races at Seattle International Raceway.Dan was the celebrity guest
this year,with autograph sessions on Saturday and Sunday.I stood in
line with hundreds of people,waited an hour and forty minutes,but I
got to talk with him,as well as get an autograph on a vintage AAR
poster.
Dan and his wife Evi,are incredibly nice people,very gracious,down to
earth,easy to talk with.I told him what an honor it was to meet him,he
thanked me,shook my hand,we talked a little about the Eagle,Alex's
year in F3,and all too quickly it was over.Dan is now seventy years of
age,but looks fit and healthy,and still has plenty of enthusiasm for
racing.It was a day I won't soon forget!
For all of you GPL'ers,Parker Johnstone was in town,driving a '67
Brabham BT24 for Pete Lovely Motorsports.I talked with Parker for ten
minutes or so,he's a very cool guy,easily approachable,real friendly.I
asked him what it's like to drive the Brabham,he told me that it's
been many years since he's driven an open wheel car with no aero,that
it's the funnest car to drive,and that if he had his way,the modern
high downforce,soft tire,pit stop strategy cars would be gone,in favor
of the old '67 era cars.He liked the fact that the car is easily
tossable,easy to recover,doesn't snap spin,can run several different
lines,and has no turbulence at speed.He said this would make todays
racing much closer and funner to watch.So were not the only ones that
know how much fun these cars are!
The racing weekend is run by http://www.racesimcentral.net/ with close to
three hundred cars turning out this year.The featured class this year
was the historic Trans-Am cars from '66-'72.I'm not old enough to have
seen any of these races,but these cars are an amazing thing to both
see and hear.With thirty one cars in the field,the start was
awesome,with the sound all of the cars accelerating down the main
straight,sheer thunder.I really feel like I've missed the glory days
of racing when I see and hear these cars.Lots of side by side
duels,two wide through the turns,power slides out of the corners,and
the sound!I love the roar of these cars!
I have some digital photos to share,and I shot lots of video,so maybe
some mp3 clips so you can hear what I'm talking about.I'll try and get
things posted this week,thanks for reading.
Dave K
Seattle,Wa.