Space City Panteras' Texas World Speedway track event #3 - Mike Drew reports

From:	MikeLDrew@aol.com
To:	Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: TWS, Day One
Date:	Sun, 25 Feb 2001 00:40:53 -0500

Hi guys,

Too tired to generate a full report here, although I shall do so tomorrow 
night or Monday.  Suffice it to say that those of us who made it down here 
had a fantastic time today.  The weather was a bit grim in the morning, and 
by late morning had turned positively English in nature.  As a consequence, 
several Pantera drivers explored alternate routes around the track, many of 
them involving mud and grass!

Suddenly the clouds parted and the sun shone, just in time for a group photo 
on the front straight.  13 Panteras took to the track (Gray Gregory managed 
to FORGET his other Pantera in the pits!)

The runs continued through the afternoon with zero incidents, and no 
mechanical maladies either.  Right at the end of the day, John Taphorn let 
some (but not all) of the smoke out of his ignition system.  With many 
eyeballs attempting to determine the source of the smoke, our ears could hear 
the screaming of his alternator.

Turns out the alternator had become separated from the alternator!  After a 
few minutes of wrenching the old unit was in-hand, just in time for our 
departure to town--he got a new one in town for under $30 (try THAT with your 
30-year-old Maserati!)

Kirby had done a bang-up job of rallying the troops, and we had almost 40 
people for dinner in a nice Texas steakhouse.  Good times, good company, 
great food--gotta love it!

Long-distance awards to Gary Hall, Mad Dog, Mike Trusty and Yours Truly.  The 
fellas we've been talking with/about lately who have the Long and Newman kit 
car Pantera up in Oklahoma City were also here, at their first-ever Pantera 
event, gathering ideas and figuring out what goes where on a real Pantera, so 
they can git home and git to wrenchin'!  From their descrip over the place, 
but quite to the contrary--their car has a beautiful paint job, and is 
essentially complete and running--it's now down to the (many) details, such 
as an interior....

Anyway, now it's late and we've got a full day of open-tracking tomorrow, so 
I'm hitting the rack.

Gotta love this brand of fellowship....

Mike

P.S.  The event organizers are extremely great to the drivers, but curiously 
allow NO passengers to accompany them in any run group, so track whores like 
me who flew 2000 miles to get open-track jollies get left out of the 
action...:<(  Hoping to perhaps snake a ride with Keith Verges (officially 
licenced instructor) even though it will have to be in his spec-race Miata 
instead of one of his Panteras, as his Panteras are both dead right now....


From:	MikeLDrew@aol.com
To:	Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: TWS Report (finally!)
Date:	Wed, 28 Feb 2001 21:51:24 -0500

Hi guys,

It's taken me a few days to wade through 100-150 photos to put together a 
montage to summarize the event.

A few anecdotes worth sharing:

1)  In an effort to get some great photos, I borrowed a dually pickup truck 
and started driving around the (largely abandoned) racetrack.  I found an 
access road which lead up around the high banks, and managed to position 
myself RIGHT on the wall, at the end of the safety fence, and lean out over 
the track and shoot photos of the cars flying past at 120-150 mph.  Whoosh!  
:>)

Unfortunately, I was TOO STUPID to hide the truck, and soon I was discovered. 
 Safety Nazis came and chased me away after only a few photos.  But those I 
got, were keepers! :>)

2)  I then continued ambling around the outside of the track, and managed to 
talk my way into a corner worker station.  There I was able to get some great 
shots of cars cornering hard, as well as listen in to the corner worker radio 
chatter.

I was at Turn 4.  The original racetrack configuration was a simple oval; 
later on, they bulldozed a couple of openings in the back wall and ran the 
road course into the back 40.  So the cars leave the front straight, wind 
through the infield, then cross the back straight and enter the back portion 
of the road course, wind around some more and then cross back into the 
infield.

The hole in the cement wall is protected by tire barriers, but it is still 
rather dangerous, and for events like this, is designated a full-time 
no-passing zone for safety.

So there I am, watching the cars on the track, and rounding turn 3 comes 
Grandma Antenucci, driving like a graduate of the Linda Adler School of 
Pantera Speed.  He pulled over off the racing line and slowed down so 
dramatically that I presumed the car had died!  He waved to the 
(considerable) traffic bunched up behind him, and they zoomed past, obviously 
coming to the same conclusion.  Once they passed, Dennis continued on.

The corner worker witnessed the cars passing Dennis and immediately got on 
the radio:

"Aack!  Three cars just passed the yellow Pantera between turns 3 and 4!  
Numbers 777, 28 and 74!"  The organizer of the event immediately instructed, 
"BLACK FLAG for numbers 777, 28 and 74!"

The next lap, here comes Grandma Antenucci again, puttering along at 
embarassing speeds with a big traffic jam behind.  He again pulls this stunt, 
and three more cars flash past him.

The corner worker didn't see his signal to them, but DID see the cars passing!

"Aack!  Three MORE cars just passed the yellow Pantera between turns 3 and 4! 
 Numbers 34, 106 and 61!"  The organizer of the event immediately instructed, 
"BLACK FLAG for numbers 34, 106 and 61!" and they, too, were dutifully 
removed from the race track to get their pee-pees whacked.

