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TLMC successfully hosted
Photo - James McGlade |
Hardly any snowfall this week and some really cold
temps (-27C one nite) meant a fair bit of ice was laid down so much so
that at the driver's meeting Saturday morning we were told by the Twin
Lakes Motor Club that the stud class would have 12 lap races for the
first time this season!!! RIGHT ON!!! Prior to this we were restricted
to 8 lap races with some clubs refunding or reducing the track fees
accordingly. Now, for example, we would have time to try to recapture a
lost position or to plan race strategy etc. The weekend went pretty
smoothly with one entertaining moment during the metal to ice practice
first thing Saturday morning. When we entered onto the track they
proceeded to grid the cars! When the guy got to about the 3rd row he was
notified that this was only a practice and he let us go to do our
lapping.
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New convex mirrors capture
more of the action |
Mike Evans helped out this weekend and we arrived Friday to install a
thermostat and coolant cap on the Ovlov which resolved the collapsed
upper rad hose and rough running issues. After that we installed two
mirrors in the cockpit of the MR2. In viewing previous in-car video I
had observed much wasted space at the top and the bottom of the framed
shot. A rearward facing mirror at the top of the frame would
simultaneously capture the action behind the car while a smaller
"fisheye" convex mirror could be aimed at the driver. I must say in
viewing the new videos from this set up that the action behind the car
is way more entertaining to say nothing of the fast fingered action on
the steering wheel! (see videos further down this page).
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Red Beast Returns
Photo - James McGlade |
This weekend saw the return of former bank manager
Kent Missons in nothing less than the very same #70 Ovlov that jockeyed
him to fame. Unfortunately the car succumbed to an untimely malfunction
of the water pump nature, none the less, it was good to see the old girl
resurrected for one more giddyup around the track though. Seemed like a
lot of work (reportedly two hours) extricating the beast from the frozen
grave at the pit for such a short lived stint! Will we see you for the
last hurrah Kent?
I went to the Grill On The Gull restaurant for another excellent dinner Saturday night
where I was pleasantly surprised at the number of ice racers who have
found the cuisine and setting caters to their pallet. Absolutely
scrumptious fresh pickerel was the special. After that the general
consensus was to go to the Cliffe as it was karaoke night.
I stopped in at the
variety store on the way and picked up some more fireworks for Mike. I had
only been at the Cliffe for a short while when I went outside and set
off about four of the 16 big bangers I had bought. A little later I took
the empty package over to the airtight stove and pretending that it was full
of rockets threw it in and ran for cover. This fooled all but a few.
This wasn't good enough for a certain wobbly gentleman who cannot be
named for fear of recrimination and he grabbed a whole two packages (8 ) of
live fireworks and threw them in the airtight. These are the ones that
launch with a huge single bang then go up about 200 feet in the air and then
burst with another huge walloping bang. I ran outside as I
figured these would indeed create quite an explosion probably breaking
the tempered glass and possibly causing injury and/or setting fire to
the place in the process. The outcome was however somewhat anticlimactic but the comedic
response was anything but.
By the way, we now have a new SAC president
who was first nominated then immediately voted in unanimously by several SAC members
in good standing with the club who were in attendance Saturday night at
the Cliffe. I would
like to officially present to you our new prez - Peter Taws. He met all
the criteria for the SAC presidency and gave a good display of said characteristics for most of the evening at the Cliffe - well done Mr
Taws. From joining the SAC as a new member to club
president all in the span of a mere two hours is indeed quite impressive.
May your reign be long and your kilt be short or vice versa.
On Sunday, before racing starts, there is a driver's
meeting as usual which I attended and nothing was said about any change
to the schedule - it was to remain as was determined the day before.
Shortly thereafter George Burnham (a member with TLMC and therefore
volunteer for the weekend) shows up down at our end of the pits right
after the Street Stud practice and notifies the stud racers that there
is a stud practice up next that we should get up to the mock right away.
I asked him if he was sure as there was no announcement of this but he
remained adamant. I had been working on my MR2 at the time and had the
engine bay cover off, checking fluid levels. I quickly replaced the
engine cover and jumped into the car and drove down to where the grid
marshal was standing and asked him if this was indeed true as we had not
had any stud practice all season due to the lack of ice depth nor had
there been any notice at the driver's meeting. He knew nothing of it but
radioed the clerk of the course who showed up shortly thereafter to tell
me there was never any such thing and where had I got that information
from? By this time several other stud cars had shown up ready to
practice. So back we all go to our respective pits. I now have forgotten
that I have left the oil filler cap off the MR2 and don't check under
the hood again as I am somewhat distracted and perplexed at what has
just happened and have moved on to maintenance of the other car. The net
result is I go out in the first stud race Sunday with no oil cap on the
engine! If you watch the video of the first stud race Sunday you will
see a smoke trail start to develop about the middle of the 12 laps and
towards the end of the race several trails of oil work their way up the
back window. There was a total of one litre of oil that got thrashed out
through the oil filler opening by the valves and sprayed absolutely
everywhere all over the inside and outside of the back of the car. I
start to smell engine oil smoke inside the car on the last lap. When I
get out of the car I think there is a fire in the engine from all the
smoke billowing out the back engine cover. When I get out there is oil
on top of the engine cover! and all over the back window. Big mess. I
could not locate the cap for the longest time until I finally saw it up
underneath the intake plenum. Apparently there was no harm done except
for the big mess - thanks Mike for helping clean up and look for the cap
throughout the pits.
