“Have a nice day!” That retail shopping phrase is
usually returned to its sender by “I already have – I woke up!” I guess it’s my
feeble effort brought on by the late great John Fritch’s comment several years
ago at Road America when, after being introduced and welcomed, he quipped at
his age it was good to be seen anywhere. So assuming that I continue to use
that smart aleck refrain (and if I can’t, I won’t care what you think), my
intention is to have a nice 2015.
Since last you read, lots of water has gone under the bridge
or over the dam. Lots of snow has fallen. Lots of plans have been made.
While I have been struggling a bit to deal with a new head,
we are anticipating the opening of the
season at Road Atlanta’s big party
called “The Mitty” in late-April. It
might be fun to run there if there are not monsoon rains filling the gully at
the entrance to the Esses. But we’ll deal with if needed.
Here’s the anticipated 2015 schedule:
- April 23-26 – HSR Mitty Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA
- May 1-3 – VSCDA Spring Brake GingerMan Raceway, South Haven, MI
- May 16-19 – SVRA Spring Vintage Weekend Road America, Elkhart Lake, WI
- June 19-21 – VSCDA Blackhawk Vintage Classic Blackhawk Farms Raceway, South Beloit, IL
- July 9-11 – Racecars and Pacecars, Iola Old Car Show, Iola, WI
- July 16-19 -- The Hawk with Brian Redman Road America, Elkhart Lake, WI
- September 17-20 – VSCDA Elkhart Lake Vintage Festiva Road America, Elkhart Lake, WI
Hibernation Haven
Only one significant long trip this year, but here’s some
additional news – we may be able to extend the season by racing in the Southwest
as we are going to spend part of the winter in southern Arizona. For the first time in my life I will be
living, at least temporarily, in a HOA. I’m getting the old folks lingo. HOA is
a Home Owner’s Association, one of those places where everyone inserts their
nose into your business and decides that you are deviant just because you have
a race car that has no muffler that you want to start up at the late hour of 7
p.m. when they are just settling down for the night. Gosh, it’s almost as bad
as having someone’s dog make a deposit on your lawn. Or putting solar panels on
your roof 150 feet in front of the artist neighbor whose view you have soiled.
All will end you up before the firing squad. Good thing – the musketeers are
too old to see and are just as likely to shoot themselves.
Deep Winter 2015-16 Home of P and B Motorsports West
Ah, but there is better news. My Volvo buddy Cameron Lovre
from Portland, OR, drank the Kool-aide that I past beneath his lips last summer
and got out his drill, Sawzall, flaring tools … and has torn asunder his perfectly fine
’57 Volvo 444 to convert it to a race car for us to throw around the
roads of Mexico in 2016. Yep, we’re headed for the land of bandidos, marguaritas, sopapillas, and muchachas muy hermosas to
run the Chihuahua Express next April and, assuming we and the car survive that,
the LaCarerra Panamerica in October.
Some people just can't stay out of the car ... Cam in his slightly younger days (Cameron Lovre photo)
Here's the 444 just before the surgery began. (Cameron Lovre photo)
There are only a handful of wrenches that I will trust my
own car with; Cameron is one of them. Whether I trust him with my life as we
alternate roles as navigator and driver in these events I have not decided.
Saving grace – Cam is married to a real Italian woman who will kill him if he does anything to kill us. Come to think of it,
I don’t think she would discriminate in my favor either.
We need to keep this gal smilin' (Cameron Lovre/David Farrington Photo)
Cam’s not only a great wrench (not to mention one of the few
guys I can count on for a full hour, he’s also a very entertaining writer who
has done his own blog about ‘our,’ ahem, adventure. You can find it at http://swedishrelics.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-volvo-444.html.
Come to think of it, Cam’s blog is a illustrated seminar in how to build a race car. Maybe
I need to read some …
