<VV> Convention 2

[Smitty Smith]

Smitty Says:  In my first post on the convention I tried to make it plain that I appreciated the efforts of those involved in putting it on.  I hope that was understood.
  In that post I mentioned that one of my friends had a hard time getting a pass to park his Corvair on hotel property.  When he checked out he found that they had added $6 a day to his bill for parking.  Folks, that is absolutely a pile of crap that one who stays at a hotel should not have a place to park his car on the premises without additional charge.
  I heard a couple of complaints about the long drawn out introduction phase of the VV meeting.  That complaint is not valid to me as I enjoy seeing who is behind the email posts that I enjoy (or not) as the case may be.  Most VV meetings I have been to consist of precisely that and not much more.
  Being without a Vair was a new experience for me and took some of the fun out of the convention, but nothing could take the pleasure out of meeting and being with people.I met several briefly and would have liked talking at more length but always seemed to be distracted by what was going on around me.  Several have helped me in the past year and I have helped a few so it was nice to be able to thank them in person.
  Being a hot shoe from years in the past, the autocross is always one of my favorite parts of the convention.  This one appeared to be excellent.  Plenty of room to get up some speed and no need for tight corners to require winding the steering wheel back and forth at 15 mph.  I was very impressed with the performance of the Sunoco clone car driven by some old folically chalenged guy.  If that car came out of the box with no previous track time and ran that well at that autocross, my hat is off to the builder.  I think his name is Rick something or other.  I took notes of some of the times turned in by a few.  These are not official and I missed several times due to my ears working about as well as other parts of my body.  Tom Severson turned a remarkably quick time of 90 sec.  I say remarkable as to the best of my knowledge the only mods to the car are as a Sprint.  I believe Bill Hubbell took best stock time with a 95.  Lew Halstead in Elvira turned an 84 but John
 Edgerton in his track car turned an 80.
  Oh yes, there were some Late models there too although I'm not sure any of you care.  Warren turned a best of 66 followed closely by Dave Clemmons with a 67.  Mike Leveque turned a somewhat slower 67 and considerately let his dad beat him.  Fred Bybee borrowed a ride in Warrens car and ran a hair slower 66.  This run was of interest to lots of people as many remember the LeVeque and Bybee wars of the 80s when either of them would have gladly grenaded an engine to beat the other (and did).  Rick Norris with his fresh out of the box car ran a 76.  Other times I have in my notes are Bob Poplow with a 70, Bob Dunahue with a 77 and Tony Ellison with a 72.
  Remember I am not guaranteeing these times.  They are just what I think I heard.
  A little non-Corvair here.  The rental I drove up and back was a Cobalt.  It was a bare bones automatic.  I think I could learn to love that Ecotec engine.  What a willing little beast.