The Mitty 2016- Road Atlanta 4/21-4/24

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

On a positive note about the meeting, I spoke to one of the Masters F1 drivers at Silverstone yesterday, James Hagan. He said the event was fantastic and made a very enjoyable weekend. So keep it up, Guys!

Very cool! OOOOoooo he was in the Tyrrell... lucky dude. There was a great turn out this year. 10-15k+ people on Saturday would be my guess which is way more than my first Petit Le Mans! We'll try to keep it going but they need to fix the conflict we've had the past few years with Indycar/PWC just two hours away.

Originally Posted by morninggents

Where should we go for results from this meeting?

They are available about half-way down this page: http://hsrrace.com/events/2016_events/mitty-2016/

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

Very cool! OOOOoooo he was in the Tyrrell... lucky dude. There was a great turn out this year. 10-15k+ people on Saturday would be my guess which is way more than my first Petit Le Mans! We'll try to keep it going but they need to fix the conflict we've had the past few years

Thanks for the results link!

Yes, I guess for spectator numbers, that clash would hurt. Out of curiosity, do you think the same spectators that watch historic races in the US watch 'modern' stuff as well?

The 'shop' that looks after Mr Hagan's F1s is next to me, and I did a bit helping fettle the Tyrrell before it was shipped over the pond last year. Lovely car! He also has an Ensign for use in Europe, now for sale as he bought an ex James Hunt Hesketh, in rebuild at the moment. If not racing an F1, when over here you'll likely find him in his purple HFF (Crossle of course- he is Irish!) or driving the wheels off a tiny little Ginetta G4. A great character, always enjoying the craic, as they say. Just what Historic Racing should be- craic....

[fieldodreams79]

Those Master F1s are spectacular! Very cool about the shop, Mike.

One poster here on 10ths chose more modern cars two years in a row, now. I get that but I don't like the circuit the modern cars are at much. I do think the numbers would be higher without a major series event so close. That said, the numbers have been climbing steadily over the past decade and if the beautiful motors keep showing, so will the crowd. The weather is highly variable and can get dangerous this time of year, but if it's clear, it is absolutely gorgeous.

Next year is the 40th anniversary of the event and the featured marque is Porsche; should be an even bigger crowd!

[canamman]

Originally Posted by photohsr

UOP Shadow Tribute 2016
Craig's Road to Recovery April 27 2016

Thank you very much for the updates on Craig. We hope the
very best for he and his family.

All I have seen in the thread is that it happened in Turn 12.
Is there any report as to what was the cause?

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Thanks for the results link!

Yes, I guess for spectator numbers, that clash would hurt. Out of curiosity, do you think the same spectators that watch historic races in the US watch 'modern' stuff as well?

The 'shop' that looks after Mr Hagan's F1s is next to me, and I did a bit helping fettle the Tyrrell before it was shipped over the pond last year. Lovely car! He also has an Ensign for use in Europe, now for sale as he bought an ex James Hunt Hesketh, in rebuild at the moment. If not racing an F1, when over here you'll likely find him in his purple HFF (Crossle of course- he is Irish!) or driving the wheels off a tiny little Ginetta G4. A great character, always enjoying the craic, as they say. Just what Historic Racing should be- craic....

I think there is one pool of road racing fans here. Not everything crosses over, for example I like open wheel racing but have friends that don't. For the most part we're all the same group though. Mr. canamman is a great example as he is obviously a Can Am fan but was at Barber this weekend. I'm betting he would have gone to both events without the conflict, as would I. Also, as I'm sure you're aware, the N. American definition of a vintage racer is quite a bit different than Europe. If it's fast and cool, you're in!

Mr. Hagan sounds like a guy I'd like to know. He also sounds extremely wealthy which means I never would!

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by canamman

Thank you very much for the updates on Craig. We hope the
very best for he and his family.

All I have seen in the thread is that it happened in Turn 12.
Is there any report as to what was the cause?

I was in T2 at the time and didn't see the incident, but I heard he went strait off at the entrance of T12. There's so much that can go wrong from under the bridge and down the hill that I'd hate to speculate.

