Post Weatherly

[Mary Anne Fieux]

What a GREAT weekend!

Chuck and I (finish line corner workers) would like to say thank you to the town of Weatherly for putting on another wonderful event….from organization, fantastic fireworks (we had front row seats by our trailer at the foundry!), Sunday National Anthem-prayer-etc., great home-cooked food, and just plain nice people!

We would also like to thank George Bowland (excellent sticker!) and the generous drivers who sent the corner workers off with a very generous send off for the end of season. Thank you!

To top it off, although chilly at night, the weather was awesome too. Let us all remember this weekend and a great driving season during those grey days of winter!

Take care and thank you all again!
Mary Anne (& Chuck!)

And just because, and for no other reason, a few positive quotes from my favorite quote book:

To God, thy country, and thy friend be true. Vaughan

He that is overcautious will accomplish little. Shiller

Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. Mark Twain

[Tim Royer]

+1 Ditto

Great event as always!

[mckee]

In my last post I bragged that PHA had the best safety program of any outfit I had raced with in the last 47 years or so. This weekend I went well out of my way (off course, in fact) to prove it. Man, you people are good -- hell, better than good, great! From the corner workers who first reached my wreck to the admin folks who took care of my car, truck and trailer I can only say, "Thank You from the bottom of my heart." As I claimed in my previous post, PHA has organized and structured safety like no other organization. I was in a wreck that should have killed me. I went straight into the woods at nearly 100 MPH. My car was well built and kept me out of harm's way, but the speed and efficiency with which I was rescued kept me uninjured and unafraid, and made sure I remained that way. When I finally returned to the hill my truck and trailer was waiting for me with everything neatly stowed away, ready to start the journey back home. All I had to do was go to the banquet and enjoy myself as if nothing had happened. I cannot begin to tell you how PHA turned what should have been a horrible day into one that gave me so much satisfaction and gratitude that the severity of my accident will always be dwarfed by the good memories.

My profound thanks to Matt Rowe, George Bowland, Kurt Eikenberg, the Jack and Darryl Danko crew, The Ozwalds as well as everyone who came over and wished me well. The Weatherly fire and rescue folks were topnotch. I'm sure more were involved and I'll try and find out who they were so I can thank them all personally. I am particularly grateful to the two corner workers who were first to my aid. Thanks for what you did -- and thanks for taking the trouble to look me up afterwards and explain to me about seeing the rear upright break. I'm also grateful to the man who supplied the knife to the workers, effecting my release from a stubborn harness. When you are upside down and hanging in your harness it does not always work the way you'd like.

I will rebuild the car and return next year -- with bigger, stronger rear uprights.

Best regards,

Bob D'Amore

[crusaderchuck]

bob,
mary anne & i watched in horror from finish line as the left rear of your car dropped suddenly with the tire hitting the headers well into the turn before finish! i knew instantly what hapened as you fought the car wanting to make a violent left turn into the woods. remember i own a restored (did the restoration myself) H/M sports racer from the era of your F5000 while you are open wheeled and i'm full bodied the constructions are very similar. we started running to where you stopped rolling (literally) on course left side before you stopped. i knew exactly what was wrong and had to get to you as soon as possible with mary anne well in front of me (i was running!) . i've had both legs broken twice and steel in my left leg , i'm no big "runner" at this point in my life. it was mary anne's job to see to you and my job to look at the car and find your kill switch and look for any further items requiring attention. we had decided this a number of events prior to fall weatherly. a lot transpired between the car's coming to rest and aditional help ariving. we wanted you to know we were there and you were not alone wating for the rescue equiptment to get on scene. later i was to give you your restraints and gloves knowing you'd not remember in the hurried atmosphere of being positive you were alright , then attending to the car. you were in the hands of fellow drivers working as corner workers. within the guidelines of what is to be done if an incident happens we did what we knew we would want done for us. every person on scene was as profesional as if this happened regularly (and it does not!) . what happened to you could happen to any competitor. mechanical failure is ever present and possible in even brand new cars! what i can say is i am thankfull for the structure of your car and that reguardless of the car's condition , you are alright! we will continue to bother you with saab two stroke cars running the hills bob. and that you can bet on!
i gathered up all the pieces of fiberglass , and other bits so you had every thing identifiable from your car to rebuild it. i hope all the pieces made it home with you.

chuck

[mckee]

Chuck and Marianne,

So that was you talking to me, soothing me as we awaited the pro rescuers. Many thanks for all that you did. Yes, I got all the fiberglass pieces which will make the repairs much easier and I wondered how my balacava, restraints, etc. ended up in my helmet. Thanks again . I'll kiss the Saab next time I see it and hug Marianne, if that's okay.

All the best,

Bob

[cannon]

Bob were just glad to see that your OK. Chuck & Mary Anne made a Great emergency call, very clear with the details we needed to get the correct equipment rolling. Can't wait to see the car with you in it next year.

Sincerely Cannon

[crusaderchuck]

bob,
hugs are welcome in our home.

corner working is a bitter sweet thing for me. when mary anne told me we were going to corner work our first event i said NO , i'm a driver NOT a worker. reluctantly (and a bit grumpy too) i worked my first event watching our fellow competitors pas by . i never saw myself working a corner , i'm a driver. i showed up , unloaded my car and went home and that was pretty much it. over time it became routine and it was what i did. looking back i realise that no event happens without the people who work all the stations and positions , i had been "taking" as a driver but was giving nothing in return. oh i thanked some here and there , but that was it.

i still long to be back in that darn saab. it's slow , annoying to some , but i do love to drive that specific car. right now i'm not in a position to be the driver i want to be , rather than staying home i'm working to "give back" something to the sport i took so much from over time. when i'm sweeping the course , i'm sweeping the course the way i would want it for my next run. mary anne and i watch all the competitor's lines with some incredibly clean runs and a few out there that we can not figure out what they were thinking . loose parts hanging from the cars to pieces actually falling off at speed. the aromas passing us from the sweet smell of race fuel to burning oil to coolant burning. sounds of an engine down a cylinder to odd clunks or creaks as cars pass. we are seeing , smelling and hearing the sounds of racing up close and very personal.

mary anne and i had discussed what to do if an incident ever happened. we had a plan. we stuck to it.

bob when we meet next do not be suprised to get a hug from me!

chuck