Congrats to all the winners and everyone who worked so hard to make it a great event. It was cold and we didn't care, it was windy and we didn't care, it rained and we didn't care. There were 65 drivers for the first non-combined February Southern region event in several years at Sebring and we only cared about going faster and having fun. All goals were achieved.
The 2007 SBRS Sebring southern regional will from this day forward be known as the Harsha Hamster 500 as there were more than 500 passes and 500 smiles as a result of those little strips of aluminum and Harsha's first win. I’ve never passed or been passed more times in a single race than I was this weekend and it made race craft and strategy all the more important and satisfying. JP suggested that this weekend was the first time since about 1992 that there weren’t any complaints about cars being down on power. (dop) Correct that… There was one complaint from a serious cyclist in Champ group who set fastest lap of the race with his dop car! If we first laugh and then give him the benefit of the doubt that with a dop car and masterful use of the draft he set fastest lap, it is just another stunning endorsement for the value of the hamster (Hansford) device.
From the sublime to the ridicules… I was having an “If I didn’t have bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all…” weekend until the last race of the day.
After a lap 2 half-shaft mdnf on Saturday left me with lots of time to observe, rain poured down very early Sunday morning and though skies were clearing at race time the track itself was mostly wet with puddles. Those of us in race group one were treated to a van around for a quick rain line discussion and then jumped into the cars for our race.
On the warm up I felt the car lurch a couple of times like the gear box was slipping or popping out of gear but it was so unfamiliar I thought it might also be the tires spinning on wet concrete so decided to run with it. Starting from the back I passed a few cars and eased it down into turn one on a modified inside line with everyone else and the tranny lurched again upsetting the balance of the car enough to start a rotation I couldn’t catch. The car slowly revolved 270 degrees creating the largest possible target, being horizontal to the track, and someone clipped the back end turning my exhaust pipe into a Dizzy Gillespie bent trumpet. Boom! Race two is over on lap one turn one. Ugh! The good news was that Jason tested the car and there was a tranny problem so I was awarded a second mechanical dnf and invited to race in R3. (Yeah!) When R3 rolled around there weren’t enough cars (Boo!) so Keith moved me back to R-5. (Yeah!)
By Sunday afternoon I was starting to feel like a teamster driver on a film shoot whose job it was to sit around and watch the other kids play. Nine race groups had run over two days and I’d managed less than 2 laps. Everyone was supportive and sympathetic but by the 4th race of the day I felt like an astronaut with a full diaper.
The upside was the extra time for chats with John Pew, Divi, Gerardo and all the usual driving and instructor suspects. John is working hard rehabbing his shoulder. Sadly the rehab won’t be complete in time to run Star Mazda this year but he may jump into a Skippy car when he’s ready to test it.
Divi is still developing what sounds like the most comprehensive realistic web racing game in the world. They hope to be rolling it out later this year so watch your mailbox for an invitation.
Gerardo is head of driver development for the kiddie nationals this year. He’ll be doing group and individual training with the drivers on race craft, sponsorship, presentation and macramé’.
Most smiles per hour on the instructor radio chat line go to Stevie Dee, Terry E, Phil Lombardi and when he's not pit lane coordinator Kieth Watts with the droll troll award to uncle Wally. Fast and furious reporting that always makes you smile between laughing out loud.
Kim, Kelly, Linda, Laurie and Ashlei all did the heavy logistics of making the weekend run smoothly. Linda, Laurie and Ashlei produced a delicious lunch each day, kept the coolers full, the breakfast and snack tables stocked and all with a cheery smile. Kim and Kelly had the timing sheets; race logistics and trophy award management under control and it all ran like a Swiss watch. (Rolex sponsorship will no doubt soon follow… Stay tuned
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David Libby and I worked with John Giddens who was running his first race weekend and first time at Sebring. After appropriate new track first race overwhelm John figured it out with only one day of practice and his times dropped dramatically. Race one was a steep learning curve experience with a harmless spin and later an mdnf. Race two was clean and productive with another nice drop in lap times while finishing 9th of 14 on the lead lap. Well done. Congratulations and welcome aboard John!
The mechanics were abused to the same degree Sebring abuses racecars. Lots of half shaft and transmission woes and not just the ones I experienced. They worked long days to keep the cars in the show and we bow down and give thanks for their extra effort especially at Sebring. (Hey, who won the lapping day from the mechanics fund drawing?)
Keith Watts was the hardest working man in show bidness. He never dropped any of the 15 balls he was juggling, and did it with grace and humor. A big tip of the cap to Keith (500) Watts as pit lane coordinator for a stellar job.
By Sunday afternoon I’d been the bridesmaid for so long it was comical. But the mechanics, Nick Nick, Keith, drivers and instructors were all so sympathetic and supportive that other than bad luck there was nothing to complain about. Keith asked Ricky Ehrgot, the pole sitter of group 5 to flip a coin for the pole position and I won the toss. Ricky started P2 and after leading him into turn one he drafted past me on the backstretch and Dan Palma got me going into turn one. Ehrgot and Palma then battled each other fiercely while I hung back a couple of car lengths anticipating the inevitable. At lap 4 Ehrgot dropped a tire off the track out curbing exiting turn 1 and overcorrected hooking it into the inside tire wall. A black flag to extricate the car brought us into the pits where Divi, John Pew, David Libby, Peter Tucker, Nick Spencer and others came over and chatted while we waited for the track to be cleared. It was so… Civilized. Go run hard for half a race, come in and chat pleasantly with friends for a while then go back out and get after it again. Ya gotta love it.
Restarted P2 and had a nice back and forth with Dan while loving the hamster device. We gapped the field a bit and I'd pass Dan on the backstretch while he'd get me back going into one. On the last lap he bobbled through the carousel but I did not want to be in front on the backstretch so with no pressure from behind stayed back for the preferred position. Got the good draft on the backstretch and a clean run through 17 to the checker. Yee Ha!
Though not a first time winner they gave me the royal soaking (probably Nick Nick's doing) and a victory lap. Damn, It's a long way around that place in 3rd gear with your arm in the air and a big flag trying to rip your arm out of its socket. And I loved every second of it. :-) So I won my last sportsman race, and it’s now time to up the anti, and become a baby seal in Champ group.
Then jumped into the Memorial, starting and ending mid-pack (7th) keeping the leaders between 10 & 15 car lengths the whole race. The lead packers including Gerardo were having major fun cutting each other up which allowed me to keep them in site. On the last lap I turned in late and spun the car past the apex of 1. Dropped it down 2 gears and kept going. Caught Steve Welk who had spun farther along on the last lap and that lovely hamster let me draft by Steve on the backstretch but I butchered 17 and we had a photo finish with Steve nipping me by six thousandths at the line! So much fun and closer to what champ group will be like. Mighty humbling.
Sad to see the weekend end, as these are the happiest times we have in a troubled world. Lots to be thankful for and take back to apply in the “real” world.