My wife Judy came up this weekend and in order to keep her happy and warm I insulated the tool trailer. Made a big difference as most of the heat generated from the propane heater was escaping through the fibreglass roof.

Doesn't he look cute in Nomex?

It was my birthday on Friday (#46) so Terry Dalton and his wife Paula helped Judy and I celebrate by going out together Saturday to dine at the fantastic Cottage restaurant in Haliburton. I highly recommend the rack of lamb and their wine list definitely meets with my approval. Thanks to Terry for being the DD and our chaufeur and thanks to Paula for your thoughtful gift and arranging evening.

Baked apple stuffed with muselage topped with whipped cream

Speaking of food: breakfasts at the Minden B&B are continuing to amaze and satisfy. Any ice racer would agree that their day at the track is always better when it starts with a healthy meal. What a great place to stay thanks in large part to our fabulous hard working hosts Gord and Leslie.

Poached egg and bacon on an english muffin with hollandaise sauce.

Lots of "Car"nage at the track. Deitmar (car before at left) had the back of this racer demolished (pic at right) when Carol Raitt tore into him with her new Mustang. Carol later was able to continue with racing however it was not the same for Dietmar. Apparently this happened as a stud race was being red flagged for a roll over incident (2nd time for the same car Eurosport Golf entry). Carol claimed she could not see for the snow dust being raised and had no time to avoid collision with the parked car of Dietmar's Toyota

Carol's damage

Results:

Class one: qualified 2nd, finished 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, 1st
Results Class 1

Class 11: Qualified 2nd, finished 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 3rd.
Results Class 11

Track Conditions/ Weather:

Saturday:
Overcast and mid minus teens, very slippery

Sunday:
Much warmer - 10C and sunny, very slippery and stud line down to the dirt at all corners.

Racing:

Saturday:

The 740 started no problem but the 245 needed a tow and that didn't work. Under the hood I finally figured the problem. The coil "+" and "-" wires were on reversed. Last Saturday after racing I had disabled the vehicle by removing the "+" wire from the coil and Sunday morning Mike had put it back on but to the wrong terminal. It blew an inline fuse which was not diagnosed till later. Mike hot wired the coil directly to the battery and this started the car. But it was not until this Saturday that I figured out the incorrect wire swap. The 245 starts fine now.

I raced the 740 sedan on Saturday still sorting out the weights. More weight was placed inside the car and removed from the rear hangers which seemed to improve traction. Then the axel weight fell off on Sunday and I had to switch to the 245 wagon.

One of our class one main competitors Larry Kovaks did not return as planned from Daytona for Saturday's racing. His flight was delayed in Atlanta. Boy was he mad. However this was good for my points standings as I only had Terry Dalton to deal with.

Tom Prentice showed up on the grid Saturday with over sized rear tires on his RWD mustang. They had to be protruding beyond the body work at least 3 inches in clear violation of the ice race rules. Nobody said anything including the race marshalls so out he went. Well as u can see by the picture I now have a rubberized paint job or as Ian Lok observed my car has now been "bar coded". Ian also got "bar coded" with rubber from Tom's car. He finally took them off stating that "they didn't work anyway". Depends what you mean by that Tom.

Had great racing action with Ian Lok in both class one races Saturday with me driving the new 740 sedan. In the first race Ian nailed me for a second place half car length finish but it was the second race that would prove the more thrilling as I would reclaim 2nd.

Ian's nicely prepped "SACed" out Ovlov sedan before racing.

Ian locked up his differential this past week so now I had to try to pass what was a very wide Ovlov in every corner. I kept attacking on every opportunity, a tap here a bump there, lots of contact (I almost spun him) but to no avail he would just collect up again after each of my failed attempts to unsettle his car. Still I kept sticking my nose up the inside always having to brake hard and back out for fear of being stuffed into the snowbank. But on about lap 12 this finally worked on the exit of the last turn coming out onto the straight. It did cost Ian a dinged rear passenger door though (sorry man but you fight hard :-). I have never worked so hard for a pass and it was a big adrenaline rush.

Sunday:

Sunday saw the return of Larry Kovacks to the grid and a very successful day of racing for yours truly. Starting second on the grid in the first class one race I managed to hold on for 2nd place finish while driving the wagon. I improved my second to a win in the following race which took place after a stud car race (the stud cars really rough up the track and create great traction conditions very similar to that of racing on gravel roads). I expected a battle with Ian Lok as he also has the locked diff which is great to have if there is lots of grip. But he was spun by George Burnham (who races in all wheel drive) on lap 3 and stuffed up onto the bank on the exit to the straight leaving him parked at 90 degrees to the track with his back bumper sticking out into the line through the turn. This created quite a bottleneck right where the line was and made navigating this corner very difficult. I watched in disbelief several laps later as a black Toyota Corolla clipped his rear bumper. I had to brake and duck up the inside of the now rearward facing Corolla. Then as I was about to drive past him he started coming right at me! I got by with no furthur incident. However not 2 or 3 laps later as I set myself up to go around Ian's car again with about a foot of clearance the front of the car suddenly jerked left as if some big hand had pushed the whole front of the car over. I only had 6 feet to go to Ian's car and had no time for avoidance maneuvering and nailed Ian's rear bumper with the front corner of my bumper. I could not believe it nor understand how this could happen. My best explaination is that my front tires must have been riding the top of a groove and then suddenly slipped down to the left into the trough of one of the stud ruts closer to the inside of the corner and on collision course with Ian's car.

In class 11 I managed a win in the first race and a classic 3rd behind Terry Dalton and Larry Kovacks in the second and last race of the day on very slippery conditions.

Highlites:

First 2 wins of the season!!! Feels real good!

I think the big battle with Ian Lok with a victorious pass for 2nd was some of my hardest driving yet.

More Pics:

(Click image for large...)

	these first two shots were takjen the 1st weekend by a professional. That's me in the new Ovlov 740 sedan
	Me leading Ian Lok, barely
	Lookin like Gianni found some breakfast! Oh , that's not roadkill...
	Yep, same as it ever was! Worshipping the beast
	Cool flameout paint job
	Newest SAC member Roberto Mancino
	Newest SAC member Roberto Mancino displaying SAC
	These next few are of the Stud car field leaving the mock grid. Tony McGrath's new Mazda323 turbo 4x4
	Gianni Biral rabbitt
	Tom Prentice Stang
	Mr2
	Doug Martin's Mazda323 AWD turbo
	Steff Haas Rabbitt
	Eurosport entry, these guys had a roll over in both stud races
	Nice shot of my 740 on the mock grid
	This guy came over from England on holiday and his friend owns a chopper company so they toured the area and stopped in just out behind my back door of my pit trailer. Very nice ride!
	Cory Little has had enough of pulling out dinged doors. Check out this plate steel welded right onto the door skins! It's like the Bismark!!!!
	Incar video of class 11 start for the win. Torturing the Ovlov Wagoon.WMV (2.7MB)

Scoty@rogers.com