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That’s it, the first weekend of ice racing is done, 5 more to go … well maybe. I completed all my towing up on Friday and got to the pits around noon. The track looked like a mirror and the general landscape looked like winter, the exact opposite of what I had left in Whitby 2 hours earlier. I spent all afternoon setting up SACamp, changing a thermostat, swapping  road tires for race tires, gassing up etc etc etc. By 5 O'clock  Steff Haas had arrived and we checked into the Minden House Bed & Breakfast and then went to the Cliffe for supper. On arrival we were told that the chef had gone home but that we could order in pizza from Godfather's but had to pay a cab to deliver it! Friday night was a late one (got back to cottage at 1 AM) considering we had to be at track for 7:30 AM tech! This weekend was hosted by BARC and it looked like everything was off to a good start. Tech on the new 242 was no problem, I registered by 7:55 AM for 3 race classes but apparently did not get placed on the grid sheet for class 11 or class SS1 - no explanation was given!!! So I  had to start from the back of the grid for both those qualifiers :-(
 
However, overall the weekend was a huge success with an excellent turnout and a larger number of cars entered than last year.  When it was asked at the driver's meeting Sat. morning "how  many are rookies" , I couldn't believe the number of hands that went up! Perhaps that was one of the factors that contributed to a roll over in almost every race. The banks were quite unforgiving. The weather remained mild and above freezing all weekend.

We have new sponsorship from Mobil One Oil thanks to the Swains and thankyou for the case of Mobil One that I won in the sponsorship draw on Sunday! We also have TireCraft supporting the Street Stud racing helping to cut down the cost of tires.  We also have of course the return of Magnum Fine Printing as the ice race series sponsor.

Thanks to all who helped make this weekend a success.

The Cars:

I have two cars this year - one is a 1984 Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) Volvo 740 four door (pictured in the foreground at right) that has raced 1 1/2 seasons and a second 1982 RWD Volvo 242 (2 door) new for this season. The 242 has the powerful B23E four cylinder engine with mechanical fuel injection management (pretty clean and straight forward under the hood) and was originally prepped to run rubber to ice only . It has a welded differential to allow maximum traction to both rear wheels all the time. This configuration is good for rubber to ice races that run immediately after a studded class race as the full studs rough up the ice surface allowing for much better traction for the first few laps. When the ice surface is very slippery and there is poor traction an open differential is preferred and that is primarily when the 740 is used. The 740 has the B23F engine but has all electronic fuel and ignition management and is basically a nightmare of modules, sensors, computers and wiring harnesses.

The Plan:

The plan for this weekend was to run three classes , class one (RWD rubber to ice), class 11 (second driver RWD rubber to ice) and class SS1 (RWD Street Stud) for a total of 15 races for the weekend at a cost of $300 in entry fees. As a result I don't have too many pics of this weekend. Originally the 242 was to run in the rubber to ice class only and only in a races that immediately followed a stud race. A week before the 1^st scheduled race weekend I decided to run Street Studs with it as well. I would now have to swap back and forth between rubber to ice tires and street stud tires on the 242 sometimes allowing only one race (20 minutes) between my two races to accomplish this . The 740 was to run in the rubber to ice classes only. This made for a very busy weekend but was in fact in the end quite do-able. The full Studded classes were cancelled for Saturday. On Sunday the studs raced but neither class 1 nor 11 followed a street stud race so I never had to take the street stud tires of the 242 .

Racing:

Saturday:

Both cars ran well Saturday but with a rough running engine on the 242 early during qualifying that seemed to clear up by the first race.

Class 1 (RWD) had 12 entries well up from last year and 13 cars in class 4 (AWD) for a total of 25 cars on the track for the class 1 and 4 race. Tony McGrath, having terrorized FWD a couple years ago and then done the same in AWD last year, entered a beautifully prepped Nissan 240 sx (?) in Class 1 (RWD). Tom Prentice is running an RX7 in class 1 and SS1. There are now 3 Toyota MR 2's run by the Lobbams, 2 in class1 and 11 (RWD) and one in SS1. A Rick Evans is running a Toyota Supra in Class 1and 11 but he is afraid the car is too heavy, Rick has retuerned to Ice race after 10 years absence - welcome back!

