John/TSR

I've heard many odd things come over the radio from a race car, but none quite so surreal. Driver hallucinating ? Black and white car mistaken for bovine ? Two flaggers on a dairy mission ? Within a few seconds of the first call over the radio from our car, radio activity up and down pit lane picked up, and from Pit 1 to Pit 30 you could hear people calling back to their cars "Uh....wuh...COW..??"

4 Hour EMRA night enduro at Summit Point last night. John and I dragged the Nissan out again, as we had a bunch of SSC cars to crush. That ended early though, as John stuck it in the gravel on the first lap (just keep chanting "cold tires...cold tires...cold tires"). Got dragged out, but we were down about 7 laps. Crap. I jumped in the car at about 5:45pm after a tire change, and within 2 laps was thinking "Wow, I don't remember these tires howling this much before", which was very quickly followed up by "Wow, this bitch won't turn right very well". Two corners later and it was "Wow, this thing has a flat left front". Back into the pits, get a LF sneaker, then back out to slide around in the dark for an hour and a half. Fuel pickup must have moved around in the tank, as it now coughs just after the 'low fuel' light comes on solid, instead of going another 4-6 laps.

John went back in the car for the last shift and, at about the 3hour 55 minute mark we get the "Cow" call on the radio. It's pitch black at about 8:45pm, Summit Point front straight is wicked fast (120+ in a SSC car, GT cars go 150+), and you generally are waaay overdriving your lights as you get past half-way down the straight. Large brown and white cow, ambling up the front straight counter-race near turn 1, right on the race line. Hmmm....would that be a standing white flag, or a waived white flag ??? Checker came out early, cow wandered back into the woods, PETA members won't be picketing race tracks this season.

Thanks to Warren **** for coming out and helping us with crew duties, as we were a little short on people (we were also crewing a friend's GT1 Mustang). For the first time in recent memory, Warren stood at the pit wall and DIDN'T attract a spinning race car.

6 weeks until the 24 Hour in Florida. Anybody ever hit a gator on the track ?

Mooooo.

SKS

400 horsepower versus 1 cowpower...not nice.

Patrick Olsen

I had to avoid a groundhog as I zipped down Summit Point's front straight a few weeks back at a Quattro Club event. I have a little camera mounted in front of my driver side fog light, and caught the varmint on the "bumper cam":
http://www.submariner.org/thepno95/Video%20clips/Summit%20Point%20Oct%202001/groundhog%20avoidance.mpg (745kb)

Pat Olsen
'97 Legacy 2.5GT sedan

Steve Sherwood

Kinda adjusted your path around that turn as he moved to different locations. But a cow? in the dark? anyone ever hit a deer/moose/elk in a car?...it totals the car...period. I know...I lived in Colorado for several years.

John/TSR

I've hit squirrels and woodchucks on tracks before, and even seen somebody hit a sea gull...I was at the Glen when somebody smacked a deer a few years ago. But a cow ? That's like the moose problem at the Mt. Tremblant track. Half ton cow or half ton moose...don't know which is worse.

BTW, squirrels are really slippery. And woodchucks will take the radiator out of an SRF.<ul><li><a href="http://www.vti.se/pdf/reports/S342A.pdf">Moose Crash Test</a></li></ul>

Audiboy

that wandered on the train tracks. Engineer hit it and derailed his switcher along with a few cars it was pulling. The buffalo was corned beef, but wow

Warren Wang

Uh, yeah, so I'm up at pit wall and I heard something about a cow over the worker radio channel. Naw... no way. I must be tired, I thought. Then our driver John Williamson came on over the radio and blared out "There's a cow on the track!".

So we didn't win SSC. At least the car is back in one piece.

Warren

Bryce

I think Del knows also..

SKS

You from Nam?

Mark Dalen

would be the white one with black spots.