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AURORA, INDIANA |
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RACE REPORT
A ROAR OF THUNDER
AUGUST 23-24, 2003
For this race, the team van was filled with the sounds of Playstation racing games. Kevin taught Kai-the mechanic in training-he’s now 11, and his older cousin Travis how to play GT3. Rainer and I listened to a full complement of Stryper and Michael Sweet for the trip. We didn’t have our favourite music for this Indiana trip, which includes the Jim Nabors song “Back Home again in Indiana”. We are long time fans of the Indy 500 until its’ diminished stature in 1996, but the song still sticks with us.
Friday night, the race committee again hosted a meal for the drivers and crews. It was again fantastic and allows us a time to absorb the warmth of a small community that knows how to do things in a big way.
Saturday morning, we arrived at the race site before the street had been closed to traffic. When it had closed, we sought a spot that would be central. However, George Galloway had occupied it, and he was welcome to keep it. He had a choice spot, situated on top of last night’s road-kill. With the temperature rising, it would be a less desirable spot in no time.
This race site is fast becoming one of the best. The organisers are fantastic and have made this into a big event for the town. Out of their control is the location of the fuel truck, which is conveniently located about 3 blocks from our pit spot. In the searing heat, it’s pretty enjoyable carrying 10 gallons of fuel. It reminds that we aren’t big time racers.
The two heat races were relatively uneventful for me, but Sunday would be a lot of fun.
Saturday night we arrived in anticipated a nice meal at the restaurant across the parking lot from our hotel. After over an hour wait, we left, but the time was spent with Sally Titus (the chief scorer) explaining the late-starting rule. Well, I still don’t understand the rule, but she does explain it well.
At the Sunday morning chapel service, NASCAR chaplain Ron Pegram filled in for Laurie Vidal who was committed to another boat race. During Ron’s service, he asked “what is God?”. My Mom answered “love”. Ron said, “you get an ‘A’”. Leave it to my Mom to get an A on the Bible quiz.
The Final would be our only outing on Sunday. Starting 3rd, having again qualified 4th after the qualifying timed lap, we compiled finishes good enough to seed 3rd behind Haraway and Floyd, and ahead of Nichols as was typical. The final ran cleanly for 8 complete laps. It was awfully close in corner one, so I skirted wide and came out appearing to be in 4th. Quickly I was ahead of Nichols, who surprisingly became a non-factor in this event for me. Whittington was mired near the back of the pack off the start and got bumped which hurt his chances for a good race. Riding over the rollers on the back straight became commonplace, and was pretty manageable for my Rogerson built boat. Nichols was struggling terribly, and Floyd was getting a lot more air than he wanted. Suddenly, about half a straight ahead, Haraway bounced off two rollers and put his nose high into the air as he jumped off the waves. This sent his boat backwards and off the side, and he emerged quickly from his overturned boat. On the way up I could tell it was a Pugh, but was shocked to learn it was Haraway. He was uninjured.
The subsequent re-start, was great for me. From second, I was almost ahead of Floyd at the pin. Some think I was ahead, and trimmed in too much and lost too much speed. I’d never been this close to the lead before, and I suppose I cracked under the pressure. Must make sure that doesn’t happen again. I challenged Floyd lap after lap, in a fun race. For me it now surpasses the Formula Vee battle versus Craig Ferrier in Sudbury 2000. I stayed within 1.5 to 3.5 seconds behind Floyd throughout the race, trying inside and outside of him. One trip down the back straight I thought I had him when he launched off a roller, but he fared well, and retained the slim lead. Nichols followed about half a straight behind.
A quick interview on the shoreline gave series organiser Sam Winer a laugh he would remember. Mike Tilton asked how I managed the rough water. I responded, “it was quite nice”. I don’t think I cared. I had my best APR finish, and the best ever by a Canadian, so it was all good. After the race, we were presented trophies on the podium where a large part of the crowd amassed. The 3 of us signed autographs for about 25 minutes until there were no more requests. It was a fun day in the sunshine.
Dave Whittington made his first trip as crew for Whittington racing and he and Kevin enjoyed a deep-fried chocolate bar. Not wanting Kevin to die on this trip, we limited him to one of these. Middle-American carnival food at it’s best!
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