<VV> 2008 Performance Workshop - Another review

[Sethracer at aol.com]

Performance Workshop  review 
Well it was a cold day in  Dayton, OH, actually several cold days. I may have 
 traveled the furthest to get there, but I didn’t have the hardest trip in. 
Many  folks drove a long ways through some atrocious weather to attend. Gary  
Funkhouser at Vintage Motorsports was the gracious host. We had a little less  
room than last year, but the weather cut the crowd a bit as well, so 
everything  worked out. The Friday night dinner was great and the perfect opportunity 
to  “network” with friends and racers. On Saturday, the presentations took 
place in  the showroom of Forgeline Wheels, next door to Gary’s place, (thank you 
Jim  Schardt), and attendees had a great discussion on oils and, most 
fascinating to  me, the description of Champ Car technical inspections. The folks 
who, for many  years, have worked to keep the teams on the straight and narrow 
and are now – or  will be shortly – on the streets. The combining of Champ Car 
and the IRL into  one open-wheel US series will mean some folks will be 
spectators instead of  participants. Probably more than the spectators at most of 
the IRL events  lately. Dave gave us a blow by blow description of the 
inspection process that  the cars went through to check them for fairness and rule 
compliance. Also  described was the plan and location of the upcoming 
Corvairlympics (Not  trademarked) in Indianapolis late this summer. It looks like a  fun 
group of performance activities.    
Spread around Gary’s shop were the  displays of various Corvair and Race-car 
parts vendors.  There are several vendors who make small  amounts of very 
specialized items, usually because they needed them for their  own race car, built 
them and decided that others might want them too! You get to  talk to the guy 
who makes the parts, the guy who makes them work on the car and  the guy who 
races with the parts. – In some cases, it is the same guy! Michael  LeVeque 
had his late model Autocross/track car on display (inside) and partially  
disassembled it to show the construction techniques he had used. People started  
drifting out in the late afternoon, and a couple of groups hit a local  
steakhouse for dinner. Between the snow, ice and more snow, I decided not to  drive 
around in Dayton, (even in a rental car), so I want to thank several of  the 
folks for chauffeuring me around, especially Chuck Sadek for dropping me at  the 
airport at 6 AM on his way out of town on Sunday. According to “reliable  
sources”, this will probably be the last Corvair Performance Workshop at the  
Vintage Motorsports location, since the business is in the process of being  sold. 
But plans are already underway to find another centrally located site for  
next year. I guess that Nome, Alaska,  while warmer perhaps, is too far distant 
for most of the racers. I am sure  something more central will be found. – Seth 
 Emerson



**************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.      
(http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/
2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)