Following the drama of The Mitty and the engine overhaul, we made the long tow to Watkins Glen hoping to use this event as a test session in preparation for the SVRA Zippo race there in September. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out to be either drama free or a good test session.

Edward leads Clair onto the track for one of the rare dry sessions

It was the first race at Watkins Glen for both Edward and Clair, and it rained every day. Including test day on Thursday, Edward had only parts of two sessions on a dry track that he didn’t have to deal with some Mickey Mouse mechanical issue.

Clair about to enter what would soon become his “favorite track”

Clair’s car ran well right up to when it stopped on Sunday. His fast lap for the weekend was a 2:09, in spite of the conditions. Well done Clair!

On Saturday the rain was accompanied by lightening, causing SVRA to wisely bring in the corner workers. One of our sprint races was cancelled; the other ran on a totally wet track. We were there to test, so both Clair and Edward decided to sit that one out.

Sunday morning it looked like we might have a shot at a dry endurance race. The ceiling was about 1200 feet and for an hour before our race it felt like it was about to rain any second. It didn’t actually start until we got on the false grid. Clair started 4th and Edward 5th.

Lap 2 of the Enduro, Frank Beck holding on to second place

It stopped raining as the cars got on the track, but of course the track was wet. Edward took the lead as he passed the start finish line at the end of the first lap. Clair was fourth until his clutch gave up. It was the last race for his McLeod clutch, as we planned on installing a Tilton NASCAR setup after this race. Two laps after Clair retired we got a full course yellow, which was Edward’s cue to come in for his mandatory pit stop. Unfortunately, Edward caused the full course yellow! The black 38 car broke a spindle flange, which is the only part of it’s driveline that is not 4130 chrome moly steel. In 46 years of racing these cars, including all the years we ran slicks in SCCA, we never broke a spindle flange.

We will be adding the chrome moly replacement part to our Racing Parts list as soon as they become available.

Under braking on a rare patch of dry pavement

Because of a lack of track time on a dry racetrack, Edward never got below a 2:06. We know we have to get below 2 minutes to be competitive with the fastest cars that normally run the race in September. I think we will get there.

Alan Sevadjian

Next stop: The Koehler Brian Redman event at Road America