May 2-3, 2009 | By Brian Mertz | Photos by Gil Murrieta

VARA drivers, crews, families, friends and spectators enjoyed yet another spectacular spring weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway Park for the 2009 British Extravaganza.

Mild temperatures under a somewhat hazy sky made for perfect conditions on the track and in the paddock, which hosted the traditional display of lovely pre-war racers, car show for street-driven British marques (plus a few trailer queens), and Saturday evening barbecue/karaoke party.

The busy racing scheduled kicked off on Saturday with practice and qualifying for all classes, plus the MG-Mini Challenge and the first race of the weekend for the young hot-shoes of Pacific Formula 2000.

MG/Mini Challenge

The well matched Minis of Rodney Davis and Steve Phillips started at the front of the grid, but both were overtaken on the first lap by the fast MGB GT of Don Cole. The MG stayed in front for one more circuit before retiring and ceding the lead to Phillips, with pole-sitter Davis in hot pursuit and finishing just a second behind at the checker.

Top finisher of the MG contingent was the handsome MGA of John Griffiths, crossing the stripe third overall, followed by Bart Smith’s Mini and the MGB of Sean Allen, who had scrambled up from ninth on the grid.

Sprite/Triumph Challenge

Efrain Olivares Jr. and John Wilkins did their respective marques proud, staging a real donnybrook of passing, re-passing and nose-to-tail pursuit for all seven laps. At the finish Olivares’s Sprite was just over a half-second ahead of Wilkins’ polka-dotted Spitfire.

Another spirited contest took place behind Mordy Dunst’s third-place Triumph TR4, as the Spitfire of Joe Siam and the Herald of Jerry Barker battled for fourth overall, swapping positions several times until Siam won out.

Group 1

Olivares and Wilkins apparently couldn’t get enough of each other this weekend, putting on another jolly good racing show while handily running away from the rest of the 45-car small-bore production field. In the end, Olivares bested Wilkins for overall and DP honors.

The Volvo P1800 of Ken Rosenbush was third overall and in DP, less than a second ahead of CS winner Jerry Barker’s Triumph Herald. Finishing with the biggest grin award for this race was Pat Long, who piloted his DP Datsun 240Z past 33 cars enroute from last spot on the grid to 11^th overall.

Group 2

Although most drivers in the historic class don’t bother to mount a transponder – some prefer a calendar for timing purposes, no doubt – John Kerr posted a very respectable lap of just under 2:35 in his Miller Ford to take the checkered flag in a diverse field of spindly racing cars that included John Miller’s flat-radiator Morgan Plus 4, Michael Jacobsen’s MG N special and J. Dale Barry’s Morgan Sports three-wheeler.

Group 3

This one was Chris Horn and everybody else. Horn’s CPM Datsun 240Z was virtually in a class by itself, sprinting away from pole and cruising to a 40-second overall win. The BPM Corvette of Rory Rinebold could only thunder along in fruitless pursuit, while fending off the advances of James Smith’s AP Corvette and Steve Link’s BS Datsun 510.

Link prevailed to take third, followed by Smith and Phil Mendelovitz, fifth overall and tops in CP. Kent Mattox finished sixth in his CPX Porsche 911.

Group 4

After polesitter Vince Tjelmeland (FSV3 Ralt RT5), Steve Brown (Star Mazda) and Bernard Juchli (FSV3 Martini) jousted for the lead in the early laps, Bill Modisette (F2000 Zetec) recovered from a poor start to methodically pick them off and grab the lead on lap 8, finishing a comfortable 16 seconds ahead of Brown. Paul Lisec’s Ralt RT5 also got past Tjelmeland and Juchli to take third place overall and first in FSV3.

Group 5

Joe Siam overcame a poor qualifying race, driving his FP Triumph Spitfire to overall and class wins from 11^th spot on the grid. Don Plotkin’s diminutive HMod Kangaroo was second, followed by the GP MG Midget of Geoff Monise. Jay Armstrong had a good drive in his GP Fiat Abarth, advancing from 14^th at the start to 7^th overall and third in GP.

Group 6

Todd Strong pushed his FF Titan past the CF Crossle of Bob Hatle halfway through the 10-lap race, keeping Hatle at bay to finish in that order. Next to cross the line were Roy Jones (Wilkelmann) and Tom Sabo (Caldwell D9), ending a race-long battle just 0.145 seconds apart to take second and third in Formula Ford.

Kim Madrid (Caldwell D13) stayed ahead of Lawrence Whittemore (Zink C4) and Jon Wong (Formcar) to take the FV win.

Visit the gallery for photos of this event –>

March 6-8

By Jake Grubb | Photos by Gil Murrieta

Awhile back, a well-heeled buddy of mine invited me to a Mercedes Benz promo day at Auto Club Speedway. This was one of those affairs that allows visitors to “experience” various models of Mercedes Benz cars in autocross, slalom and on-track venues, under the guidance pro driver instructors. 

