2005
Brian Redman
Jefferson 500
Brian Redman
Jefferson 500
Jol's 1973 Chevron B23 at the Jefferson 500
photos: conceptcarz.com
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2005
Brian Redman Jefferson 500 |
Jol's 1973 Chevron B23 at the Jefferson 500 photos: conceptcarz.com |
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DANTZIG PAGES
Race 2005 Lime Rock PCA 2005 Brian Redman Archives SPEED CHANNEL 2002 Lime Rock PCA |
Chevron Tales from Summit Point By: Jol Dantzig The Jefferson 500, organized by racing legend Brian Redman, is one of the most anticipated vintage race weekends on the east coast. Over 200 racers descend upon Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia for almost an entire week of vintage fun. For me, it would be my first race in my Chevron B23.
Friday's Practice Some people like to wade in the water before trying the deep stuff; others jump right in. I tend to be the former type, but my race weekend at Summit Point was shaping up to be more like leaping off a cliff. As practice day dawned cold and rainy I realized that because I didn't have any wet-weather tires, I'd be a spectator. I wasn't about to borrow tires and go out in the rain—the consequences were too big for too little gain. The idea of qualifying the next day without practice was chilling, but better than wrecking in the wet. Saturday's Qualifying Having skipped the waterlogged practice sessions, I put the car on the false grid with more questions than answers. I was having trouble getting the car in gear and the clutch seemed to need a bit more |
travel than would have been my choice, but I figured that was small change. Just for good measure, our crew informed me that a car in the previous group had dumped a huge amount of oil on the track from turn one all the way down the chute after turn four.
I was a bit nervous as I looked around at the other cars, including the legendary Joe Buzzetta in the Red Rose Chevron B19 and the always-quick Pete Gulick in his B23. I figured that at the very least I could beat a few Porsches and the lone Corvette. As we pulled out on track, I was reminded how nice these cars are to drive—more like a big go kart than anything else I'd ever driven. The warm up lap was smooth, and as I put my foot into it on the straight, my grin was widening. My euphoria was short-lived as I tried to downshift for turn one the first time. I thought that I had a stuck throttle because the motor was revving like crazy. I realized that I was pushing the throttle pedal with the right side of my shoe, so I lifted and the revs came down. I then pushed the brake with the tip of my foot in order to avoid the gas, and motored around the turn. This was going to be a problem.
I tried every angle of approach with varied results until I settled on using the tip of my shoe for the brake. This would at least allow me to concentrate a little more on remembering the track. |
By now, even the Corvette had gone by and before too long, cars were coming around to lap me. Imagine my feeling as a 914-6 like my own ducked inside me in the carousel! I resolved myself to making sure I didn't spoil anyone's qualifying and tried to be as tidy as I could under the circumstances. That is, until my clutch foot went over the heel rail and jammed in the foot well with the clutch fully depressed. When I yanked it out I was already entering turn one and the result was a slow spin to the inside on the grass. I got going again and did two laps before bringing it in. There was work to do and I didn't even bother to look at the time sheets. Saturday's Race The John Wyer Cup is a two-hour enduro which is run in two, one-hour segments, the first on Saturday and the second on Sunday. Each segment would require a mandatory five-minute pit stop to refuel and change drivers. As I was going alone, it would be necessary for me to get out of the car while fuel was going in and then get back in. My job would be to hold the fire extinguisher during the stop, so there wouldn't be much rest. Having pretty much qualified last (only two cars without times were behind me), I was determined to stay out of Continued here |
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