alfradio
Member +
Ever since my ill-fated trip to Maple Grove Raceway back on
April of 2006 I vowed NEVER AGAIN to race at a track from
which my car couldn't be towed home if the worst thing
happened.
I was racing TERCEL4 back then and it was running so well,
especially after having solved the "slipping clutch" problem
which turned out to actually be a short in one of my coil packs!
Several TO.COM members were attending this gathering
(a chance to run some Tercels for a change) and I was just
pumped up, SKY HIGH!!!!
In the time since that incident, I'd always felt the urge to go
back... to run on the same track where once a year John Force
runs but.... quite frankly, I WAS SCARED... and the more I thought
about it, the more I came to realize that, I made that vow so
I wouldn't have to return to the scene of (for me) a very
traumatic episode!
All those thoughts filled my mind this morning at 6:30 as
embarked on the 2.5 hour trek back to the Grove...
My plan was to make as many passes as I could between
10am and 12 noon and then head on up into New England for
my 45th high school class reunion...
I'd checked the schedule and today was to be just test'n'tune
but, what I didn't know was, a rained out event from last
weekend had been rescheduled for today and THAT (along
with several bad oil downs) caused many unforeseen delays
and long waits in the lanes resulting in just 3 passes in 4 hours!
All this waiting gave me more time to THINK about the hundred
things which could go wrong... and to make matters worst,
I'm the lead car in staging lane #2 so I will have my choice of
lanes... do I take the left lane (where 2 years ago TERCEL4
was mortally wounded?) or do I behave like a superstitious old
fool and slink into the far lane????
When they started pulling cars from my lane, I said "SCREW IT!
What happened 2 years ago, happened TWO YEARS AGO!" so,
I swung TERCEL1 into the near lane, burned through the
water box, staged and waited. Did I hold back on that first run?
What do you think?
(well, perhaps just a little...)
Two years ago, as I pulled up to the water box,
I snapped this photo...
Click on this year's photo (below) for TERCEL1's
2nd pass down the 1/4 mile and enjoy my
return to Maple Grove!
April of 2006 I vowed NEVER AGAIN to race at a track from
which my car couldn't be towed home if the worst thing
happened.
I was racing TERCEL4 back then and it was running so well,
especially after having solved the "slipping clutch" problem
which turned out to actually be a short in one of my coil packs!
Several TO.COM members were attending this gathering
(a chance to run some Tercels for a change) and I was just
pumped up, SKY HIGH!!!!
In the time since that incident, I'd always felt the urge to go
back... to run on the same track where once a year John Force
runs but.... quite frankly, I WAS SCARED... and the more I thought
about it, the more I came to realize that, I made that vow so
I wouldn't have to return to the scene of (for me) a very
traumatic episode!
All those thoughts filled my mind this morning at 6:30 as
embarked on the 2.5 hour trek back to the Grove...
My plan was to make as many passes as I could between
10am and 12 noon and then head on up into New England for
my 45th high school class reunion...
I'd checked the schedule and today was to be just test'n'tune
but, what I didn't know was, a rained out event from last
weekend had been rescheduled for today and THAT (along
with several bad oil downs) caused many unforeseen delays
and long waits in the lanes resulting in just 3 passes in 4 hours!
All this waiting gave me more time to THINK about the hundred
things which could go wrong... and to make matters worst,
I'm the lead car in staging lane #2 so I will have my choice of
lanes... do I take the left lane (where 2 years ago TERCEL4
was mortally wounded?) or do I behave like a superstitious old
fool and slink into the far lane????
When they started pulling cars from my lane, I said "SCREW IT!
What happened 2 years ago, happened TWO YEARS AGO!" so,
I swung TERCEL1 into the near lane, burned through the
water box, staged and waited. Did I hold back on that first run?
What do you think?
(well, perhaps just a little...)
Two years ago, as I pulled up to the water box,
I snapped this photo...
Click on this year's photo (below) for TERCEL1's
2nd pass down the 1/4 mile and enjoy my
return to Maple Grove!
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