Upon arrival, we encountered a drivers’s meeting room that was converted to a white-tableclothed buffet of prime rib and lobster, napkin-laden place settings, and plastic champagne wine glasses filled with our choices of bottled euro-waters. Among other special corporate touches, two well known pro drivers addressed the comfortable audience of would-be drivers with endearing war stories of their races at Indy, and other yarns.

Aside from a dizzying disorientation born of this unfamiliar Cal Speedway atmosphere and decor, I found myself elapsing into a kind of sensory vertigo upon entering the normally race-utilitarian pit bathroom, and found it adorned throughout with pastel-colored scented candles, mounted on tinted glass plates with fresh floral decorations…and that was only the beginning…

Needless to say — the varied sights, cacophony of sounds, and open exhaust scents of March 4, 2009 were a familiar and welcome indicator of Auto Club Speedway “VARA style.” And it didn’t hurt a bit that the Saturday/Sunday weather was perfection and racer turn-out was robust in all classes, for this first VARA race of the 2009 season.

After a productive Friday of practice and a fast-paced Saturday of heat races — including the once-again wonder of a brigade of visiting Indy cars from muliple eras — Sunday’s action was end-to-end pure racing and all-out fun.

VARA kicked off the 2009 season with a visit from the thundering Historic Nascars, which comported themselves as all Nascar racecars should: loud, fast, raucous, and racey! The first five cars in Sunday’s flag race nearly eclipsed each other in best lap times, with four of them separated by a total of less than three tenths, and the quickest (Craig Johnson in his Dodge) just four tenths quicker than his closest rival, Wes McNay in his Pontiac. All of the top five lapped the full Auto Club Speedway Grand Am course consistently under 1:50!  And two of the remaining field did the same - while the rest gave heated chase! Dan Verstuyft bested the group in his Nascar Ford Taurus, with Craig Johnson taking 2nd overall, Wes McNay 3rd, Garrett Cosgrove 4th in his Taurus, and Garland Self 5th in his T-Bird.

In the Formula Ford Group 1 — after a Saturday 1st lap, Turn 3 wheel-touch incident that rendered two of the top cars in this group unfit for Sunday’s flag race, John Delane claimed an early group lead in his sleek Formula B and never relinquished it. Steven Luftman (Club Ford) maintained an unrelinquished 2nd overall, while Tom Sabo (Caldwell D9 FF) fought Patrick Maynard (Citation Club Ford) and Todd Gerstenberger II (Tital FF) for 3rd overall. Luftman landed 2nd overall and 1st in Club Ford class, Sabo claimed FF class win and 3rd in group, while Maynard and Gerstenberger (in that order respectively) ran steady and fast.

Group 2 — a mixed group of big bore and CP — a fascinating patchwork of brute power and well used power, made for stellar racing throughout a 30-car field. With the first four cars forming a race-to-space of their own, Erich Joiner in his CanAm style Lola B2k-10 went hammer-and-tong with Bud Thurston in his TransAM Corvette, while Tom Malloy (IMSA Kremer Porsche) chased Richard H. Wesselink in his Lola 98-10. The “second wave” of the field consisted of a fierce battle between the rocket-fast Mazda RX-3 of Wayne Graham, the Shelby Cobra of Gregory Helms, and Datsun Z of Chris Horn. After Helms inserted himself in between Graham and Helms (disallowing a continuance of Saturday’s duel between these two), these three cars repeatedly posted virtually identical lap times — with Helms passing Horn’s Z (and ultimately Wayne Graham’s RX-3) again and again with brute power on the straightaway, only to be passed on the infield lap after lap. After a prolonged and pitched battle, Wayne Graham bested in his Mazda, Greg Helms was next to checker, and Chris Horn closely followed. Graham was 1st in BSM, with Helms #1 in AP and Horn #1 in CPGT.

The Group 3 fifty-plus car field of small bore production cars was on the one hand a “race of races,” yet on the other a one-horse rout. Datsun 510 B-Sedan driver Steve Link lurched out to an early lead and never looked back. Relaxed and “in the zone,” Link laid down consistent 2.00 lap times like a digital watch, and even on old well used tires managed to maintain a half straightaway lead on the field, from start to finish. Meantime, while the Alfa GTV of Rick Clemente, Lotus Super 7 of Doug Warneke, and Triumph Spitfire of Gary Shuman diced for 2nd overall, the charging Triumph GT6 of Steven Smith led the dueling BMW 2002s of Scott Parsons and Michael Ward, closely followed by the Triumph Spitfire of Chuck Gee and bumper-to-bumper Datsun 510s of Steve Dragus and Vinnie Torres (with veteran Steven Feig hot on their tails in his PBS Mk.4). And that was only 10% of a field loaded with two, three, and four-car contests throughout! Ultimately, this race group spread over most of Auto Club Speedway’s 2.5 mile course, from the first turn to the last. Steve Link breezed to 1st overall and 1st in B-Sedan, Doug Warneke claimed 1st in D-Production, Scott Parsons earned the flag in C-Sedan, and Michael Steinberg took EP honors in his Porsche 912.

