Slipstream - October 2010

Cliff’s Ramblings: CVAR
by Cliff Blackshear
This recent labor-day weekend I
found myself caught up with most
of my chores and had nothing
planned for the weekend. So I called a
friend to tell him the license plate light
assemblies for his 1978 911SC had come
in and I had them in my possession. He
answered my call and reported that he
was working flag/safety on a corner for CVAR (Corinthian
Vintage Auto Racing) at Texas
World Speedway and had been
there all that day (Friday). He went
on and on about the cool vintage
cars that were there.
I have worked flag/safety at two
CVAR events in the not too distant
past. One at Hallett, Oklahoma
and one at Eagles Canyon, here in
Texas. For someone of my age it
is pretty cool to witness, especially
from a corner station. A lotta
English stuff (Sprites, Midgets,
Bee’s, TR’s, few Cortinas, early
911’s, an occasional 356, etc.).
You rarely see a 356, which is just
shameful. We usually see a few
Alphas, many open wheeled cars
(Formula Vee, Formula Super Vee,
Formula Ford, and a few Formula Atlantics), etc. You also
get the ground pounders - big bore V8 cars from the early
days... Mustangs, Camaros, Corvettes and such.
The cool thing is the heritage of some of the machines.
These are not replicas. They are the real deal, saved from
the past and fell into the hands of people who still want
to race them against other cars of that era. It is interesting
to watch. Shelby GT350 Mustang’s, Sunoco Camaro Z28’s,
Maclarens, Lolas etc.
I pulled up an email from Doug Mains about a call for
corner workers. I had declined working a corner as I thought
I was going to be doing something else that weekend, which
ultimately did not happen. The email had the entire schedule
for the event attached and I printed it out.
I made the drive to the track and parked. I called a dear
friend while walking from the car just to chat about my
arrival, etc. As we are talking, I turned the corner around
the concession building and there is a bright red Ferrari
Dino. Top off, keys in the ignition and no one around but
me. WOW! It was beautiful, automotive art. My camera
died a few months ago so I could only take a few shots of
Photo by Cliff Blackshear
the car with my cell phone. I sent them to my friend that I
was talking to because she wanted to see it, as well. That is
a rare car. The owner actually went out and did pace car duty
for one race in it. Vey cool stuff. It just got better from there.
The first group of open wheeled cars was mostly Vee’s.
Not much fun to watch as a spectator, but I could see some
pretty good competitive driving was going on with some.
Then the next group of open wheeled cars came out. The
car that was on pole, turned out to be an ex-Jack Brabham
F1 car. I have yet to get the exact
model. I think it could be a BT35
with a modified front wing, but
I’m not sure. It was really fast and
left the field with so much ease.
My corner worker friend tells me
he talked to the owner and he is
absolutely loving the chance to
experience the car. Behind him
were some super quick Formula
Atlantics. Watching these guys
dive into turn one was pretty cool.
The Formula Ford field was big
and some great racing went on
there.
Then the sedans came out. If
what I was told is correct three of
the Mustangs on course were rare
factory prep R model race cars.
Unbelievable. What caught my eye during that race session
was a duel at the back of the pack between a Cortina and a
911. As they came off the final corner onto the main straight,
the 911 was in the lead. Yet the Cortina had more exit speed
and passed the 911 midway down the straight. Then on
entry to turn one the 911 went inside and took the position
back. They did this lap after lap. A real good dog fight. Then
near the end of the race, the 911 appeared out of the last
corner, with about an extra 2 car lengths lead. Two laps later
the checker came out and the 911 driver prevailed. It was
awesome to watch and I was so excited for both drivers…
They had a good weekend.
There was a 911 on course with Jagermeister decals on
it. It looked familiar, as if I had seen it years ago, but I was
unable to get info on the car.
So here I am posting an article with a picture of a Ferrari
Dino in Slipstream. It was deliberate. I thought about all the
folks I see and talk to in my shop. No one I have met, would
not appreciate what I saw this weekend.
Just Rambling Along!
Cliff
What’s this, a Ferrari Dino?
October 19