of living here. 

 

Hurricane Irene

All hatches have been batten down.  At 7am we have had a lot of rain but not high winds.  It will be a little closer in a hour or so. The hurricane track is much closer to the coast.  We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Lime Rock Park

Lime Rock Park In CT will be hosting a large vintage race event this Labor day weekend.  Think that I will go up there Monday to check it out.  We have a antique show Friday, Saturday and Sunday, put Monday is free.  I might put this on my race event list for next year.  Lime Rock is my favorite race track, but I know the f5000 drivers association have no plans in the future to race there. 

Lime Rock Park

Radiator on the way

Eric has sent the replacement radiator that fits the Lola T192.  From his description, it sounds like the correct one.  Should have it by the end of the week. 

Victory Lane Magazine

Watkins Glen F5000 race review.

Article written by Will Silk in the August issue of Victory Lane Magazine.

The plane?

Yes, the plane.  It's been a long time since my last flght.  In fact it was February 26, 2011.  Decide the other day it was time to wash and clear out the birds nest and go for a flight.  But I was not up to date on my bi-annual flight review.  Every 2 years you need to do 1 hour of ground and 1 hour of air work with a flight instructor.  My last review was in February 2009.   So I called the flight instructor (Joe) and made a date to complete this.  The plane was ready and so was I.  It started with an aborted takeoff.  What looked like a large crow decided to fly in front of me and started weaving back and forth.  I still had plenty of runway left to stop so I braked and went back to try again.  From this point on it was just a routine flight.  A few power off and power on stalls, a couple of step turns and now I'm good for the next 2 years.

One last video from Elkhart Lake

The video is taken from the pace car that we followed in the Friday night race car parade to Elkhart Lake.  Where he stopped is just about the same placed I parked.

More photos from Elkhart Lake 2011

All photos taken by Steve Johnson. 
Photos Elkhart Lake 2011

3rd gear

It happened at Road Atlanta last year and Road America this year.  Toward the end of the race 3rd gear starts to jump out.  I have to hold the shift lever in to keep it connected.  I think the 3rd gear shift fork is out of adjustment.  This will cause more wear on the dogs.  Sounds like a job for Brian, maybe this fall I'll take the gearbox to him.

Rims

In the collection of parts Eric purchased was a set of rims that fit my car.  These originally came off Chuck Parsons Lola Can-Am car.  I'll have them checked out, and now I have rims for rain tires.

What's next?

With the car back in the shop, I think I'm going to call it a season.  A couple of months ago I was planning on going to San Diego for the Coronado event.  But after careful consideration, I decided it was going to be a very expensive trip for a 2 day event.  So, I'll save that money and put it into next years racing budget. 

When I was at Road America I talked to Eric about the radiator for Lola T192, said he had one and will send it to me.  Then I can send back the Lola T190 radiator that never fit right.

Interview with Brian Redman and David Hobbs at Road America

Road America Photos

Here's a link to photos taken by Steve Johnson at Road America.
Road America photos July 15-17, 2011

Elkhart Lake Movie

Very short video taken by Deb at the
Race car parade to Elkhart Lake

Race Recap

Sunday was one hot day.  The heat index was over 100 degrees.  The one thing bad about these old formula cars is that the radiator is directly in front of the driver.

The first couple of laps of the race I was able to better my qualifying time by over 6 seconds.  But the cars in front of me started to pull away and the cars behind, faded back.  By now I was pretty much alone.  By the 5th lap my water temperature was at 250 degree's, by the 7th lap I was losing 3rd gear.  With one lap left, I slowed down and took the checkered flag. 

Tony Adamowicz took 1st place. 
 I was 2nd in class, 4th overall.

Eric's weekend did not go well,  he spent most of it working on a fuel problem.  Only turned a couple of laps in the race and then stopped with a water coolant leak.  He has 2 months before the next race, he really needs some track time to resolve all those little problems.

Sunday night through Chicago, no traffic. 