But wait that's not all! I am sitting on mock grid for the 2nd race
Sunday when the fuel gauge starts to read a lot lower than the eighth of
a tank I had just noted when I left my pit a few moments ago. Not
knowing exactly how the bottom of the tank registers for sure in this
relatively "new" car I decide better-safe-than-sorry and hustle back
towards my pit for a splash of fuel as I had barely enough time before
we were to be out on track. Just as I get onto the narrow single lane
stretch just before our east end of the pits a spectator's GMC Jimmy
enters into the other end of the stretch of the single lane road. He
doesn't stop or back up but slowly moves to his right towards the big
snow bank, I think I can make it around him if I gun it and I'll make it
on the right side through the tiny little low snow bank that's there. I
almost did but as we all know there is no such thing as "almost" in
horseshoes, hand grenades or when two ships are passing each other in
very narrow confines - they either make it or they don't - I didn't. Now
all would have been fine except for the little piece of the metal hasp I
had added to the door cover on the fuel filler so I can lock up my gas
tank from vandals. I had not counted on this single short 1/2"
protrusion and it caught the back mud guard of the rear wheel arch and sliced
a couple slits in the plastic. My side mirror also left a couple of
marks that can be easily buffed out but the rear mud guard is part of
the back wrap around plastic bumper cover so will have to be replaced.
Now, even though the driver of the Jimmy was not supposed to be there
(there is no insurance coverage for spectator's vehicles), and there is
adequate warning and signage at the front gate telling spectators that
they must park their cars at the front gate, only competitors vehicle
allowed beyond this point, to walk in and that racing is dangerous etc
etc etc., I still felt responsible and have arranged to make good the
repairs with the driver of the Jimmy. Turns out he used to ice race some
years ago and knows Mark and Dave Swain.
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Toyota MR2 with Nissan 240
in the background
Photo - James McGlade |
Racing:
Racing in stud class (S1) got a little more interesting yet again
this weekend. In addition to the returning red MR2 of Graham Lobban,
the Nissan 240 of Nick Majors' driven by Tony McGrath continued to
improve and provide more challenge. There were a couple of
interesting starts as well that led to some of the usual back markers
entering into the fray on the first corner while the usual front
runners slid towards the back.
Street studs continues to disappoint after
a pretty good start to the season. The cold temps and hard glassy
ice continues to be a problem for my Hankook 409's. I also suspect that
it is harder to drive street stud with it's inherent less grip after
driving in full stud with tons of grip. The three Ovlovs of Ian Lok,
Leon Lok and myself went out at the start of the practice for the first
lap in a three car wide formation which looked pretty good and then had a
drag race down the straight. Todd McCall road shotgun in practice and
had a good laugh as I almost rolled the car on the cool down lap while
blasting around the outside bank.
Stud Car Video Highlights
Saturday the bright sunshine provided excellent lighting conditions
yet again for
shooting video especially with the new mirror setup. There are lots of
entertaining moments in these two new mirrors!
Qualifier Saturday:
I drew 4th from the hat for the qualifier while Jim Feeney, also in
SS1, drew pole (red Toyota Corolla GTS)! I got an amazing start but fell victim to the ever
increasing embarassment of not enough ponies. Watch for Todd McCall (congrates
on wrapping up the S3 championship this weekend!) in the black Civic
with the big fin on top bobbing and weaving from one side of the back of
my car to the other in the rear mirror working to get by on the second
lap. I get another hit from that Brian Nielson kid in the #160 orange Civic with 2
black stripes. I'm not sure where he came from as you can't see him as I
go into the corner at the quanset hut and then he appears from the fog
of snow dust and whammo! ... orange paint all over my car like
splattered bug
juice. Couple of tense moments in the last couple laps as the red MR2
catches up and tries up the inside several times. I actually finished
1st in the qualifier if you keep track.
Race #1 Saturday:
A good start but not a great one and the red MR2 gets by into the first
corner and the blue Nissan 240 piloted by Tony McGrath closes tight to
the inside. Red MR2 spins from outside of last turn just before the
straight and cuts to the inside of the turn right across my nose - bang!
This messes up my speed and the blue Nissan 240 slips by on the straight
and into 2nd - all this before the first lap is over! The blue Nissan 240
doesn't carry any speed through the corners and checks up sideways right
in front of me every time which destroys any chance of me maintaining a
rhythm. Jim Feeney in the Red Corolla is now in the rearview. I try
everything including some bumper contact but to no avail. The slow
parade through the corners behind the Nissan finally ends when Tony
spins into the inside on the last corner before the straight. I finished SACond just lapping Ian Lok in the black Ovlov wagon at the Finish
line.
