Black Hawk National August 28/29

[Trhoades]

How's going...only two FF on the list so far...Todd

[Gokart Mozart]

I'll be there with the Eaglet, just filed my entry.

[Trhoades]

I sent mine in today as well.....Bill Ehrlanger is planning on going as well...I'm contacting some local folks to come out and play...Todd

[Allen_W]

I'm in.

Motorsportsreg shows Jacques, Dan Johnson, John Luxon, and me.

John Vlasis told me he would try to be ready to be there.

[Gokart Mozart]

Here is the updated entry from Motorsportsreg.com as of 8/20 at 9.am. CST:

#9 Allen Wheatcroft - 1998 Van Dieman RF-98K
#11 Cliff Drake - 1989 Swift SE3
#12 Todd Rhoades - Ford SJ01
#38 Dan Johnson - 1984 Van Diemen RF 84
#46 Jacques Dresang - 1977 All-American Racers Eagle DGF
#49 John Luxon - 1996 Piper DF-2

[Trhoades]

I know that Bill Ehrlanger is planning on attending, and John Vlais is doing the test on friday in his newly converted Piper/Fit..if the test goes well for him then he is going to reg for the weekend...Todd

[thewarehouse]

Right now I'm leaning towards making it. If the wifes family would just leave $&#^ing town and go back to TexasI might be able to get the nose put back together and get things ready.

Have to try out my newly acquired National license

[PiperFF]

Any info on the race..Results...Thanks, JV

[Allen_W]

Any info on the race..Results...Thanks, JV

We missed you, John.

So I never found them out A to Z . . . but I know the top five:

1. Tim Kautz
2. John Grooms
3. Allen Wheatcroft
4. John Luxon
5. Bill Ehrlinger

Also running were (I hope my memory is right!) Jaques Dresang, Todd Rhoades, and Cliff Drake. Dan Johnson was having trouble with oil pressure in his new engine, and I believe did not take the start.

For me, it was a difficult race. The temperature at race time was 92F, very humid, and as a result, running "mostly" Hoosier 25s, I found the track to lack grip. I also think that, in somewhat idiotic fashion, I'd used up my fronts qualifiying. So I worked quite hard the whole race to get my car to turn. Big deal: with superglue tires I might have been a couple tenths faster, not near enough to catch anyone in front of me.

For maybe half the race I was exiting five and could see John G going into and through six, smooth and fast, but he pulled away eventually. John got a helluva start, getting past Tim, the two of them were then held up by a slow FE (I think it had come together with another FE in turn 1) - when Tim got by John, he did what Tim does . . .

For several laps as I exited the carousel I could see in my mirrors a blue car entering the turn. Made me wonder who was driving a blue FF and also hustle best I could and lose him right away. But each lap the blue car would be back in exactly the same spot. It turned out to be some plastic on tire wall that I was picking up in my mirror.

I like running with FE's much better than with FC's. Those FE guys are good drivers, and they handle slower traffic intelligently.

And it was good to see Tim get the finish he needed. I believe a good time was had by all. I hope it's cooler for the runoffs.

[Keith Carter]

I like running with FE's much better than with FC's. Those FE guys are good drivers, and they handle slower traffic intelligently.

And it was good to see Tim get the finish he needed. I believe a good time was had by all. I hope it's cooler for the runoffs.

Ditto! On the flipside of that, all of the FFs I encountered on track were very good about watching their mirrors and even pointing by when possible. I had expected to get the door slammed on me a few times when a FF would get a waving blue for Dean and would still allow room for me to get by as well. Jacques, Tim, and Allen were the most memorable ones. Thanks guys!

[Gokart Mozart]

Continued order:
6. Cliff Drake
7. Jacques Dresang
8. Todd Rhoades
9. Dan Johnson DNS

I had a decent start had a run that was pulling me next to P4 in T3, but I felt that running in-line for a while might be best for me at the Eagle. I ducked in behind Luxon and Ehrlinger for a while before water temp went up and I allowed a gap to form to get some 'new air.'

Sadly, I too toasted my tires in qualifying, and I picked up a terminal push around lap four of the race. From there it was all about finding a way to get the car rotated and watching my mirrors. Cliff caught me about three laps from the end at the end of the straight and we had a nice battle after that.

A fun first National weekend for the car! The next time out will be at the Fall Sprints for us to lock in a fourth event of the year to retain my licence for 2011.

Best of luck to everyone headed to the Runoffs, I'll be there there camera-in-hand!

Here is my album of the weekend: http://www.flickr.com/photos/3139058...7624840817096/

Respectfully Yours,

Jacques N. Dresang
UMW

[Allen_W]

Jacques,

I saw you in qualifying a bit, and you were driving that Eagle extremely well and very fast. It is good to have you in Ford, with a very sweet and unique car to boot.

"Terminal push" describes the affliction so very well! It seems to have been contagious.

Allen

[Gokart Mozart]

Allen,

Thank you for kind words. FF is such a fun class with a great spread of cars and drivers such as yourself. I can honestly say that my first two laps in the Eagle were more fun than the four years I spent in Spec Miata. It is a fun class with a nice set of rules to keep is in check, yet allow us to think outside the box. SM was basically the 'model of the month' class, where you couldn't change much to keep up.

We have a few things we are going to try in October to get a bit more frontal grip and perhaps a bit more power down the straights. During the off season we are also going to change some bits on the car as well as the paint scheme a bit and make the car look even more as if it just stepped out of 1977. Since so few Eagles were made, we've tried to keep everying somewhat period-correct and still racy.

There is a lot to be gained in me as well. The sight-line difference from being up in a tin-top looking down at the track and looking between two Hoosiers is pretty substantial for me, and I need to work on my lines. Seat time cures all.

Best of luck to you and the LMI crew at the Runoffs.

Respectfully Yours,

Jacques N. Dresang
UMW