The following is edited from a letter I wrote to another old friend, and one of my college roommates here at CU. I'm sending it along to many of you who I don't regularly correspond with in order to inform you regarding a great racing experience I recently had, as well as a resulting accident I was involved in there. I recently took part in the 40th Anniversary Celebration of the SCCA Formula Ford (FF) racing class at Road America, near Elkhart Lake, WI, July 24th - 26th. FF is the class of car I ran when I first started racing back in 1976. I was running a 1978 Crossle 32F FF that I had rented from Front Range Motorsports in Denver, who take care of my Fromula Continental car. There were Lots of FF's there (over two hundred, I think), old to new. I was entered in two different race groups, one (Vintage FF, and FF70) a sensible size at about 40 to 45 cars total, the other (FF, and CFF) a real zoo with 115 cars or something like that. Both groups combined two different classes of Formula Fords (FFs), based on age, equipment, and tires used, which, when combined with the normal, and abnormal (as in cheater), spread in engine out- put, as well as driver ability, resulted in pretty substantial speed differentials. This meant that one got very few "clean" laps, and caused lots of potential calamity, especially in the larger (FF, CFF) race group. Many of us had close calls where we were passing slower cars that we thought knew we were coming by, only to find out as they moved over on us that they had NOT seen us coming. Fortunately, I don't think there were any serious accidents that resulted from this, but I know I had several moments such as this, and it was disconcerting. I had a great drive in the Vintage FF (1960s and 70s FFs running on treaded street tires) and FF70 (later 1970s era cars running on spec slick racing tires) race late Saturday afternoon, having qualified 2nd in the FF70 class, and running in that position to the finish. The car worked really well, the weather was perfect, and the reduced traffic meant several clean laps trying to maximize the car's potential on that fast track. My good spirits were challenged somewhat when my car came in 2# underweight at the post-race inspection, resulting in my disqualification. This also meant that I would have to start at the rear (19th) of the FF70 group in the second race for the class on Sunday afternoon, as our fastest race time from Saturday's race would set the grid for Sunday's, and if your are DQed, your times are thrown out as well. Such is life. The guys at Front Range, who were taking care of the car, had calculated the weight, adding lead and steel sheets to bring it up to where it was supposed to be ( 950# after the race, without me in the car), but made a slight error in this calculation, and as they didn't have their own scales and set-up pad there, as they normally do, couldn't easily recheck it after adding the balast. They had added enough to assume that we would be safely above that minimum. It's something that shouldn't happen, but can, and did. Just part of racing life. I started the "big" race (FFs and CFFs) on Sunday morning in 21st of about 50 or so CFFs, and managed to make it through the first lap unscathed, which is always a challenge. Then, just beginning the second lap, I think, I had two cars that I had out-qualified come up from behind on the start/finish straight as we approached turn #1. I backed off some to let them by, but the second guy then decided that he was also going to try to pass the first guy. He got on the brakes too hard, too late, which shot him onto the grass, and then into a spin across the front of the fist guy and right into my path, half way through the turn. This resulted in a big collision, which violently spun and flipped my car, once on the asphalt apron outside the turn, and at least twice more through the gravel trap beyond the apron. The first roll into the gravel resulted in the car sinking down well past the roll bar, leaving my helmet to absorb the rest of the impact, fracturing my T-4 vertebra. I was aware the whole time, and felt the injury accur. After the car came to a stop, up-side down in the gravel trap, I was able to crawl out of the car, but my legs got hung up on the steering wheel, which I had forgoten to remove before trying to get out. The guy who had spun into me told me later that he was the one who had finally gotten the steering wheel off. I had tried to but with my injury had been unable to do that myself. The EMT's were on sceene by that point, and got me imobilized on a back board (the most uncomfortable part of the whole deal), into an ambulance, and then to the infield medical facility at the track. I spent the next four hours in emergency vehicles and the ER at St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan, and then, after they had seen the x-rays, another hour plus in an ambulance to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, where I was in the ER until the doctor there finally released me to a room at 12:30 AM. I spent most the next day there, still flat on my back, before getting fit for a back brace, re-X- rayed, and then another day before they released me after making sure I could walk, and descend and climb stairs. I recouped at my sister Becky's house on Pine Lake for the next week and a half, before feeling up to the flight back here to CO. I will see a local spine specialist here on the 20th for the next evaluation and X-rays, but the prognosis is good, although they told me at Froedtert that I'd have to wear this brace