Nice group photo of the FF
entrants. RMVR had 11 of the 21 FFs at the event.
Don't
ask why I was almost last on the grid! But it was a great
weekend with perfect weather and nothing broke. Well, nothing
serious.
Aug.
2021
RMVR
presented seven nice race cars at this year's Morgan Adams
Concours D'Eleganace. This was to celebrate our 11th year of
the RMVR Race Against Kids. Cancer raising a total
of $1,500,000 for MAF. Diane's Miller Sports racer was
one of the seven featured cars.
Feb.
2017
A
bunch of RMVR Formula Ford racers decided to get an early start on the
2017 season by attending a VARA race in Nevada. It was held at a private
Country Club Racing facility, Spring
Mountain Motor Racing & Country Club. It's
located about 45 minutes west of Las Vegas and is, in fact, a county
club facility. Good news. No damn golf course. Just an
amazing track and facility. Eleven FF racers from RMVR
attended.
The
Good News: It was a great facility and trace track.
The Bad News: The weather was bad, with rain Friday morning
and much of Saturday. But the track was dry on
Sunday so eventually we got in some good laps. The track has multiple
configurations. We ran one of the longer configurations, the
Mansell course -- 3.4 miles with 18 corners. Learning it
with limited track time and usually wet conditions was, to say the least, a
challenge!
But
we had a good time.
Top
left, Bob leading (or holding up, hard to tell) a pack of
FFs. Top right, five of the RMVR "dudes"
-- Pete Christensen, Steve Barkley, me, Matt Ammer, and Bob
Hancock. Mike Ries was missing at that
time. Other RMVR FF racers who made the trip were Ron
Hornig, Pete Sabeth, Bill Demetre. Plus Charlie Daniels
& David Lawrence (both from Albuquerque, the southern contingent
of RMVR FF racers). Unfortunately John Mihalich, Jim
Stienmetz, and John Lewinger were all supposed to be
there, but had to cancel.
2015
Titan Reunion III - California
Oct.
30th - Nov. 1st, 2015
We
raced on the west coast (Thunderhill) attending a Titan/Winkelmann
race reunion. Several Denver FF drivers attended including
Jamie & Carol Stiehr, Mike Ries, Diane & I. Here's a
link
to full coverage of that event on Andy Antipas's Titan
website.
After
attending that race, on the way home we stopped in Gateway, CO to
see the amazing Gateway Canyon Resort and Car Museum. World class
facility, world class cars, and a "Don't miss" stop for
any car enthusiast. Pictures
of that side-trip are here on our SmugMug site.
RMVR's
Fifth Annual Race Against Kids' Cancer - Aug. 2015
Randy
Pobst is a professional race driver. He was kind enough
to lend his celebrity status to RMVR's annual charity event in
Aug. of 2015, helping us raise money in several ways. I was privileged
to let him drive my Titan Formula Ford for the
weekend. He drove it all weekend, but on Sunday's last
race I got back in the car. It's amazing (Nay, very humbling)
to realize what a pro can do. Randy hasn't ever really raced
an open wheel car, his professional career being in sedans. He had
only driven an open wheel car once many years ago (like 20+ years
ago!). He was turning laps in a my car almost 2 seconds per lap
faster then me. I'd kill for another 1/2 second per
lap. So, lesson learned. . Fortunately I had the data
recorder going all weekend so analyzing his laps vs. mine was extremely
educational. Let's just say, I have a long way to go
but the data says it can be done.
Randy
is a true gentlemen and a pleasure to "hang with."
Thanks, Randy.
CVAR
Race at Hallett, Oklahoma - October 2014
We
always enjoy going to the Fall CVAR race at the Hallett, OK
racetrack (Just outside Tulsa). This year we took both
sports racers, the Miller (Di) and the Bobsy (Bob). Since we
were in the same run group all weekend, we petitioned the track
photographer to try to capture us both at the same time and we
made an effort to sort of stay together to give him a
"shot.". The result was some unique pics of both SRs in
the same picture. Mucho fun and some cool photos
Also,
this particular track photographer takes video and was able to get
some neat footage of us together on track. Below it a short video,
less than 4 minutes. Note in the last 20 seconds of the video ugly smoke
coming from the right rear Diane's wheel well.. It
turns out it was in the process of cutting down the right rear
tire due to a broken shock absorber mounting bolt. Half a
lap later the tire came apart and she went for bit of a ride in a
very fast left hand sweeper. Happily no real damage beyond a
shredded tire. Anyway, it was the last session of the weekend
and the last lap of the race. So she
didn't miss much racing.
