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Special thanks to Charlie Webster for the photo
The trip to Battle Mountain started off on an ominous note
when Mack's Cadillac pulling the trailer blew it's transmission
on a pass in the mountains just past Auburn and they had to
pull over on the side of the freeway with almost no shoulder.
Cars and big rigs were blowing by and the AAA tow-truck didn't
show up for over 4 hours! We ended up having to leave the
trailer with it's precious cargo on a lonesome road overnight
while we got a towing hitch installed on the Easy Racers van.
That wasn't the end of our vehicle troubles. We ran out of
gas on the way to the HWY 305 race course from Battle Mountain.
No problem we think we have two spare gas tanks. We dump our
two gallon spare into the tank and make it to the races with
plenty of time. On our way back to Battle Mountain we run
out of gas again! So we dump our last gallon into the tank
and head off, only to fall short of town by about 1/4 mile!
We ran out of gas three times folks, maybe that's some sort
of record as well. There-after the van continued to give us
problems (probably as a result of sucking up the gunk at the
very bottom of the gas tank) and just adding to the general
stress level. Compounded with Macky's crash and subsequent
all night repair job and Tanya's sickness we were all running
a little on the crazy side. Gardner's mantra "perserverance
above all else" served us well on this trip.
Tanya Markahm and Macky Martin have upped the bar for junior
speed racing. Tanya turned in very impressive and consistent
52 MPH runs in the Gold Rush LeTour. Tanya and Macky got the
Double Gold Rush up to a very impressive 53.483 mph. Tanya
obviously has her Dad's piloting skills as she saved them
when they got into some extremely violent speed wobbbles as
they sprinted through the traps (look forward to some upcoming
footage). Macky turned in an astounding 60.75 mph in his only
"real" attempt on the long course.
Macky had one previous run on the long course and crashed
at 47 mph due to wet roads and a diesel spill on the road.
3 out of 5 racers crashed in this spot and the races were
cancelled for the rest of the day. The Virtual Rush required
some considerable reconstruction and a new tail fin. When
repairs were completed he was not allowed back on the long
course until Saturday for his final run. While chasing him
on this run he achieved speeds over 65 mph but due to a speedometer
failure he was unable to pace himself and slowed to his "measly"
60.75 mph run just short of the timing traps. We had a camera
crew from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
on board the chase vehicle and we will post footage of Tanya's
and Macky's runs when we get it.
Next year both teens will be required to race in the adult
class and they will have to go head to head against the likes
of Sam, Matt, Andrea and Ellen. We fully expect Macky to hit
speeds over 70 mph and not give these guys any breathing room.
Given a couple more years of practice and training Macky will
be major contendor for top speed events. Tanya has pushed
the venerable Gold Rush LeTour to it's limits and is in need
of a new ride to be competitive with Andrea and Ellen.
Fast Freddy certainly lived up to his reputation coming in
2nd in the drag and road races and 1st in the last-man-out
event. Fast Freddy was hampered by the extreme short courses
and in retrospect we should have had him running his body-socked
Gold-Rush as it is lighter and tighter turning than it's fully
faired brother. The road race was probably the most exciting
event during the entire week and it's a shame that more of
the racers and spectators chose not to join us. Fast Freddy
and Steve Delaire put on an amazing show duking it out neck
and neck for the entire 10 laps. Fast Freddy had the straight-line
speed advantage while Steve Delaire could corner at higher
speeds due to the Gold-Rush dragging the fairing when really
pitched over limiting Fast Freddy's turning ability. They
finished in true NASCAR style, swapping paint back and forth
with one serious whack. Steve had built up a head of steam
throught the final sweeper using his superior cornering and
was trying to get around on the outside while Fred was pushing
him wide through the corner. Steve knew he had to maintain
a tighter line to win and wouldn't budge and they came together
hard! They both stayed up and somehow Steve maintained his
speed and won by a nose! It was true racing at it's best and
they pushed their bikes and themselves to the limit. Fast
Freddy won the last-man-out handily when Steve Delaire went
down in a spectacular sliding crash while leading the pack
but obviously feeling the pressure from Freddy on his tail
(and NO, Freddy did not touch him). Steve suffered a bit of
nasty road rash and we at the Easy Racers trailer helped patch
him back up.
The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics camera crew
was constantly around and we were working double time trying
to race and satisfy them at the same time. We ran Tanya in
the LeTour for the cameras and had a police officer pull her
over for speeding (thanks Eric). There was also a scene involving
a McDonalds and who knows what all else I'm forgetting. The
guys from the camera crew were great and we had a fantastic
time introducing John the producer to the finer arts of shooting.
We were in Battle Mountain after all.
So we perservered and accomplished what we had set out to
do. We set 3 new junior world records and looked good for
cameras at the same time. Hopefully the increasing coverage
will inject some new interest into the sport and dare we hope
even bring in some big name sponsors. And in spite of all
the problems we encountered it still ranked up there as some
of the most fun we've ever had.
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