When he came around for the third time, I saw another train of cars clogged 
up behind them, and even though I have loyalties to the Pantera clan, I 
couldn't let the injustice continue.  I tapped the corner worker and said, 
"Watch this..."

She watched as Dennis pulled the same stunt for a THIRD time.  However, the 
drivers of the cars behind had seen half the field being black-flagged and 
knew what was up.  So as Dennis pulled off the line and lifted completely out 
of the gas, the Mustang following behind had to suddenly jump on the brakes 
to keep from accidently passing.  The Porsche behind the Mustang had to brake 
even harder, and the car behind the Porsche got Seriously Sideways attempting 
to avoid the rapidly growing parking lot in front of him.

"AAAACCCCCKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!  The driver of the yellow Pantera number 69 tried 
to WAVE CARS PAST on the straight between turns 3 and 4!!!!!!"

"BLACK FLAG for the yellow Pantera number 69!"

At this point, the rapidly growing group of disgruntled drivers in the hot 
pits were dismissed to rejoin the racetrack, and Mad Dog finally got what was 
coming to him!!!! :>)

I'd like to again express my thanks to the Texicans who were such gracious 
hosts--especially Gray Gregory, who once again opened his home (and his 
garage) to me like a brother.

I had the rare privilidge of first riding with Gray to the racetrack on 
Saturday morning, in the passenger seat of his father's new Ferrari 550 
Maranello.  I had driven the car the day before, a total of about 15 feet, 
and was singularly unimpressed.  It had a distinctly Japanese feel, very much 
like a Nissan 300 ZX.  Filled with modern gadgets, digital stuff on the dash, 
the damn thing even goes "bing bing bing" when you leave the door open!  And 
it has power steering.  I felt Enzo would cringe....

It seemed to be little more than a big Nissan.  But that impression was 
changed after riding in it--it is MUCH more than a big Nissan.  In fact, it 
is a very, VERY fast big Nissan!!!!  The V-12 is horribly muted and in fact 
sounds very much like a Nissan straight 6, but it really pulls hard!  The car 
is smooth, very fast, comfortable, and still manages to be filled with stupid 
Italianisms.  For example, there is a row of little toggle switches on the 
dash with cryptic symbology--right next to the windshield defroster switch is 
the trunk release, and the gas cap release.

Guess who drove into TWS with the gas cap popped? :>)

Still, it was certainly a fun ride.  It would have been nice to drive it at 
speed, but that wasn't gonna happen.  Gray drove it on the track the first 
day, but soon found that it's not nearly as much fun driving your father's 
$250K car and being fearful the whole time, as it is to flog the hell out of 
your OWN car!  So he wisely parked it and concentrated on his own cars the 
second day.

On Sunday, I was forced (oh darn) to drive his yellow Pantera home for him, a 
drive of about an hour (normally!)  It is a very nicely sorted, unobtrusive 
yellow L-model, fitted with a Dennis Quella 377 stroker and Wilkinson wheels. 
 This thing flat-out hauls--it will certainly blow the doors off MY Pantera 
(although I'm hoping that's largely down to tuning or lack thereof.)

The first half of the drive home was on freeways, ambling along at 75-80 mph 
or so.  But then we turned off, and onto a delightful series of rural 
two-lane roads, with long straights connected by gentle curves.  It reminded 
me of rural France, actually.

Gray was in the lead and I had to keep up since I didn't know where we were 
going!  We cruised at mostly 80-100 mph, but sometimes he would get trapped 
behind somebody.  I'd hang back about 1/8 mile (I don't like tailgating cars 
which cost more than my house!), and when he'd get a chance to make his move 
around the offending obstruction, I'd move at exactly the same time.  Of 
course, he'd zip around and pull in front of them, while I'd have a full 1/8 
mile of acceleration to catch up to the obstacle before passing.  

Knowing I was dealing with a super-fast Ferrari, I'd typically drop down into 
4th gear and swoop around, reaching 5000 rpm or so before grabbing 5th as I 
coasted in behind Gray.  One pass found me starting from aways further back, 
and I soon found myself at 5500 rpm in 4th before even reaching the 
Winnebago!  So I grabbed 5th and hammered it again, and as I pulled in front 
of the guy (and away from him) I glanced down and saw 135 mph on the 
speedometer.

:>)

I then had to get on the brakes pretty hard since Gray was "only" doing 100 
or so.  The Wilwoods had a nervous character and the car had a pronounced 
pull to the left that wasn't there before; Gray later told me the car gets 
wacky like that after every track event, but with a few street miles, the 
brake settle down again?  Weird stuff...

Anyway, I was pretty stoked when we arrived at Gray's house, considerably 
earlier than I'd thought we would!

The next morning was another treat--Gray threw me the keys to his '67 Ferrari 
330 GTC and we went out for an hour-long backroads blast.  I'd always wanted 
to drive a '60's Ferrari V-12 car, and this was the culmination of a 
life-long dream.

