Dragon Ambience (October, 2012)

One of my favorite places, with a nice dose of scarlet in the trees.

The Tree of Shame has been well-fertilized with new bike parts since March.

Humor, or reassurance, in the men's room of the Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort.  (Click to enlarge if you don't see it.)

Little Tennessee River above Fugitive Dam, NC 28, headed for the DGMR.

Morning sun on the Little Tennessee at the Calderwood Dam Overlook.

Morning sun on the Little Tennessee at the Caldeerwood Dam Overlook.

A photo op for owners was a photo op for me.  These visitors paused for a Beauty Shot before heading home on Monday morning.

Self-Indulgent Dragon Photo Essay (And Killboy Caption Cribs)

TDOT's mile markers count up from the State line (south to north).  Names and spellings of corners vary
depending on the mapmaker.  After a few passes, your own "mental map" will begin to fill in with the most
obvious landmarks.  For instance, The (Stone) Wall, the large culvert and the only entering side road at
Parson's Branch, The (only) Guardrail.  On some maps, Mile Marker 6 and Rebels Revenge are The Horns
of the Dragon.  A Confederate veteran is buried in the small cemetery up the hill from the road at Rebels
Revenge.  If the Overlook's crowded, I go down to Calderwood Corner to turn around for the return pass.

Make a couple of slow passes to re-familiarize yourself with the road and get into a rhythm.  Say "Hi" to Killboy or his minions.

If your front wheel is hung across the white line, you don't have time to wave at anybody.  Be alert to traffic and focus, focus.

"About all she's got, Cap'n..."  The better among us may get a street car around a bend faster, but this is near the limit of prudence for a public highway.  When I stopped at the Calderwood Dam Overlook, the spokes of my front wheels were too hot to touch.  It took them a few minutes to cool down to "warm."  That's enough brake heat to transmit to the tires of a daily driver.  Take some time to enjoy the view before making another hard pass.

"Little Honda, lookin' good..."

"...Oh, no you DID-unt!"  This is a no-no.  If you cross the double yellow, you will eventually collect a sportbike mirror--or worse.  On this trip, I encountered a pickup truck towing a two-wheeled trailer that was 2 feet into my lane.  He barely got it back in his lane as I passed.  On another pass, I had to come to a complete stop when it looked like a 20-foot straight truck was not going to get it back into his lane in time.  And of course we all know about the semi trucks (or should).  When you see trouble ahead in the oncoming lane, stop before the corner.  But get going again.  A sportbiker told me that a couple in a car ahead of him, "leafing," stopped dead, in a corner, to take pictures. 

  I'll miss you, Dragon.  See you next spring!

2012 Petit LeMans And Dragon Run, Post 5

I rolled into Fontana on Sunday, October 21, around noon: early enough to make some Dragon passes.  Drove right past FVR to the Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort for lunch and some ambience.  The weather was gorgeous: sunny, low 70's, with a light breeze.  The parking lot at DGMR was a bit more crowded than it had been in March.  As in March, my estimate was 50% cruisers and 50% sportbikes or motards.  The mood was mellow: I had a nice chat with a Ducati rider who was going to find some autumn leaves for his wife before heading back home to Florida.

The Dragon itself seemed more crowded than the parking lot.  Trying as I do to visit twice a year, and with an unexpected half-day in hand, I felt no pressure to tear it up.  Made a low speed pass to the Calderwood Overlook to check road conditions and get into a rhythm.  The downside of slow passes (depending on your vehicle) is that you must unlearn some things when you start to run harder.  In my car, the Dragon is 3rd gear at moderate speeds.  It's 2nd gear, with occasional upshifts, when making fast passes.  The feel and reference points are different.