Ok - now for the best part of my weekend – my first experience on street studs….. FANTASTIC!!!! That kind of driving and me are a perfect fit – it was just meant to be - the car, the consistent traction, the handling with the resulting RWD “hang-it-out” style and me all worked together like a dream! I missed practice for Street Studs first thing Saturday morning as I was working my pit by myself and with two cars to get ready was way too busy so my first experience with the brand new car (242), it’s set up and first time on streetstuds was going to be in the qualifier. Of the three classes that I was entered in, I was not shown on the grid sheets for either the class 11 or SS1 event, only for class 1. As a result I was grided dead last for SS1 but moved up to finish second in the 10 lap qualifier in my first time out. On track every thing was just wonderful. I cannot describe in words what a relaxed and pleasurable experience it was to pilot such a nice setup around the track. I had no troubles at all. I was thinking: “So this is the way it’s supposed to be!”. Every race was a complete thrill I even smoked a couple of front wheel drive guys and a 4 wheel drive in each race. All three Street Stud classes (RWD, FWD and AWD) run at the same time but you of course only score points for your own class , in my case RWD. But this does not mean that there is not friendly competition across classes as the street stud tires help to put all classes on a more even footing. I was able to competitively race with FWD and AWD cars in each race. So, for example, I got to race with people I normally wouldn’t get the chance to like Stef Haas in his rabbit, Jeff Wenzel in a FWD (not sure what the red car is) and Lee Waterworth in a Honda Civic.

There were 5 RWD, 5 FWD and 4 AWD cars racing at the same in Street Studs. I went from the back to 2^nd in the qualifier and then finished 1^st , 2^nd , 2^nd , 2^nd in the races.

Sunday:

Sunday afternoon's first race of the day and the 740 developed a high idle (3000 RPM) on the mock grid that appeared to be cured upon tapping the side of the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS). However the problem returned on the grid and persisted in an unpredictable “on-again-off-again” manner throughout the race. This made for some very difficult driving on very slippy conditions. The engine would also sometimes bog down on attempted acceleration onto the straight. The shift knob, which has a tendency to come off in older Volvo’s and therefore had been screwed through the side to the shaft of the shifter, split where the screw went through and came away in my hand during a downshift into turn one. It probably should have been glued as well. I tossed the knob and then, grabbing the top of stick, I was stabbed by the screw which was still in the steel shaft – ouch! At about this time I was chasing Terry Dalton down the straight into turn one. I late braked, got up the outside of Terry  and followed the lovely “berm” that was developing around the outside of the first turn. Terry chose an early “J”pex and then headed across the middle of the turn. We met on the exit of the turn, side by side, with barely enough room for me to squeek past between the bank and Terry’s car which was sliding into the side of me. As Terry made contact we were neck and neck and side by side. The sideways momentum of Terry’s car pushed the 740 up onto the outside snowbank where I thought for sure I was gonna roll right back down on top of him as I looked out the passenger window into Terry’s lap. But both of us kept our speed up and with foot still in it I got back down onto solid ice and completed the pass to finish second behind Larry Kovacs.

Track Conditions/ Weather:

Saturday:

- track seemed to hold up well and there was no evidence of dirt anywhere. Track conditions were good in the morning but softer ice later in the day and standing  water and slush in afternoon. Banks held up well and are regulation, very few cars seemed to want to run them as they were very hard and frozen from the mild and wet weather they have had.
- very mild with high of 6C Saturday

Sunday:

- overcast with snow accumulation on the track tough to find grip but not bad around the "berm", very deep heavy snow in the "weeds". Very open, big groove tire tread pattern required.
- cooler and 2C with heavy wet snow fall all afternoon and total accumulation of 3 inches.

Results:

Class 1 and 4 ,  Class 11 and 14 , Class SS1 SS3 and SS4

My best results were in Street Studs where  I went from the back to 2^nd in the qualifier and then finished 1^st , 2^nd , 2^nd , 2^nd in the races.

Pics:

	As usual the apres racing scene was at the Cliffe... Thas' Jammay, ease froom Scootlan an woos joos an tha nay boorhood
Steff Haas	...Mr Garbage Pail 'O Beer himself
Todd McCall and Mark McSwain	These two got in trouble Saturday with the race steward and Andrew Majik... Who? Me?
Offensive Document	They say a picture's worth a thousand words well here's a framed copy of the Steward's Report

Todd McCall, Mark McSwain, Ryan Clumpus

Guilty as charged

	Ryan and his woman
Lee Waterworth, Jeff Wenzel	Jeff Wenzel and Tire Craft is sole producer of the Street Stud tires.
Tom Prentice plowing track	Heavy  and wet snow continued after racing Sunday making the drive south somewhat challenging until about Coboconk where it turned to freezing rain and then finally rain
'Till next weekend, SACEWE!!!!!

Scoty@rogers.com

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