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Lime Rock Park

Dodge Dealers

28/05/2001

Odds & Ends

From Lime Rock

Dive! Dive!

It was on that oh so wet Saturday that I saw an amazing site: The Mosler submarine.

As I was walking along the puddle-filled pavement in the paddock, heading towards the pit area for the start of the GT race, the Morrison-Mosler MT900 was coming around a corner. It was being driven to the grid to take its place alongside the other sailing vessels that would challenge the ocean that the track had become.

Now the Mosler is a very low-slung machine with a sloped nose that seems to almost touch the ground. As the driver brought the machine around the corner, he drove it directly through a minor lake that had formed there. I watched as the entire car went under water from the nose back over the roof, as if a submarine submerging.

The Mosler has no windows on the sides of the car. I think I saw a small trout flipping around on the passenger side.

The Best Racing - Period

It was pouring rain on Saturday. But this is road racing and so the show must go on. And the Speedvision Touring car race was some show. They use a standing start, which put everyone on their toes to see the wheel spinning scooters-of-the-sea break away from their grid positions. It was even more incredible to see so many cars entering the first turn, at speed, with plumes of rain trailing each and every one of them! Astonishing! And that only one scooter did a 360, and not so many more, is a testament to the nautical know-how of these incredible drivers.

If you don’t watch Speedvision races you are easily missing the best sports car racing series in America. Correction, the best racing in the world!

I Don’t Need These!

She has red hair and she calls herself the “Crazy Redhead” but a better name for Kim Hiskey would probably be “Red Racer”.

After having her worst-ever accident at Watkins Glen, an accident that all but totally destroyed her Porsche and left her barely walking on a very sore foot, Ms. Racer was hobbling around on crutches on the Tuesday before the Saturday race. When I got to the track on Saturday, I saw the crutches before I saw her.

She told me on Tuesday that she was going to try and drive the astoundingly restored car on Friday. And she did. By Saturday, those crutches were propped up against the transporter and Ms. Racer was moving with dispatch around the paddock, filled with anticipation for her chance to drive in the day’s race.

What a spirit she possesses. Perhaps she was even a bit possessed for, after all, who would willingly want to go 140 miles an hour in a monsoon?

A racer would.

The Red Racer did.

Would you consider her quite an inspiring human being, or just a “Crazy Redhead”? Me thinks the former. And me thanks her for being a part of today’s road racing scene. We could always use some more color in this sport. Wouldn’t you agree?

The Florios Return!

Since the first time the Ferrari 333SP went around Lime Rock Park, young brothers Anthony and John Florio have come to the track with their parents. They are true fans who bring something special with them every year.

Their father, Anthony Sr., creates hand drawn color images of all the cars expected to compete in that year’s LRP race. He applies them collage-style to a large poster board until the boys have one large and unique display piece. The boys then take the poster to the races and visit every team in the paddock where they have the images signed by any and all drivers, team managers and owners.

The boys are easy to spot. They are carrying a large one-of-a-kind display board and wearing two of the broadest grins a crazy sport like car racing can bring forth on a fans face. If you see them in the paddock at Watkins Glen or Lime Rock Park, say hi. And if you are a driver or team owner, ask them to let you borrow their pen for a minute.

Twice The Action At Half The Price? We Are At A Loss Here.

For the first time – and hopefully the last time – Grand Am decided to split the SRP event into two sprint races. I’m sure someone thought that was a good idea. Well, everyone makes mistakes.

With the sprint format, you lose all the intrigue that comes from pit strategies.

Spin out, and you flat out lose altogether because there won’t be enough time left to catch up to the leaders.

Be as dominant as a Dyson car and you can lose the interests of the fans.

Even one of the race winners, Butch Leitzinger, admitted he didn’t think the sprint format was what road racing was all about. Andy Wallace concurred.

I agree as well. No more split races please. Keep the length and you keep the breadth.

Norma Jean? No, Norma BMW!

During one of my many tours of the paddock, I had a pleasant conversation With John –Sebastian Sauriol – Director Of Marketing For Sezio Florida Racing. They were here to compete in Grand Am;s SRP class with the new Norma chassis

The car is a product of France, the engine comes from Germany, and the team is racing in America. Sauriol is looking to put the French made Norma chassis on tracks all over the world. “Norma has built cars for hillclimb racing and Formula 3 and Formula Renault. This is the first prototype. We are using a BMW engine but the car can take almost any motor.”

The drivers would prefer a stronger engine be on board the car so as to really test her ability against the established chassis. The plan is to have the second chassis, which is already under construction and due to be completed in the fall, fitted with a more powerful FORD engine.

I welcome every new chassis that anyone can build to compete in Grand Am or ALMS. The sport suffers already by the division of meager resources with two racing series competing for the available teams devotion.

To the builders of the Norma I say thank you. Let your kind be plentiful in the months ahead. I say more cars and fewer series, not the other way ‘round.

He Felt Bad And So He Tried To Help

Didier Theys looped the Ferrari-Judd in practice on a wet track and did some serious damage to the car. Things looked so bad Kevin Doran had the crew pull the Crawford out of the transporter and check it out for possible duty in the Monday race.

Kevin’s men were able to work magic. They worked all night to put the car back together in time for practice.

Just after the accident, Didier was upset with himself for his mistake. He felt responsible and he was trying hard to find some way to make it up to the mechanics. Obviously unsure how to help he picked up some rags and started wiping down every open inch of the damaged car. He was cleaning the mirrors and the air box and the cockpit areas. Diligently rubbing each surface until it was clean.

Here was a champion driver who had made a mistake and would now do whatever he could to try and make things right. He could have taken a seat in the transporter and let the crew take care of everything, but that is not what he felt he should do.

Didier Theys is a champion. He cares and he puts his heart into all tasks big or small.

Thanks To The Media Folks

Besides being one of the most spectator friendly racetracks, and one of the most beautiful, Lime Rock Park is also home to some of the most helpful media people as well.

Covering the races is something we choose to do, but it is work. We try to catch the stories and flesh out the details and take the photos and talk to the right people. And we do all of this operating out of a desk or table in a makeshift media center. This humble enclave becomes a safe haven for us and we are always made to feel welcome by the team that works along with Roy Hasty, LRP’s Director of Public Relations.

I would like to thank Roy, Dick, Lori, Stan, Jan and everyone working the media areas for all the support they showed to me, my partner Lyndon Fox, and everyone who was working the event alongside of us.

And I also want to offer a special thanks to Christie Hyde, the GA Media Rep. Christie had the unfortunate circumstance of sliding in the LRP mud a bit, upon taking the exit step out of the media center. She hurt her right foot and we had to call the track medical personnel to give her some first aid attention. Christie soldiered (sailored?) on despite her pain and kept all of us up to date on what was happening. Thanks Christie!