NASA at VIR: Racing Cobras

On a track where Harry began racing nearly 40 years ago, Team Elam clinched a virtual lock for the 2002 Championship of the Factory Five Spec Cobra Challenge. But it took (yet another) strange weekend to get there! Saturday morning found a damp track with five Cobras ready to go. Dan took it easy in qualifying and was scheduled to start second in class. A terrific start by Gary Krichbaum left Dan in third even before the start finish line. A couple laps into the race Dan went to hit the brakes at the top of a hill. Unfortunately, both the brakes and the throttle came on at the same time and Dan spun out on the track. Focusing on the points, Dan finished the race a distant third. Later, we found that the rubber on the gas pedal had come off, twisted, and was touching the brake.

For Sunday, Dan and Brian Cates ran a quick early qualifying lap and it paid dividends when an accident cancelled the rest of qualifying. Brian would start third overall with Dan starting fifth overall - a new high! Unfortunately, a broken wheel stud took nearly three hours to fix and it wasn't certain that the car would be ready to race. But good luck finally showed up and the car was back together to race. This time it was Dan with the quick start and he ended up ahead of Brian in Turn 1. As usual, Gary made a quick run up through the pack after starting dead last. The trio fought back and forth for a few laps until Dan, trying to defend the inside of turn 1, carried too much speed and ended up spinning. (Brian did a great job not hitting Dan!) From there Brian ran away and proceeded to demolish the class track record as Dan took it easy to protect the points lead. A late caution was the last thing Brian wanted to see, but luck was with Gary and Dan as it allowed them to close the gap. When the start came, it was Gary and Brian a little ahead. Finally, at the top of the hill leading to the finish line, Dan got by Brian and seemed a lock for second place. But he played it too conservatively and Brian came flying onto the backstretch. Fortunately, a little, ahem, blocking preserved the position and rewarded Team Elam with a very lucky second place!

Harry played instructor and had a very talent student even as he played crew chief. Dave Lewis raced his Miata to a strong showing to add to the weekend as well!

Bobbie was in school with her pink RX-7. Steve Marcus was her instructor and did a terrific job in helping Bobbie further improve car control and her ability to read the line. Bobbie also played trophy queen with Toby (from Hyper-fest fame).

VIR is a special track for us. On a weekend of mechanical scares and not the best driving, clinching the series championship here makes it extra special.

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