Race #2 Saturday:
An amazing start up the inside but not as amazing as Graham Lobban in
the red MR2 who even beats Steffan Haas' FWD Rabbit into the first turn.
I get hammered on the right rear quarter by Mr Brian Nielson #160 orange
with black stripes Civic again even though I give him lots of
room through the kink - Brian, you will stop this as my tolerance has a
limit. The camera ran out of memory before the race was finished but
there was no more recordable events - I finished SACond.
Race #1 Sunday:
This is the race I run without an oil filler cap. I cannot believe the
absolutely terrible start I got, in fact I am so nonplused I adjust my
glasses while waiting for some traction. So now I have Jim Feeney, Tom
Prentice and Ian Lok on my butt at the first corner and once again Tony
McGrath in front of me. I might have had Tony right then after I passed
him in the kink but I had to check up behind a yellow rabbit and went a
bit wide into the next corner and let him through. Several times I came
close to passing the blue Nissan as Tony would slide wide missing his
entry but each time he closed the door on me and powered out of the corner
ahead of me with the 250 HP turbo screaming away. My frustration got the better of me
on the last corner of the second last lap. Tony again went wide, way too
wide, so I started up the inside for position. He tried to shut the door
but this time I would not back off and Tony got spun. As I rounded the
last corner and onto the straight the red MR2 was slowing in front of me
(alternator problem) and I passed him just as we crossed the
start/finish for the win. That was the most difficult but rewarding stud
race for me so far.
Race #2 Sunday:
Good start but as is typical of clockwise track the first corner is a
tight one and cars get pretty bunched up. There is some light contact
and I exit the first corner with the red MR2 right on my tail where
fortunately I was able to keep him for the balance of the race to finish
first.
This scintillating yet sarcastic seasonal
reflection was elicited from the reluctant fingers of one Rodney
Schmelter, SAC#303, Chevette pilot extraordinaire today and I paste it
here unedited for your perusal ...
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Photo - Kent Missons |
WWe
are now by the pine trees and Tennis Courts.
I
actually have work I should be doing, so I can’t really justify
typing up a report here at work.
All I
can say at this point is, either I’m going slower, or Everyone Else
is getting faster. Or both.
This
year, I reached the power limit of my car. It’s balanced and hooked
very well to the point where on every race I put the foot all the
way to the floor and run out of power, no spinning. This is where
Erik and Ed kick my ass, they just wait for the straights and power
right by me. Occasionally I re-take them in the kink and turns, but
it’s at the point where Erik will following me and waiting for the
final turn of the last lap then power by me, taking the checkered
from me by ½ a car length. However, if it’s a slippery day and the
sun is out, not even Lobban can catch me, but this year has been a
cold and high grip year. So next year, a new car is warranted.
I’ll be either in an 80’s BMW or another Chevette with bags of
power, but keep the current car for those slippery and sunny races.
Just
been a rough year for me, my car requires A TON of work.
The
RUSTANG took out my passenger side door, it won’t open, and I had to
screw it top and bottom so that it won’t get caught on any other
car.
The
same hit also took out my front lower control arm bushing, if you
get a chance check out the Camber on the Front Passenger Tire.
Last
Sunday alone was a real downer.
My
head gasket let go, I got 3 flat tires and the Dude driving the
Silver AUDI with ELF stickers all over it hit me so hard from
behind, my hatch is all f***ed up now, the body work is messed up
and in general all f***ed up. He did it right off the starting
line. The green flag went down and I instantly pulled out to pass
Josh. This AUDI was 2 rows behind me. He slammed right into my
back end, didn’t brake at all, and kept on the gas full throttle
pushing me down the straight. Right off the line. My neck still
hurts, luckily for me, the black out ended right before I had to
turn, otherwise I would have just went into the weeds and a possible
red flag come down with Sully coming to visit me. The guy wasn’t in
any way apologetic; he said “well that’s racing”. To which I just
drove off.
On
that note, the RWD guys have come together in a very good way
(except for stupid Mustang Renters). Hugh with the 240 is a great
guy and excellent racer, fine addition to the class this year. The
Lobbans actually retaliated on track, on my behalf against the Idiot
in the Audi. Class 1 is such a good group of guys, how many other
classes would you see the entire group hanging out drinking coffee
together? And protecting each other? Although it’s been a rough
season, it’s been my best so far in terms of competition on ice. I
hope the Three Originals can make it to Class 1 next year, that’s
you (Scott), Terry and Larry. If you 3 come back to Class 1 next
year, there will be 8 very competitive cars in RWD.
Thanks Rodney for your refreshing candor. Hmmm,
maybe it would be a good idea to have the all-wheel-drive guys, no
matter which class they run (rubber to ice, street stud or full stud),
all run together, by themselves, in their own race, not with
rear or front drive cars, then they could beat the crap out of each
other until there are none left - no loss.
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