Tracking Out, How hard can this be?

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I carefully move the shifter through the gates before I start the engine, a dress rehearsal for the opportunity I am about to have. Reverse up and to the left? Check. The 1-2 shift seems easy enough, and 3rd gear is spaced perfectly. Piece of cake.

            Turning the key, the engine comes to life with a loud bark, and immediately settles into a turbine-smooth rumble. Foot on clutch, shifter eased gently into first, left pedal out slightly, right pedal in slightly, the revs build and….stall. Hmmm. Let me try that again. Vroom…snick…stall.

            “Don’t feel so bad,” chides the Paul Miller rep with a smile. “You cannot start this car normally. You have to gently let out the clutch until it starts to catch, and then let it out a little further until the car starts to roll.” I start to try his approach before my brain kicks in again, pushes the right pedal, and stalls the car. One more time, and I am going to follow the directions to the letter, for better or for worse. I lift the clutch, the car starts to roll, I lift it a little more, and I am off! I squeeze the gas a bit, and finally, I am actually driving a Porsche Carrera GT. (copy editor’s note: I heard from a reliable source that some small petite lady (my daughter) after hearing that all of the male drivers stalled the Carrera GT had no problem and did not stall it. She is still giggling about it.)

A Cup Car in Sprint Cup Land

The tale of how a NNJR PCA guy and die-hard road racing fan found himself surrounded by thousands of NASCAR fans, and lived to tell about it.

             This adventure started with a message from fellow NNJR instructor Scott Lynn: “Let’s have lunch.” Great idea. I knew that Scott had been working on starting his new charity for the benefit of amateurs who are injured in motorsports activities, and I am interested in hearing how that is going. Turns out that Scott had been invited on short notice to set up a trailer at the June Pocono 400 event to introduce the Motorsport Rehabilitation Foundation to NASCAR fans. Really cool. Let me know if you need any help…

            As a draw for fans, Scott and co-founder Michele Randall had the idea to display a vintage stock car racer associated with the old Flemington track. Great idea!

            A day later – Thursday – my phone rang. “We need to be at Pocono tomorrow afternoon and the race car deal fell through. We need something else to draw fans to our tent. Any chance you could bring your Cup Car?” “Sure, but it’s a Porsche, it has nothing to do with NASCAR.” A check with Pocono confirmed that this was indeed a “Chevrolet Event,” no other cars welcome. But “Oh wait, it’s a race car? No problem.” What had I just gotten myself into? 

The DIY Workshop

Summer has fully arrived and for concours enthusiasts, that means that our annual “Do It Yourself Concours Workshop” was again part of our concours agenda. Ray Catena Porsche generously agreed to host this event at their outstanding service facility in Edison, NJ on June 3rd. 

Despite erroneous reports on the local radio station that Route 1 was closed in both directions at the Route 287 exit as a result of an overturned tanker truck, over forty members showed up for this workshop ready and eager to learn the tips, techniques and secrets of proper Porsche car care from our celebrated team of concours experts. With our club’s emphasis on recruiting new members, it was encouraging to see a number of new faces interested in proper Porsche care.

The DIY Workshop

Summer has fully arrived and for concours enthusiasts, that means that our annual “Do It Yourself Concours Workshop” was again part of our concours agenda. Ray Catena Porsche generously agreed to host this event at their outstanding service facility in Edison, NJ on June 3rd. 

Despite erroneous reports on the local radio station that Route 1 was closed in both directions at the Route 287 exit as a result of an overturned tanker truck, over forty members showed up for this workshop ready and eager to learn the tips, techniques and secrets of proper Porsche car care from our celebrated team of concours experts. With our club’s emphasis on recruiting new members, it was encouraging to see a number of new faces interested in proper Porsche care.

2012 Nominating Committee Appointments

  REPORT OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE The Nominating Committee, exercising its duties as representatives of the NNJR Membership, has nominated the following candidates to serve on the Board of Governors for the calendar year 2013. PRESIDENT: Craig Mahon VICE PRESIDENT: Drew Karpinski SECRETARY: Cindy Cristello TREASURER: Tom Iervolino GOVERNOR: Jeff Cafiero GOVERNOR: Craig Ploetner GOVERNOR: […]

Tracking Out – June 2012

“Just wait until you try a New York pretzel,” my dad said, as our pale yellow Coupe de Ville glided down Route 3. I admit I was skeptical. I mean, I was almost six years old already, and I knew what pretzels from a store tasted like. They were good, but hardly the stuff of dreams. My Dad was undeterred his enthusiasm. “The street vendors have these big carts where they cook the pretzels over a charcoal fire,” my dad continued. “They’re hot and a little crunchy on the outside, but soft in the middle. You put a little mustard on them and they are out of this world.”

