Weird Day at the Race Track - 57 Corvette
Sometimes these old cars do things that just cannot be explained.
I had everything planned to a "T" for a weekend of vintage racing at Sears Point (aka Infineon). My 57 Corvette - the Bob Dye race car - was primed and ready to go. The original racer - Bob Dye - drove up from Arizona to watch his old car in action. A fair number of Bob's old race buddies and some other old Corvette racers showed up as well. This weekend was basically my coming out party as a vintage racer.
But #43 just wouldn't run. The car ran perfectly the last time out. But #43 just had a mind of its own last weekend.
On the warm-up lap of the first practice session, I hit a fresh oil slick, spun the car, and went off the track, I had to get towed back in.
On the next practice session, I ran a few laps, and then #43 lost power and sputtered badly. I limped back to the pits. We changes a few parts, and thought we had the problem solved.
On the next pre-race practice session, I ran okay for a 1/3 of a lap, and then lost power again. Changed another part. Took Bob Dye out for a ride-around, and lost power again at the same spot as before. Changed some more parts. I went out two more times, and never made it past 1/3 of a lap.
I am a rationale guy. So I know that #43 is nothing more than a bunch of parts. But I wonder if #43 just didn't want to run hard with somebody other than Bob Dye in the driver's seat......
What the hell. I still had a blast with Bob Dye and all the old racers. Bob is a great guy. He even gave me his checkered flag from winning at Cotati in 1968 and all of the hardware he collected while racing #43. And he told me a bunch of neat stories about #43. That made the weekend worthwhile. And Bob is going to come back out and get behind the wheel of #43 next spring
Three pics attached. #1 - Bob Dye next to the poster I have about him and his old car. #2 - Bob in the passenger seat next to me during our 1/3 of a lap together. #3 - 53 #276 and #43 park side by side (I wanted to drive an old Corvette on Sunday, so I drove 53 #276 to the track).
Anybody else own a car exhibiting para-normal behavior?
Russ
I had everything planned to a "T" for a weekend of vintage racing at Sears Point (aka Infineon). My 57 Corvette - the Bob Dye race car - was primed and ready to go. The original racer - Bob Dye - drove up from Arizona to watch his old car in action. A fair number of Bob's old race buddies and some other old Corvette racers showed up as well. This weekend was basically my coming out party as a vintage racer.
But #43 just wouldn't run. The car ran perfectly the last time out. But #43 just had a mind of its own last weekend.
On the warm-up lap of the first practice session, I hit a fresh oil slick, spun the car, and went off the track, I had to get towed back in.
On the next practice session, I ran a few laps, and then #43 lost power and sputtered badly. I limped back to the pits. We changes a few parts, and thought we had the problem solved.
On the next pre-race practice session, I ran okay for a 1/3 of a lap, and then lost power again. Changed another part. Took Bob Dye out for a ride-around, and lost power again at the same spot as before. Changed some more parts. I went out two more times, and never made it past 1/3 of a lap.
I am a rationale guy. So I know that #43 is nothing more than a bunch of parts. But I wonder if #43 just didn't want to run hard with somebody other than Bob Dye in the driver's seat......
What the hell. I still had a blast with Bob Dye and all the old racers. Bob is a great guy. He even gave me his checkered flag from winning at Cotati in 1968 and all of the hardware he collected while racing #43. And he told me a bunch of neat stories about #43. That made the weekend worthwhile. And Bob is going to come back out and get behind the wheel of #43 next spring
Three pics attached. #1 - Bob Dye next to the poster I have about him and his old car. #2 - Bob in the passenger seat next to me during our 1/3 of a lap together. #3 - 53 #276 and #43 park side by side (I wanted to drive an old Corvette on Sunday, so I drove 53 #276 to the track).
Anybody else own a car exhibiting para-normal behavior?
Russ
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