[canamman]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

I was in T2 at the time and didn't see the incident, but I heard he went strait off at the entrance of T12. There's so much that can go wrong from under the bridge and down the hill that I'd hate to speculate.

OK, Thanks. If it went wrong at the bottom of the hill ,it is usually bad.
If it gets away or breaks half way down the hill , there is time to scrub off
some speed.

I reviewed those results and it looks like the 91 Intrepid set the
fastest lap of the weekend with a 1:16 something. That is toting the
mail at a historic event. Believe it or not , a Road Atl. track record
was set at the 2003 Mitty. It was a thing of beauty to see.

http://www.september8th.com/news_atlanta1.htm

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by canamman

OK, Thanks. If it went wrong at the bottom of the hill ,it is usually bad.
If it gets away or breaks half way down the hill , there is time to scrub off
some speed.

I reviewed those results and it looks like the 91 Intrepid set the
fastest lap of the weekend with a 1:16 something. That is toting the
mail at a historic event. Believe it or not , a Road Atl. track record
was set at the 2003 Mitty. It was a thing of beauty to see.

http://www.september8th.com/news_atlanta1.htm

I don't remember if I was there... 1:16 is a quick lap but the fastest I remember was George Robinson in his old R&S MkIII Judd at 1:14 and change.

[Mike Bell]

Online event report by sportscardigest here-

http://www.sportscardigest.com/hsr-m...report-photos/

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by canamman

Thank you very much for the updates on Craig. We hope the
very best for he and his family.

All I have seen in the thread is that it happened in Turn 12.
Is there any report as to what was the cause?

All I can say is what I saw from the tracks through the grass. The DN4, for whatever reason, got on the grass just past the support paddock entrance and pretty much went straight into the end of the wall separating pit in and the grass. My guess is either something broke or there was a moment under the bridge or it simply went wrong on the downhill.

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Online event report by sportscardigest here-

http://www.sportscardigest.com/hsr-m...report-photos/

Thanks! I've been waiting for someone with some good pics to supplement some that I was going to share from a cell phone camera.


The Intrepid was dialed in as was the Whistler Trans Am Mustang.

I like this image of the Shadows. Awesome machines!

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Online event report by sportscardigest here-

http://www.sportscardigest.com/hsr-m...report-photos/

Oh sweet! I didn't bust out the camera unfortunately.

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Thanks! I've been waiting for someone with some good pics to supplement some that I was going to share from a cell phone camera.


The Intrepid was dialed in as was the Whistler Trans Am Mustang.

[/IMG]

Sorry!

The best car was the gray Camaro with silver stripes. That thing was cleeeeeeeeen.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

Oh sweet! I didn't bust out the camera unfortunately.



Sorry!

The best car was the gray Camaro with silver stripes. That thing was cleeeeeeeeen.

That was no jab at you. I've been waiting for the posts of the "pros". That's a jab!

Kidding, of course as you certainly have the talent / knowledge for it, but i certainly don't take nearly as many pics as I used to myself.

[fieldodreams79]

Just running through the pics, looks like the Wolverine made an appearance on track and there was a factory McLeran M8B? I missed this!!!

Alas, I did see two factory McLerans batting through Paddock Hill Bend at my trip to Brands Hatch

I also missed the "meat cuts" 911 and this:


I did see this:




And this:

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Just running through the pics, looks like the Wolverine made an appearance on track and there was a factory McLeran M8B?

The Cheetah always makes me smile- very little attempt by the creators to stretch the bodywork over the wheels!

I love the CanAm cars because every type is individual. What would be really cool at some point (with the anniversary this year), would be to see a Porsche 917/30 on track. Sadly, I guess like their Long Distance bretheren, they are scarily fragile and expensive to run.....

The 'extreme' Corvette #48 in that gallery, is that a Calloway or Duntov creation? And re the Ginetta G4 pictured- imagine that with a screen & hardtop and with a larger than life Irishman squeezed in......

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

The 'extreme' Corvette #48 in that gallery, is that a Calloway or Duntov creation?

