July 28, 2005
Judges School
VTR's Chief Judge Darrell Floyd conducted the judging school which, as always, was open to judges and non-judges alike. It was a great opportunity for folks who enter concours and who aren't judging to learn how the judging procedure works. That's Darrell with the Stag antlers on going over a demonstration car in the hotel parking lot.
Posted by bdischer at 08:13 PM | Comments (0)
Autocross Action
I just wanted experience the thrill of an extra straightaway! That's the explanation I gave on exiting the Rockford Speedway track after I thought I'd run my 1971 Stag expertly through the course. Just one problem though, I completely missed the left turn jog through the center of the autocross layout and continued down the straight. No wonder that time was so good! That got me a DNF of course, and I had just one more chance to recover. On the next run I bagged a 59.80 second run, not a prize winner for sure, but a sub-60 second run which was what I was after. But what a great thrill. While I was driving in the car, I felt like I was speeding like a madman; but when I was taking pictures of the cars from the infield, they look as if they are moving so-o-o-o slowly.
The Stag held up through four more runs; my wife Lesley ran it and did well enough to capture third in one of the lady's classes. Then I offered the car to Triumph World editor Tony Beadle. He was standing at the staging area taking pictures and I know if I was him I'd be wishing I had a car. So I offered him the Stag, explaining that it has an automatic trans, and that a manual trans would surely be more fun, but that if he wanted to, he could take it out. He asked if I was serious, I said of course, and he strapped himself in... on the left side of the car! He did well and I think he enjoyed himself out there.
Here are some pictures I took during the autocross:
A TR6 streaks past on the track.
A TR3 navigates through the cones.
This Vitesse turns right on the course.
Jack McGahey, of North Carolina, changes tires on this 1973 TR6 after completing his run.
This Stag navigates its way on the course.
A pair of TR3s wait to run.
Mike Bilyk, of the Detroit Triumph Sportscar Club motors his way on the track.
A Spifire on the course.
Randall Young replaces a cone he knocked over as he exits the track. What a guy!
Tony Beadle, editor of Triumph World Magazine, ran the autocross in a borrowed 1971 Stag. And yes, he did get in on the correct side of the car!
Posted by bdischer at 05:56 PM | Comments (0)
July 27, 2005
Speedway Spectacular!
Cars on the oval track at the Rockford Raceway.
Blake Discher II follows the action on the track.
Bob Streepy dressed for the ocassion!
Spectacular indeed, and big fun! Rockford Speedway was the place and about 150 Triumph loyals made it out to watch the oval track racing. Seats in the center of the grandstands was reserved for the VTR group; we had the best seats in the house. The action was outstanding, there were several races in which the finishes were extremely close bringing the fans in the grandstands to their feet. Everyone attending enjoyed brats from the grill. A big surprise was when the track announcer invited Susan Kahler, of Arkansas and Ann Buja of ISOA, the host club, to ride along for three laps on the track.
Posted by bdischer at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)
Funkhana, Tech Sessions, and Car Washing
What a great day, the weather is about 80 degrees and no humidity. Everyone is outside, even the tech session on fuses was held outside. The car wash area was filled with everyone washing off road grime and polishing up their babies.
Don Klass of Iowa washes his 1978 Spitfire Wednesday morning.
The funkhana was a hoot! A short course, but it involved sitting on the throne (in a makeshift outhouse) and removing a page from the yellow pages of a category that began with your last name. Next, some sorting of spark plugs had to be done, then a pigs ear toss, and last, you had to pull one of three udders on a cow. A 15 second penalty was assessed if you pulled the wrong udder and upset the cow enough to cause it to drop a surprise!
The digital photography tech session was very well attended as was the electrical session put on by Joe Pawlak and Glenn Merrell. They set up a board with several pairs of headlights called "The Fuseinater." The purpose was to add amperage draw on various size American and British fuses to demonstrate the differences in when each would open and protect your car's harness. Using an American 35 amp fuse, they melted a wire and let loose the smoke it contained.
Russ and Marj Bees posed with their 1931 Standard Avon Special FH just before it was inspected for Thursday's autocross. The car is an amazing example; Tony Beadle, editor of Triumph World Magazine said that even in England, very, very few in any condition survive.
Posted by bdischer at 03:01 PM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2005
First Tech Session & Welcome Reception
The rains came for the first time in several weeks here in Rockford. Unfortunately, they came on the first day of the VTR in Rockford, Illinois. The Funkhana was rained out just after a few cars completed the circuit, it's rescheduled for Wednesday.
A whole of Triumphs are parked in a roped off area of the host hotel's parking lot and people we going through the registration area all day long. At 6:30pm, the first tech session got underway. The topic was cooling systems. The presenter, Tim Dunderdale, did a fine job of sharing his knowledge on the topic and fielded many questions from the audience.
After that, at 7:30pm, the Welcome Reception began. It was a great opportunity to catch up with Triumph pals from all over the country that you hadn't seen for the past year. After some remarks from Ann Buja, the conference chair, and Vernon Branon, president of VTR, it was time for a special guest to take the stage. It was Tony Beadle of Triumph World Magazine.
The highlight of the evening though, was when the "Spinal Tappets" took the stage to pound out some classic rock tunes with slightly modified lyrics. Outstanding!
The first technical session covered engine cooling systems.
Tony Beadle, editor of the UK magazine Triumph World, spoke at the start of the Welcome Reception Tuesday evening.
The "The Spinal Tappets" entertained the crowd at the Welcome Reception.
Posted by bdischer at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2005
We Made It!
My 1971 Stag in Triumph, Illinois. More on that later.
We left home just outside of Detroit on Sunday for Chris Holbrook's house in Canadian Lakes, Michigan. I drove my 1971 Stag and Lesley drove our air-conditioned Durango with Blake II. That trip was 200 mile, and uneventful... the best kind. Chris, Pat Barber and myself worked to install saftey belts in the back seat of my Stag so that Blake II could make it to ice cream run with mom and me. We tested the baby seat in the Stag, everything was tight, mom was satisfied he'd be fine.
We left this morning at about 10:30, three Stags, a Spitfire, and the Durango. The only problem besides temps in the 90s was a throttle cable glitch in Pat's Stag. Ten minutes later, we were back on the road. 400 miles later, we were in Rockford.
Along the way, Lesley and I made a stop in Triumph, Illinois. A spooky place for sure. We saw no adults, one boy about 13, wearing a long sleeved shirt and long pants riding a bicycle. (Remember, the temps were in the mid-90s!) We did see about six cats roaming through the town. But the strangest thing about the town of Triumph was that from behind a fence we couldn't see through, someone was singing Christmas carols! Lesley mentioned she thought we stepped into a Stephen King novel, said to take the picture above quickly, and let's get out of here. We did.
We ran into Glenn Merrell of the Stag Club USA in the hotel, he says to expect in excess of 35 Stags! About six or seven are already here. Temps are supposed to cool off somewhat to the mid 80s beginning tomorrow and fair weather is forecast. I'm looking forward to meeting a lot of folks here, please introduce yourself!
Posted by bdischer at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)
July 23, 2005
Welcome!
The purpose of this blog is to provide information about the Vintage Triumph Register's National Convention in Rockford, Illinois. If you are attending the convention and would like to contribute to this blog, please leave a message for Blake Discher at the host hotel with information on how to reach you. Daily dispatches begin Monday, July 25th.
Posted by bdischer at 06:06 PM | Comments (0)