After a great race weekend in June at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Taxman Group Racing was ready for a trip to our favorite race track, Road America at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. My crew consisted of Mark Shapland and my cousin Richard Schwartz. My daughter Ilana and her fiancé Richard Wernick would join up with us on Friday. We left St. Louis early Thursday morning and arrived at Road America about 2:30 pm. While Richard and Mark set up our paddock area, I quickly got the XKE approved to race at Tech. The only improvements done on the car since Indy, was to replace the wheel stud that broke and put in all new brake pads. We noticed at Indy that the Optima battery wasn’t recharging quickly, which caused the starter to drag a bit. Seeing that the battery was nearly 4 years old, we decided a new one was the best decision. After having a discussion with Ray Barthron from R&R Motorsport, we decided to go with a Zero Gravity lithium battery. This new technology has twice the cranking power, lasts twice as long, and weighs only 3 ½ lbs. Ray brought the new battery to the track with the proper lithium charger and we were able to remove the old Optima and put in the new lithium battery in about 15 minutes. Boy does that engine start up quickly now and reduced the weight of the Jag by over 30 lbs!
A mid-summer tradition, the WeatherTech® International Challenge with Brian Redman at Road America is one of the largest vintage racing events in the United States. This year, the WeatherTech® International Challenge road race featured 452 vintage and historic racecars. The highlight this year was the Kastner Cup featuring Triumph sports cars. The WeatherTech International Challenge is a premier vintage gathering featuring everything from a special Concours d’Elegance on Friday and Saturday along the streets of Elkhart Lake, where over 40,000 fans come to see the parade of race cars.
I didn’t sign up for the extra day of practice on Thursday this year, even though Road America had resurfaced the entire track for the first time in 30 years. More on this later. Thursday night was a grand welcoming cocktail and dinner party for all the drivers. There was also a celebration by the Coventry Foundation which announced the addition of Brian Redman, David Hobbs, and Burt BS Levy as its newest edition the British Race Car Drivers Hall of Fame. We had a good food and a great time and then got to bed early. Additional Tidbit, Ken McDade and I went to the Miami Grand Prix in 1984, where Brian Redman won the race.The weather was great on Friday and after the drivers meeting, where you receive a helmet sticker, we were ready to get our first practice session on the track. Dorsey Schroeder, chief steward and famous race car driver from Fenton, told us at the meeting that the new surface was faster and there wasn’t much rubber down on it as yet. The Indy cars had trouble on the track the month before. He warned us about being careful on the corners. What I found quickly is that the heavier cars had no problem as they bit in nicely on the new surface, while the lighter cars had issues. My fastest lap time during Friday practices was 2:53. This was about my fastest time from previous years and I knew right away that the track and I were going to be faster. In my race group were there were 36 cars, including Sport Renaults, 9 Corvettes, 2 GT40s, 4 Lolas, a Cheetah, several Porsches, a Chevron, Kellison, Devin, Echidna, 2 Lotus, Brabham, a DeTomasa Pantera and a Crossle. Definitely an eclectic group!
After practice on Friday, 144 race cars lined up for the parade into Elkhart Lake. This long-standing tradition attracts locals and vacationers from all over. We lined up at Gate 5 at 4:30 pm, where a group a judges peruse all the race cars as this is considered a Concours. The cars were judged and then at 6 pm departed, escorted by 3 pace cars and numerous police vehicles, for the 4-mile ride to Elkhart Lake. It was estimated that over 40,000 people had lined the roads and streets of Elkhart Lake to watch the procession. Mark drove with me in the XKE, while cousin Richard, Ilana, and her Richard had already headed to Elkhart Lake and were having cocktails at Siebkens. There were people 6 rows deep everywhere. We had lined up this time in the middle of all the cars, so that we would end up in the middle of Elkhart Lake in front of Siebkens Bar. The race cars are parked on both sides of the street and when all the parking is completed, they drop the ropes and a sea of people merge into the streets like a tsunami. Absolutely, no elbow room. We had a great time talking to all the viewers about the Jag. One of the officials came by and told me to be at the podium at 7:45 pm. Turns out, I received a great Trophy for best Race Car in Class. Shortly afterwards, a television crew came by and did an extensive interview of me and the car. What a great day? We departed Elkhart Lake, again in procession by Police escort, at precisely 8 pm. The streets were again lined with viewers watching the race cars leave town. We were able to get cousin Richard a ride back in a Triumph Race Car with our good friend Tony Drews. Tony drives fast and cousin Rich lost his hat.
