HEROS of PizzaFest, part 1

[Duane <drcollie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Wow. What a long weekend.  I'm getting too old to party that hard. Thought
we've spent WAY too much time here discussing door prizes...lemmee tell you
of the heros of PizzaFest in my mind:

Pizza Kickoff Party:  HERO: Generous George's.

Great spread and buffet. Wicked huge glasses of beer that were ultimately
my demise for the next day's Autocross (green).  Gave us a great room and I
think there were about 52 of us there.  Brett Anderson comes strolling in
with a typical (for him) grand entrance in full motorcycle leathers
complete with 'Power Ranger' boots.

AUTOCROSS:  HEROS:  Rafael Garces, David Lasalle, Mike Gayle, Marc Plante,
Frank Massaro, Bill  Love of OG Racing, and Jennifer from HOOTERS.

As usual, Rafael and David made a great course 'on the go' after some creep
left his tractor trailer parked overnight in the upper quadrant of the lot
@ Rosecroft.  They coned around it, never missing a beat.  I like it there
actually, 'cause its sure as hell hard to go 'off-course' when there's a
45' trailer in the way. You see that flash of white trailer in the corner
of your eye and say 'better not go that way'.  Mike, Marc and Frank did a
lotta work at Regsistration - a big job - thanks guys.

Two cars ran the course at a time, so everyone got (4) 'official' timed
runs and a whole bunch of fun runs in the afternoon.  Course was a 'fast'
sweeper...I loved it.  We had one driver there in a Supercharged M Roadster
who reminded me of the Pirelli Tire Ad that we all see "Power is Nothing
Without Control". What a nightmare. As usual David Lassalle took on all
comers in his 'stock' M3. As usual its the driver, not the car, that makes
the winner.

During the late afternoon fun runs I took my skinney-tired, base model 4
cyl Chevy S-10 pickup truck out (used to haul gear) and clicked off a 71
second run...Whoooo-Hoooooo...was that fun! (Jeeeest a leeeetle bit of
understeer there mate, eh?).  I heard a few musing from SOME of the guys in
their M cars saying they were whupped by a pickup truck which of course
caused me to snicker with glee.

///M Class Car Winners were:
David LaSalle 1st E36 M3 (58.something)
Micheal Ko 2nd E30 M3 (59's)
Myself in 3rd E36 M3 (59's) (Good thing Gary Bossert stayed home this time!)
Woody Hair 4th E30 M3(59's)

Sport BMW Winners were:
Rafael Garces 1st E36 328is (60's)
Marc Plante 2nd E36 325 (61's?)
Gary "the spin' Lin 3rd E30 325 (61's?)

"X" Body Cars:
Greg Benson 1st (Mustang Cobra) (60's?)
Mark Ralston 2nd (Mustang Cobra) (61's?)

Jennifer from HOOTERS came down in a Bright Day-Glo Orange Running Suit
emblazoned with HOOTERS on it and got into the spirit of things once she
kinda figured out she was not gonna get mauled by 80 sex-crazed autocross
junkies.  After taking a hot-lap ride, she announced : "I wanna
drive"....so we got her an Automatic (thanks Curt K. and Bikesh P.) to
drive the course in.  She was getting into it in a BIG way.  Think she made
about 5 runs total.  OF course, I was her Instructor and worked out a real
good training system. While she drove I'd place my hand on her thigh and
pull right if she was s'posed to go the the right of the cone and then I'd
push left on her leg if she was to go to the other side. This worked out
REAL well <leer>....

She even walked the course....it was easy to figure out where she was as
Pat "The Geeeeeezzzee" had his arm around her.  Ten to twelve feet behind
her and Pat were a bevy of Bimwads walking the course, who were looking at
curves of a different sort.  Jennifer thought she was REALLY FAST in
Bikesh's car and was all excited saying "I think I'm as fast as the
leaders, right?"  ... she was in the 80's I recall <g>.  We've lots of
photos ..... will post them once they are developed.

Mike Fenell won the popular Seat-Belt Latch-Up competition. How's he do
than in 30 sumpin' seconds? Sheeeesh. I was all thumbs. The HOOTERS girls
tried this out too, with LOTS of assistance from Bill Love at OG Racing
assisting them in strapping in.  I've never seen Bill grin so much.

Over at Rosecroft, we had a most excellent Prime Rib Dinner Buffet and
great seats for the horse races.  All the Auto-X winners got to go down to
the track and ride in the Start Car with the judges....what a rush that
was.  Ten horses on the gate at a 25 mph pace actually pushing the Cadillac
around the track with their noses...that was way kewl.  56,000 miles on
that Cadillac...all around that little horse track. yikes.

Best $ 20.00 value you could ever hope for in an Autocross.  We'll go back,
for sure. That's it for Saturday...stay tuned for the Sunday & Monday reports.

Duane Collie 
90% recovered.

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