I saw one l.e.o., on Sunday afternoon.  He was stationary, at the state line, facing north, on the southbound berm.  Nothing sneaky about it.  He was gone when I made my return southbound pass, so he must have been from NC.  In 1.5 days on the Dragon, my radar detector never lit up.  If the l.e.o. I saw was shooting (and he probably was), he was using instant-on laser.  Here are my notes:

Pass 2: (after one warmup pass), blocked by a dense line of 4 cars.
Pass 3: blocked, not badly, by touring bikes; stopped to talk to Killboy's Jack Rose.
Pass 4: badly blocked by a pickup truck and a Toyota.
Pass 5: terribly blocked by leafers in a "new" Thunderbird with Alabama plates; they were clueless, or doing the "I have as much right to this road as you do" thing, or both.  This is when Killboy suggests you use a pull-off to gap yourself, and I would have, had the time for passes been limited.

Speaking of pull-offs, they work fine.  I used them to clear for sportbikes five times on Sunday.  A number of people used them to clear for me.  I always gave a puller-offer a wave (my sunroof was open) on the theory that acknowledged courtesy lubricates traffic.  Jack Rose (and others) told me that the Dragon itself clears out pretty well after 4:00 p.m. on most days.

Was back by 8:30 Monday morning.  The parking lot at DGMR was empty.  It started to show signs of life by 9:30.  Here are my notes:

Pass 1: a very slow Harley tourer cleared for me, otherwise I was alone northbound.
Pass 2: nobody but me southbound, only 4 touring bikes northbound.
Pass 3: used a pull-off to build a gap to a van; caught him again before the Overlook.
Pass 4: stopped to help at an accident site.
Pass 5: blocked by a 20-foot straight truck hauling a forklift; used a pull-off, caught him again.
Pass 6: blocked by a touring bike, used a pull-off to build a gap.
Pass 7: stopped to chat with Kamal, Killboy's photographer, for over half an hour (see below).
Pass 8: best, and fastest, pass of the day; no southbound traffic at around 5:00 p.m.

Viewed from Kamal's spot at "Sunset 2," traffic on the Dragon was light (just as in the Killboy videos from last spring).  But it often comes in clots of 4-6 vehicles.  Using a pull-off to build a gap is the way to go; the trick is to get underway again before somebody else comes through.  (On this visit, I saw one sportbiker cross the double yellow to force a dangerous pass.  I was last in line of a string of 4 cars that he took, and he was beginning corner-entry when he got around the first one.  He appeared in my mirrors quickly, and didn't wait around for me or anyone else to use a pulloff.)

The Beck 904

Chuck Beck with my cousin and his Beck 904 at Road Atlanta.  That's Ray, who
swapped a VW 411 engine into his Porsche 911-E, in the background. 

Some readers may recall the Beck Spyder, a VW-powered replica of the Porsche 550 Spyder, from a few years ago.  It was a righteous car, a bargain, and Pilote considered buying one before he decided he wanted V-8 torque and "all mod. cons." (as the Brits say) in his toy.  With air-cooled VW engines in short supply, Beck sold the rights to that car when he moved back east from California several years ago.

The Beck 904 is what he's been up to lately.  One can be yours for a base price of $75,000.  Each Beck is custom-built to an agreed specification between Chuck and the prospective owner.  He has made about a dozen of them.  Chuck's son, Randy, races one.  Go to www.beck904.com if you want to know more.  The car in these pictures had not turned a wheel until he brought it to Road Atlanta for the ALMS race last weekend.

Strictly speaking, the Beck 904 is not a replica.  The original Porsche 904 had a stamped sheet steel central backbone frame, bonded to its fiberglas body, and Porsche's 4-cam, 4-cylinder engine.  Chuck's 904 has a semi-space frame (the body bears no chassis loads) and a 6-cylinder Porsche Typ 901 engine (or its derivatives).  His fiberglass bodies are laid-up by hand and look like a 904, but differ in detail.  They have flared fenders for much wider tires (16 X 8 and 16 X 9, mounting 50-aspect ratios) and a more pronounced rear spoiler.

