[DeTomaso] Big Bend ORR report

Gary Bartley G.Bartley at cebridge.net
Mon Apr 28 20:53:52 EDT 2008


Gee, was I at the same race?  I don't remember any of this stuff but 
there were some guys driving Panteras there.  ;-)

Anyway, here is my "Race Report."

Compared to last time it was much less traumatic for us.  Only a couple 
of glitches.  The replacement ignition switch acted up but after my 
pulse rate calmed down a bit I fixed that with a pair of channel locks.  
The plugs fouled bad during the parade.  3 miles of idling along at less 
than a walking pace was too much for the car to take.  It looks like my 
carb wizard and I have some work to do.  A brief Italian Tune Up on I-10 
cleared the plugs good enough to make the start and the race finished 
the job.

There were 152 entries.  3 DQ's (I think) for guys that got tickets 
before the race.  14 cars failed to finish due to mechanical problems 
and no crashes as far as I know.  A bunch of folks got yelled at for 
failing to shut down fast enough during practice.  One car, the M&M 
Racing Nascar car (a Grand Prix?), crossed the finish line with the 
instrument wiring smoking. The GT40 went out on the first leg, reason 
unknown. A number of cars got DQ'ed for high/low speed violations during 
the race but I didn't get a count.

The '64 Lincoln Michael drafted was none other than the Monster Garage 
Hot Rod Lincoln built by Jessie James on TV.  A 4 door Continental 
shortened 17" and on a Laughlin Nascar Winston Cup chassis.  625 hp, 182 
mph top speed.  We won't talk about the brand of the motor....

Scott Black was there with the Shelby Terlingua Racing Team Mustang 
co-driven by Gary Patterson.  An absolutely stunning car and they got 
some well deserved special recognition.

As others have said, the race was well run and the organizers are 
serious about safety and sticking to the rules.

Michael held a TPR meeting the night before the race and gave us all 
timing sheets.  Of course the times on our sheet were wrong but that's 
just a minor detail...

For us the race itself was pretty nominal.  The highlight was a standing 
yellow flag we came up on.  Naggi-gator, Sylvia, was yelling in my ear 
and I was trying to remember the difference between a standing yellow 
and a waving yellow when I saw something in our lane way up the road.  
Soon I could tell it was a buzzard feasting on something.  Rattlesnake 
fajitas, probably.  We slowed down a bit and I'll swear that buzzard 
looked up and dared me to "come on," then went back to eating.  I was 
blowing the horn (which sounds more like "pardon me, please" than "get 
the hell outta my way!") and as we neared this critter he spread his 
wings and looked at me again!  I figured we were going to be party to a 
90 mph mating of a Goose and a Buzzard and I didn't know what the 
offspring would be like but I was pretty sure it was going to be bloody 
with a lot of broken glass.  At the last moment the vulture flew off 
away from us and we zipped on past safely.

After the race I got the PU and towed Will back to the park so he could 
load up on Steve's trailer for what must have been a long drive home.   
As a towee, Will handled his end of the tow strap like an expert.  Maybe 
he has more practice than I know about....  (I have been towed plenty of 
times also.)  We all made the banquet on time too.

The car / driver held the road OK and our top speed was 105 mph per the 
GPS.  We were 4 seconds fast over all.  We thought we were closer but 
it's their clocks that count, not ours.

Two outings, two finishes, two podiums.  We feel pretty good about 
that.  This time we were beaten by a Corvette (choke!) but we beat a 
Vette and the '99 Riviera that had won this class several times 
including the RRORR.

So the net result was as follows:
DeT's entered - 4
DeT's finishing - 3
DeT's on the podium - 3
% podium finishes of DeT's entered - 75%
% podium finishes of DeT's finishing - 100%

It was a GREAT experience made more so by the TPR group.  They are 
something else!

The Road Runner race in the fall has been canceled due to the oil field 
traffic on that highway.  BUT, they may run the BBORR again in the fall 
in it's place  Time will tell...

I have a few pictures I might put up if Asa Jay allows and I can 
remember how to do it.  Leeme know Asa Jay.

