Slipstream - July 2013

Inaugural COTA Club Race: Carrera of the Americas in words
By Luke Edson, Betty Perrine, and Matt Platts
This COTA
event was a
roller coaster
of emotions
to say the least!
First, after being
sure I was going to
be on the track for
the DE event, I go in to registration
only to be told I’m not on the list,
and since I know the waiting list is a
mile long, was pretty discouraged!
Got my mind off of it somewhat
by helping out with bringing
water and food to the corner- and
office-workers (I at least was going
to see the track if nothing else!)
but after extensive help from John
Sandusky and Wendy Shoffit, I was
back on the list and able to run
Saturday and Sunday! Wohoo!!
Saturday arrived, and after the
brand new slicks were put on, I almost
lost the car in the S-turns, due
to the tires not being warmed up
sufficiently! Round two around the
track; after hitting 140 just before
turn 12, the right headlight goes
flying out! (Miraculously it was recovered
intact after landing on the
pillow-soft grass!) I dutifully make
the turn, only to have the car shut
down and die on turn 15! Ugh!!!
Determined to not spend the
weekend on the sidelines, I
traced the electrics for the fuel,
pop out the fuel pump relay,
pop it back in, and what do you
know? It fires right up! YES!!
Left-eye Luke
M. Stahlschmidt/Sideline Sports
All in all, I went from getting really
good at my point-bys (got a lot of
kudos from fellow DEers for the
quick point-bys) on the first day,
to learning the track somewhat
by following a 914 I pointed by
on Sunday morning, and finally
ending the day on Sunday at the
head of the pack with the new GT3s
after passing some of them up!
Now to get to the bottom of that
fuel relay issue . . .
-- Luke Edson
My car is
named
Froderick
(Frody
for short). He’s
a 1974 914 1.8
and he’s been a
member of our
family for 28 years now. Current
mileage is over 354,000 miles and
he’s still going strong. I use him as
a daily driver (he really is my way to
work every day) and we autocross
him and his garage-mate Igor.
I was very honored to be asked
to display him in the Vintage Car
Display at the Inaugural Carrera
of the Americas at COTA. It was
actually his second time to the
track; the first time was for the
Grand Am race where we got to
drive on track during parade laps.
I have reason to believe he is the
very first 914 to have ever put
wheels on the surface of COTA!
Where he was parked, along with
all of the other beautiful cars on
display for the Carrera of the Americas,
he could listen to race cars go
by and watch me and my husband
Clay working on Grid for three
whole days (my feet are STILL
tired). Grid is non-stop entertainment,
especially when we’re all
trying to get race cars lined up in
Photo credits as noted
the correct order as a result of their
performance during qualifying.
Grid workers always aim to put
cars out on track in safe condition!
Window nets up, gloves on,
windows down, helmets and driving
suits fastened, mirrors adjusted,
anything the driver needs help
with, and real importantly -- doors
and front trunks latched securely.
Every time we work Grid we find
that we catch things that busy
drivers and crew members missed.
We’re there to make it safe for
ALL drivers and make sure everybody
has fun at the same time!
Throughout the weekend all
of us working Grid had drivers
coming up and thanking us for
checking their cars. As far as
comments about my 914 in the
display -- almost unanimously
it was “I used to have a 914 and
I regret ever getting rid of it.”
They’re such fun cars, and we’ve
met the absolutely nicest people
as a result of our involvement in
PCA. Like everybody says -- “It’s
not just the cars, it’s the people!”
Froderick on display amongst
the other vintage Porsches
photo by Linda Bambina
I must say thanks to Linda Bambina
and all of the other worker
bees who were making sure things
went smoothly all weekend. I know
I really appreciated having lunch
and water ready for us when we
could take a break from working!
-- Betty Perrine
16 July