for about twelve weeks. All things considered, I'm lucky to be here. I hurt, but it's getting better daily, and it looks like I'll make a complete recovery. I have raced for 33 years, give or take, and although I have always known something like this could happen, despite all attempts to avoid such, I have obviously been fortunate that this is the first time, and that the outcome wasn't worse, which Dr. Rao at Froedtert said is often the case with this type of injury. I was wearing a HANS (head and neck support) device, which I believe, after having seen both my helmet and the car since the crash, not only saved my life, but also prevented a more serious injury. This is an optional safety device, and I have worn one since my last serious crash at TWS in Texas back in 2001, which I was lucky to come out of uninjured. Dale Earnhart Sr. was killed in a crash the day after that in the Daytona 500 that didn't seem to be that serious, and that also influenced me to start using a HANS. That's it for now. I hope you are all having an enjoyable summer. John

At Cleveland John finally got to race on a track this season that he had competed on previously, having raced there in 1990 with the Trans-Am series, and in 1992 in a one-off Indy Lights deal. That was a while ago, but the track has not significantly changed since then. It's a fun track to run, and since it's actually a municipal airport with nice wide runways, there is plenty of room to race, often on multiple racing "lines", and room also in most places to make mistakes without paying severe consequences. There are a couple of turns with concrete walls at the edge of the track though, so one can't get too complacent. The weather was great, with temperatures in the mid to high 70s to the low 80s all three days, along with some welcome cloud cover, and a nice breeze off of Lake Erie, which borders the Burke Lake-front Airport grounds on the north side. Center stage for the weekend was the Champ Car Series, with support races for Fromula Atlantic, Pro Formula Mazda, Pro F2000(our race), Pro Spec Miata, The National Skip Barber School Series (also formula cars), and a Drifting car exhibition. Of the 45 cars anticipated for the F2000 group, only 41 or so showed up, but that's still almost double the car counts the Front Rangers have seen at the West Coast Zetec Pro Series races they have run. This higher car count is a result of the east coast organization's rules that allow the SCCA club FC class (Ford Pinto/Capri 2 liter SOHC carbureted engine) cars to be more competitive with the Zetec (Ford Focus 2 liter DOHC fuel injected engine) pro spec cars. The chassis are to the same spec for both types, while the Zetec engines must run inlet restrictor tubes and a restricted fuel program in their ECUs to make the power out-put similar to that of the Pinto engines. Wheels and tires may be either the FC 6"(f)and 8"(r), or the Zetec 8"(f) and 10"(r). This has been somewhat controversial, so next season the east coast series will require the narrower package to avoid any grumbling about any possible unfair advantage. The Front Range Motorsports cars were all three on the wider set-up, as buying enough additional sets of wheels is prohibitively expensive. It didn't seem that the wider tires made any big difference in the relative performance of the cars. The Front Range Motorsports(FRM) team for the event was made up of veteran drivers Dwight Rider and John Brumder (aka; the "old guys"), and, once again, their new young gun Max Hyatt (aka: The Kid, aka: "Super-Max"). The crew consisted of: J.D. McDermott (the Boss); his brother and full-time Front Ranger, Joshua (aka: Josh) Kerrigan; race Guru and mechanic exrodinaire Wendell Miller; guest mechanic Dennis Thompson; Dennis's brother, and transport rig driver, Jerry; our computer data expert and mechanic David Irwin; and Max's dad, Mike, who John had competed against in FCs in the previous century, and who was there to cheer on all of the Front Range drivers, but especially Max. The F2000s ran a practice session early Friday afternoon (1:45 to 2:15 PM), and then their first of two qualifying sessions for race #1 that evening (7:40 to 8:10 PM). They ended the day with Max qualified 4th (1:17.983) of the 39 cars remaining (there had already been a few terminal mechanical failures and crashes), John 17th (1:19.487), and Dwight 24th (1:20.315). (The fastest overall time was a 1:17.325) The crew had to work a bit late repairing Dwight's front wing, which had been damaged when a traffic cone, many of which are used to help outline the course, jumped out in front of him. The second qualifying for the F2000 cars took place from 8:10 to 8:35 AM on Saturday morning. Needless to say, that made for a very short night for the Front Rangers. The results from this second qualifying session would be combined with those of the first, with a driver's fastest time from either session determining where he/she would start the first race. In this second qualifying session Max jumped up to 2nd(1:16.534), John dropped to 24th (1:19.840), and Dwight to 27th(1:20.684). (Fastest time was a 1:16.449) The resulting grid (starting) positions for race #1 were: Max 2nd, John 21st, and Dwight 28th. Now all they had to do was wait from about 9;00 AM unil they had to have their cars at the pre- grid at 4:30 PM for their first race. This was actually nice, as it let them watch some of the other groups on track, and let those who needed it nap a bit. It also allowed the crew plenty of time to get the cars ready, which in at least one case also