Old road race pics
04-29-2011, 09:59 AM
#102
Le Mans Master
04-29-2011, 11:06 AM
#103
Safety Car
Last weekend my parents and I went through all their old road racing slides from the late 70s. Lots of neat stuff from Laguna, Sears Point, and Road Atlanta. I recognized Paul Newman's Datsun from reading this thread awhile back. It was neat to see pics of what the back straight at RA used to look like before 10a and 10b were added!
If we can get some of them scanned I'll eventually post them up
If we can get some of them scanned I'll eventually post them up
04-29-2011, 11:54 AM
#104
Former Vendor
That maybe the last good picture of that car.
Doug was shocked to see that this AM. Then said tell Jim Thanks!!!
Randy
04-29-2011, 04:58 PM
#105
Le Mans Master
He said that was the weekend of the big runoffs crash. Because of the sticker on the door. From my understanding nobody really won that day, but a lot of guys lost.
That maybe the last good picture of that car.
Doug was shocked to see that this AM. Then said tell Jim Thanks!!!
Randy
That maybe the last good picture of that car.
Doug was shocked to see that this AM. Then said tell Jim Thanks!!!
Randy
Ahh yes, the rain at turn 6, it was one hell of a wreck and only the cars a lap or two down were not destroyed. Many guys never raced or raced competatively again.
Jim
05-02-2011, 09:50 PM
#108
Le Mans Master
However, it is still fun to ride around and act like I am going fast.Here are the two MECCA cars at the start before a new track record:
I had a tight butt about when this picture was taken!
Jim
Last edited by Painrace; 05-02-2011 at 09:57 PM.
05-03-2011, 04:54 PM
#110
Le Mans Master
05-10-2011, 02:31 PM
#111
Race Director
Yep! I held the GT-1 track record at 1.18++ then 1.17++ then 1.16++ then 1.14++ in a MECCA car. I love Charlotte and Rockingham. Charlotte is great fun because you can't see through NASCAR 3-4 and you don't lift coming off the back straight and it scrubs a ton of speed off. I drove a test car at Charlotte a 3-4 years ago and found out my skills are gone! I am just too old at 67! However, it is still fun to ride around and act like I am going fast.
Here are the two MECCA cars at the start before a new track record:
However, it is still fun to ride around and act like I am going fast.Here are the two MECCA cars at the start before a new track record:
It seems to me, that MECCA was developing GM's reverse flow cooling system on that Camaro in the mid 80's. I think it's the same system that later showed up on the Corvette/Camaro LT1's.
Besides being fast, those MECCA cars were beautiful, they always looked more like show cars than race cars!
Below are a couple pics of the MECCA Camaro, from way back when. I think that Rick Bell was driving it in all of these pictures. The first picture is from the Trans-Am race at Lime Rock, around 1986. The other 2 are from an SCCA race GT-1 race at Summit, again around 86 or 87? I think the black Corvette is Charles Hammershmidt.
05-10-2011, 08:38 PM
#112
Le Mans Master
I remember the MECCA cars well. Being from NJ; Pocono, Summit Point and Lime Rock were the closest tracks to us, and thus, where we seemed to run the most. With MECCA based just down the road from Lime Rock, in Sharon CT, we often "encountered" the MECCA Camaro there, as well as at Summit and Pocono.
It seems to me, that MECCA was developing GM's reverse flow cooling system on that Camaro in the mid 80's. I think it's the same system that later showed up on the Corvette/Camaro LT1's.
Besides being fast, those MECCA cars were beautiful, they always looked more like show cars than race cars!
Below are a couple pics of the MECCA Camaro, from way back when. I think that Rick Bell was driving it in all of these pictures. The first picture is from the Trans-Am race at Lime Rock, around 1986. The other 2 are from an SCCA race GT-1 race at Summit, again around 86 or 87? I think the black Corvette is Charles Hammershmidt.
It seems to me, that MECCA was developing GM's reverse flow cooling system on that Camaro in the mid 80's. I think it's the same system that later showed up on the Corvette/Camaro LT1's.
Besides being fast, those MECCA cars were beautiful, they always looked more like show cars than race cars!
Below are a couple pics of the MECCA Camaro, from way back when. I think that Rick Bell was driving it in all of these pictures. The first picture is from the Trans-Am race at Lime Rock, around 1986. The other 2 are from an SCCA race GT-1 race at Summit, again around 86 or 87? I think the black Corvette is Charles Hammershmidt.
Jim
05-19-2011, 09:20 AM
#114
Race Director
Hey I ran into this site:
http://www.racingsportscars.com/type.../Corvette.html
And it has a LOT of pictures. From 1954 on up!
http://www.racingsportscars.com/type.../Corvette.html
And it has a LOT of pictures. From 1954 on up!