I read about that car the first time I saw it a few years ago... It's a one off build IMSA GTO big block car that ran from the mid-70's to the mid-80's. I can't remember the guy that built and drove the car, but I remember he had Lynn St. James as a co-driver. Unfortunately, he bent up the nose and left front fender in T3 on Sunday.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

The Cheetah always makes me smile- very little attempt by the creators to stretch the bodywork over the wheels!

The 'extreme' Corvette #48 in that gallery, is that a Calloway or Duntov creation? And re the Ginetta G4 pictured- imagine that with a screen & hardtop and with a larger than life Irishman squeezed in......

Originally Posted by JHamilton

I read about that car the first time I saw it a few years ago... It's a one off build IMSA GTO big block car that ran from the mid-70's to the mid-80's. I can't remember the guy that built and drove the car, but I remember he had Lynn St. James as a co-driver. Unfortunately, he bent up the nose and left front fender in T3 on Sunday.

Doh! And that was one of my fav vettes there!

Cheetah got bent up too and I never saw it, but the roadster was pretty cool!

I love the CanAm cars because every type is individual. What would be really cool at some point (with the anniversary this year), would be to see a Porsche 917/30 on track. Sadly, I guess like their Long Distance bretheren, they are scarily fragile and expensive to run.....

They were all pretty wild in their own rights and seeing the setups that these "teams" had to run these cars was nothing short of a large effort.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

I read about that car the first time I saw it a few years ago... It's a one off build IMSA GTO big block car that ran from the mid-70's to the mid-80's. I can't remember the guy that built and drove the car, but I remember he had Lynn St. James as a co-driver. Unfortunately, he bent up the nose and left front fender in T3 on Sunday.

IMSA did seem to have a period of producing some interesting, and some cool, cars! Nice.

[photohsr]

First a note to the moderator, if this is not appropriate feel free to delete it. The following is by Burt Levy, author, who had a drive in the Shadow at the Mitty and was close to the Shadow team.
" GOOD TIMES AND DARK TIMES
This is a tough one. Four days after my joyful Alfa romp at Road America in a car that struggled to top the magic "ton," I was in the paddock at Road Atlanta, nervously cleaning my helmet visor as I got ready to slide into the cockpit of the fastest damn racing car I have ever driven. 9oo+hp. 1650 lbs. Well over 200mph top speed.
Gulp.
The car in question is the championship-winning, ex-Jackie Oliver Shadow DN4 that utterly dominated the 1974 Can-Am season. See pic of the car and the team below:

For those of you without a basic motorsports background, the Can-Am was a totally unlimited, run what'cha brung, all-American monster-car series where the only rule was that there were no rules. McLaren ruled the series for years followed by Porsche's 1000+ horsepower 917/30K Panzerwagen fielded by Roger Penske Racing. But the lack of competition at the front failed to keep the spectators away, because the cars were just so freaking AWESOME!
For 1974 (the last year of the series), a "fuel mileage" rule was added (if you can call 3 miles-per-gallon a "fuel mileage" rule!) in an effort to blunt the Porsche's dominance, and the car you see here (along with its sister car, driven by George Follmer) absolutely steamrollered the opposition.
As you can see, it's low and wide and wicked-looking, with tires a foot-and-a-half wide, lots of swoopy aero, not much weight to push around and a 494 cubic-inch fuel-injected V8 producing something like 900 horsepower to do the pushing.
Gulp again.
The whole deal came about because of a fascinating gentleman named Jim Bartel, who has had a pretty incredible career as both an engineer and an entrepreneur (his current company supplies something like 90% of the "kneel-down" buses used to transport people in wheelchairs). Jim's son-in-law Craig Bennett is one hell of a racing driver with a ton of experience in hairy, Big Power racing cars, and Craig and his dad, Bud Bennett, run RM Motorsports, a highly expert and respected restoration/race-prep shop out of Wixom, Michigan, that specializes in big V8 sports/racers and Formula 5000 cars.


