DeTomaso Mailing List: January 98, Message #186
     



From: 	pantera@shiseis.com (Shane F. Ingate)

Subject: Las Vegas track - drivers report

Date: 	Tue, 6 Jan 1998 15:52:38 +0000



All,

	Just pulled the following article by Bo Cheadle (bcheadle@montgomery.com)

off the NorCal SAAC list.  His drivers report of the "new" track is

humbling - perhaps the old track will be better for us anyway (until we all

get better brakes!).

	Shane Ingate in San Diego



Wow, what a track. This was an excellent SAAC national track event but

not well-attended at all. We ran in two run groups of twenty minutes

duration for two straight days. I don't know haw many cars were there

but would guess it was easily less than 75. Well... those of us whose

cars stayed together for two days ran two days. I ran all day Friday and

in the first run group Saturday but I tore third gear out of the Monster

Saleen early Sat morning.The Jerricho trans is bullet-proof but not

"Bo-proof" evidently.  Bruce and John Griggs had trailered my Saleen and

one of their own cars down to Vegas for the event and Bruce broke the

dirrerential on his car early on the first day so we were out of cars by

the second run group of the second day. Las Vegas is an incredibly fast

track what with its high banks and all. As noted the attendance was

miserable (good for us though) with a high percentage of the cars

entered being rental cars that people grabbed at the airport. We did not

run the full banked oval but instead detoured through the infield course

making for three straightaways with two of them on the banked portion of

the track. I could get wide open (7000 rpm where rev limiter is set) in

my 700 HP Saleen in 4th gear in one spot on a straight. I don't have a

speedo but Bruce Griggs thought we might be turning in the 160 area plus

up there. The track is fairly friendly in that one can run off in safe

places for the most part and there was a lot of that going on as all of

those street cars ran out of brakes. Actually a lot of folks ran off in

both street and track type cars as they would run out of brakes due to

the speeds on the straights. No serious accidents occurred and I saw no

damage done to any vehicles other than the mechanical breakdowns. My

Saleen hauls ass and it sticks like glue with all of the Griggs

suspension work that has been done to it so this track was especially

fun. If you get a chance to run at Las Vegas jump on it. The only

problem with the track I saw was a transistion point where there is kind

of a "gully" and when you run through the infield course you have to

cross this gully pretty much at speed which would upset the car right

before a sharp turn-in point. Cars were bottoming out there and having

probems but it did not seriously impact the fun factor.  

			- Bo Cheadle (bcheadle@montgomery.com)