d15b7 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 whew! finally got home after racing this weekend at the Turkey Bowl at Summit Point. i was driving the #71 red Super Seven Super Sprint (powered by a Ford crossflow Kent 1600 with the usual 'hop up' parts). here's a pic with my friend Ian in the driver's seat: http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/3862/lotussupersevensuperspr.jpg the organizers plopped me in Group 3, with the 'Formula and Open Wheel racers' for saturday's races; i was the only road going thing in this heat, lol! i'm up against a pack of Formula Fords, Mallocks, and S2000 racers.... the competition is fierce up front (i knew this heat would be super fast compared to smallbore, so i took off my street tires (ancient yokohama A509s), and put on my rain tires, which are toyo 888s); i ended up 2nd overall behind one of the Mallocks in the first race (couldn't get around him to save my life, and couldn't stay in his draft on the front straight!!!) (the camera failed to operate in the first race, so no footage). in the second race, i got a poor start (was 6th after the first lap, behind the S2000, two Formula Fords, and two Mallocks), but i immediately found my groove and started moving up -- picking off a car every lap, til i was second right behind the S2000. i was probing him in several places, when he lost it in the brake zone and hooked off the track, exiting stage right (it was later determined that his right rear upright had failed, shearing off), and he crashed very hard into the inside tirewall (no serious injuries, just real stiff the next day). i ended up winning that race, cause they had to black flag us all and clean it up (not the way i like to win a race). here's the video from that race (sorry about the smears on the camera - one of the cars up front was leaking some kind of fluids out): Turkey Bowl 2009 Summit Point - Super Seven in Open Wheel Group 3 on Vimeo here's a pic of the Mallocks (they were super fast): http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/8260/mallock2.jpg sorry, i didn't get any pics of the Formula Fords or the S2000 sports racer..... Sunday's race was a 45 minute 'enduro'; apparently 45 mins is a long time for these old cars to race!!! :lol: i asked to be moved into the Big Bore Vintage heat (Group 2) for sunday's race; i wanted to see how i'd stack up against the big dogs (plus, there were only about 4 or 5 open wheelers that were going to do the enduro). they lined me up in the back of the grid -- i got a pretty good start, and began to move up fast! (the stupid camera failed again, and i got no footage of this race ). by the beginning of the 4th lap, i was in 2nd place, behind a big bad very very fast #70 Shelby GT350. this monster sounded like a NASCAR racer!!! he would crush me in the straights; he'd pull about 30 carlengths from T10 to T1 (and i would be glued to his bumper coming thru T10). we continued in this fashion throughout the entire race, never more than a few seconds apart; it was very very tight racing! i tried many times to get around him in the carousel (i owned him there) but he was very smart and very defensive and i had the door shut on me many times. we came thru T10 the last time, with me a foot off his rear bumper, and he shot off to the finish line, pulling away..... it was an excellent race, and i had a great time! amazingly, the Seven needed almost no service during the weekend! an alternator heat shield came loose (fixed with zip ties and aluminum tape). the clutch cable needed adjusting. and that was it! no oil burned at all; just added gas and race! very un-Lotus like! i must say, i've missed racing that little car! its a real racecar, not a fwd grocery getter that i've forced into racing service! definitely the most fun car i've ever driven on the racing surface! enjoy the pics and vid! todd ReidSpeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 (edited) Todd, It was nice to meet you. Nice driving. Man, sucks about the car in front of you crashing like that. Glad he is ok. I saw that Mustang run. pretty loud, and he opened up a pretty big gap between itself and the 2 914's and the GT40 pretty quickly. The red Lotus that was running with the big bore cars started in the back of the pack and was in 4th place behind the GT40 after 3 or 4 laps. We left after that, as I had alot of work to do on the car. Cheers. Edited November 30, 2009 by slngsht Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowflyer Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your video. The racing is first class and you did really well against a very "mixed bag" of cars. The biggest reason I enjoyed the video was because I had spent a lot of time at Summit Point "back in the day". As a matter of fact, my first couple of visits there was before they changed the track by adding the carousel. The original course ran down the hill and just before the left that takes you into the carousel they had an "S" turn that went across the side of the hill and joined up at the start of the climbing straight up under the bridge. The "S" was just a little flick-flick in the Formula Vee that I ran there in 1970. The "S" was the lowest spot on that side of the track and, as such, was a natural gathering spot