Taxman Group Racing was very excited to be heading to Indianapolis to race for the first time at the famous Motor Speedway. SVRA sponsors this event and they do a great job bringing in over 400 cars for 4 days of racing on this historic track. My crew of Floyd Allyn, my cousin Richard Schwartz, and Mark Shapland departed on Thursday for the 4-hour 300 mile trip to Indianapolis. The IMS has two tracks, the 2 ½ mile oval which races counter clockwise and the 2.45 mile 14 turn road course which races clockwise. This is a very fast flat road course with several 90 degree turns. The IMS is always spectacular, but we saw many improvements since Roger Penske purchased the track from the Hullman family. Everything is spotlessly clean, with fresh paint, with several new additional buildings. Very exciting place to visit and which to race at.
We arrived at the track around 1 pm Wednesday and were able to set up our paddock area. That night we went to Taxman Brewery. No relations to me but a great gathering spot where we wore our Taxman Group Racing shirts and everyone acknowledged us and we had a great time. Thursday morning, we were able to get the XKE thru Tech Inspection. Thursday was test and tune day and would allow me to get seat time as I had never had a lap on the road course prior. After a 7:30 am Drivers Meeting, we prepared the Jag for our 9 am practice session. My goal was to take my time so I could get the track blueprinted in my mind and have the team figure out the correct tire pressure. It was a beautiful morning and I did 10 laps with a best lap time of 2:03. Our next practice session was at 11:30 am, where we improved with a best lap time of 1:58.8. I was definitely getting more comfortable with the track. My cousin Tom Schwartz came in from Louisville. He is the brother of Richard and we all had a great family reunion. That evening, we all went to the famous Shapiro’s Delicatessen for Kosher fair. Great food and comradery! Terry Zerr arrived late that evening and would join the pit crew for Friday racing.
The Friday scheduled called for two practice sessions. I was in Group 6 and 12a, which had 24 entries, which included 2 XKEs, 1 Porsche, 1 Mustang, 10 Corvettes, 1 Viper, 4 Ginettas, 5 Camaros, and a Holden Commodore. The cars in my race group covered 10 different classes, with 7 cars in my class. This doesn’t mean much as when you’re out on the track you’re racing against all the cars. As expected, with each new session my times improved. The first session was a ragged as I improved slightly my best lap time to 1:58.6. In the 2nd session, I improved to 1:58,1 and was getting more comfortable with the track but still had some difficulty with turns 1, 3, and 12. After a great day at IMS, we all returned to Taxman Brewery for a delightful evening of food and brews.
On Saturday, there was one qualifying fun and one sprint race. The weather was perfect for racing. The crew had the car all prepared to go out at 9 am, when disaster struck. While torquing the wheel nuts, one of the studs broke off. It was obvious that we weren’t going to make our next session and not sure if we could even fix this problem. Terry and Floyd worked trying to remove the broken stud, while Richard went all over the track trying to find a replacement stud. After about an hour, Terry and Floyd had removed the broken stud. Richard was able to come up with a replacement stud that worked and we were able to successfully get everything back together. The track was jammed with fans, with every turn and hill crowed with viewers. We were gridded next to last, since we missed qualifying, for the Saturday Feature Sprint Race at 2:50 pm. I ran much better, coming in with a best lap time of 1:55.24, 5th in class. Jim Atkinson and his son, along with John and Meg Sippel showed up for the racing and were great company. That evening, we all went to the group dinner on the Pagoda Plaza at Indy. Much fun! We all wore our new Team Shirts and got many compliments.
My only race on Sunday was at 8:30 am. The morning was beautiful and the sky was clear. I turned in my best lap time of 1:54.911 and finished 11th overall and 3rd in Class. Very exciting to make a podium, especially at Indy. I’m sure with more seat time I could knock off 2 to 5 seconds. This track is a blast, the SVRA people are fabulous, and we really enjoyed the weekend. Terry, Floyd, Richard, and Mark did a great job in support. We spent some time at the IMS Museum, along with Jim Atkinson and his son. Very interesting and fascinating! We then headed home, arriving about 2:30 pm so we could all enjoy Father’s Day.
Our next race is June 13th-16th at Road America, Elkhart Lake, WI. This is always a fabulous event and my favorite track.
See you there, Phil Taxman