Always a speedfest, the Group 4 Wings and Slicks contest was a spectator’s delight, with the lead threesome of Vince Tjelmeland (Ralt Formula Super Vee), Dave Tweedie (Radical SR3) and the legendary Tony Adamowicz (Gurney Eagle Formula 5000) leading the pack. The fascination of these three — a span of 40+ years among the cars and their technologies — carried the added amazement of 30+ years  of age variance among the drivers! Yet all three cars lapped within a second of each other. Adamowicz, renowned for his 60s and 70s Formula 5000, CanAm, Indy, and and other pro racing exploits, drove the dragon-like Gurney Eagle with a cool mastery untinged by age. Wonderful stuff stuff to watch! This race was just plain too short. Not to mention a charging Tom Malloy in his Eagle Formula 5000, Steve Brown in his ultra-fast Formula Mazda, Jerry Kehoe in his authentic March 87B Formula 1 car, and over a dozen other spectacular high-powered formula cars and sports racers of distinction from distinguished decades. There wasn’t a dull millisecond in this race!

The Formula Fords and small bore production cars of Group 5 comprised a large field with daisy-chain-like racing from start to finish. With the FV1’s of Dietmar Bauerle, Kim Madrid, Bob Hatle and Mark Fischer leading the way, drafting and threshold braking became the order of the day, with overlaps, passes, and repasses generating close racing and heated battling in twosomes among these four that kept the race result in question lap after lap. Although Kim Madrid posted the quickest lap time, Bauerle’s race craft eked out a narrow overall group and FV1 win, with Kim Madrid and Bob Hatle 2nd in both, respectively, and Mark Fischer close behind. Eric Inkott inked FV2, Rudy Madrid took FV, Geoff Monise earned G Production 1st place, and Rick Shea took home the F Production flag.

The 2009 Route 66 set a high note of anticipation for this year’s season to come, with spirited racing, widely varying cars in every class, a strong turnout, and great folks.

A full listing of 2009 High Desert Challenge Event Results:

Willow Springs International Raceway

April 4-5, 2009

By Brian Mertz | Photos by Gil Murrieta

]]> http://vintagevoiceonline.com/wp/?feed=rss2&p=303 http://vintagevoiceonline.com/wp/?p=264 http://vintagevoiceonline.com/wp/?p=264#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:45:48 +0000 admin http://vintagevoiceonline.com/wp/?p=264

HANS stays with belts until tethers are straight. Driver's head is restrained by tethers when torso is restrained.

By Rich Conklin | Originally published Vintage Voice Magazine, Summer 2004 |

Troubling questions spread throughout the racing community after Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s fatal accident on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Finding a satisfactory answer to those questions is vitally important to all racing drivers, professional and amateur alike.

By the standards of NASCAR crashes – in which a car often tumbles violently and shreds itself, but the driver walks away relatively unscathed – Earnhardt’s crash didn’t look all that serious. The car remained upright. Nothing flew off. It simply turned into the wall and stopped.

But analysis of that crash taught many racing drivers a new medical term: basilar skull fracture. This fracture of the basilar bone, part of the floor of the skull that holds the brain, is not itself fatal. The cause of death is loss of blood flow to the brain and/or brain trauma due to extreme stretching of the neck or spinal cord.

Racers also discovered an important statistic most hadn’t known: Basilar skull fracture is now the most common cause of death in racing.

Although Earnhardt’s crash didn’t look severe, the deceleration forces on his body were immense. His head and helmet became dead weight, multiplied by negative g’s when the car came to an abrupt stop.

Unrestrained by the driver’s safety harness, his head kept moving forward, stretching his spine and fracturing the basilar bone.

From the Earndhart fatality came a greater understanding in the racing community of the complexities of crash dynamics. Steady advances throughout the 1990’s in roll cage, seat and restraint engineering had left many with a sense that race cars were about as safe as technology could make them. Unfortunately they were wrong.

Tether forces of through forehead and center of head without increasing neck loading. Injuries to head swinging it counteracted as soon as the torso is restrained. HANS tethers align with head weight, for robust head support.

There remained one technology that, although it had existed since the mid-1980s, hadn’t been widely adopted throughout the racing world. That technology is generally termed head and neck restraints – devices designed to stop the head from whipping violently forward, thus preventing basilar skull fractures.

Not long after Earnhardt’s accident, head and neck restraints became mandatory safety equipment for all drivers in NASCAR, Champ Car, Formula 1 and the SCCA Speed World Challenge.

Beginning in 2005, head and neck restraints will be strongly recommended safety equipment for all VARA drivers. Various types of restraint systems are now widely available from a number of sources, including HANS, Hutchens, Safety Solutions, Isaac and G-Force.

Driver Safety Is a System

It’s important to understand two things about head and neck restraints. First, these devices function as part of a system of safety features, including the roll bar, roll bar padding, seat, safety harness, window net and helmet. To optimizing your chances of surviving a high-g impact, all of this equipment must be designed and installed carefully, and examined regularly. It’s the whole system – not any one component of it – that will ultimately five you the best chance of surviving a serious crash.

The second key point is that head and neck restraints are primarily intended to protect the driver in frontal collisions, where deceleration forces cause the head to whip violently forward. To help prevent injury in side-impact collisions, other devices and strategies are required. Top-of-the-line racing seats from the manufacturers such as Recaro, Cobra, and Sparco feature deep wings that limit side-to-side head movement. Net also help to limit lateral head movement.

