10/03/09  Attached are pics and a write up on our SVRA weekend at NJMP.

It was a long weekend. After the 2nd session on Friday we noticed about 1/2 quart of gear oil all over the left rear wheel. Upon further inspection we discovered the axel/bearing seal had failed and came apart. With a distinct lack of parts available, we took off chasing new parts. That chase took my father all the way back to Philly to get the bearing and get it pressed on to the axel. He got back to the track at 8pm and we waited until the next morning to put it back together. As it turns out, the bearing was too big. Off we went again. He wound up at a Porsche shop/dealer in Vineland where they had the correct bearing. With our car now freshly polluted with Porsche parts we were back together in time for the qualifying race. We stared at the back of the pack (18^th) and made it all the way up to 8th. But with all the focus on the axel we failed to pay any attention the gas tank and ran out of gas on the 11th of 12 laps finishing next to last. But the axel did not leak! The Sunday sprint race went well until a spin on the 3rd lap (the Jersey Devil bit three times this weekend). We had gotten all the way up to 6th place only to lose it all with the spin. The tires we totally shot and we finished 8^th overall and 2^nd in class.
 
It was a good weekend with lots a great racing. Group 10 was interesting with a bunch of fast cars including 3 early 90’s IMSA Mustangs/Cameros and several NASCAR cars turning 1:25’s. One major incident on Friday where a Porsche 914 lost it's hood pins and the hood came up and knocked the driver out. He went into the tires in turn one and did not break. The guy is ok and very lucky. 

This sequence of shots and the story were done at a 4 day “monsoon” at Summit Point. Rain every day with a stream of water running thru the pits.

 It’s a great affair for vintage racers. It is usually independent of the SVRA Championships but this year it was on the schedule.

We lost to the Jag on the front straight. Ya think he might be cheating?

Al

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April 30 thru May3 2009 at the main track at Summit Point. The event was the Jefferson 500 which consisted of 2 one hour endures, 2 qualifiers, one sprint race final, and lots of wet (rained 3 days out of 4).That’s me with white helmet in the mud, but don’t let Bill off the hook. He spent time in the mud too. I think we were 3^rd in the enduro (combined)  and the Sprint final was canceled. We had finally reached our limit of wet.

Al Schwacke 

Al's 1955 V8 Corvette