At the VSCDA Vintage Fall Fest
Sept 19, 20 and 21, 1997
Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wi.
by Gary Speckman


Bugeye #55 on the Track....

Click here for some pictures of the weekend .


We arrived at Road America Saturday morning, bright and early. Met up with the Flounder, WST, and he escorted us to the Team Thicko village. Upon arrival, we noticed some "modifications" to the TT land barge(motorhome).

When questioned, WST admited that a post jumped out at him at a SpeedWay gas station. He maintains(still)that he was doing only 3 mph at the time... Well, this begs for some investigation. This post took out almost the entire passenger side of the Barge..including the steps, and much of the siding. On the interior, the cabinets were dislodged and the entire entrance way floor was GONE!...Sorry, but it was GONE! 3 mph? I don't think so. We sent the NMHSB(National Motor Home Saftey Board)in to inspect and they came out with the Barges black box. NOW...we would get all the details of this encounter. Well, black boxes don't lie and the tale of the tape was that the Motor Home was traveling at a little over 58 miles an hour when it hit the post..and this was in the gas station parking lot.

Also in the pits, along with the regulars was Roger Heil, our guest from Dayton Ohio. He races a beautifully prepared 1968 MG Midget.

On the third lap of Saturday's practice, old Black Bart #55 was doing pretty good, in wet conditions, when I pointed a 356 Porsche past in corner 6. In corner 7, the Porsche driver got on the gas a bit early and a bit hard and spun in front of me. In order not to punch out his door, I headed for the weeds and ended up in one of Road America's famous knee deep pea gravel pits. End of session for me. Of course, this was all in a days drive for the Porsche driver and I learned later that his attitude was "so what" when he saw me sitting in the gravel. You're welcome, bud.

Saturday afternoon was qualifying and WST and I had a great time together. He ended up getting the fastest lap in our group, with me second. I must say, WST has Road America pretty well covered. He had 4 seconds on me by the end of the qualifying session. But, Team Thicko had cars in the first four spots in our class. Not bad!

Jim Donatto came to RA with a 948 cc engine in his Sprite. He had not enough time to rebuild the 1275cc engine he toasted at Grattan Michigan a few weeks earlier. The 948 he had was low on power, so WST loaned him an 11:1 head and this was fitted Saturday evening. This helped a lot.

Also on Saturday Team Thicko hosted its now famous BBQ/Cookout at the track. This is an unbelievable experience. Make sure, if you are ever in the pits, and TT is there cooking...to stop by for some of the best food this side of.. ...well, there is no comparison.

Sunday turned out to be a great day. The morning warmup was shortened to three laps, hardly a warm up, but we take what we can get. We raced at 2:40pm. WST did a fine job and came in with a first in Class 2-D and I was second. Jim came in third. So it was a 1,2, 3 sweep for Team Thicko.

All three of us also ran in the Enduro, late Sunday afternoon. I should have put the car on the trailer. I ended up losing my clutch and then second gear. At one point, while having a heck of a race with Jim, I could not find any gear..and I slowed down very fast in an area where you should be accelerating...Well, poor Jim did not realize this and came oh so close to punching me in the back end. I saw him coming up on me in my mirrors, but there was nothing I could do, I had no gear/power. The next thing I know, I see all four of his tires lock up and smoke. He was, literally milli-seconds away from collecting me and taking us both out. At that point, only the thickness of the paint separated us. Only his driving skill and experience saved us from a major disaster. I thank god it was Jim behind me and not some inexperienced driver. Jim, you're a great buddy! Thanks. and whew!

So Road America is history and TT is off to Indianapolis Raceway Park in the begining of October.

Cant Wait.

Click here for some pictures of the weekend .

Press your Browsers "Back" button to return to the page you came from.
Email comments to:

- speckman@coredcs.com