• Home
• Road Racing
  • 1972 Vintage Corvette
  • GTO / GT1 Riggins Olds
  • 2001 Rolex 24 at Daytona
  • '83 IROC Camaro
  • '68-81 GT1 Corvette
• Drag Racing
  • '59 Anglia Gasser
  • '85 Olds Cutlass 442
• Street Cars
  • '71 Corvette Resto/mod
  • Our Past Cars
• Motor-cycles
  • '66 Honda 305 Scrambler
  • '74 Kawasaki H2 750 Triple
  • TSS Pursang Road Racer
  • '04 Hayabusa

SCCA Jim Stark Memorial Race Report...

Southeast Division South Atlantic Road Racing Championship – SARRC

Roebling Road Raceway - Double SARRC races - April 24 & 25, 2004

We had a great weekend at the Jim Stark Memorial event. We knew Jim personally and it always gives us great pleasure to do well in his honor. We won both of the races at the inaugural event in 1998 and we were able to repeat our performance this year.

The weather was great all weekend, sunny with temperatures in the 80's. Each day consisted of a 20 minute qualifying session and a 17 lap race. There were no practice sessions, so the car had to be right straight out of the trailer for Saturday.

Five laps into the qualifying session there was a full-course yellow which continued for the rest of the session. Not having run a practice session, Dave had taken a few laps to check the car out and didn't get a real good time.

When the provisional grid was posted we were shown in 5th, but the time was several seconds slower than what we recorded. After a discussion with T&S, we found out they had bad data from the transponder system and realized the error. Dave started the race 3rd on the grid, with a 1:14.45, behind Bill Smith's SPO Dodge Daytona and Jeff Emery's GT1 Corvette.

The Starter waved off on the first lap and then waved the green flag on the 2nd lap. Smith and Emery led into Turn One. Two laps later Dave out braked the Corvette going into Turn One. They rubbed a little as the Corvette moved over to block (a little late), but both cars managed to make the turn.

Bill Smith had a strong motor in the Dodge and gained on the straights, but on lap six, in the twisty part, Dave found a way around him. The next lap, going into Turn One, Todd Carter lost the motor in his AS Mustang in a big way, right in front of Dave. Luckily that he took it off track as Dave couldn't see anything for all the smoke. I think at least 2 quarts of his oil was our the windshield.

A lap later the smoke was still thick. Another competitor lost control in the oil and landed wrong-side-up in the tire wall. The race was black flagged and Dave took the checkered flag early on lap 10. After the mandatory 30 minute impound, we headed back to the trailer to prepare the car for Sunday. There was a LOT of oil to clean off.

Sunday's qualifying session went better. We qualified on the pole with a 1:11.772. Smith in the Dodge and Emery were 2nd and 3rd on the grid. The race was less eventful than Saturday's. Once again, the field was waved off on the first lap and when they got the Green on the next lap, the Dodge's power-plant and Emery's Corvette, pulled Dave on the front straight.

Dave got back around Emery that lap in Turn Two and the Corvette faded back. On lap 10, he passed Smith when he slid wide and spun in the Carousal, Turn Six.

Smith lost 2nd to Emery and fell back to finish 7th. From that point Dave was able to put in several good laps and take it to the Checkered flag with a 50.501 margin of victory.

In all, the weekend went well. Our son, Mark, and Michael Hooten crewed for us and were a great help. We saw a lot of old friends and made some new ones.

There are some very used up Goodyear tires to be replaced and a lot of cleaning to do, but for the most part, the car, driver and crew are all in good shape.