All three of them were much intrigued by the Shadow cars and their convoluted and occasionally dark and mysterious life story (full 2-part report by Pete Lyons & Yrs. Trly. coming up in Vintage Motorsport) and Jim managed to locate and aquire both the prototype DN4 and the actual championship-winning car driven to the '74 title by Jackie Oliver. Which, BTW, was in a kazillion pieces and in need of a complete restoration.
But that was just the beginning. Jim and his crew/family decided they would not only restore the Oliver car, but take both cars on a Shadow Summer Tribute Tour of four races--The Mitty at Road Atlanta, HSR at Mt. Tremblant in Canada, The Hawk at Road America and the Monterey Historics--with Craig in one car and friend/experienced Can-Am driver/Sasco Sports owner/tire supplier Dave Handy in the other car. Everybody even remotely involved in the sport was excited about it. I mean, Shadow was a freaking AMERICAN team that ran at the front in both Can-Am and Formula One. Including race wins in both and an outright Can-Am championship!


As part of all the heralding and hoopla, Jim Bartel kindly agreed to give me a session in the freshly restored championship car during the Thursday test day at Road Atlanta, so I could at least try to explain the experience and sensations to VM readers.
And now the time had come.
To be perfectly honest, I was more than a little nervous about it.
Oh, sure, I'd driven some pretty fast cars before. But nothing quite like this.
Plus they were still buttoning the back end of the car together--still up on jackstands--even as they were strapping me into the cockpit.
"You're on old tires," Craig advised, "and they'll patter and chatter some because of the rubber build-up."
"What should I use for a redline?"
"It'll take 8,000 easy, but you won't need that much."
I was pretty certain of that.
The car dropped down off the jackstands and two crew members wrestled the nose section into place. Craig nodded and I fired it up. The sound and shake and sheer presence of that monster engine were, if not frightening, then the next thing to it.
I clunked the brutal Hewland LG into gear--the shifter feels like it came out of a blessed earth-mover--and made my way haltingly to pit lane. At which point there was nothing left to do but flip my visor down and roll out onto the circuit in the fastest damn racing car I have ever driven...


WOW!
You'll read the full story in the magazine, but the bottom line is that, while the rest of the car worked the way you'd hope an on-old-tires/not-yet-fully-sorted racing car would work, the power and speed of a Can-Am champion were simply beyond my comfort zone. Oh, I've driven some pretty fast cars that accelerate hard, but nothing really prepares you for the way a Can-Am car just keeps accelerating. Keeps pushing your helmet visor back into your nose even on the far side of 150!
To put it simply, that car intimidated the living hell out of me. It was ahead of me and I knew it, and I likewise knew that only seat time and familiarity could make things slow down enough to seem reasonable and controllable.
And I was shifting at just 6500rpm!
There was a lot more shake than swagger in me when I climbed out afterwards.
The guys who drove--and drive!--these things in anger have some mighty big...what does David Hobbs call them? Ah, yes...attachments.


I thought it over in bed that night, trying to wrap my brain around the whole experience. Could I learn to handle a car that fast? I supposed that I could, given enough seat time and familiarity. And I suppose I'd do it in a heartbeat if I was ever offered the chance.
But did I really want to?
If I'm brutally honest about it: No, not really...
I just don't need that much excitement.


And all of that came into agonizingly sharp focus during the third Can-Am qualifying session on Saturday morning. The Shadows were up at the top of the time sheets where they belonged--Dave Handy in the fully sorted prototype DN4 just ahead of Craig in the still-under-development championship winner--when Craig had a serious and in some ways inexplicable accident. He was "shadowing" Dave as they came out of the tight left-right chicane at the end of the backstraight and charged uphill towards Road Atlanta's famous crossover bridge. It's not really a "turn" anymore--not like it was in the old days--but you want to go under that bridge over towards the righthand side of the road so that the track "comes back to meet you" on the opposite side approaching the entry to Road Atlanta's daunting Turn 12. For sure you NEVER want to be over to driver's left of the centerline unless you're attempting an iffy outside pass or planning to enter pit lane. But that's where Craig and the Shadow were. At speed. We may never know what took him over there. Driver error is simply out of the question for a guy of Craig's skill level and experience. Steering failure? Stuck throttle? Air packing up under the nose causing it to lift and lose traction over the crest? Turbulence from the other Shadow making the front end wash out?
Whatever it was, Craig's Shadow went straight off on the grass strip that separates the racing surface from pit lane (and once you're on grass at that speed--especially after a morning rain--the brake pedal and steering wheel don't have much effect). The black car plummeted downhill at high speed and went straight off into the barriers. Head-on.
It was one hell of a hit.