RMVR's
Race
at Hastings, Nebraska Sept. 2014
Hey, I made
the front page of the local newspaper. What can I say?
{Click to enlarge
article)
Now that I'm a
video expert (ha-ha) here's a video of one of my races in the
Titan FF where
there was some good action, both good and bad. It is a 14
minute video, but it's interesting to watch the embedded info from
our onboard data acquisition system -- Speedometer & Tachometer
at top, where the car is located on the
track (Lower Right), and the G-Forces (Lower Left). Also, there's some captions within the video explaining
events.
Lap number
one has some excitement which I avoided. Then Jim Steinmetz
and I raced back and forth all race, until I screwed up on the
last lap. Arrrrrgh!
RMVR's
3rd Annual Race Against Kids Cancer
Celebrating
45 Years of Formula Ford
July
27-28, 2013
(Click
on any image below to see an enlarged hi-res version)
RMVR’s
Third Annual Race Against Kids’ Cancer was another resounding
success! Once again the charitable beneficiary was the Morgan
Adams Foundation (MAF) which sponsors research into causes and
cures for cancer in children. The July 27-28 race weekend at High
Plains Raceway brought in about $75,000 for the third year in a
row, bring the three-year total raised for MAF to about $225,000!
Not to mention giving some “Kids” a great weekend.
An added
attraction to this year’s charity race weekend was a Celebration
of 45 Years of Formula Ford. To genuinely reflect the
full history of this great formula, RMVR invited all Formula
Fords, even contemporary versions.The turnout was great with 39 FFs entered for the event
coming from surrounding states of
New Mexico
,
Utah
,
Minnesota
, and
Nebraska
. This represented the largest ever FF grid in the
Rocky
Mountain
region, even bigger than back in the day of FF in the 70s. Very
impressive and great fun.
One of our RMVR
members and FF drivers, Steve Urbano, created the concept and
graphic design for this sensational poster for the weekend's
feature, 45 years of Formula Ford.
The Dave
Philip Photography was kind enough to take and create this
wonderful FF Group Picture.
During
an extended lunch hour on both Saturday and Sunday donors could
purchase a “Ticket To Ride” at speed for three laps in some
spectacular race and exotic machines. Imagine the thrill of
getting a ride a genuine Penske/Donohue Lola T-70. That was an
easy sell! Rides in a new Lamborghini or Aston Martin Vantage, the
N24 Factory Racing version, were also sold out. Who could resist
those rides? RMVR corner workers gave up their lunch hour to
assist donors with helmet fittings and getting donors into and out
of cars for a ride of a lifetime. While generous donors
purchased a lot of rides of a lifetime, our drivers also treated some of
the kids undergoing cancer treatment a ride which no doubt they will always remember.
A fun new fund raising twist this
year was the availability of some very foxy Umbrella Girls to
shade for drivers on the pre-grid before each race, all in the
name of charity of course. For a $20 donation one of the very
attractive ladies would provide shade, a picture was taken and a
wallet sized print provided. Guess what? Umbrella Girls sold out
and it wasn’t even all that hot (the weather, that is). Imagine
that.
Above is the cover of a very neat 2014 Calendar featuring 12 difference
exotic cars and, dare I say, 12 exotic Grid Girls, These
calendar's are now available directly from MAF ($20).
JustCLICK
HERE. You'll support MAF and love the calendar.
These three pics of
Grid Girls at work raising money for MAF were also taken by John
Waugh. Left to right Jimmy Steinmetz, Chris Thompson,
and Bob Darcey.
All this combined for a great RMVR
weekend. Good racing, lots of fun and all done to benefit a great
outfit, the Morgan
Adams Foundation.
PPIR
October
29/30, 2011
Our
last race of the season at Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR).
These two nice pic of Diane getting ready to go out. She finished
the year on a high note, winning one race on Saturday and then on
Sunday, after starting 10th came in 3rd and set the fastest lap
against the Formula Fords and Formula Vees, not to mention a
personal best lap time at PPIR by a couple of seconds! A
really nice way to end the season..
Reunion
Party
September
17th, 2011
September
17, 2011 - After fiddling for a long time with the idea
of a reunion party for all the fine folks I worked with over the
years, we decided to throw a big party.
