Smoking action again this week from I-55 (literally, from our car). Once again, we had an issue with a bit of oil smoke. Talker Guy (the announcer) thought we were blowing the motor, so I guess we added a little suspense to the show, lol
. We got it sealed up for the feature, and had no smoke. Now that we determined it's just a leak and not burning any, I'm gonna go ahead and bolt on some different valve covers...
Live by the sword, die by the sword... Tim Van Eck learned the meaning behind that old statement this week. Anytime you run the top of the track at I-55, you are committed, to a one shot deal. Jump the cushion and you're done, without the help of Lady luck. In Tim's case, she had already left the building with Elvis... Tim stuck it in the fence in turn one, rode the top of the wall several car lengths before sticking the left front in the ground and pole vaulting his #42 onto it's roof. Not a pretty site, and a big fear when you're running sheet metal that is 70 years old. As the announcer put it "You can't buy parts for these cars at NAPA". I think Tim can put the old hot rod back to good with lots of hammering and bondo... until then, it's got a lot of character! The most important thing is that Tim was okay!
Jimmy Dearing is always in the right place at the right time. He always has a picture worth looking at!
With the competition that we have in our club, I may never win a main event(don't think I'll quit trying though). Not whining, this is a good thing. It means that the skeptics are wrong. There is REAL racing going on with the Gateway Vintage cars! Real, true, competition. No, the cars aren't all equal. There are heavy cars, light cars, big ones, small ones, small blocks, big blocks, flatheads, 6 cylinders, skinny tires, fat tires, young and old, men and women. But all that variety mixed with some real common sense, a little patience and a desire to see everyone finish is producing some awesome 3-4 wide action on the track and ear to ear grins in the pits... And I can guarantee you, I'm not giving away any spots!
It is awesome to race with your heroes. It's even cooler to beat em once in a while! Gotta dedicate my two heat wins this season to Dad( My biggest hero). Couldn't do this without him and if he's gonna miss work to go racing, at least we were productive with it.
Val, did you talk to Jimmy Dearing? And have you gotten the dirt out of your hair yet? Nothing like sitting in the front row while the latemodels are out there, LOL.
We were gonna give someone a ride last night, but Mark informed me that the track's insurance doesn't allow it any more. That sux, but it's about the only bad thing I can say for Ray and Co. at the I-55 Raceway. I-55 is a premier facility that speaks for itself with 15 heats, 1 semi and 5 main events. All in a timely manner.
I wish we could race there more often. It is probably the most centrally located track on our schedule and seems to always draw the most cars... And there seems to be more fan interest there after the races than any other stop on our schedule...
Congrats to everyone on another good night of racing in the Gateway Vintage Racing Association!
Next week....Fredericktown Raceway.
. We got it sealed up for the feature, and had no smoke. Now that we determined it's just a leak and not burning any, I'm gonna go ahead and bolt on some different valve covers...Live by the sword, die by the sword... Tim Van Eck learned the meaning behind that old statement this week. Anytime you run the top of the track at I-55, you are committed, to a one shot deal. Jump the cushion and you're done, without the help of Lady luck. In Tim's case, she had already left the building with Elvis... Tim stuck it in the fence in turn one, rode the top of the wall several car lengths before sticking the left front in the ground and pole vaulting his #42 onto it's roof. Not a pretty site, and a big fear when you're running sheet metal that is 70 years old. As the announcer put it "You can't buy parts for these cars at NAPA". I think Tim can put the old hot rod back to good with lots of hammering and bondo... until then, it's got a lot of character! The most important thing is that Tim was okay!Jimmy Dearing is always in the right place at the right time. He always has a picture worth looking at!
With the competition that we have in our club, I may never win a main event(don't think I'll quit trying though). Not whining, this is a good thing. It means that the skeptics are wrong. There is REAL racing going on with the Gateway Vintage cars! Real, true, competition. No, the cars aren't all equal. There are heavy cars, light cars, big ones, small ones, small blocks, big blocks, flatheads, 6 cylinders, skinny tires, fat tires, young and old, men and women. But all that variety mixed with some real common sense, a little patience and a desire to see everyone finish is producing some awesome 3-4 wide action on the track and ear to ear grins in the pits...
And I can guarantee you, I'm not giving away any spots!It is awesome to race with your heroes. It's even cooler to beat em once in a while! Gotta dedicate my two heat wins this season to Dad( My biggest hero). Couldn't do this without him and if he's gonna miss work to go racing, at least we were productive with it.
Val, did you talk to Jimmy Dearing? And have you gotten the dirt out of your hair yet?
Nothing like sitting in the front row while the latemodels are out there, LOL.We were gonna give someone a ride last night, but Mark informed me that the track's insurance doesn't allow it any more. That sux, but it's about the only bad thing I can say for Ray and Co. at the I-55 Raceway. I-55 is a premier facility that speaks for itself with 15 heats, 1 semi and 5 main events. All in a timely manner.
I wish we could race there more often. It is probably the most centrally located track on our schedule and seems to always draw the most cars... And there seems to be more fan interest there after the races than any other stop on our schedule...Congrats to everyone on another good night of racing in the Gateway Vintage Racing Association!
Next week....Fredericktown Raceway.
