Thursday was the track day at VIR.Denise and her clan ,and my wife and I, convoyed 3 Fiats on trailers thru the early morning fog to get to the track in time for tech inspection.The Phil Wicks Driving Academy did a great job of running the event and keeping everything moving along.I strapped in for my first stint,got to the pit lane and was told I had to have long pants to get on track
I found a pair of pleated Dockers in the truck,threw them on and headed out.The car ran great,I made a lot of passes,including some Abarths.I was running w/o an instructor and was one of very few vintage cars out there.But once the Abarth people got the hang...forget it.My arm got tired of waving them around me.I was as good or better in a couple areas,but under heavy braking or in the straight they killed me! Denise had issues with her race X,and got in very few laps before complete brake failure. My 31 year old Spider hung in all day(very hot day!!) with only a soft pedal due to boiling fluid and wearing a set of brake pads out.We towed 2 1/2 hours to the resort at Wintergreen.What a beautiful place!High up in the Blue Ridge Mountains.Did I say high?My Ford truck was screaming by the time I got to the resort,and Denise almost blew up her Suburban.Steeeeeep!!!!We had a 5 bedroom condo perched on the summit which we shared the likes of Denise and her daughter,Mike Bouse and Kimberly,Pope,and Lee Putman.Like John Montgomery announced to everyone it was "the FLU version of Animal House"
We had a great drive and free luch at IAP on Friday.Their lot was packed with cars.Denises X had some sort of issue and she and my wife rode back to the resort with Chris Obert,leaving the X at IAP.The free beer flowed Friday night for the meet and greet and dinner.
The show on Sat was fantastic.We got all the cars parked by class in a pretty timely manner.One of the late arrivals was Brady,who had worked all night to get his car there.It is an amazing rest-mod,I got pics I will post later.
The banquet had some really interesting happenings.First,Tim Kiniskis the President of Fiat North America was our guest speaker.He did a really nice presentation and gave us a chance to ask him questions.He was lobbed very few softballs and he fielded them all.I couldnt get a definitive answer on when or if we will see a new Spider.After seeing the Abarth motor in action,turn that thing the right way,put in a driveshaft and diff and we could have a powertrain to contend with!!
The highlight was seeing Damon Kane win best of show for his X resto.Damon is in the very advanced stages of ALS.He cannot speak anymore and barely stands.He is one of the nicest people you could ever meet.He had theis X hanging in his gharage for 10 years.When he found out he was dying,he decided to restore it.As his condition worsened ,Fiat people from all over came in to help.Some for a week at a time.The car looks like it came off the showroom.That is the kind of people we are dealing with.Shaun Folkerts didnt bring a car,so he could get Damons car to the venue.When Damon won the ''Best in Show' there wasnt a dry eye in the place.
Great cars ,Great people
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