Slipstream - July 2005

Mineral Wells Time Trial #2 & #3
Photo by Kevin Hardison
By Major Jeff Herrmann & Tannia Dobbins
It was a dark and stormy night... at least it started that way the
night before a double header Time Trial at Mineral Ring 14-15
May. Despite mixed weather forecasts, 27 drivers prepared for
the worst arriving early to slide on a water soaked course.
Fortunately, the rain stopped, the sun peeked and I am here to
report on a high adventure Time Trial. Tannia and I were allowed
to author this article based on a long-standing tradition that the
newest drivers submit a summary. At least that is what Wendy
Shoffit told us.
TCaption
The course on Saturday was 2b version 4.7. While that
does little to represent the course I submit the name as "Flat Out."
At least that is how Richard Diller advised us to drive through the
kinks. While most were not so brave, it seems Richard heeded his
own advice as he recorded the fastest time of the day with an
80.089. The course was fast with only a few cones finding themselves
not in their original position having been assisted by an
errant fender.
There were a few hard fought battles to be the class winner.
One of the closest was the Class 10 (914) contest between
Kevin Hardison and Brian Petri. While Kevin ultimately won, the
difference was a scant 1.1 seconds. The other close battle was actually
for 2nd and 3rd place in the OA class. The weapon of choice
was not a momentum car but more of a point and shoot car. The
winner was Reb Burroughs in his ‘Vette’ but the action was between
Michael Busby and Rich Evans. That Mustang battle was overflowing
with great American Muscle Car sounds. The biggest Porsche
class was class 6 with a covey of Boxsters with car number 911
entered to keep the Boxsters honest. Despite the large number, they
all finished within 5 seconds of each other.
Just a handful of the ladies made it out to enjoy in the fun
including Wendy Shoffit, Robyn Howard, Shelly Burbank and
Susanna Kavanaugh. The top time of the day in the ladies class was
an 84.500 and went to Shelly sporting her newly revitalized purple
911. The Saturday Time Trial was also given an English flavor with
the arrival of Randall Grasso's Lotus Elise. What a nimble car she
looks to be.
When all were exhausted from shagging errant cones and
driving our cars like they were meant to be driven, we assembled at
Baris, a great Italian restaurant. Some of us wanted to see if the
region's president, Rocky Johnson (Car 619), would order and
actually eat the infamous cheese cake. Unfortunately, he decided to
toss us a curve and order the tiramisu instead…but much to his
surprise none was to be found that day. Rocky just had to settle for
something with a lot of chocolate. It must have been good because
those that had passed up dessert were now back tracking! Mike
Lockas must have a deal with Nancy as he was treated to the mystery
meal of the day. Nancy had promised a delightful dish and it
must have hit the mark since there was little left on Mike’s plate
when the dishes were cleared. Charlie Davis provided the entertainment
with his professional quality photos of cars as well as bugs
and cacti; beautiful quality work that most would only see in photo
magazines. Other entertainment included determining exactly
how much salad dressing a girl could put in her hair. Thanks go to
Jasmine Shoffit for her apt demonstration. Thus we ended the night
in anticipation of doing it all over again, just backwards, the next
day.
The 15 May Time Trial was a reverse "Flat Out" with a
kink. The kink, a chicane in corner two, must have been destructive
to tires; there were a number casualties of the day. James
Shoffit wore out his tires ending his day. Brian Petri also managed
to find a good view of the cords in some of his tires and ended up
a bystander for the last set of events in the afternoon. More catastrophic
was Bob Kuykendall's de-rubberizing of his tire while on
course. All were fine after a short full course red and a push back
to the grid.
This event, Shelly Burbank driving “Christine,” had some
close friendly competition with Lisa Steele in her 944 Turbo.
However, Shelly prevailed collecting the day's Fastest Time of Day
(Ladies) for her efforts with a 85.000. Shelly’s car control is nothing
less than impressive. Class 6 was once again the largest and
more tightly matched class. The top times were within 1 second
from first to third place. This time the 944 of Mark Steele, with an
81.038, pulled the fastest time over the infamous Chuck Machala,
Chief Driving Instructor.
Photo by Kevin Hardison
Caption
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the driving
instructors for showing the way and giving those tips that really
make a difference to the more novice drivers. Instead of being able
to check their tire pressures or rubbing out a body panel that somehow
made contact with a cone, they hop into another car and put
their welfare into someone else's hands. All appreciate it I am sure.