There I was and it could not have been better on the second day of the NASA SE CMP event. I had a great running Corvette (TTS/ST2) strapped onto me, day old Hoosier R6 tires, 3 day old Hawk brakes and a clear track once I got past one car. The warm up lap was just about perfect and the green flag drop was spot on to carry great speed into turn one. Since I was gridded behind Drivinhard (01 ZO6) I figured I would have a fantastic rabbit to chase. On the grid I noticed he had NT01 tires on the car instead of his normal A6s. Going hot through turns 2-7 was a new experience since Driviinhard was slipping around and actually holding me up. Anyone who has run with Drivinhard realizes this takes some getting used to, mentally, since a slower Drvinhard is still not an easy car to get around. The competitive juices were flowing and I had a great plan formulated to pass him from the kink into T11 or between T11 and T12 depending on how much better my brakes/tires were. I had a clean exit out of T8 and hit my marks perfectly, coming into the kink I breathed on the throttle briefly and turned in. I immediately hammered the throttle and felt the car bite and accelerate like I engaged two stages of afterburner. As I hit the exit point I was in full throttle, the target was in sight and all I had to do was turn the wheel a little to make a pass that maintained momentum for us both.
That is when the steering wheel came off in my hands. My first thought was, dang this was a fast lap, my second thought was I can reattach it an only go two wheels off and still pass him at T14. My third thought was interrupted by entry into the sand trap at 110 mph +. Mark said it looked like an IED went off behind him. I would have been able to pass him at T12 if it hadn't bogged in the sand. I do know the corner worker watching me from T12 had on a blue hat, a white shirt and has blue eyes. Luckily, for me, the wheels did not cock on entry to the sand and the car came to a stop with the wheel reattached, the motor still running and the front tires almost out of the sand across from the T12 flag stand. My guardian angel is kept very, very busy.
Naturally the car owner, my youngest son Josh and all my "erstwhile" friends were watching as this occurred. Due to the huge cloud of dust the car owner was not sure it was his car and after a few laps he commented it could not be his car since his was red. Naturally, Josh assured him it was me and asked "what was he thinking to let me drive his car?" As always with removable wheels a series of yank tests was performed in the paddock and grid with it staying locked on the column. After my incident my co-driver was getting ready for the race and the wheel came off on him heading to the grid after checking it repeatedly in the paddock. Not sure what is going on there but the car is at my shop for repairs to the leaking fuel system, annoying kill switch issues (better switch ready to install), and seized caliper rails (sand may be involved). I will be checking for any knurling or weak springs in the wheel. It has been a race car for a long time and there is no telling how many times the wheel has been on and off.
Overall, it was a fantastic weekend with lots of great friends and competition. Saturday started early with a 0345 wake up call and 0415 departure to get to the track in time for tech, drivers, instructor and TT meetings. Due to an awards luncheon Friday at North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega for Josh's full ride Georgia Military Scholarship (the new Ferrari is definitely getting closer for dear old Dad) we did not get to the track on Friday night. Replacing a broken stud and cracked rotor before 1000 on Saturday also did not help the time budget or my sense of humor. Even so the Time Trial and Thunder race sessions went off without a hitch. Two more rookie races are in the book for my co-driver and he was schooled in race strategy by the crafty old Falcon on Sunday. The fastest car does not always win.