involved replacing yet another nose, and front wing, which had suffered from a cone "attack". We won't say on whose car that was, but it has elevated that driver to "ace" status in number of cones taken out so far this season. The race went well, with about the normal amount of contact, mechanical failures, and spins, and although each of the Front Range drivers lost several positions early in the race, they all managed to finish in at least their starting positions, with Max 2nd, John 15th, and Dwight 28th, with fastest race laps of 1:16.353, 1:18.467, and 1:19.295, respectively. (Max also had the overall fastest race lap.) Since starting positions for race #2 would be based on these fastest race laps from race #1, Max would start from the "pole" (1st), John 15th, and Dwight 21st. The F2000 cars had a warm up Sunday from 8:30 to 8:45 AM, and then would once again have to wait until later in the day (4:15 PM) for their race. They lined up on the pre-grid at 3:45 PM with high expectations. As the cars started up to leave the pre-grid for the staging area in the F2000 hot pits, John's car refused to fire. As the field moved to the staging area, the FRM crew tried to push start John with no success, at which point the Sinclair Motorsports team (another F2000 team) offered to try to tow start the car behind their golf cart. This finally succeeded, but by the time John got out onto the track the field was more than half way around the track on it's second of two pace laps, and got the green flag with John about 3/4 of a lap behind the field. Not the way you want to start a race. Max had a great start and took a commanding lead that he would not relinquish, while John drove hard trying to catch as many cars as possible. The leaders gradually worked their way past John, and he spent much of the race watching his mirrors and altering his speed, or racing line, or both, in a effort to stay clear of cars that were racing for position on the lead lap. This brought back memories of a similar kind of race when he ran in the Trans-Am series at Cleveland in 1990. All he could do was try to make the best of it and not make any mistakes that would drop him back even farther, or end his race prematurely. He succeeeded in this until the eighth turn (of 10) on the last lap, when he spun while trying to overtake a car that had slowed with a mechanical problem, which caused him to alter his line through the previous corner more than the laws of physics would allow. Fortunately, the spin carried a full 360 degrees, and ended up with the car still on the pavement, pointed in the right direction, so John could just shift back into 1st gear and get back under way without losing any significant time, or any positions. Dwight had a couple of similar mishaps during the race, also spinning to avoid hitting other cars that had spun in front of him and had stalled on the racing line, and ended up finishing in 25th, with John just behind in 26th on the track. Both, however, moved up one spot in the final results when another driver ahead of them at the finish was disqualified for unsportsman-like conduct in the paddock after the race ended. Since that driver's fastest overall race lap (1:15.874) was also negated by this action, Max ended up with the official fastest lap (1:16.167), while Dwight had fastest lap of 1:18.749, and John a 1:18.855. So all in all, it was a good weekend for the FRM team, with Max getting a 2nd place Saturday and his, and the team's, first pro F2000 win on Sunday, and John and Dwight having solid races both days and bringing their cars home in one piece, which is always a challenge in competitive, close, open wheeled racing. Max also moved to the top of the time sheets during the weekend, while Dwight and John both ran closer to the fastest times, relatively speaking, which is a sign that they are also improving. On Saturday John was faster then Dwight for the first time this season, which was both encouraging and at the same time difficult. It's always nice to show that you can be faster than other drivers, but when you like your teammates, it's hard to do this without also feeling bad for them, as you know that luck, and the timing thereof, have a lot to do with how things can work out on the track. This holds true in relation to other competitors as well, but you don't tend to feel quite as bad for them, simply because they are not your teammates. JD has found a renter for John's car for the Miller Motorsports Park West Coast Zetec pro race in mid July, so John can instead focus on getting ready for the move to Virginia in early August. John will also drive to Tucson, AZ the second week in July to pick up a used Ford Probe SCCA GT-3 class race car he has agreed to buy, with plans to perhaps take it back to Virginia to race there at SCCA club events this fall and next spring. We hope to have photos of the Cleveland race weekend posted soon. Stay tuned. The Deuce Posted by John Brumder

May 25, 26, 27, 2007 Miller Motorsports Park, Toele, Utah SCCA Double National. This might be my next race, but the situation resulting in Billie being back in Virginia may mean missing this one so I can spend more time at home taking care of things there. The next Zetec pro series race is one we will run with the East Coast Series, rather than with the West Coast Series, three of whose races we have run so far. This East Coast race will be at Cleveland, Ohio, and will be a support race for the Champ Car Series.

I will be posting information about my races and you will be able to respond in the comment section.