Newsletter
JUNE 2009
Wine Country was a great event. The weather was just right. I hope everyone that came had a good time. I heard many nice comments about the cars. We were in the garages which made for good spectator viewing. It was really cool talking to many people who were involved with these cars back in the day. Steve Petty, a pro driver from the 80’s Trans Am, spent time with Mike Haemmig and me. He had great stories about the drivers, teams and races. Crew members from a lot of different cars were thrilled to see the cars. Guys these cars are cool!!!
The group was combined with the 1970-1980 IMSA group. It worked out pretty well. For Sunday’s race we had a split start, our group started second probably 45-50 seconds later. John Watkins in his Firebird and John Morton ( yes that John Morton) driving Phil Gallant’s Mustang worked their way up and passed most of the 1970-80 IMSA group. . They put on a good show. Gordon Gimbel also had a strong run. Dan Walters in Tom Sakai’s Firebird and Nick DeVitis in his Beretta battled the entire race. Mike Haemmig’s Corvette drew a lot of attention all weekend long. Mike unfortunately retired after only a couple laps with transmission trouble in Sunday’s race. Speaking of transmission problems, the Protofab Camaro was sidelined at the start of the weekend with a failed pilot bushing and damaged clutch housing. I wasn’t the only one with mechanical gremlins. Unfortunately Art Miller had engine problems which sidelined his Valvoline Firebird. John McKenna had engine problems on Saturday and wasn’t able to repair this Thunderbird for Sunday’s race. John McKenna and Mike Haemmig both have cars that were driven by Darrin Brassfield, who back in the day always did well at Sears Point. Shaun Coleman had a smile on his face all weekend. His Buick ran well all weekend long. I am posting some photos of the weekend. Please send your photos to me and I will get them on the website.
The Historic Trans-am IMSA Group got noticed this weekend. I had several people ask about how to get involved. People are looking for cars. Since Wine County new owners have contacted me and two more cars are joining the group. One would have to rebody his car to run with us.. Hopefully he will consider doing it. Tommy Thompson brought his newly acquired 1990 Chevy Beretta. It was not quite ready to run, but looked good just sitting next to the Mobil One Corvette. He is offering the Beretta for sale.
Seattle and Portland are up next for us. Check the website for dates. Please consider running these back to back events. It makes it worth the drive. I hope to break the curse on my cars and actually complete a race. Hey guys it might be worth the trip just to see one of the Camaro’s finish for once.Ron