What a treat!  The motor issues the most mellifluous sound imaginable--a 
wonderful combination of gears, chains and exhaust that the 550 Marenello 
could only HOPE to achieve!  The thin wood-rimmed steering wheel and simple 
interior both scream 1960's, and are a tactile joy.

Not so, however, is the gearbox, which seems to be a most diabolical 
contraption.  Although nominally an all-synchro 5-speed transaxle (sound 
familiar?), it is cantankerous to the extreme.  Forget about slipping back 
into 1st gear as you glide to a stop--CRUNCH!!!!  And forget about shifting 
from 4th to 5th gear while accelerating--CRUNCH!!!!????  You have to shift 
out of 4th, wait a second, then ease it into 5th; by that time, the punks in 
the Mustang have pulled ahead by 30 feet!

But the chassis was sublime--the brakes strong and powerful (considering I 
wasn't pushing them too hard) with a nice pedal feel, and the steering giving 
all sorts of feedback.  The motor was reasonably powerful, but nothing 
earth-shattering; I'd estimate something shy of 300 hp on tap, in the same 
league as my Shelby GT-350 replica, perhaps a bit slower.

But what a joy the car was to drive in 3rd and 4th gear, along these 
beautiful roads with gentle curves, slightly undulating terrain and beautiful 
scenery, with the engine singing at 4000-5000 rpm.  The experience comes 
highly recommended!

Upon our return to his house, we took the time to shoot some photos
and it's clear you couldn't beat the smile off my face with a 2x4.

Thanks again to everyone involved with this weekend's event, but especially 
Gray for making several dreams come true in just a few short days! :>)

Mike

From:	david bell 
To:	Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: Re:  RE: More on TWS
Date:	Wed, 28 Feb 2001 09:17:50 -0500

I'm definitely one of those who, to quote Kirby, went home from TWS with a
big grin on his face.  TWS is an absolutely spectacular track for either
experienced or beginner drivers - a very fast, smooth, wide track with lots
of banking (even on a lot of the infield turns) and broad runoff areas in
case you loose it.  The Driver's Edge did a great job of providing quality
instructors and also limiting the number of cars (~100 total across 5 run
groups) to minimize the trains behind slower drivers.

Coming down off the top of the TWS front straight (it's actually a very
broad banked sweeper), slamming onto the infield flat at over 100 mph, and
trying to slow just enough to burn through turn 2 is an awesome experience. 
The view from the top of the banking is almost panoramic (though it's hard
to really appreciate it at 130+) and as you turn in to turn 1 you literally
feel like you're about to jump off a cliff.

This is the third time that the Space City Pantera Club has organized and
hosted a track event at TWS - thanks mostly to Kirby Schrader's and John
Taphorn's efforts and persistence. The Pantera presence has grown each year
and this year included out-of-state appearances by Mad Dog, Gary Hall, Mike
Trusty, and Mike Drew and others. I'm convinced that the TWS track event
could easily become one of the premier Pantera events of the year.  Ya'll
come on down next year.  Big grins guaranteed.


Dave Bell


P.S. - As Major Drew commented, you should definitely make sure that your
fender lips are rolled tight before hitting this track.  On the other hand,
I've gotten pretty good with a 2X4 and claw hammer (wooden softball bats
work well also) and I'll be glad to help you out.

 
From: "Antenucci, Dennis" 
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: RE: More on TWS
Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2001 13:35:51 -0800

Well I certainly left with a smile on my face.....it was my 3rd TWS event
and that event just gets better everytime. . .One of the big reasons is
Kirby.... certainly he deserves an awful lot of credit for organizing,
planning, coordinating and puting it all together.....he certainly had help
from many of the other guys but it was a monumental effort on his part. Also
our track event hosts (forget their name... Kirby?) were very gracious,
provided some excellent can-do and experienced instructors (unlike the
Por**he Club!) and corner workers.....As usual the Space City Pantera
chapter owned their arms and hearts (thank you Gray, Jim, David, Jack,
Robin, John(aka: Mary), Fred, Kelly, Bob, Tom, Nick, Mike, Tom, Doc, Gary
Hall, etc. . .Kirby conveniently left out the unofficial grudge match
between himself and John(aka; Mary) Taphorn....While Kirby led most of the
"unofficial" race somewhere during the last two laps or so Mary passed him
in his 406ci stroker Cleveland and just kept pouring the pedal to the metal
until he finally met victory. . .of course it didn't help Kirby that he got
a black flag during the race or that Mary had to replace a alternator and
had some ignition troubles....I quess the real race will be next year! hehe
Actually we ALL got black flagged spankings throughout the day for the usual
"perceived" corner worker stuff....The corner workers were first class and
did a great job all weekend long....and there is nothing quite as exciting
as plowing through a heavy down pour through the turns and banked
oval....But as bad as the weather was Saturday morning it dried up Saturday
afternoon and was beautiful sunday...everyone looked like Larry the Lobster
by Sunday afternoon.    
P.S. Did anyone say anything about WHO won the "REAL" race up on the banked
oval?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FWIW
MD