A Day At The Races

[smallbearelec]

Do you all know that (Analog) Mike Piera races cars? Judy and I had long wanted to learn something of this part of his life, so we went up to Lime Rock, CT this past weekend. We didn't see Mike race, because his Porsche (911) developed an oil leak before we arrived. But we did get to see a lot of really cool cars!

One thing was very clear right away: This isn't a hobby for the poor! Even those cars that are street-legal (and many are not) would be too much at risk of damage to be driven to venues like Lime Rock. Many owners have their own trailers, like this one:

http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q59/smallbearelec/?action-view&current=trailer.jpg

for transport. Most looked like they were tricked out to do maintenance, and some had sleeping space as well. Some of the cars, like this Austin-Healey, are production models modified for racing:

http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q59/smallbearelec/?action-view&current=Austin.jpg

while others are clearly purpose-built for the track, and require that the driver go on a serious (crash?) diet to fit into them:

http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q59/smallbearelec/?action-view&current=Custom.jpg

Here are Mike and his car:

http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q59/smallbearelec/?action-view&current=Mike.jpg

Regards
SD

[punkin]

a bad day at the races is better than the best day at work! being a torque fanatic I'm totally down with this post!