On Saturday, we had a qualifying race and a sprint race. The track was jammed with people and we heard numbers of over 75,000 paid attendances. Road America is so large, 660 acres, that even with that many people it was busy buy not over crowded. In the qualifying race I had my best time ever at Road America with a best lap time of 2:49 and finished 27th overall and seventh in class. Everything went well and I was getting in the grove. We were still working on our tire pressure and had decided upon 17 PSI on the fronts and 18 PSI on the rear. The temperature that day was 82 degrees, so the tires weren’t heating up much. I was starting to push myself a bit more and was downshifting to 2nd at turns 3, 5, 7 and 9 and really pushing it thru the turns. In the sprint race that followed that afternoon, I finished 23rd overall again with a best lap time of 2:49 and 6nd in class. I felt myself getting more confident and the XKE really was handling great. Both Mark and cousin Richard were able to get rides in the Pace Car that led out for the races, which was exciting.
After practice on Friday, 144 race cars lined up for the parade into Elkhart Lake. This long-standing tradition attracts locals and vacationers from all over. We lined up at Gate 5 at 4:30 pm, where a group a judges peruse all the race cars as this is considered a Concours. The cars were judged and then at 6 pm departed, escorted by 3 pace cars and numerous police vehicles, for the 4-mile ride to Elkhart Lake. It was estimated that over 40,000 people had lined the roads and streets of Elkhart Lake to watch the procession. Mark drove with me in the XKE, while cousin Richard, Ilana, and her Richard had already headed to Elkhart Lake and were having cocktails at Siebkens. There were people 6 rows deep everywhere. We had lined up this time in the middle of all the cars, so that we would end up in the middle of Elkhart Lake in front of Siebkens Bar. The race cars are parked on both sides of the street and when all the parking is completed, they drop the ropes and a sea of people merge into the streets like a tsunami. Absolutely, no elbow room. We had a great time talking to all the viewers about the Jag. One of the officials came by and told me to be at the podium at 7:45 pm. Turns out, I received a great Trophy for best Race Car in Class. Shortly afterwards, a television crew came by and did an extensive interview of me and the car. What a great day? We departed Elkhart Lake, again in procession by Police escort, at precisely 8 pm. The streets were again lined with viewers watching the race cars leave town. We were able to get cousin Richard a ride back in a Triumph Race Car with our good friend Tony Drews. Tony drives fast and cousin Rich lost his hat.
On Saturday, we had a qualifying race and a sprint race. The track was jammed with people and we heard numbers of over 75,000 paid attendances. Road America is so large, 660 acres, that even with that many people it was busy buy not over crowded. In the qualifying race I had my best time ever at Road America with a best lap time of 2:49 and finished 27th overall and seventh in class. Everything went well and I was getting in the grove. We were still working on our tire pressure and had decided upon 17 PSI on the fronts and 18 PSI on the rear. The temperature that day was 82 degrees, so the tires weren’t heating up much. I was starting to push myself a bit more and was downshifting to 2nd at turns 3, 5, 7 and 9 and really pushing it thru the turns. In the sprint race that followed that afternoon, I finished 23rd overall again with a best lap time of 2:49 and 6nd in class. I felt myself getting more confident and the XKE really was handling great. Both Mark and cousin Richard were able to get rides in the Pace Car that led out for the races, which was exciting.On Sunday, the weather was sunny and little warmer. A great day of racing. Our feature race was at 9:30 am, which would allow us to pack up and get an early start home. We put in a fresh set of spark plugs and I was ready for the Feature Race. Ilana and her Richard both got rides in the pace car for the race right before mine and they really liked the experience. The 4 crew members all went down to the famous Canada Corner to watch my feature race. I got off to a good start and was racing well. There were several yellow flags as a Sports Renault crashed at the “Kink” and hit two walls, while the Kellison went into the wall right in front of the my crew at Canada Corner, and a Lotus broke down near the end of the Carousel. I finished 20th overall and 5th in class. All my laps were around 2:49 which was really good with all the yellow flags and emergency vehicles on the track. I was really pleased with the improved time. What a day! What a weekend. Great Fun!