The safety crews scrambled immediately as they're supposed to and began expertly cutting Craig out of the crushed chassis, and although he was in bad shape and terrible pain, he told his wife and crew people, even as they were extracting him from the car, that no matter what, Dave should run the other Shadow in that afternoon's Can-Am feature. Which he won, by the way.
That's the way real racers are...
They can't help it.


The track was shut down for the better part of an hour while they extracted Craig from the wreckage and Medivac helicoptered him to the hospital, and the report was simultaneously grim and encouraging. The worst of it was a crushed L5 vertebrae, but there was no apparent nerve damage, so prospects for a full recovery, while guarded, were good. But that still left two broken legs, two broken ankles, two broken wrists, a badly fractured shoulder etc. etc.
Craig has been in the hospital under various levels of sedation for a week while undergoing an extensive schedule of surgeries to repair his various injuries. He was in excellent shape and hopes for his full recovery are still high, but it will be a long, difficult road for both Craig and his family.
Updates on Craig's condition can be found on the UOP Shadow Tribute Facebook page, and anyone wishing to send a card or other form of encouragement can write to Craig and his family care of RM Motorsports, 28294 Beck Rd., Wixom, MI. 48393


There isn't much else to say, is there?
So let's just take a break for awhile, OK?"

[canamman]

Thank you for posting that Photoshr. Very informative.
We will keep pulling for Craig and his family. Glad to have
an address to throw a card of encouragement in the mail
periodically. I hate when these bad crashes happen at the
home track, but they do.

[fieldodreams79]

The high speed of these cars and the daunting nature of Road Atlanta can lead to such unfortunate things happening.

Excellent read about the story of the cars. Shame it ended early and shame the car sounds like a loss after all these years.

Still wishing the best for Craig and his fam. That's sounding like a daunting trip in its own right.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Excellent read about the story of the cars. Shame it ended early and shame the car sounds like a loss after all these years.

'Where there's a will, there's a way'. If a car is that rare and significant, would like to think it can be restored. Obviously a lot depends on funds being available to do so, and having access to original drawings is also an advantage.

Fingers crossed. Think positive!

[photohsr]

Craig's Road to Recovery May 4 2016
Hallelujah!! Craig is back! At approximately 11:30 AM Craig was removed from the respirator. He is breathing on his own and is communicating with medical staff,and most importantly Leah. His first request was to kiss her. This is all great news and something everyone has been waiting for. The 2 remaining surgeries will now be scheduled and his recovery can begin in earnest. We want to thank everybody for their continued support and prayers. This is definitely a wonderful day.
As to the cars, Craig owns RM restorations, and Dave Handy, the driver of the other Shadow, owns SASCO Sports, another prep/Restoration shop, so I'm sure the car will be rebuilt.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by photohsr

Craig's Road to Recovery May 4 2016
Hallelujah!! Craig is back! At approximately 11:30 AM Craig was removed from the respirator. He is breathing on his own and is communicating with medical staff,and most importantly Leah. His first request was to kiss her. This is all great news and something everyone has been waiting for. The 2 remaining surgeries will now be scheduled and his recovery can begin in earnest. We want to thank everybody for their continued support and prayers. This is definitely a wonderful day.
As to the cars, Craig owns RM restorations, and Dave Handy, the driver of the other Shadow, owns SASCO Sports, another prep/Restoration shop, so I'm sure the car will be rebuilt.

Positive news all around!

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

IMSA did seem to have a period of producing some interesting, and some cool, cars! Nice.

I was trying to look up that vette again and found another early '70's IMSA GTO vette on video. Plus, this thread, like most threads, needs more big block.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbyDMasYcC0

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

.... this thread, like most threads, needs more big block.

This is correct. I'll add that life needs more big block, too.