The goal is to restrain body segments so that they move with each other in a crash, reducing loading between them. Head and neck restraints are simply designed to force the head to move with the body, thus reducing the load on the neck.

In an effort to educate club members about driver safety systems, VARA invited Dr, Robert P. Hubbard, a pioneer in developing head and neck restraints, to speak at the club’s California Speedway event in late July.

Dr. Hubbard, a professor at Michigan State University’s Biomechanical Design Research Lab, began developing what is known as the HANS device in the mid-1980s a the urging of his brother-in-law, veteran professional sports car racer Jim Downing.

After Earnhardt’s death, open-wheel racers were among the first to embrace HANS, That same year, Mauricio Guglmin hit the wall twice at Texas, sustaining a 66g frontial hit with a 36g left side impact, which broke the front of the tub before incurring another 120g rear impact.

Without HANS, this incident probably was life threatening. But although Gugelmin had major diffuse pain, he suffered no specific injuries. The HANS was not visibly damaged except for slight fraying of the tethers. His helmet was slightly damaged due to contact with the edge of the cockpit.

 In 2002, at an IRL race in the Kentucky Speedway, Richie Hearn crashed into the outside wall at racing speed. The measured chassis acceleration was 138g frontal, 40g lateral. Hearn suffered a broken foot, but no apparent head or neck injuries.

General Recommendations

 In addition to research pertaining specifically to his own product, Dr. Hubbard offered the VARA audience a range of recommendations for improving driver safety systems, based on more than 20 years of research and extensive analysis of crash data.

One of his surprising findings is that the widely used foam horse collar actually increases loads on the head and neck in a crash. As a result, VARA has rescinded its earlier requirement that neck collars be worn by drivers who do not use a specifically designed head ad neck restraint system. 

The complexity of crash dynamics makes it a challenge t oeffectively incorporate driver safety systems in vintage racing cars. Unlike NASCAR or the IRL, where driver environments are basically identical, vintage racing involves a wide variety of very different cockpit configurations. On top of these differences are individual drivers choices in roll bar and cage construction, seat construction and mounting, cockpit padding and other factors that make each car unique.

The maker of the HANS device strongly recommended that all cars incorporate a six-point racing harness, not the five-point type with a single sub strap. Hubbard stressed the advantages 3-inch shoulder belts over 2-inch belts, recommending that belts be installed to run horizontally from the mounting points to the driver’s shoulders, with no more than 3 inches between their inner edges.

He also recommends that anyone contemplating a new roll cage follow the state of the art. For the production sedans, that’s the SCCAs build specs for World Challenge Touring Cars (available at www.scca.org). Roll bar padding also should meet SFI specifications.

D-Cel device, made by Hutchens, is based upon the principle of neck protection as an essential by product of core body anchoring.

Different Devices One Goal

The various head and neck restraint devices available to racers take different approaches to the same goal: restraining the head and helmet sufficiently in a crash to prevent large neck loads that could result in a basilar skull fracture.

The most widely publicized –and the most expensive—is the HANS, which consists of  a light weight yoke over the driver’s shoulders, held in place by the car’s shoulder harness and attached to the helmet with a pair of tether straps. The tethers provide some slack for the drivers normal head movement in racing, while restraining its forward movement in a crash.

Approaches vary among the competing designs. G-Force also utilizes a yoke, while the Isaac System link the driver’s helmet to the car’s shoulder belts through small detachable shock absorbers. Most other devices connect the helmet to a harness of straps on the driver’s body.

HANS device anchors to shoulders and utilizes scientifically proven principle tethers that attach to the helmet. Helmet connection points are critically important.

An obvious consideration in the selection of a head and neck restraint device is cost. Body harness designs such as D-Cel and Hutchens cost less initially than the HANS, but their harness must be replaced every two years to guard against degradation. Although the short HANS tethers also require replacement, they cost only about $25.

One concern expressed by the drivers is that HANS, Isaac and some others require that the helmet be drilled to attach hardware for the restraints. Helmet manufacturers say that such drilling technically voids the helmet warranty, although the mounts do not compromise the structural integrity of the helmet.

To avoid the complications, G-Force makes helmets with built-in anchors for its restraint system, and the next generation of helmets from sparco will come pre-drilled for tether attachments.

Manufacturers of the other types of safety equipment are recognizing the growing popularity of head and neck restraints. Sparco’s next generation of belts will be tapered specifically to work with the HANS device, and new seats from such makers as Sparco and Recaro also are designed to accommodate the HANS correctly.

VARA’s heightend emphasis on head nad neck restraints this year was initiated by president Craig Hibbard, promted in part by the fatal crash of a late-model sports car racer at Buttonwillow. Hibbard is hopping to continue the education process by invirting other safety industry experts to address VARA members at future events.

Device Sources

Here’s a brief list of the head and neck restraints currently on the market which are approved by SCCA Pro Racing. More information is available at the manaufatureres web sites lised below, and there’s plenty of intra-club conversation taking place on VARA’s internet message board (at www.vararacing .com).