This view emphasizes the fender flares and larger rear spoiler on a Beck 904.

Not as far apart in spirit as you might suspect: the Beck 904 next to Chuck Keene's '32 Ford 3-window street rod.  The wheels on the Beck 904 are a "tribute" to Porsche-style Fuchs alloys, but they are wider and have Beck center caps.  Or you can install Porsche logo center caps.  Or you can specify BBS wheels.  Or...

The "standard" engine in a Beck 904 is a stock air-cooled 6-cylinder from a Porsche 993 (the last air-cooled "911"), as shown.  So we are talking 300+ horsepower in an 1800 lb. car.  How fast do you want to go?  How much money do you want to spend?  Spare a moment to absorb the fabrication craftsmanship you see here.  Visit Chuck's website to see more.

The office: VDO gauges would make any Porsche owner feel at home, and a "proper" wood-rim aluminum-spoke steering wheel.

My Cousin's 1966 Shelby Mustang GT 350

This picture was taken a few years ago at Sebring.  The car now wears narrower stock, steel, GT 350 wheels with period-correct radials, which make it easier to drive on the street.  (They are shown in the picture in my 10/25/12 post.)  I prefer the looks of the American Racing Torque Thrust wheels in this picture, which were a standard option in 1966.

This car is in original, unrestored condition.  It was purchased new in Iowa but spent most of its life in southern California, much of that in storage.  It has clocked 66,000 miles, most of them by two of the four owners, one of which is my cousin.

I love the sound of this car.  Goose the gas three times before turning the key and it lights up into a noisy, solid-lifter clatter.  I turned to my cousin after we'd spent about 20 minutes in it and said "This car is the sound track of our youth!"  Shelby installed low-restriction mufflers on GT 350's, and you get plenty of noise whenever you dip into the throttle.  And at cruising speeds.  My cousin has installed a Tremec 5-speed (the original Borg-Warner T-10 is on a shelf), but the car still makes more revs at cruising speeds than my 2008 Mustang.  The axle gears are about 3.90:1 ratio, I suppose, maybe even 4:11: 1 (my car is 3.73:1).  The Shelby feels 10% higher geared...

It is a beast to drive.  I had the impression that even the early, hard-core, Shelby Mustangs of 1965 and 1966 did not drive like muscle cars because they were small blocks.  Not so.  The clutch requires a hard push, and it pushes right back.  It modulates fine (the car is hard to stall), but the muscles of your left calf will be in good shape if you drive the car frequently.

No power steering or brakes--and I had forgotten how much I take for granted modern power systems with good feel for what's going on at the contact patch.  You have to haul on the high-geared steering to get the car around a street corner.  My cousin says the brakes will stop the car quick if you stomp on the pedal.  I didn't drive it that hard.  But I found myself consistently under-braking and running out of room: I expected a servo to kick in, but of course it never did.  The linearity of the brakes is fine, but you need to push on the pedal if you want to stop.

On the other hand, the M-1 Mustang is noticeably smaller than my S-197.  Visibility in all directions is great--I had forgotten how airy the cabins of 1960's cars feel.  Your eyes are well above the hood line and yes, you can rest your arm on the windowsill.  When my cousin was driving and I was following him, I could see most of his shirt above the back of the bucket seat.  With modern servo assists, a Shelby GT 350 would feel more maneuverable and agile than an S-197.

But not faster, in a straight line.  I believe my Mustang could stay with a GT 350 in a drag race, and probably beat it.  Apparently, overhead cams, 3 valves per cylinder, and port fuel-injection trump solid lifters and a 4-barrel on a hi-rise manifold.  The rated horsepower of the cars is close, 315 vs. 306, and my car is heavier--by 300 lbs., I'd guess.  But it feels faster, even with the taller rear axle gears.