Respectfully submitted,

Gary Bartley
8MA898


Will Kooiman wrote:

>150HP my @ss!
>
>I think I know where that snake went too.  The guys at the checkpoint were
>grilling up something spicy.  I thought I tasted asphalt in that fajita.
>
>I counted 68 Vettes on the grid.  The Vette owners complained that over 100
>Vettes registered, but they backed out when they heard there would be
>Panteras there.  One guy said something like, "NO!  Not that Frazier guy!"
>
>We met a guy after breakfast on Sunday.  He bragged about how he used to own
>a Pantera prototype called a Mangusta.  I said, yep, there's one around
>back.  Pretty cool - spreading the love.
>
>We met the drunk girl at the banquet.  She wasn't drunk until we met her.
>She didn't flash me, but I flashed her back.  That's when she started
>drinking.
>
>We need to start working on the Ft. Stockton mayor.  He needs to enter BBORR
>2009.
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On
>Behalf Of michael frazier
>Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 11:50 AM
>To: Mad Dog Antenucci; pantera list
>Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Big Bend ORR report
>
>
>  Come to TEXAS and kick my ass?  I was hoping you would say that. :)   I'll
>let Steve tell his side of the story about everything.
>At that time, I was in my room writing sonnets about the western sky, high
>desert, and the drunk girl who flashed me on the return
>run.  Will didn't get into any trouble...unless you call piston parts on the
>outside of the intake manifold trouble.  Everyone who finished
>took a trophy home.  I'm sure Will would have too.  This is the 2nd time a
>Goose finished an ORR.  Gary and Sylvia do great and get
>lots of attention.  We all had a great time. 
>  I'm happy to say that the Big Bend Open Road Race is alive and well after
>a few stumbles earlier in the year.  There were 152 cars
>on the grid Saturday morning and the biggest rookie school ever.  Next years
>dates are already on the website.  The car ran well, but
>the handling was very edgy.  That makes for a fast run but it you really
>have to pay attention.  A little more toe-in and or caster
>would have been nice.  I guess it may have more than the 130hp I estimated
>earlier.  150 maybe.  I looked down at one point and saw 
>zero oil pressure!  The engine wasn't making expensive noises so I stayed in
>it.  Turned out to be the wire on the sender.  I don't think there were any
>off road excursions, serious bird strikes or dangerous issues.  I hit a BIG
>snake but that was it.  I hope I just shortened him a bit.   Everyone who
>runs this race still says it's the best of the lot.  I have to do one of the
>others soon and find out for myself...but I'm sure they're right.  We'll
>look for a bigger team next year.
>Michael
>Gruppo Rompiculi Corsa!!!
>
>
>Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:04:10 -0700From: teampantera at yahoo.comSubject: Re:
>[DeTomaso] Big Bend ORR reportTo: red3644 at hotmail.com; detomaso at realbig.com
>The Hawk all most got in a fight? You finally went faster then 100 Mph? And
>Gary went faster then 80 Mph in his Goose?!!! ;-0>
> 
>These reported details once again prove that there is evidence of Global
>Warming in Texas. Looks like I am gonna have to come back down to Texas and
>kick your ass, show Gary how to drive the Goose and teach the Hawk how to
>fight. You mean Will didn't get in any trouble?
>That's sooooo wrong on so many levels I don't know what else to say except I
>is damn proud of you all. . .Congratulations MF'r
> 
>Dawg, proud papa dawg of his ORR babies!
> 
>michael frazier <red3644 at hotmail.com> wrote:
>We had a team this even if we had to get a little creative. We had 3
>Panteras, 1 Mangusta and since that was it,I drafted a 64 Lincoln
>Continental to run as an official member of Team Pantera Racing. The weather
>was perfect,the event ran flawlessly, many cars broke but no one was hurt.
>So all is good. We did everything right. I seemed tohave pissed off several
>Vette owners. (Some I didn't even know about). Steve Hawkins almost got in a
>fight withan oil field roughneck. Gary & Sylvia ran the Mangusta again! Will
>Kooiman told the worst jokes all weekend. Greatfriends, food, cars & racing.
>The team did well....as usual. I took home 1st place in the 120mph class.
>Steve Hawkinsand his brother Cliff took 2nd in the 110mph class. Gary and
>Sylvia Barkley took 2nd in the 90mph. Will Kooiman andhis brother Rodney
>took home parts of pistons that ended up on top of the intake manifold about
>5 miles from the starting line. We'll have to wait for the autopsy before we
>determine the cause of death. I had driven my new Pantera about a mile
>before the event so I was happy to just finish. I'm also happy that the car
>ran right up to 150mph and was still pulling hard. I also happy that I
>didn't do that ina radar zone since my tech speed was 140. Dennis...you're
>nolonger holder of the fastest Pantera at Big Bend title. You'll hear more
>from the other guys I'm sure. If you weren'tthere, you were SO square.
>MichaelGruppo Rompiculi Corsa
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