Correct placement of the helmet connector to shoulder yoke tether on HANS Device is essential.

HANS Device was the first head-and-neck device to meet FIA compliance standards.

D-Cel Harness

Manufacturer: Safety Solutions

Price: $425

www.hutchensdevice.com

How it works: Basically a body harness that tethers to the helmet via cables, the D-Cel relies on the driver’s pelvis as its anchor and is totally independent of the cars lap and shoulder belts. The D-Cel is popular with endurance racers who need to make quick driver changes.

G-Force SRS-1

Manufacturere: G-Force Racing Gear

Price: $275 (plus helmet)

www.gforce.com

How it works: This system is designed specifically for the use with G-Force’s latest helmets (priced from $270), which have attachments embedded at the factory. A single cable runs between these attachments around the back of the helmet, where it connects to a yoke that is held under the car’s shoulder straps. A reinforcing reaction rod operates in conjunction with the short connecting strap.

HANS Device

Manufacturere: Hubbard/Downing Inc.

Price: from $850

www.hansdevice.com

How it works: A fiberglass carbon fiber and Kevlar yoke fits over the drivers shoulders, held in place by the cars shoulder straps. Two short tethers attach the helmet to the yokes high collar to keep the head upright and aligned with the torso in a collision. A range of recline angles is availavle, from production-car upright to open wheel reclining.

Hutchnes Device 

Manufacturere: Safety Solutions

Price: from $325

www.hutchensdevice.com

How it works: A body harness that connects to the car’s lap belt anchors this system. Cables connect the helmet to the harness shoulder straps so that head and neck loads are transferred to the lap belt. NASCAR drivers were among the early adopters of the Hutchens, in part due to the ease with which drivers wearing the device can get in and out of their race cars.

Isaac System

Manufacturere: Isaac, L.L.C.

Price: from $720

www.isaacdirect.com

How it works: The device uses small shock absorbers linked to each side of the hekmet to take up the forces acting on the head and neck. Isaac claims the device permits normal head movements while counteracting sudden forward movements, as well as those due to side impact. Quick-release pins conncet the shock absorbers to the helmet mounts.

Simpson System

Manufacturere: Simpson Performance

Price: from $450

www.simpsonracingproducts.com

How it works: This is a version of the D-Cel harness licensed to Simpson, using Simpson’s platinum webbing.

Tucker Helmet Harness

Manufacturer: Teamtech Motorsports Equipment

Price: $250

www.teamtechmotorsports.com

 How it works: Another body harness concept, the Tucker was originally designed for monster truck drivers. It is anchored by a broad strip which wraps around the drivers waist like a weightlifters belt. The car’s safety harness holds the Tucker tightly in place. The helmet is secured via tethers attached to the D-Rings.

Weight Device Pro

Manufacturere: Over 40 Racing Motorsports Accesories

Price: $150

www.over40racing.com

How it works: Jay Wright, an SCCA racer, created this inexpensive device which also utilizes a body harness. Three straps wrap around the helmet, looking into the eyeport at either side. A seatbelt buckle from a stock vehicle connects to a tongue on the back of the body harness. The model approved by SCCA Pro Racing is the preassembled version that requires the full body harness. 

After losing a wheel due to a snapped stub axel, John Dettinger countersteers and averts a flip, then stabilizes the car and eases off-track and away from traffic - all in a split second and on three wheels! Heads-up, safety-conscious handling of an unpredictable incident. Moral: Think, be ready, react with coolness.

By Rich Conklin | Originally published Spring 2004 in Vintage Voice Magazine |

He’d seen enough broken race cars. So when VARA President Craig Hibbard called all the drivers together for a special Sunday morning meeting at Fontana, he cut right to the quick: “How many of you,” he asked, “spent more than $20,000 to come out and go vintage racing.”

Sheepishly, hands started to rise, and you could see his point already beginning to sink in on the collective face of the assembled drivers: This sport is expensive enough. Let’s not make it even cost even more by bending fenders, mangling suspensions and putting personal health in jeopardy the very first race weekend of the season. After all, this is a form of recreation, something we do for fun.

It was a well-timed appeal for VARA racers to stop and think. Sure, everyone was anxious to get out and run after a long winter layoff. Sure, everyone wanted to get a jump on the new season’s points race, to flex new muscles, to see how the mechanical tweaks made in the off-season would make their cars quicker, faster, sharper.

The problem was that we, as a group of drivers sharing a responsibility for each other’s welfare, weren’t sharp. Our collective mindset was dulled by ego, indifference to our competitors and just plain rusty reflexes. We were thinking as individuals, out for personal gain.

And while racing is by its very nature a game of one-upmanship, the attitude being displayed during the Saturday qualifying sessions at Fontana was too much ‘up yours’ and not enough ‘we’re all in this together.’

As The Vintage Voice launches its multi-part series on Racing Safety, we begin with the issue of driver attitude, and the thought process each of us as drivers must share in for VARA races to remain a safe, fun and affordable form of recreation.