The GT 350's noise is glorious, but a day behind the wheel would leave me frazzled.  It's not an around-town car: parking would be a chore, even if you didn't worry about dents in a very valuable car.  It's not a day-trip car: too noisy.  It's an afternoon on two-lanes car.  Fortunately for him, my cousin lives an hour or so from the mountains of GA, NC, and TN--the perfect environment for a GT 350.

The office: this is the way the car came from Shelby; the tach and its location are standard.  Flanking the speedometer is a full complement of gauges.  The gearshift throws are about the same as a modern car, but felt longer to me.  Everything takes effort.  On the early GT-350's you could get any interior color you liked--as long as it was black.

"Are we having fun yet?  Yes we are!"  My cousin is a big guy--6'-3".  He easily fits behind the wheel.  

2012 Petit LeMans And Dragon Run, Post 4

This is not a Petit LeMans race report--that would be old news to those primarily concerned with winning and losing.  And TV viewers (well...ESPN3 live stream viewers...) always know more about what's going on in a race than people at the track anyway.  As "everyone" knows, the Rebellion Racing Lola/Toyota had the Prototype field covered and won by three laps.  The Muscle Milk HPD Honda won the championship by completing 70% of race distance.  A Patron/Ultimat Vodka Ferrari 458 Italia won the GT class, with a Corvette and a BMW still on the same lap.  Corvette had already won the championship.

The point of attending a race, for me, is the sights, sounds, and smells.  To crib from Apocalypse Now, "I love the smell of Castrol R in the morning." Saturday morning.  Early.  I vividly remember an SCCA Regional race I went to 45 years ago at Connellsville PA, in which pouring rain gave a Porsche 906 a chance to battle a Ford GT 40 for the lead.  I vividly remember my first CART race at Road America 25 years ago (Mario Andretti's "game, set, match" covering of the field), and my last CART race there 13 years ago (Dario Franchitti's win in the "last of the real IndyCar racers").  I will remember Petit LeMans just as vividly because seeing a race there was on my Bucket List and ALMS GT is the best road racing going these days.

Road Atlanta track map.  Our base was toward the center of the infield near Turns 10A and 10B.  My own viewing was mostly there, with some time spent at Turn 8, and a lot of time at Turns 11 and 12.  Spent some time on Spectator Hill, between Turns 5 and 9.  As a younger man, in an earlier day, I'd have walked the infield from there down to Turn 1.

Assuming that you get the rest of the lap right, this braking zone into Turn 10A is key to a hot time at Road Atlanta.  Note the lines across the course (ignore the one near the top of the hill).  The GT cars were hard on their brakes at the furthest of the 3 lines.  The Prototypes generally used the second one.  The Last Of The Late Brakers were beginning to trail-brake across the closest line.  The Prototypes were truly amazing: they lost 100+ m.p.h. of speed in 200 feet.

A BMW GT demonstrates the right line out of 10A: stay to the inside upon exit so you can nail the apex of 10B.  Road Atlanta is a hard course to drive fast consistently.  It's tempting to crowd the braking zones in Turns 1 and 10A, which blows the lap time for that circuit if you get into them too hot.

The other Rahal-Letterman BMW GT demonstrates the wrong line: too much speed into 10A and ran wide at the exit.  This makes you slow through 10B, and up the hill into 11 and 12.  You don't want to screw up those turns because the downhill at 12 leads onto a straight.  From the exit of 10B you should be flat or nearly so all the way down to the braking zone for Turn 1.

The proper line through 10B.  Not as easy as it looks, especially if you over-drove 10A.

The proper line out of 11 into 12, illustrated by a string of mixed traffic.  In a Prototype, 12 is flat-out and, frankly, terrifying to Pilote.  Your suspension reaches full compression just as you begin the turn-in for the apex of 12.  Mess this up and you will collect some of those green and white tires in the background at a speed north of 150 m.p.h.