Food was always inextricably woven into the weekend adventures with my dad. Sometimes he would introduce a new pizza place that he had come across in his travels (like Pizza Kings). Sometimes it was a bakery with great cheese buns (Hahns). Or an amazing burger joint (The Brook Tavern). Or the best sloppy joes in New Jersey (Bangiolas). Or hot dogs with long slices of pickle and birch beer on tap (Johnnys). Whatever the place or cuisine, he made it all part of the adventure, and the adventure on this day was my first trip to New York City to see the Auto Show.

I sat in the passenger seat of the big coupe, in this time before modern annoyances like child seats, rear-seat laws, airbags, and seat belts. I guess as it is with most recollections from childhood, that Caddy seemed bigger than life. Only it was bigger than life, with an enormous split bench in front and a long expanse of dashboard that dwarfed me in a wall of plastic wood. I loved the small details that the car had, like those little sentinel lights on the leading edge of each front fender that showed that the headlights were functioning, and the Cadillac emblems, ducks and all, seemingly everywhere. The car’s eight-track player clicked back to Program 1, and Barry Manilow appropriately began to wax poetic about the New York City Rhythm.

“Here comes the Lincoln Tunnel,” my dad announced. He had already primed me for this part of the trip, and I was eager to see what driving under the water felt like. “Like a big bathroom,” I thought, as we drove through the tiled tube, my eyes scanning vigilantly for even the slightest of water leaks.

Rolex 50th Anniversary 24 Hours at Daytona OR… 12 Hours of Sebring 60th Anniversary which event to attend?

 

As a prelude to the scheduled June 13, 2012 NNJR Feature Program, President Craig suggested the preparation of this P4US article, which offers a glimpse of the upcoming PowerPoint presentation with photos taken at Daytona and later Sebring, and will include:

a bit of Daytona Rolex 24 Hour & Sebring 12 Hour history

plus Daytona & Sebring track facts

race coverage itself including special Speed Insider Ticket credentials, along with PCA hospitality areas

photos highlighting the special Daytona Champions Display of 29 past winning 24-Hour cars, as well as coverage of the Sebring Museum which also featured past winning 12-Hour cars along with historic drivers on site for autographs

pictures of garage and pit areas

Having never been to either event, the trip was conceptualized by reading one of cult writer BS Levy’s novels – Montezuma’s Ferrari, which included colorful coverage of the 1953 12 Hours at Sebring. If you are not familiar with BS Levy – or his first novel – The Last Open Road, but have an interest in the birth of “sportycar” racing in the USA, do yourself a favor and pickup a copy. Fact is fellow NNJR member Mike Scott provided the referral, which has grown to a 5 novel series by this Jersey-centric writer.

Inspired by the read, Sebring and its 60th Anniversary of the 12 Hours was penciled into my March calendar. Well, NNJR – as you may have observed, has a lot of resources amongst its membership, and while attending the local C&C display in Chatham, I ran my Sebring plan by DE-enthusiasts Ken Ernsting and George Calfo who tactfully suggested that considering I had not been to either Sebring nor Daytona – and this January marked the 50th Anniversary of the 24 Hour Daytona, it may be an advantage to instead begin at Daytona, which had all the promise to be another big-time event.

 

NNJR Car Control Clinic: The First Time Around

“What did you do this weekend?” Friends and co-workers asked Monday morning. “I was learning to drive my Porsche at the MetLife Stadium parking lot!” That was enough to solicit more interest and a barrage of questions: “What were you doing in the parking lot? Were you racing your car? How was it? Are you crazy?” Don’t you already know how to drive? As a start….

Yes, we spent our Sunday at a Parking Lot of the MetLife Stadium at the Car Control Clinic organized by the NNJR- PCA.

Both of us are new at this although Swroop attended the Ladies Day DE at Pocono Raceway last year. As soon as we heard about the Car Control Clinic, we registered for it as we were told by Tom Iervolino that the event is very popular and fills up very quickly. No more dipping our toes into PCA events, it was time to jump in with both feet.

A few weeks ahead of the event, via email, we received the Student Guide created by Tom Iervolino. It reminded us of the goals of the event “to learn the fundamentals of good car control through a series of instructional exercises designed to push the limits of participant and their machines”. “BE SAFE and HAVE FUN”. We just could not wait for the day.

Concours Rites of Spring

Even though March came in and went out like a lamb this year, it had the additional benefit of bringing with it the traditional NNJR Concours “Gathering of the Faithful” (GOTF) spring get-together on Sunday morning, March 25. The GOTF has been an NNJR custom for years and serves as the first official event to initiate the new concours season. No instruction or judging takes place; it is strictly a social occasion for the concours veterans and an opportunity to introduce new members to the excitement of concouring and properly addressing their Porsche’s appearance needs. This year was particularly special because, to keep things interesting, we benefitted from a fresh and exciting new venue.

Remembering John Watkins

Earth Day, April 23, marks one year since John’s death at the age of 62. I met John at Watkins Glen a dozen years ago in my early days of driver education. My gearbox had broken and was bleeding oil. I had come alone and was more than a bit worried even though I was […]