Having been retired from Tempest
since the end of 2002 (It doesn't seem possible!), it took some
effort to assemble contact information for everyone. But that in
itself was a fun task. There were folks from the old FNBD days
('69-'74), the CNB and CCA tenure ('75-'92), as well as
compatriots from Tempest ('93-2002). The party was grand fun. Many
folks attending hadn't seen each other in 20+ years. How very
cool.
Many thanks to all who were able
to attend. I can't tell you what a treat it was to see everyone.
Below are just some teaser photos. For compete pictorial
coverage visit the Reunion's
SmugMug Picture Gallery.
RMVR's
"Race Against Kids' Cancer"
Aug.
6-7, 2011
This
year RMVR revived a charity event, this year to benefit the Morgan
Adams Foundation which is devoted to funding research into
cancer in children. The event was a big success with 140
race car entrants, lots of spectators, and raising about $75,000
for the charity. Fantastic!
Also
the race weekend saw a special grid exclusively for Formula B and
Formula C cars. The special feature grid and race was
organized by one of our members, David Irwin. Seldom is
there such a large grid of these very unique cars, pictured at
left. I was
able to enter my
Russell-Alexis FB car (Yellow car in second row).
Group
picture on left by Rupert Berrington, photo on right by Dave
Philips.
At right is a neat shot of myself
in the Russell-Alexis leading good friend Andy Antipas in his
historically significant Titan MK3A, a factory team car in Formula
3 trim.
Click on any image to enlarge.
Diane's
Birthday
Party - What a blast!
Nov.
6, 2010 - We decided to have a big party at the World
Headquarters of TEAM TERRIFIC RACING to celebrate Diane's
Birthday. It was a grand evening with over 100 wonderful friends being
able to attend. Many thanks to Bob Johnson, Coke Governski, Rose
Cook, Judy Seman, and Elaine Johnson (Diane's sister) for all the
great pictures. Below are a few of the pictures. Our SmugMug site has the full complement of
photos complete
with snappy captions. Check it out!
This
is just a teaser! CLICK
HERE for all the photo coverage of the party.
Another
Cool Birthday
Party
"70
On 70"
Late
Oct., 2010 - To protect the name of the
guilty, we attend a great party for a friend, who will remain
nameless. He celebrated his 70th birthday in a rather unusual
fashion. His party was entitled "70 On 70"
if you view the video, you'll see why. Very cool.
If
you click on the picture at left to enlarge, you'll note a very
fast formula car. This is the on-ramp to an Interstate
Highway (Location also anonymous for obvious reasons).
Yup!!!!! He took a high speed run on the Interstate to
celebrate turning 70! For a 14 minute full video of the
amazing event CLICK
HERE.
RMVR
@ Hastings, Nebraska
Sept.
2-4, 2010 - The now-traditional RMVR Labor Day
Showboat Grand Prix in Hasting, Nebraska was again a great event
with wonderful weather. (Two weekends prior to this we
raced in Topkea and the mid-west weather was very hot and humid,
95 x 95. Ugh! But Labor Day in Hastings was about
perfect.)
We
took the Bobsy and the Alexis. Unfortunately the Alexis
broke during the first session on Friday. There were some
off-and-on issues with the Bobsy, but nothing serious that we
couldn't fix. Diane took pity on Bob and let him race it Sat.
morning. Then on Sunday she delivered a faster lap (by .7
second!!!) than Bob.
All
the following pictures are complements of Don Suiter, a regular
RMVR corner worker.
A
highlight of the weekend was Sunday evening when one of the track
condominium residents, Terry Klatt, opened up his amazing museum
which is right at the track. The front entrance is designed
like an old filling station. His incredible collection of
cars, memorabilia, signage, car models, gas pumps, etc., etc.,
etc. is one of the great collections we've had the privilege of
seeing. These pics don't begin to do the collection
justice. And in the huge building, behind the collection is
a 3-story condominium beyond compare with a view of the entire
race track.
RMVR
@ Pikes Peak International Raceway
July
17-18, 2010 - RMVR returned to Pikes Peak
International Raceway after not racing there in 2009.
The configuration was changed so that the race was run on about
2/3rds of the oval, then coming down into the infield part of the
road course, then back out onto the oval. (Click aerial map
to see actual course we ran).
Actually quite fun to
run the entire south end of the oval.
The
weather was quite hot, 100 degrees, but all-in-all it was quite bearable.
We rented garage space so weren't in the sun and also used our
water mister which was a real hit.
