1997 Detroit SCCA Season Ender

(As originally posted to the Talon Digest)

Sunday, Oct 12, the SCCA Detroit region held its last race of the 1997 season at the GM proving grounds at Milford, MI.

Those of you who have been reading these posts know that invariably, after a Solo race I whine about how terrible the stock tires are. You also may remember me getting a set of R1s at the Nats this year. No more whining, right?

Well... not just yet.

I don't have a second set of wheels yet - though not for lack of trying.

I actually had a set lined up, I was going to drive to Milwaukee to pick them up Friday night, but at the last minute, the deal fell through. It didn't seem worth it to pull the street tires off, swap the R1s on, and then reverse the procedure (exposing all 8 tires to the risk of damage each time) so I was back on the street tires for this race.

No big deal. As long as I held on to my "fastest GS street tire guy" title, and I wasn't too far behind the race tire guys, I'd be happy. After all, it's only a regional...

The track was very narrow, tight, and twisty, and had me dipping into 1st gear no less than 4 times. Yuk. After 2 runs, I was a second behind the race tire times, and firmly in the lead of the street tire pack (by 2 seconds) so I was pretty happy.

Then Kevin Royce, who drives a 95 Talon on R1s (and who is an excellent driver, and was leading the event) comes over to talk to me. It seems that thanks to perfect attendance and consistent finishes, I'M LEADING THE REGIONAL GS CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AS OF THE START OF THIS RACE!

Furthermore, the only guy in contention with me only has to beat me by .5 seconds to take the overall championship. If I can get closer than .5 seconds, or if I beat him today, then I'm the guy!

AND MY RACE TIRES ARE IN MY BLOODY BASEMENT!

Needless to say, there was no way that was going to happen. I tried pushing harder than ever on the next run, but the tires were just not going to work any faster than they already had.

Final result: 8th on a 19 car field, right behind the race tire guys, and #2 overall in GS for the year.

Drat.

Next year, we're running a fully prepared GS car. We're attending all the Divisional events, all the Regional events, and all the Corvette Club, Porsche Club, BMW Club, Alfa Romero Club, English Orphaned Reverse-Rotation Engine Club, and any other club events we can find. Practice time is over, it's time to get serious.