I had trouble sending to the list earlier this week, so this report never
got posted:
_________________________________________________
Just back from a day at the SoCal Spring Fever Autocross Championship at
Hollywood Park.
Gary Pinkley won the truck division for the second straight points race.
His 79.0 second lap on the extremely tight 1.1 mile course was not only
faster than the trucks, but faster than all but the seriously modified
sports cars at the hands of experienced drivers. There is very little off
the street that could touch Gary's little red V6. It's quite a testament
to the quality of the Hotchkis suspension products (which Gary designs)
and, of course, Gary's considerable skills as a driver.
My lowly SLT+ "Rapid/Tow" ran 14 seconds slower than Gary. The course was
way too tight for my big HIGH crew cab to negotiate. I beat a few cars who
rightfully should have dusted me, and held close to plenty more that one
would have thought should have driven circles around me. Certainly in the
sweeping sections of the course I was considerably faster than many. But
in quick tight transitions, the stock height, stock tired club cab DIES a
slow, painful squealing death.
My wife ran her 2000 Interpid ES. It's a big, slow sedan on a course built
for a miata. Stacey ran three of the smoothest laps you've ever seen.
After the first lap, Gary checked out the tire chalk marks we put on and
adjusted air pressures. A drop in the rear tire pressure helped the
oversteer problem she had in the two decreasing radius turns. She nipped
at the heels of the little imports much better suited to the tight course
(she's still ticked she lost H-Stock-Ladies by 6 seconds). *****(Editorial
by Stacey: Steve likes to embellish -- alot -- but I went out to just have
some fun. Boy, did I have that. Now I would like to see how I would do
with a car that was not longer than a Neon tailgating a Prelude!) *****
I still don't understand why more of our local guys don't give this a try,
especially you R/T guys ( I know Sam P. has given it go down in San Diego
and had a great time). Steve Wall, President of the CPW club of Spring
Fling fame, was there all day to cheer on the Mopar brigade. His 68 Cuda
(340-S auto notchback) was suffering from the old "variable timing timing
chain" so he chose not to run, but he did let me drive his car around
Inglewood, and then since I was being such a grandma, he booted me into the
passenger seat for a real ride. His 32 year old A-body can really handle,
solid firm steering, flat cornering, well-balanced. Amazing what you can
do with mostly stock parts, an encyclopedic knowledge of mopar performance,
and a lot of elbow grease. He's helping me plan out the build up of my 69
Barracuda.
Car Craft Magazine was there all day taking pictures and running a Big
Block Chevelle. The car was big, loud, and slow, but a lot of fun to
watch. Hey Harmon! The Dacuda would have been a perfect subject for the
Car Craft cameras!
I'll post details on the next event when it comes up in June. Come join
the fun and lay a little rubber down!
Steve Ekstrand, Pasadena, CA Driver: '00 Dakota CC SLT+ 4.7L 3.92SG 255's
Stacey's Driver: '00 Inferno Red Intrepid ES-3.2L-24V Autostick w/Leather
Race Car: 69 1/2 Road Runner 440-6 (ex-NHRA SS/GA future B or C/SA???)
Project Car: 69 Barracuda Notchback (Orig. 318, now 360w/Edelbrock Heads)
Homepage: http://sites.netscape.net/professormopar/homepage
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 11:51:16 EDT