[DeTomaso] FINAL SILVERSTATE PARTY REPORT

[Ed Pike]

Way to go Dawg. Congratualtions on a great run!

Ed...




________________________________
From: Mad Dog Antenucci <teampantera at yahoo.com>
To: Dan Courtney <dfcex at excaliburre.com>; detomaso at realbig.com
Cc: Dennis Antenucci <teampantera at yahoo.com>
Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 10:41:11 PM
Subject: [DeTomaso] FINAL SILVERSTATE PARTY REPORT

Sorry we missed you Dan and everyone else (Jason, Laurie, Larry, Rich, Dave, Scott & other veterans) who didn't make it but wanted to go. We worked our best to ensure we made up for all you AWOL slackers...it wasn't easy but someone had to do it. ;-]>

116 Entries and 1 Pantera.  The best was having JB, Pete, Joe, John, and Ed all came up to Ely to play or  I mean support the team and prepare the Pantera to run Sunday and this weekend again reminded me why Ely is the best place to both hang and celebrate before and after the race on Sunday. It really is allot more about being in Ely and Vegas with your friends and fellow racers (even the one's with Vipers and Vettes) then it is running the course. Okay running the Pantera at 100 mph or even 150 to180 mph on a 2-lane road is also blast but its not why I keep going back. It is the people.

We all ended up at the Four 7's Motel and there we found the the Vikings (Bjoern Flesland & Inger Johannssen) from Norway who were arm wresling Corvette and Viper owners in the parking lot....they also had the second fastest car and team in their 105 Mph Class in their big Mercedes 450 SEL 6.9 and they were as you would expect the most serious party animals in town once you got Bjoern to understand why our DMV licensing system is so simple.  ;-]> The Vikings are great and look like they all once again had a ball in Ely and Vegas including adding their 6.9 decal to the back of ItBWild. ;-]>

I averaged 151.89 MPH. We started a little late after some cattle broke out of a gate and temps were up to 85-90 by the time I reached the finish line and over a 106F by the time the Unlimited drivers started....

Through the straights before and after the road woop-de-do's  at miles 58 thru 65 and after the Narrows at mile 71  I was running at  155-160 mph UNTIL I saw Steve Waldman's Viper in my rear view mirror. 

Steve and the Viper obviously was on the hunt.  When I saw him I punched it to 175-180 mph for about 5 minutes until he disappeared from view.  He obviously forgot he was following me and must have dreamed  he was chasing Dan in September!  ;-]>

The 381ci Cleveland stroker ran great (thanks Russ Fulps) ....The engine temps at the finish line were 180F on water and 210F on oil in spite of the hot weather .  Not that it probably mattered I was running Valvaline VR1 Race Oil.  A big thanks to Mike Trusty and Dick Drenske who made sure the IR-EFI also ran flawlessly again.  And to JB, AJ and the Pope and everyone else who continued to poke me with sticks  getting ready to go. 

It was Mike Borders who was driving the cup car that went off road at 200+ mph. Luckly he did not roll over when he went off road. The other incident was Richard "Lucky" Hille in the Unlimited division Camaro who has to be the luckest man alive losing a tire at 220+ Mph.  A year ago his cockpit filled with steam after his mech oil gauge line blew or fell off (he forgot to tighten it) the back of the gauge and his cockpit was completely obscured by hot steam. He somehow stopped the Camaro on a sweeper turn completely blind in his cockpit. And again a year later he was once again able to safely stop the Camaro in what could have been a catastrophic accident.  

Veteran Tom Ciancitto running his '37 Ford F1 Pickup was running the fastest in the Unlimited group at 182 mph average UNTIL he broke...not sure what happened to Tom because he left early.  Charlie Friend running his wild Corvair from hell won the Unlimited group with a 163 mph average.  
Far from being the fastest speeds Charlie has run I think Ralph Nader would roll over in his grave if he saw how well Charlie 're-developed' the Corvair....it is a completely re-engineered race car on a tube frame chassis. 

A big thanks to the team and all of you who wrote or called this weekend. I couldn't pick up messages until today but still grinning from ear to ear from the 6 day road trip.  I hope a few will make it in September. The rumor about JB and I bidding on a TPR 4-door garage and shop with a small house is true....We will be able to report more about the TPR house in coming weeks.


Mad Dawg Antenucci 
Team Pantera Racing 
The 1st & still the only vintage race team in open road racing 
www.teampanteraracing.com




________________________________
From: Dan Courtney <dfcex at pacbell.net>
To: detomaso at realbig.com
Sent: Monday, May 18, 2009 12:40:08 PM
Subject: [DeTomaso] Nevada Open Road Race Stealth Update

We got the final adjustments made to The Winged Warrior and took it around the block, then loaded up and departed around 10 PM for a 500 mile maiden voyage to catch the Nevada Open Road Race Challenge / SS.
I knew this would be about a 7 hour drive and that the road gets closed at 5:00 AM, so it was going to be tight. Not to mention this was the first time off the block in 1 1/2 years, with a new motor and allot of other new parts.
The Winged Warrior ran great, until we got to Ash Springs, close to the finish line, then started running like crap.
We got to the 316 just as they were putting up the Road Closed signs (had to swerve around one sawhorse) and looked for the spot on the course where The Beast ended it's run at last September's Silver State Challenge, around mile 85. The plan was to bring water, beer and snacks for the gate workers who sheltered me after The Beast blew up.
This is a great site, atop a hill at the end of a five mile straight heading into the final turn in the middle of a silent desert with no human for miles and miles.
We arrived around 5:15 AM and no gate workers, so we were alone. I checked the engine and found the problem immediately, it had lost the donut gasket from the header collector and had a 1/2" gap. Despite having no sleep I thought it was best to stay on it and do the repair before the sun (and heat) came up. Luckily, I had brought one spare donut.
After the fix we set up on the hill and I proceeded to pass out on a bolder.
I was in a deep dream when I heard music, a cross between symphony and AC/DC. I thought maybe this was a car? I jumped up just in time to see one purple Pantera flying down the straight at about 180 MPH. It was Mad Dog! They let him run first start again.
I scrambled up, displaying my "bed" (DeTomaso fender cover with logo) and snapped off my first photo.
About 10 seconds later came Steve Waldman in his red Viper. The race was on!
We saw another 100 or so cars come flying by during the course of the next several scorching hours (100 degrees or so).
The fastest was a NASCAR type Monte Carlo accompanied by a plane. Seems like he was doing about 220 MPH. After the turn we noticed a plume of smoke and found out later that he went off road and crashed 4 miles from the finish due to debris on the road. I'll send photos later.
I hear he was OK, thankfully.
We noticed the Camero before him (doing about 195) was trailing a rear valance, possibly this came off.
It was a long, hot day, but allot of fun.
Unfortunately I passed out at a hotel in Vegas and missed the awards banquet, and was unable to personally rag on the Dawg. Really, I had nothing negative to say, his car was the best sounding machine I heard all day and he was really flying, plus he must have finished. I didn't even have to use my fire extinguisher this time.
I was disappointed to see not one other Pantera all day, something needs to be done about that.
The Winged Warrior is still running like crap, so I'm going to see if I fouled the plugs. Hopefully I didn't warp any brand new valves.
Your Team Pantera stealth reporter / supporter in the bush, DanTomaso


Dan F. Courtney

La Jolla, CA

(858) 551-5455 Phone
(858) 551-5456 Fax
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