While dueling, John Beard Sr. spins his Alfa at speed on Turn 6 at Willow Springs. Sighting his opponent while skidding backwards, he applies both clutch and brakes to minimize car wander, gaining a measure of control. This allows Efrain Olivares Jr. (in his MG) to pick a quick-decision path safely around the outside of Beard. Moral: "Eyes up;" find the moving target and steer away from it.

Consider the consequences

It’s easy to dismiss the whole idea of racing safety is a contradiction in terms. Racing is predicated on probing limits, pushing a car to the edge in search of speed. To know the limit, you’ve probably had to cross it. Cross it, and there are usually consequences.

What are those consequences? Hibbard’s remarks at the Fontana driver’s meeting put the answer in monetary terms. If you’re lucky, your trip over the edge was a solo affair, and the economic impact confined to your own wallet. Maybe you overshot your braking zone and flat-spotted a set of tires. There’s $500 or so. Missed a shift, over-revved the motor and broke a rocker arm? There’s another chunk of change. Pranged a fender or crumpled your A-arms against a tire wall? Get out your checkbook. (And if you’ve done enough damage to the wall, be prepared for the track to send you sizeable repair bill.)

Collect one or more other cars in your misfortune, however, and the costs for everyone involved escalate. And it’s not just the money. It’s the time.

Ask yourself: What’s a weekend worth? A fun one, where you’ve experienced some good, clean dicing with your follow competitors and emerged intact is, as they say, priceless. A miserable one, where you’ve crashed and been sent home early is more than an economic loss. It’s an emotional loss. You and everyone else have lost out on a weekend of fun. You’ll waste days, if not weeks, putting things right again. Instead of going back to family and jobs feeling re-energized, you’re frustrated and upset.

It’s easy to dismiss a lot of contact as a ‘racing incident.’ It’s a diplomatic term that seems to absolve all parties of culpability, leaving everyone with a sense that the contact was purely accidental – the price racers inevitably pay for playing the game. But every racing incident started with a decision, and that decision was made in the context of a mindset.

Ask yourself: what is your mind set on? As a driver, it’s a question you need to ask yourself often. In fact, it’s something you should ask yourself before every season, every race weekend, every session, and every lap. Doing so will put yourself in the right mindset for racing safely.

What are your goals for the season?

It should go without saying that every driver’s goal is to prepare his or her car to the highest safety standards. Again, it’s about attitude. Do you truly put safety first? Is your roll cage built to the meet the most recent standards, or is it merely ‘good enough’?

Are your seatbelts on the long side of their lifespan? And what about you seat? Advances in materials technology have created a new generation of racing seats that offer a far greater degree of crashworthiness than seats of just a couple of years ago. Are they expensive? When you seriously consider what you’re protecting, the answer should be obvious.

Is your motor ready for another season? Are you building a motor for durability, or are you pushing the envelope, risking an engine failure that not only takes you out, but potentially exposes others to the oil and engine debris that you leave in your wake.

Assuming your car is truly sorted, what are your goals as a driver? If it’s to win a class championship, more power to you. But are you mentally prepared for the effort? One of the keys to mental preparation is managing your time in the months, weeks and days before a race weekend.

In the weeks before a given event, have you practiced? Have you gone to an ‘open test day’ and honed your skills in a relatively low-consequences environment? Both Buttonwillow and Willow Springs have open testing, virtually every Friday. That’s dozens of chances to practice different lines, explore deeper braking, and generally develop a heightened awareness of the nuances of the track, your car and your own abilities.

Also, are you taking full advantage of the learning opportunities while you’re at a VARA race? Watching the other race groups, for example going up to the Budweiser Balcony to observe what line other front-running drivers take into Turns 1 and 2, or through the Hill Complex of Turns 3, 4 and 5, can give you valuable insight into how to set up and execute a safe pass.

What are you goals for the next race weekend?

You should start thinking about your goals very soon after your last race. Is the next event at a track you’ve raced on before? If so, how long has it been? Tracks do get resurfaced, as was the case with Buttonwillow last year, and the effect on your racing lines and passing strategies can be critical. Again, take advantage of the opportunity to test your race car during an Open Test session. The cost is very modest when you consider the expense of learning the hard way, on the opening lap of a qualifying session.

As a full field of cars transitions from California Speedway's high-speed banked Turn 2 into a "funnel" 90-degree slow-speed turn, a bunch-up occurs and is scattered by a driver charging from mid-pack. Going inside and hot, he passes several cars but overshoots the turn. A domino collision occurs, and 6-7 drivers go off-track to avert contact. Moral: Don't let traffic overtake your adrenalin, and don't lose orientation of yourself and your car on the track.

What are your goals for the each session?

While it’s easy to jump right out on a Saturday morning practice session and start racing, it may not be a mindset that ensures a safe start to the weekend. Your goal for Saturday morning, and the Sunday morning warm-up, should be to get into the right mindset for safe racing. Know your car. Know the track. Know yourself. Know your competition. Then set your strategy for the afternoon race.

