Spring Vintage 2015 @ Road America

Wisconsin + Early May + Lake Michigan = Unpredictability

Spring Vintage at Road America is an SVRA event. Tony Parella and his crew were out making people feel welcome. The tech sessions were serious, the anticipation for a good weekend high.

P and B's Race Engineer David Farrington flew in from Chattanooga, picked up at what we old timers still call Billy Mitchel Field by our Transportation Coordinator Sam Seward and handed the keys for a TR6.

1st in Class 3DP

Meanwhile, our Race Coordinator (AKA Joy Perry) is addicted to weather, or more specifically, weather forecasts. I start getting the reports a week ahead. As the week wore on this year, I said. "I don't want to hear it. Tell me if it's good. otherwise I don't want to hear it!" But I hear it anyway.

We pretty much had it all. Saturday was beautiful. But the most notable was Sunday morning wind off the big pond 20 miles east of Elkhart Lake.. 

Spring at Road America. Where's the tower????(David Farrington photo)

Because Road America has decided to get sticky with competitors camping by their rigs, we decided to drive home Saturday night and enjoy the comforts of home. We left Larsen in sunshine and 70's and arrived at Road America to fog, wind, damp, chilly. Ugh. But it could have been worse!

You're really not interested in that, are you?

OK, we had a good weekend. The field was not as deep as in the past; given SVRA's push, that's a bit surprising. Too expensive? Too iffy with respect to Wisconsin weather?

Groups 1, 3 and 4 were combined. 1 is the very slow group (there was only 1 car in it) .4 is a whole lot faster than 3, so we got to hear the road of Chevy V8's as they blurred by on the back or front straight. Group 3 was where the action was for the most part, and we were in the thick of it. More or less.

I never really know exactly how to refer to our car. Farrington calls it No. 1. Something about that bothers me; maybe it seems presumptuous. Well, anyway, the car ran well all weekend, and here's what I think you might be wanting to know: We placed 1st in class in both the Saturday and Sunday races.

We had lots of friends stop by, including one of our major sponsors. Because the car was running well there was enough down time to really enjoy the weekend, as you will see in the large photo gallery below.

Nothing like having a P and B Motorsports sponsor come to see what is being supported! This is Louise Googins of Googins Advisors, Inc.  (David Farrington photos)

One has to finish in order to come in 1st. On Saturday, On Saturday Pat Star (Class 3DP) and his Morgan had me beat handily. He was racing hard with Dawn Meyer in her Class 3EP '61 MG but on the next to last lap he suffered ignition issues and, well, I did not. So we ended up 1st in our class.

The only other Volvo there was our good friend Ray Freiwald. Here's a bit of trackside video of our racing on Friday. (Video length-33 sceonds)


And here's a little of the action (and inaction) on Saturday. Note the beautiful blue sky! (Video length-55 seconds)

On Sunday we changed to a set of new Hoosier Speedsters. Until you have run a bunch of these races it's a bit hard to imagine just how significant a new set of rubber can mean. Meyers and I were gridded next to one another. From the drop of the green flag to the end of the race we were on a tether. I could see that her tires were not performing as well as mine, so I was doing a lot better in the corners than was she. But her car had a bit more than mine, so, well, here's the video ... (5:52)

Captioned Photo Gallery

No visit to Elkhart Lake is complete without a visit to one of America's most iconic racing watering holes, Siebkins

Joy does her 1950's impression of a Coke Girl.

New Glarus Brewing Company (their beers are not sold outside Wisconsin) has a knack for brew names, and Siebkins has a knack for displaying them.

Race Engineer David Farrington holds courts with Louise Googins, or is it the other way around?

Jim Slapikes brought his new 1800 creation. This started as a basket case, and Jim got into it before he realized just how deep he was, but it turned out great.

The Sign County crew makes these events into a real family affair! Always fun to watch them. 

Saturday night dinner in the cavernous Road America Center, home of America's worst acoustics.

SVRA honored Gordon "Duck" Waddle  for his decades-long service to our sport.

More video displays around tghe track allow spectators to keep track of the action on the various parts of this 4 mile track. new this year is a screen rotation that shows standings.

Racing and fishing, especially when one is from Montana, is not a bad life. (Phil Koller photo)

Racing can be very very stressful. 

Ray Freiwald and Dale Schmidt catch up (Phil Koller photo)

Must be nice to have a modular car like Rick Phrang's.

Race photographer/videographer (new job title, only slightly more pay) Phil Koller on the other end of the lens.

Some people arrive in a little more style than others.

One has to see structural beauty here - Gunnar Phrang's Camero

When Jeff Johnk is contemplating, he sees his daughter Jessica. Does the middle of the steering wheel have any philosophical significance? (Top David Farrington; Left, Phil Koller; Right, David Farrington)

Next up, Blackhawk Classic at Blackhawk Farms Raceway on Father's Day Weekend. We should have a full complement of Swedish Iron there. Guess I need to get out into the shop and work on that "minor oil leak."