The Milwaukee Mile is the oldest continuously-operating racetrack in the world.* In the 1950s, an infield section was added to the one-mile oval to create a 1.9-mile semi-road course (we sometimes call this type of track a "roval"). The infield track was used until the early 1980s, by which time it had been allowed to deteriorate so badly that it was no longer safe. The infield section was repaved in 2004, and the first wheel-to-wheel road race was held on the "new" course on May 15, 2005.
I had seen races on the original road course in the '70s. My father actualy held the Formula Vee lap record there (he may still, I haven't checked). But I had never been around the track before. I studied a track map for weeks and picked my father's brain for anything he could remember. He remembered quite a lot. I got some low-speed laps in a street car and some high-speed laps during a test day. When race day came, I felt very well-prepared.
Still, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had qualified on the pole. Pete Wood -- the most recent prior owner of my car -- was next on the grid. The infield track is very narrow, without many good passing opportunities. I felt that if I could keep "Speedy Petey" behind me on the start, it could be an easy lead to defend. I was half right. Pete was very well prepared, too.
(Since there is a limited amount of track time, each class shares the track with several other classes. More than 30 classes get combined into 5 groups. Theoretically, all classes in the group will turn roughly similar lap times and/or have similar car construction. Club Formula Fords are grouped with other formula cars and sports racers, mostly with bigger engines, wings, and bigger tires. Theoretically, CFF should be the slowest class in the group.)
I did manage to keep Pete behind me on the start -- barely. He kept the pressure on throughout the entire race. Every time I checked my mirrors, they were full of his purple Crossle. Halfway through the race, we caught up to and passed a faster car driven by Frank Riemann. (Frank scolded me after the race -- "You know, Club Fords aren't supposed to be that fast!" I blamed it on Pete. If he hadn't been pressing me so relentlessly, I wouldn't have had to go so fast...)
To give you an idea how close it was, the official results show that Pete crossed the finish line 0.149 seconds behind me. That was probably the largest gap of the entire race.
The CFF points after this race:
- John Haydon - 50
- Michael Schindlbeck - 20
- Pete Wood - 20
- Jon Borkowski - 16
- Scott Reif - 1
Next chapter: Michigan hates me sometimes.
*Okay purists, you're right, the track was not paved until 1954, but cars have been racing on the same one-mile oval since 1903. It was actually built as a private horse track in the 1800s, and that extra history has to count for something.
No comments:
Post a Comment