A word about Sunday’s warm-up. It’s just that, a chance to warm up the brain, get the synapses firing again, sharpen the reflexes for what comes later in the day. Contact between race cars during Sunday warm-ups is totally unacceptable. You should be driving at 7/10ths, leaving plenty of margin for surprises. Remember, a fellow driver may be nursing an ill-tempered car, or worse, around the track at 9 a.m. Sunday. Tread lightly.

What is your race strategy?

Have you mentally projected how you’re going to run your race? What is your attitude going into to Turn One? For too many drivers, that attitude may be to ‘take-no-prisoners” – to be the last driver to lift, to go the deepest into the braking zone before slowing. If so, that’s your decision. Just make sure it’s a decision based on experience. Be sure you’ve practiced that move, and that you can pull it off. Think about it in advance, or spend the next 13 months thinking about it in hindsight, maybe from the sidelines.

That’s the crux of what Craig Hibbard was saying: You’ve spent too much money, and too much time, to get sidelined by the 13/13 rule. Vintage racing is a non-contact sport. It says so right in the rule book. And if you choose to believe otherwise, you can take a well-deserved vacation from VARA in which to reconsider that view.

2009 Annual Meeting at Trench Shoring in Corona, CA.

By Brian Mertz | Photos by Gil Murrieta |

“In troubled times, people want to do what they love,” General Manager Darlene Longacre told attendees at VARA’s 2008 Annual Meeting on Jan. 3.

Facing a serious economic challenge amid the deepening worldwide recession, the club will depend on its members’ love of vintage racing to maintain high levels of participation in 2008.

Despite ever-increasing track rental, insurance and other costs, President Pat Kniep said that entry fees remain the same as last year.

“Participation in our events will be more important this year than at any time in the past,” he said, urging members to enter as many race weekends as they can.

Member turnout at the meeting might be taken as a positive sign, as it was standing-room-only at VARA stalwart Tom Malloy’s impressive museum/workshop in Corona.

After club officers’ reports, ballots were counted to elect VARA’s 2009 Board of Directors: 

After noting that VARA’s bank account took only a small hit last year, Treasurer Brad Long said that the club  “held our own, and that’s what we need to continue to do in the coming year.”

Kniep and Longacre praised the efforts and enthusiasm of the club’s volunteer workers as “the glue that keeps us together,” specifically noting the marketing outreach spearheaded by board members Kim Madrid and Phil Mendelovitz.

Mendelovitz pointed to the success of last year’s Ginetta reunion at Buttonwillow, and said more special marque events are being planned.

Other new programs include lower-cost tiered sponsorships, an online version of Vintage Voice magazine, and increased coordination with outside groups such as Formula 2000, which will share track expenses at four VARA events this year.

A race at Pahrump, Nev., was trimmed from the 2008 schedule, although it may be back next year.  Kniep said the board also considered dropping its July weekend at Fontana, but retained it because Speedway officials indicated that VARA might lose its priority status for two events per year at the track.

Encouraging reports were received on a pair of brand new racing venues, including Tom Malloy’s expansive motorsports complex near Lancaster and another road course being planned east of Palm Springs at Desert Center.

Malloy said his track’s Draft Environmental Impact Report has been approved, but it could be another year before the project is presented to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors for approval.

“I’ve written into the bylaws that I win any race,” Malloy joked, “even if I’m not there.”

FOR PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT, VISIT THE VINTAGE VOICE ONLINE GALLERY

A full listing of the 2009 Route 66 event results:

September 13-14, 2009

By Brian Mertz | Photos by Gil Murrieta

Bratwurst, sauerkraut and lager, topped off with a serving of German chocolate cake, provided a fine and fitting Saturday night repast for VARA’s traditional Oktoberfest gathering at Buttonwillow Raceway. 

There were hints, however, that sushi and saki might have to be on the menu for the club’s next feature race, the Porsche-Datsun Challenge at Las Vegas. 

During a slightly steamy Central Valley weekend of great competition, exciting challenges kept drivers running on full adrenalin and spectators enthralled in all race groups.
 

Kevin Roush (914-6) threads the needle between a battalion of 2002 BMW's.

The orange and white CPGT Porsche 914-6 of Justin Desimone took firm command of the race on the opening lap after overtaking polesitter Leon Desimone’s 914-6. Meanwhile the 914-6 of Kevin Roush was making a dramatic charge, jumping to third spot at the start from tenth on the grid, then moving up to second when Shaun Modisette’s 911 retired on lap 4.

Justin Desimone seemed en route to an easy win until he charged down the front straight closely pursued by a cloud of smoke, and he retired on lap 8. Roush took the overall and CPGT wins, followed by the thundering AS BMW of Tim Arnett and David Fletcher’s CPGT 914-6.

John Plavan’s 911 was fourth overall and first in CP. Kevin McDonald’s was fifth at the stripe and tops in CS, having worked his BMW 2002 way up from last on the grid and dueling with the similar cars of Jeff Ireland, Ken Blasko and Pam Plavan along the way.

