DeTomaso Mailing List: November 97, Message #315
     



From: 	Dennis Antenucci <itbewild@gte.net>

Subject: Willow springs &  Potential Fire Hazard 

Date: 	Mon, 10 Nov 1997 02:19:05 +0000



Yo People,

Once again, Cheri & Jim Saxon and Bill Nelson put on a hellva great 

Pantera-Ferrari Shoot Out. 



As Curt mentioned earlier we had a great De Tomaso (thanks Mike!) turn 

out at Willow Springs. As usual we had many more "other" cars then 

Ferrari's to compete with. Race prepared Porsche 930's, Viper's galore, 

Trans Am's, Corvette's, Lotus and Shelby Cobra's. Ferrari guys are 

learning if they can't beat us with "their" F cars they'll bring someone 

else's car! :-] the other cars outnumbered the Ferrari's 3 to 1!!! And 

Pantera's outnumbered everyone. :-] 



John Parsons, Carey Foster, Bill Hohenhorst and Curt T were the big guns 

with some very quick lap times for Willow. Me...I was content to just 

chase the cars up and down the hills and bark. :-] This was Curt T's 

"cherry-bust" and he impressed everyone with his first time Willow 

Springs driving skills and his well prepared Pantera.Way to got Curt. We 

had a couple other "first-time" Pantera's and drivers (Grant Stockwell 

and Bill ???)...My lap times were slower then molasses (ignition 

problems) and they didn't get any better after watching Jim roll over but 

the event safety was well managed by Bill Nelson and again we could NOT 

of pulled this event off with out Jim, Sheri's and Bill's leadership.



As Curt mentioned and on a somber note, Jim lost control of his car on 

turn 3 on the hill. I was right behind him when he had the roll over. 

After I stopped my car. I jumped out to help Jim but he got out of the 

car just as I arrived with a fire extinguisher. While it was a relief 

that he had a roll cage and fuel cell...I noticed right away that 

Jim's still closed "Monza-style flip top gas cap" was leaking badly after 

the car roll over. It also took "emergency crew & ambulance" all of 5 

minutes to get to the accident scene...not real encouraging. 



A word of caution....Check your gas cap and breather!!!!!!! Even with a 

stock gas tank make sure you have a solid gas cap seal. While I have run 

a Hall "Quick-fill" cap on the street I have also added a "check valve" 

to replace my stock breather. 



What the check valve is supposed to do is close if the car rolls over so 

you don't loose fuel out your fuel tank brather. You can get this from 

Summit Racing and several other sources but I think it is an excellent 

safety precaution. 



Aditionally, I took Halls quick-fill cap OFF the car and put a solid cap 

on the car when I race the car. These are inexpensive mod's that may save 

your life!  What happened to Jim Saturday could happen to any of us. So 

be careful out there people and check your caps and consider installing a 

check valve. It's money well spent.  



Mad Dog 

Glad to be back home & on the net! :-]