Back home

Good to be home, arrived early this morning.  I'll start to work on the photos and place a few on the blog tomorrow.

Sunday Elkhart Lake

The internet service at the hotel we're at is poor. So this will be a short report. I finished the race 2nd in class and 4th overall. Should be home late Monday tonight.

Saturday Elkhart Lake

Saturday qualifying went OK, was third in class.  The qualifying race in the afternoon was half run under the yellow flag and was only two laps of racing.  Finished second in class.  The car ran good the the whole day.  Sunday is going to be in the 90's.   But I'm ready.  Sorry no photos, running late again.

Friday at Elkhart Lake



Practice in the morning went well.  The engine is running good and I'm starting to learn the course.  Qualifying in the afternoon was uneventful.  We also did the race car drive to town.  Thousand of people lined the streets, just amazing.  We we're still up at 11pm last night.  Today should be a little slower pace.

Long day yesterday

Arrived later in the afternoon at Elkhart Lake.  For some reason it just took a long time to unload the truck and set everything up.  I guess we bring more stuff.  Didn't get back to the hotel until 10:30 last night.  Today is a practice at 11 and qualifing 4.  Then the race car parade and I won't get back from that until 9pm.
I have photos but no time to post them.  Maybe tomorrow.

Fremont, Indiana

First stop, Fremont, Indiana.  A unenventful trip so far, the way it should be.  Expecting to be in Elkhart Lake late afternoon.

Eric update

Talked to Eric yesterday, he left Seattle Saturday and now was about 200 miles from Elkhart Lake.  He missed the Canada event.  Said he had fuel leaking problems with is newly installed fuel injection unit.  He's bringing a set of wheel rims for me that he got in his Lola parts acquisition.  These should be usable for rain tires.
Anyway, leaving soon and hope to be in Indiana tonight.

Leaving Wednesday for Elkhart Lake

 Every time I pack the truck, I'm left with a little more room.  Wish I could fill those voids with spare car parts.  Haven't heard from Eric lately, guess he's been very busy getting his car back together.  We'll be leaving Wednesday morning and stopping to overnight in Indiana. 

F5000 race schedule for Elkhart Lake

I believe that's it

Needed a little more gasket cement

For the most part, we're ready for Elkhart Lake.  The only problem found was a small leak back by the gearbox. 

 That's fixed and no other leaks located.  The clutch  pedal works properly, and the engine sounds just right.  I'll start collecting the spare parts and tools.  Should have the truck loaded by evening.

Brake pads

The new brake pads are here, but they don't fit.  I recall Eric telling me that he had to preform some grinding on his.  Sure enough, I saw what he was talking about, and now a perfect fit.

The old pad is in the front, the new one is in the back.  The 2 small tabs above the arrows needed to be ground down on the new pads.

I'm using paint on the brake rotors that melts at a certain heat range.  In this process, it leaves a history of maximum temperature achieved while on the track.  Each color is a different heat range.   This should help me set front to rear brake bias. 

Watkins Glen-----Revisited

The folks in the red shirts are know as "Team Bedford".  They have been coming down from Canada to Watkins Glen for years.   Lately they have been assisting the F5000 association.  A great group of guys.



L to R  Mitch, Steve, me, Mike and Ken



One week to go

Road America is coming up fast.  Finished mounting the Goodyear's, now their ready.

I have decided to order all new brake pads.  The pedal was getting pretty long at Watkins Glen. After all, how much service can you expect out of 36+ year old brake pads.  The new ones should arrive Friday or Saturday.

Goodyear tires

Removed last years tires and will be mounting my fresh Goodyear's for Road America.  I noticed at Watkins Glen this past June, a whole lot more drivers are using Goodyear's............hmmm.

Gear box

Installed the new 2nd gear.  It will be nice to finally have a usable 2nd gear.   Looking forward to Road America.

The oil temperature gauge stopped working at Watkins Glen.  I think the vibration broke the sending unit.  Purchased this one on eBay.