[DeTomaso] SORC

[bob Radefeld]

I'm sorry to say that our well laid plans for TPR participation in this
wonderful ORR began
unraveling even before the beginning of our trip North to Arnold, NE. Frank
(Godfather) had last
minute difficulties with the installation of a new radiator to replace a
leaky stocker that reared it's
ugly head just several days before his departure date from Nashville. So,
for the forth year in a row he found it necessary to head out in his "fake
Pantera" (Mommy's Porsche) to do battle @
the race. Upon arrival @ Bud's (7-banger) home in Whiting, KS. the boys
discovered that Bud's
newly built engine was woefully low on cylinder pressure on all eight
cylinders & in no shape for
a road trip, let alone an ORR thrashing! :o(( At that point it was lucky
that Bud was able to snag
a ride with Frank to even be able to make it up to the event, let alone
compete.

I was able to begin my solo journey North on time & had a pleasant &
uneventful trip to Arnold
on Wednesday morning. Just before my arrival in Arnold I put in a quick call
to Bud to determine
where the boys had settled in (as if I didn't already know!) & found that
they had already started
paying rent @ Jim's Bar on Main Street. I parked my car @ the hunting
trailer where Bud & our
two East Coast Pantera brothers would be staying & hoofed it over to the
Bar. There I found a
frustrated & unhappy dynamic duo trying their best to drown out their
sorrows by drinking up all
of Jim's daily supply of beer. We all hung out there until I got a call from
Mark @ 10:00 PM that
they were on the outskirts of town at which time I made a mad dash to meet
them & lead them to
the trailer. As soon as I had them parked, Frank & Bud had unglued their
fanny's from their bar stools & hoofed it back. After proper introductions
it was decided that our next move would be to
break up the party & all get some much needed sleep in order to be somewhat
awake the next
day.

Thursday morning dawned as a beautiful day & Mark, Frank & I all easily
passed tech &
proceeded to another location for application of our car #'s & sponsor
decals. There was then a
"first timers" meeting that Mark & Jim were required to attend in the
afternoon. Shortly after that
we all were required to attend another racers' meeting before proceeding to
a welcoming BBQ
in the local park. It was right after this last meeting that my car decided
it had a mind of its own
& didn't want to get thrashed on in the race. Upon driving back to the
trailer from the meeting it
died & luckily I ended up coasting to the hunting trailer where it remained
in the same spot until
Sunday morning when we FINALLY got it running again.....BOO-HISS!!! I'll
save all of the ugly details concerning getting it running again for a more
comprehensive report to Asa for publication on the TPR website soon.
Needless to say I was a VERY unhappy camper but later VERY happy
that I was at least able to get the cat back home on Sunday!

Let me just add to what Bud has already posted about our Pantera brothers,
Mark Skwarck & Jim Wallace, in that these guys are the GREATEST!! It fell to
them & them alone to uphold the
tradition of at LEAST one Pantera competeing in SORC for the last 4 years in
a row & they made
it HAPPEN! You would be hard pressed to find more enthusiastic, affable, &
Pantera savvy guys
than these anywhere on Earth. Not only were they able to make an outstanding
showing in the
mile shootout, parade, car show & race but were MAJOR contributors to our
2-1/2 day thrashing
on my dead car in order to get me home. For all these reasons, Bud,Frank &
I are indebted to
them & am enthusiastically hoping that they will again join us next year.

I will send a more comprehensive report to Asa soon as I said earlier for
those of you that might be interested in more details. I've got a lot more
to report concerning the great folks of Arnold as
well as all of our other adventures during the week & weekend so stay tuned!


Bob (Rowdy) Radefeld  #5042