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Photo
Gallery & Videos |
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Final
Score:
Rain 0, Brake Ducts 1
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An
account of the 2002 PCA Summit Point Club Race
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The
rain was coming down in sheets; visibility was now down to less
than 100 feet. I could feel the trailer swaying with each new gust of wind.
My maximum speed was 45mph; anytime I approached 50 mph, the truck and trailer
would start to hydroplane. It was already 10 pm Thursday evening. At this
pace, I would be reaching Summit Point around 3 in the morning. |
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Not
for the last time I kept asking myself: Why am I doing this? This is fun?
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Mark Weining - Club
Race Rookie |
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If
you have read my previous race narratives, you should be able to recognize
the signs of another impending Club Racing weekend in the Northeast.
This time Mother Nature had upped the ante; delivering not just torrential
rains, but a full hurricane. What was left of Hurricane Isidore was delivering
its load of moisture exactly on the route I was supposed to take. |
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What's
that saying? "When the going gets tough, the tough turn around,
go home, get a beer and watch TiVo". That's what I did. After going
30 miles in about an hour I gave up. After all, Friday is only a test day
before the race weekend. After several years there, I think I know where
the line is at Summit. If I was going to end up in a ditch, I'd rather it
be in daylight. |
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Sleeping
in late, I awoke to clear blue skies. Hopping back into the truck
I had an uneventful drive to the track. Arriving at the paddock, I found
the rest of the Delaware Region crew had saved me a space for my trailer.
The rest of the day was spent kibitzing in the paddock, whiling away the
time until registration and tech opened up. |
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This
was fellow Delawarean Mark Weining's first race. Months ago, when Mark was
thinking about racing but was wavering, I encouraged him and volunteered
to be his mentor. BMW Club Racing had started a mentor program a year
ago, putting a structure in place on what was a common informal process.
I thought back to my first race and while everybody was helpful, everybody
was also very busy with their own racing effort. Having a guide through
the organized chaos of a club racing weekend would've been helpful. And
PCA National must have agreed, because a week before the race they announced
an official mentoring program. |
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It wasn't a
good weekend for all ... |
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Tech
and registration was painless as usual. Unlike the rest of us, Mark had
to have his car physically inspected since it had never been tech'd before.
I hung with Mark while waiting for the scrutineers to make their way down
to us. I wasn't expecting any problems, as the car had been prepared by
Harry Hall, former National PCA Racing Chief Scrutineer and one of the scruts
at Summit. John Rickard, the other national scrutineer working the race,
approached us and began giving the car a good work over. |
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Race
seat - check. Racing harness, dates valid - check. Roll bar,
diameter - check. Roll bar, thickness - check. Roll bar, mounting,
... All of a sudden John starts muttering to himself and leaves. We watch
him stride to the other side of the tech shed where he engages Harry in
an animated conversation. This doesn't bode well. From the body language
it looks like Harry's holding his ground, but John doesn't look happy. Eventually
John makes his way back to us and resumes the inspection. "Anything
wrong? See something you didn't like?" I query. "I think these
roll bars are deadly and will kill people" he replies. |
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Oh
right, that's just what a rookie racer, already nervous, wants to hear.
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The
inspection continues and Mark gets his logbook signed off without any future
issues. Later we corner Harry and ask him what's going on. It seems that
Mark has a popular roll bar that bolts in without any alterations to the
interior. Some of the national technical folks are unhappy with the design.
In some cars, in the event of a crash, if the bolts shear, there isn't anything
to stop the legs of the roll bar from punching through the car's floor pan.
In Mark's car, there are some plates that rest on the sill. Harry thinks
these are adequate enough for protection, though he wants to expand and
extend them over the winter. |
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Relieved,
we head out into the night for ribs and beer in Winchester. |
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Send mail
to with questions or comments about this
web site. |
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©2002 Cris
Brady - All Rights Reserved
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