The History
I built a new car this year for my Enduro Stock racer. I have tried to do a good job with it and to apply what I've learned about race cars in the last 10 years. I also tried to hark back to my first Enduro Stock car and recapture some of the way I felt about that car and the times and people I remember from the race team as it was back then. At right is a photo of that first FizzCar.
You've probably already read my columns, so you know what this race is about.
The Construction
The links on the right point to a few photos of the work in progress as we built the Camaro.
I really enjoy building a race car from an old tub to a working automobile. It's an act of creation and synthesis - like a good horn solo in jazz, it's your commentary on the original theme of the piece, within the recognized rules of the idiom.
The Myth
The morning of the Enduro, we stopped in to gas up the car at the local Texaco station, and inside we found NASCAR legend Ernie Irvan just standing around. We had a picture taken and we offered him a chance to drive for us, but he had duties at the station, so we settled for the photo.
The Driver
I love to be at the track. The sight and sound and even the smell of a racetrack is like no where else on earth. It's a banquet for the senses, and it's hard to wipe the smile off my face, even when things aren't going well. The worst day I ever had racing was better than the best day working - so the saying goes and I have to agree with it.
The Car
The car is a 1976 Chevrolet Camaro LT. It boasts a 350 cubic inch GM small block motor with a Rochester Quadrajet carburetor, mated to a GM Turbo-Hydramatic 350 transmission.
This class of racing is one of the last truly "stock" stock car classes. No speed equipment of any kind is allowed and the race is run on low-grade street tires.
This is definitely a driver's series.
The Grid
This picture shows me in the car getting ready to be finally strapped in and prepared to race.
No matter what kind of racing you do, except in Pro Rally, there comes a time when everyone has to leave and you find yourself alone on the grid, waiting for the start.
At that moment, all your prep on the car and yourself comes together and you get ready to race.
For this race, we drew lots for grid position and our team drew #47. They grid the cars 3 across for this race, 90 of us all ready to battle it out for 3 hours. And some people still think that race driving is easy and requires no physical endurance.
It was about 80 degrees that day in general - and much hotter on 1/2 a mile of asphalt with 90 V-8 engines going at full throttle.
Here's another view of the grid. The leader was up to the left a ways.
The Race
When the green flag drops, we all floor it and hope for the best.
Four laps into the race, someone spun in front of me and I hit him in the side. For a moment, we made a "T" and I pushed him through the corner. Then I got hit in the rear as the field went around us and ended up rolling backwards, facing the entire field. How I managed to not get smashed to pieces is a wonder.
Here we are in the thick of things. I drove first, then Miq and Vince, my teammates, each drove some.
We ran into overheating problems, as did about half the field, and our laps were spread pretty much over the entire race.
All things taken together, we did pretty well with the car.
We have a few things on our shopping list for next time, though, including a better seat and a new and larger radiator.
The Aftermath
Here's the love tap I got back on lap four. I also got rear-ended pretty hard on a yellow flag lap, but that did no visible damage to the car. We got off pretty easy in the body damage department.
In the photo at right, we're feeling pretty good about our race day. Toasting our success, and 6 months of work on the car, with a few bottles of Weinhards Root Beer.
We'll be back in September for the Labor Day race, and we'll be faster than we were this time. I think this car has what it takes to last and finish well. It worked. I feel like I did the first time I ever got into a car and raced.