for any rain water. It was under water more than not, and that's what prompted the change. I also ran there in some tin tops including a Lotus Cortina B/Sedan, which was mine and a Datsun 510 B/Sedan which belonged to a good friend of mine. My Lotus Cortina really loved the carousel since I could "hang" the inside front wheel over the curb and shorten the course. Thanks for the curvey trip down memory lane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 What fun! Pretty amazing for a Se7en car with an ancient Kent 1600 cc, even with "hop-up" parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d15b7 Posted November 30, 2009 Author Share Posted November 30, 2009 thanks guys! i SO wish that the camera had worked for the Big Bore enduro yesterday! you'd have seen my tiny Seven charge from the very back to the front, weaving in and out between all those big bruisers!!! if i could have gotten around that Shelby GT350, i would have started to gap him; its just that he was a great defensive driver, and i couldn't even stay in his draft in order to try to outbrake him at the end of the straightaways! grrrrrrr - stupid camera! Summit Point is my 'home track'; i have probably 10k miles on it, at least. the Seven and i work well there! it would be really fun if we could get a big contingent of Sevens together and do an event there -- i instruct for practically every group around here: NASA, PCA, BMWCCA, CCC, you name it. we would have a ball! and yes, its fun having the little Seven with the xflow hounding the others -- i can't tell you how many folks came up after the race(s), smiling and wanting to know what was going on! i guess everyone pulls for 'david', and wants him to bring down 'goliath'!!! todd ReidSpeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 thanks guys! i SO wish that the camera had worked for the Big Bore enduro yesterday! you'd have seen my tiny Seven charge from the very back to the front, weaving in and out between all those big bruisers!!! if i could have gotten around that Shelby GT350, i would have started to gap him; its just that he was a great defensive driver, and i couldn't even stay in his draft in order to try to outbrake him at the end of the straightaways! grrrrrrr - stupid camera! Summit Point is my 'home track'; i have probably 10k miles on it, at least. the Seven and i work well there! it would be really fun if we could get a big contingent of Sevens together and do an event there -- i instruct for practically every group around here: NASA, PCA, BMWCCA, CCC, you name it. we would have a ball! and yes, its fun having the little Seven with the xflow hounding the others -- i can't tell you how many folks came up after the race(s), smiling and wanting to know what was going on! i guess everyone pulls for 'david', and wants him to bring down 'goliath'!!! todd ReidSpeed LOG will be there next year IIRC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Todd: It's like Dan Gurney said after coming in second:"I could have passed him if he hadn't been in front of me!" I am going to try to get to Summit as it looks like a great driver's track-not just point and shoot. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d15b7 Posted November 30, 2009 Author Share Posted November 30, 2009 it certainly is a great track! and they are repaving it in the early spring, so it shouldn't be so bumpy in T1/T2 and T6.... i'll make a point of being there for LOG! todd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Pretty obvious that your real familiar with the track... I got a good lesson on late entry and early on the gas;) You make it look easy (sign of a good driver). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDingo8MyBaby Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Thanks for posting! I love those mallocks. They're like a 7...just so much uglier! You should go to the member section and post up the specs on your car. I know I'm curious about your setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silk Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Todd, I really enjoyed the video - nice patient racing that paid dividends. Good job!! Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d15b7 Posted December 1, 2009 Author Share Posted December 1, 2009 thanks again for the kind words! i just finished putting up a post explaining about my car in the Members section. i guess i should mention that i have two other 'modern' racecars that i campaign (mostly with NASA and EMRA sanctioning bodies). this year, i've mostly run my Ford Probe GT (its really a mazda mx-6 with the word 'ford' on it) in NASA PTE competition (i can tell more about that if you are interested, and i have lots of incar footage of some good battles in those races). i also do some pro coaching during the year, and i will teach and/or support client efforts at Summit Point, VIR, Watkins Glen, Pocono, NJMP, Mid Ohio, and CMP. i must say, that after racing this weekend, i didn't realize how much i missed driving the Seven! i've driven many, many different racecars (and street cars) on track over the years; nothing compares to the feeling of driving the Seven! todd ReidSpeed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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