Friday, June 13, 2008

Racin’ round the clock

Well actually I should be saving that title for this weekend’s upcoming 76th; Did somebody say 76? As Ain’t ‘dare some song ‘bout 76 Zambonies, err trombones? Oh yeah, I meant the 76th running of the 24 Heurs du Mans, which by far is my all time favourite endurance race…

And speakin’ of endurance, that’s exactly what was needed last weekend in order to watch the plethora of motor racing going on in Norte Americano… As I think I watched too much racing… If there’s such a thing as TOO MUCHOE RACING?

Six Hours at the Glen
Its funny how parts of the country are apparently having a HEAT wave, while others are flooding and here in the Pacific Northwest we’re still in the midst of a COLD Front, as there’s actually SNOW advisories for all of our Mountain passes, with up to 5’ of SNOW expected! As we’re just 11 days away from Summer Solstice, but as one former well known Northwest weather prognosticator once said; “Summer in Seattle DOESN’T Start until July 12th” As we’re two degrees under the 1917 Record temperatures for this time of year which were 10 deg f below our normal 68+ deg f, and that’s all of the weather chatter for now… As you may be wondering what the Frill’ that has to do with the Six Hours at the Glen?

Well unbeknownst to me, portions of the East Coast were broilin’ HOT, including the Upstate Region of New York, where Watkins Glen is located, as the Gran Am road racing series was contesting the Salem 6hrs of the Glen and the drivers were literally suffocating in the extreme temperatures of their enclosed cockpits…

I only found out about this race since I was tuning into SPEED for the F1 qualifying session from the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal and having tuned in a wee bit early got to hear Memo Gidley being interviewed after having made a driver switch and having to compete WITHOUT a COOL-Suit in the sweltering heat… Alluding to something ‘bout frying an egg on the dashboard came to mind here…

So, I’m game and I decided to watch the final portion of the Salem 6hr race which perhaps would have been more appropriately named Salem’s Lot… Of which the original movie with David Soul was a terrific horror flick, but I digress once again! Any-hoo, I decided to go outside in order to beat the RAIN and managed to get back in time to catch the final hours coverage, where Scott “Juicyfruit” Pruett was compared to the Incredible Hulk as he was doing his best “He-man” (Ironman) impersonation by driving the final three hours of the event… And this was apparently WITHOUT a COOL-Suit! As ex-Trans Am sparring’ pardoner Dorsey Schroder was awed by Pruett’s physical stamina… As Pruett won the race along with co-driver Memo Rojas, their fourth victory in six races…

Even better yet, was Max “The Ax” Angelelli’s last minute barging his way forwards to secure the third and final step upon the podium, as it was simply amazing that the SunTrust team was racing at all… As its transporter had burned to the ground on the way home from the preceding race, (In Texas?) thus, the Wayne Taylor Racing team was forced to pull back its older racecar that was currently for sale and hurriedly prepare it for the event, albeit with major assistance from fellow competitor Chip Ganassi…

Psst, Mikey A. perhaps you should do the right thing and throw Sarah Fisher a bone…