Also
this weekend the sports racers, and thus Diane in the Bobsy, ran
in the same run session as the formula fords (Bob's car this weekend). So, we were
in the same run session all weekend, something we seldom get to
do. The picture below shows us both on track, on the front
straight of the banking. Cool. Diane was ahead at that
point, but not for long. Bob had the fastest Formula Ford
lap for the weekend.
Thanks
to Steve Nelson and Mike Rogers for this photo and article
published in Victory Lane (click to enlarge).
RMVR
@ HPR
May 15-16, 2010 - This
weekend was a bit special. Team Terrific fielded two
"new" cars. First and foremost, the Bobsy made its
Inaugural race weekend with Diane driving the car. It
performed splendidly and she REALLY liked it. Also Bob ran
the Alexis FB which hadn't been on track for almost two years due
to a needed engine repair that took a back seat while the Bobsy
restoration was in progress.
This race weekend was also special
because of an RMVR Formula B reunion with nine (count 'em 9!) RMVR
Formula B cars making the grid. That's the most FB cars
we've seen in years, maybe ever.
At left, Diane gets ready to take
the Bobsy on its maiden voyage. During the weekend Rupert
Berrington got a great picture of the car on track at speed.
Below are some nice shots of the
RMVR Formula B reunion in which the Team Terrific Alexis FB participated (fourth from
right). Picture at far right is another nice Rupert
Berrington picture taken while on track and at speed.
RMVR's Enduro Weekend @ HPR - October 3-4, 2009
October 3-4,
2009Some
neat photos of Diane at the last
RMVR race, the Enduro.
HSR-West
@ California Speedway
Fontana,
CA
June
21-22, 2008 - I've
not been real good about
documenting our race trips
lately. But our trip to
the California Speedway in
June was really neat. We
were able to bum a ride for
both of our cars in the very
nice rig belonging to David
Jacobs and Terry Hefty.
Terry couldn't attend the
event so there was room in the
BIG rig for Diane and I.
So, we were able to
"fly-and-drive" and
enjoy all the comforts of the
rig (e.g. an air-conditioned
toter-home RV) and the great
hospitality of Tom and Kris
Ellis who support David and
Terry with their cars.
David
only took one of his cars out
to California -- his really
nice BT-21 Brabham.
(Thus room in the rig for Team
Terrific's two cars).
His son Billy lives in
northern California and was
able to come down and drive
the Brabham for the
weekend. David's main
mission for the weekend was to
test and take delivery of his
"new" Lola T-70
which was restored in
California. As you can
see below, the Lola T-70 is
undoubtedly one of the most
beautiful, if not THE MOST
beautiful, race cars ever
produced! But
alas, there were some issues
with the newly restored car
and David had to leave it in
California for the restorers
to make it right. It
will then be shipped to David
in Boulder when finished.
Diane
and I had a great weekend in
spite of what turned out to be
one hell of a hot
weekend. Temps of
105-110 degrees all three
days. But we survived
and actually had a great
time. It's always neat
to drive a new track and this
one is special. This is
a HUGE facility! While
is a two-mile oval, the road
circuit which we ran uses only
half of the oval and then
another mile of road racing
track inside the oval.
The high-banked portion of
oval provides a very high
speed unique racing
experience. Overall it's
a 2.8 mile track with over a
mile of that run on the
eastern half of the
oval. Banking on the end
of the oval is 18
degrees! And we were
cooking at about 120-125 mph
sweeping around the oval
portion. Cool.
All in
all, a good trip.
Here's
A Few Pics Of The Trip
Our
"home" away
from home, the nice
rig which includes an
RV-like toter-home
built onto the back of
the tractor.
And, air-conditioned
too.
Our cars, the
Brabham, and the Lola
T-70 shaded and relatively
cool. Temps of
105+ were
commonplace for the
entire three days.
Diane
relaxing between
sessions..
Good
buddy, Scott
"Scooter"
Meehan from Salt Lake
CIty was also
there. He too
has a pretty darn nice
rig.
Kris took
such good care of us,
cooking up the nicest
lunches. No
track burgers for this
crowd.
The only
way Diane and I would
get to see the
podium. You just
can't show up and beat
the home town boys on
their home town
track. But. . .
we both put in a good
showing.
This is
the stunningly
beautiful Lola
T-70. But due to
a number of
nagging teething problems,
few good sessions were
recorded during the
three days of
testing.
Later in
the weekend the crew
of the restorer kept trying
to find the problems,
to no
avail.
Upon close inspection,
David does have a scowl
on his face.
Bummer!!!!!!!
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