February
24-25
Red River had three of us who
made the journey this year: Barry and I along with Brian Stelly. Great news- none of us broke down!! We arrived Friday about 5pm and found the
Delta gang to park with. Meridian
sets up on an active airport, shutting down one strip for running. This gives an area about as wide as Captain
Shreve, but oh so much longer, with a great surface. Registration follows at
the Peavey (as in guitars) Hanger, with tech back at the course. Ken Walker drove in from Atlanta with
Brian’s tires. Phone calls were starting to get frantic on “Where are you, or
better yet, where are my tires?
Saturday
dawned with weather that was iffy to say the least. Overcast, hazy, and the
wind chill probably stayed around 50.
Weather reports had severe storms for the area and wind advisories. I was slated to run in heat five and was
praying that the rain would hold off (even if it would be to my tires advantage,
and not my competitor’s slicks). Barry ran first, in heat three. His class held
an RX-7, 2 MR2’s, a 914 Porsche, and Richard Holt with his red Z. Barry ended the day in forth, but with those
new tires scrubbed in for me. Brian
took on fourth heat competition. I went
to pre-grid and to meet my competition.
Trish co-drives the 914 with her husband. They came form Little Rock and
this was Trish’s first National Tour, and maybe her seventh event. The first run I got Trish. The second run
she got me. The day ended with me ahead
by a margin of .011. Sunday was going to be starting from
scratch.
Dinner is at the Peavey Hanger. Tons of door prizes are given out, most
being Peavey shirts. The “Fastest Five”
giveaway was announced. Each run group was
to pax the final results and find the leader of the heat. The five leaders would go up against each
other at the end of the day. The
prizes: 5th -$25, 4th -$50, 3rd -$100, 2nd-$200,
1st a day at a Skip Barber Racing School, donated by PPG paint. (By the
way PPG is looking to set up sponsorships!)
With the announcement, PPG gave away a door prize of another Skip Barber
day, which was won by Delta’s STS driver Hassan. I managed to make a fifth run
in the Hot Wheels Challenge before being bumped out. One of the junior kart drivers won the Peavey Guitar this year.
Storms raged during the night, but Sunday morning
the rain cleared away leaving conditions cloudy again. Times were slower with wet track conditions
for the first two heats. I was working
the spectator entrance when Jonny pulled in (not in the Yugo). Listening to the
Internet, he had heard the Yugo, driven by John Thomas, was winning and had
come to check it out. He even rated a
mention over the web broadcast about his trip.
Barry pulled into third, but Jonathan in the 914 was fighting, so Barry
finished the event in forth place. He
also gained more knowledge from Richard about Z’s , and has a few things he
wants to work on. Trish and I battled
again in the fifth heat. The Porsche got me in the end by .256 margin of
victory. But the story won’t end here.
Jonathan and Trish plan to join us for some events this season, including
joining Red River’s fight for the T-lac trophy. FP/FPL might just get interesting this year!