05-30-2011, 06:26 PM
#115
Melting Slicks
06-10-2011, 12:58 PM
#116
Racer
Roebling Pictures
Hey Jim (Painrace)
I know this was you:
I wish I had waited another 20 feet to take that picture!
and this is Mike Harrison:
This is the same car you posted a picture of on this thread that must have been in the big RA crash. Who is it?
And who is this:
I may as well throw in the last Vette picture I have from that weekend. If I'm remembering well, here's Jim Durovy:
One of them should be Dr. Gerald Meier from Florence, SC but I can't remember what his car looked like. I have tried calling his old home and office number and the last hospital were he practiced but have had no success.
Locke McCormick
Chief of the Pits and the Grid @ Roebling about 1981 to 1988
I know this was you:
I wish I had waited another 20 feet to take that picture!
and this is Mike Harrison:
This is the same car you posted a picture of on this thread that must have been in the big RA crash. Who is it?
And who is this:
I may as well throw in the last Vette picture I have from that weekend. If I'm remembering well, here's Jim Durovy:
One of them should be Dr. Gerald Meier from Florence, SC but I can't remember what his car looked like. I have tried calling his old home and office number and the last hospital were he practiced but have had no success.
Locke McCormick
Chief of the Pits and the Grid @ Roebling about 1981 to 1988
Last edited by Locke; 06-10-2011 at 01:10 PM.
06-10-2011, 01:30 PM
#117
Le Mans Master
Hey Jim (Painrace)
I know this was you:
I wish I had waited another 20 feet to take that picture!
and this is Mike Harrison:
This is the same car you posted a picture of on this thread that must have been in the big RA crash. Who is it?
And who is this:
I may as well throw in the last Vette picture I have from that weekend. If I'm remembering well, here's Jim Durovy:
One of them should be Dr. Gerald Meier from Florence, SC but I can't remember what his car looked like. I have tried calling his old home and office number and the last hospital were he practiced but have had no success.
Locke McCormick
Chief of the Pits and the Grid @ Roebling about 1981 to 1988
I know this was you:
I wish I had waited another 20 feet to take that picture!
and this is Mike Harrison:
This is the same car you posted a picture of on this thread that must have been in the big RA crash. Who is it?
And who is this:
I may as well throw in the last Vette picture I have from that weekend. If I'm remembering well, here's Jim Durovy:
One of them should be Dr. Gerald Meier from Florence, SC but I can't remember what his car looked like. I have tried calling his old home and office number and the last hospital were he practiced but have had no success.
Locke McCormick
Chief of the Pits and the Grid @ Roebling about 1981 to 1988
) and #10 was Larry Robbinson from Georgia (Not the Goodyear Larry Robinson). I think in 1987 Larry put dayglow orange wheels on his car and won an award at the national runoff at Road Atlanta for the ugliest car ever to run RA!Jim
06-10-2011, 01:54 PM
#118
Racer
Thanks Jim!
When I get the 1980 National (I think these are from 1983) downloaded to Photobucket, I'll add the vettes here and one shot of the best pass I've ever seen at Roebling. It was John Finger going around the outside of Jim Fitzgerald in turn 5
Though it was never a wheel to wheel racer I was copying you guys with my first '69. Here I am autocrossing in 1993 with NCCC:
But the car did finally make to the track with new owner, Marge Lapoja. Here she is at Sebring in 2010:
Locke
When I get the 1980 National (I think these are from 1983) downloaded to Photobucket, I'll add the vettes here and one shot of the best pass I've ever seen at Roebling. It was John Finger going around the outside of Jim Fitzgerald in turn 5
Though it was never a wheel to wheel racer I was copying you guys with my first '69. Here I am autocrossing in 1993 with NCCC:
But the car did finally make to the track with new owner, Marge Lapoja. Here she is at Sebring in 2010:
Locke
Last edited by Locke; 06-10-2011 at 02:44 PM.
06-11-2011, 03:05 PM
#119
Le Mans Master
Thanks Jim!
When I get the 1980 National (I think these are from 1983) downloaded to Photobucket, I'll add the vettes here and one shot of the best pass I've ever seen at Roebling. It was John Finger going around the outside of Jim Fitzgerald in turn 5
Though it was never a wheel to wheel racer I was copying you guys with my first '69. Here I am autocrossing in 1993 with NCCC:
But the car did finally make to the track with new owner, Marge Lapoja. Here she is at Sebring in 2010:
Locke
When I get the 1980 National (I think these are from 1983) downloaded to Photobucket, I'll add the vettes here and one shot of the best pass I've ever seen at Roebling. It was John Finger going around the outside of Jim Fitzgerald in turn 5
Though it was never a wheel to wheel racer I was copying you guys with my first '69. Here I am autocrossing in 1993 with NCCC:
But the car did finally make to the track with new owner, Marge Lapoja. Here she is at Sebring in 2010:
Locke
I loved racing with Finger. He could make that GT-2 Mazda fly. I was never concerned being beside John anywhere including Charlotte, Daytona and Rockingham.
How did John get around Fitzgerald???
Jim
