Miata Mailing List: October 1994, Message #166
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   From: bobc@koko.csustan.edu (Bob Crawford)
Subject: weekend fun
   Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 22:42:25 -0400

Hi folks,

My son and I had a great Saturday at the Silver Crown 100 USAC champ dirt
car race at Cal Expo in Sacramento. We actually got to meet A.J. Foyt,
Gary Bettenhausen, Johnny Parsons Jr. and others, and saw a great 100
mile race on the fairgrounds mile won by Jimmy Sills.

It's been my experience that most Miateers are road course folks, and that's
understandable...sports car, etc. etc. I'll bet, for example, that the
Miata contingent at Mario Andretti's swan song at Laguna Seca last
weekend was substantial. I enjoy the SCCA stuff, too, but my heart has
always been with the traditional American, county fair track racers.

However, there were virtually no other Miatas in the lot (maybe 15,000
attended the race) so "Little Red" stood out and I got lots of nice
comments from the circle track fans, even though most came in pick-ups
or big block V-8 beasts. By the way, I think the Miata wheel base is
about the same as a champ dirt car. They were using a 95 Camaro as a pace
car, and the thought crossed my mind that it would be a gas to get "Little Red"
all sideways out there, too. Oh well, maybe sometime. For a mere $500 plus a 
$500 security deposit, I could take Sills' open wheel driving school and do it 
with his equipment.

Anyway, "Little Red" made a good impression and, I was 7 for 7 in the 
wave/light flash
department on the way up. That's a record for me. Lots of top-down MX-5s
out since it was in the mid-80s.

So much for the diversion from tech-talk.

Best to all.

Bob Crawford and "Little Red"
Bobc@koko.csustan.edu