The exit of Turn 12 looking toward the braking zone for Turn 1.  If you've done it right, you've been flat-out since the exit of 10B, but plenty busy with steering angle.  Road Atlanta is a very challenging course, with no place to take a breather except, maybe, after Turn 7.  In a fast car, you have 12 chances per lap to mess up; opportunities to lose time are everywhere.

2012 Petit LeMans And Dragon Run, Post 3

My cousin and his endurance racing pals have "done" Sebring and Petit LeMans for years.  And they do not do things halfway.  On the day I arrived, my cousin and I picked up his classic Airstream trailer from storage, towed it to Road Atlanta, dropped and leveled it, erected the "easy up" and buffet table, and set out the non-perishables.  This operation was quite a revelation to a guy who slathers on some sunscreen, eats track food (admittedly good at Road America) and hauls a portable chair around from corner to corner.

Chez Cuz: no half-measures in this equipe.  Cuz and I retrieved his Shelby GT 350 from storage the day after we towed the Airstream in.  Yes, it is the real deal, and yes, I got to drive it.  More about that in a later post.

My cousin's gearhead pals are an eclectic bunch, as shown by the photo below.  Also relaxed.  After setting up the perishables and icing down the beer on the morning of final practice, we split for our favorite viewing areas.  One of us, a professional photographer, was working the event.  My cuz and I and Chuck Beck took a golf cart (brought by yet another buddy) to the paddock--which suited me fine; it was exactly what I would have done on my own, on foot, slower.

We were intrigued and puzzled by the Nissan Delta Wing (making its first appearance since it crashed at LeMans).  It's nice to see new approaches and technologies.  Its front rain tires look like motorcycle tires.  On the other hand, Beck thinks it is inherently unstable and it seems to me an answer to a question that nobody asked.  (Yes, it may be more "streamlined" than a conventional Prototype, but it also has less front downforce.)  The rest of the grid was pretty much as expected, except that the Patron Ferrari 458 Italias were decked out in chrome wrap, not their customary black with day-glo green accents.  I miss the Risi Competizione 458 in plain old Italian Racing Red.

Ultimat, nee Patron, Vodka Ferrari 458 Italia in chrome wrap.  Does this work for you?
Maybe it helps with visibility in night racing?

The Rebellion Racing Lola took the pole in Prototype I (the big dog class).  A visitor from the European side of the endurance championship, it was noticeably quicker than the usual suspects in this class, the Muscle Milk HPD/Honda and the Dyson Racing Lola/Mazdas.  I don't much care for the looks of current Prototypes, but Rebellion does a good job of putting lipstick on a pig.

OK, maybe a bit better than lipstick on a pig: the Rebellion Racing Lola (sponsored by Lotus, go figure...) is in the classy black-and-gold colors of the old John Player Lotus Grand Prix cars.  If this car has a suspension, it was invisible to me.  It bounced over small bumps at low downforce areas of the course which were soaked up by other P-1 cars (not themselves know for a Cadillac ride).  Hard to drive, but fast.  Rebellion is a Swiss team: thus the white cross on a red background.

Eclectic bunch (left to right): Chuck Keene's '33 Ford 3-window street rod, Chuck Beck's Beck 904, Pilote's Honda Civic Si, Ray Don't-Have-His-Last-Name's Porsche 912-E, which isn't a 912-E at all.  Keene owns Georgia Hot Rods and the '32 used to be his lead show car.  Now he drives it all over the Southeast (it has a modern fuel-injected Corvette engine, air-conditioning, cruise control, tilt wheel, and a 5-speed).  More on the Beck 904 in a later post. 

"Got Air?"  Forty-millimeter dual throat Webers atop the VW Typ 411 2-liter engine in Ray's Porsche "912-E."  This is a transplant that Ray did himself, having owned the car since new.  The original 912-E used the same 1.7 liter engine as the Porsche 914/4.  Pilote was in way over his head with these guys: Ray engineered his own unusual engine swap, Chuck Keene does his own paint, and Chuck Beck engineers and scratch-builds entire cars.