William Hartman edged his nimble DP Lotus Super 7 past the DPM Volvo P180 of Ken Rodenbush on the second lap and was never headed enroute to the checker. Rodenbush remained in hot pursuit until a miscue on lap 4 dropped him back to tenth, but he proceeded to work his way forward and made a dramatic last-lap charge to snatch second overall from the very quick DP Triumph TR6 of Ken Knight by just under 0.3 seconds.

Knight held on for third overall and second in DP, followed by the CS BMW 2002s of Michael Ward and Kyle Blasman. A fine, race-long contest of handling versus horsepower took place in mid-pack as the DP1 Super Seven of Christopher Monier dueled with the solid-axle DP Corvette of Noel Park. Park muscled past the little Lotus on lap 4 and managed to hold on until the last turn, when the big ‘Vette slid wide and Monier won a drag race to the stripe.

Group 2 belonged to the CF Crossle 32F of Tim Cox, who quickly displaced polesitter Roy Jones’ FF Winkelmann and was never challenged for the class and overall wins. Steven Luftman’s CF Crossle 32F battled up from sixth on the grid to second place, while Jones outpaced Tom Sabo’s FF Caldwell D9 for third overall and first in class.

Murray Chalmers’s Lola T200 and Si Robin’s Titan kept things interesting by swapping positions for a while in mid-race, but the Lola motored away with a 3-second advantage in lap times to give Chalmers third in FF behind Sabo.

The rapid development of several very fast Datsun Z-cars certainly has ended the traditional Porsche parade at the front end of the C Production, although the German old guard shows no signs of giving in to the Japanese challenge. Among B Sedans, Alfas are taking aim at a long-dominant Datsun.

On the opening lap Justin Desimone shouldered his CPGT 914-6 past polesitter Chris Horn’s CPM 240Z on Buttonwillow’s back straight and stayed there, holding off a last-lap challenge in which both drivers posted blistering 2:01 laps to take the win by less than a second. The CPGT Porsches of Shaun Modisette (911) and Leon Desimone (914-6) worked their way past the CP Datsuns of Bryan Lampe and Phil Mendelovitz to take third and fourth overall.

On the pole for the B Sedan group’s split start, Steve Link’s Datsun 510 took off and was never headed despite a determined challenge from the Alfa GTV of David Kohl. Link eventually caught and passed the CP 911 of John Plavan and the CPGT 914-6 of James Cullen on his way to the class win, followed by the Alfas of Kohl and Rick Clemente.

Old Barnsmell won a barnburner in the ground-pounder group, as the veteran BP Corvette of Brad Long eked out an exciting 0.5-second win over a very fast APM Corvette driven by VARA rookie Dan Richardson. 

Spectators held their collective breath at the start, as Long’s orange and black roadster went side-by-side with polesitter Richardson’s black Sting Ray through Turn One and into the Off Ramp. Although Richardson’s big-block coupe enjoyed an obvious power advantage, Long ducked past on the next lap and the pair fought nip and tuck for the entire race. Lap after lap, Long built an advantage in the corners and the black coupe simply erased it on the straights. Despite a half-second gap in fast-lap times, Long held on for the overall win while Richardson took second. 

Tim Arnett’s BMW 3.0CS came from the back of the grid of finish third and tops in AS, followed by the AS BMW CSL of Cuffy Crabbe – who, incidentally, found late speed on the final lap and set quickest lap time of the race by more than 2 seconds over Richardson’s Corvette!

Bill Modisette’s FF2000 Zetec got past Richard Wilkinson’s FSV3 Ralt RT5 on the first lap and proceeded to run away from the field thanks to a full-second advantage in lap times. The FC2 Van Diemen of Ernest Becker chased down Jim Wilson’s FF2000 Van Diemen in the final lap to claim third overall.

Meanwhile, there was lots of action a bit further back, as Paul Fruchbom (CS2 Swift DB2) fought his way through determined competitors from 11th on the grid to sixth overall and first in class. Mixing it up along the way and taking the checker right behind Fruchbom were the WSR1 Toyotas of Daniel Martinez and Wayne Blasman, who finished first and second in class.

Another split start launched tremendous contests in the Formula Vee and small-bore production classes, led by a stirring, tire-smoking, wheel-to-wheel battle between the killer Vees of Lawrence Wittemore and Kim Madrid. Wittemore’s Zink C4 ultimately prevailed over Madrid’s Caldwell D-13 as the pair claimed first and second respectively, overall and in FV1.

Jon Wong’s yellow FV Formcar followed the leaders to take third overall and the class win, while the Caldwell D-13s of J. Dale Barry and Rudy Madrid enjoyed another great duel, ultimately won by Barry by 0.2 seconds to claim fourth overall and third in FV1, with Madrid close behind to take second in FV.

Don Readinger’s Zink C4 was third in FV after an entertaining scrap with the rare FV2 Franco Ferrier of Joe Fuhring.

Among the small-bore sports racers and production cars, Gary Shuman’s FP Spitfire was simply dominant, scrambling from 25th on the grid to overtake Don Plotkin’s HMod Kangaroo on lap 7, passing many of the Vees from the front end of the split start and winding up first in group and seventh overall. Plotkin fended off a determined challenge from the FP Triumph TR3 of Daryll Clark to take second.