Thanks to ProPayne Graphics in Mechanicsville, VA, ELBRacing now has a logo. Thanks, ProPayne!
And to prove the power of blogging, the second owner of the ELBRacing Pinto found us via this blog. Allen Petrie campaigned the car for most of the races it appeared in during the 80s. Mr. Petrie was kind enough to send us the following photographs of the ELBRacing Pinto, and some of it's competition, from back in the day:
Allen Petrie in the ELBRacing Pinto @ Second Creek Raceway, June 1986
Allen Petrie in the ELBRacing Pinto @ Second Creek Raceway, July 1986
Dick Elliott ITB Pinto, 1987. Mr. Elliott is the original constructor / owner / driver of the ELBRacing Pinto and also campaigned a Boss Mustang in the original Trans-American Series
Friday Open Practice went fairly well, though technical issues with our in-car camera mount made for unusable (ie. very shaky!) video. Fortunately, fellow SCCA Spring Drivers School attendee Darin Treakle presented the ELB team with very usable video from the Spring Drivers School. These videos were taken from the dash of Darin's Treakle Insurance Agency ITS Acura Integra. There is a lot of footage of the ELBRacing Pinto as well as the Kingstowne Lawn & Landscape BMW:
Unfortunately, it is the end of the road for the Mercury Brand. Not a surprise to Mercury car buffs, as Ford has been exercising 'badge engineering' with Mercury for a number of years, which has absolutely killed the brand. But, fortunately for us, the Classic Mercury Cougar and other great Mercury cars of the past will live on forever in our hearts.
Here at ELBRacing we have been deeply involved in the Classic Cougar car scene for a number of years. We have open tracked and autocrossed these cars, and have been charter members of the Delmarva Cougar Club (www.dcconline.org). Check out Delmarva Cougar Club member Phillip Payne on camera explaining the demise of the brand:
In racing news, ELBRacing will be making an appearance @ Summit Point Raceway, Friday June 4th for a day of Open Practice. Stay tuned for photos and video of that upcoming event.
As mentioned in previous posts, operating a race car under an extremely low budget leads to some interesting challenges. Our open trailer is just large enough for our vintage race car, small enough to fit in our residential driveway, but doesn't provide any protection from the elements. Not that this is a problem during regular storage as the race car sits in a garage. But, towing in less than desirable weather conditions can lead to a soaken wet race car interior.
A little water doesn't bother us too much. But, the chance of the cars electronics being victim to the elements is something we would rather not deal with during a race weekend. To that end, we purchased some Plexiglass and decided to make removable windows.
At $53 a sheet, the Plexiglass isn't particularly cheap. But, it is fairly easy to work with. We were able to get fairly decent cuts with a jig saw. These windows aren't exactly pretty, but should do the job just fine.
The rear lexan window has holes drilled through it to allow air to escape the interior. A piece of plexiglass was fabricated to sit across this as well to keep as much water out as possible.
The Washington D.C. Region of the SCCA held a three day Double‐School for Club Racing competition licenses March 19‐21, 2010 at Summit Point MotorSports Park in Summit Point West Virginia. ELBRacing once again teamed up with Kingstowne Lawn & Landscape for this event. Jim Karamanis drove the ELBRacing 1972 Ford Pinto B-Sedan Vintage Racer while Krisjan Berzins burned up the school in the Kingstowne 1987 BMW 325is race car. Ralph Pagington again took on the duties of ELBRacing crew chief and Bruce Shelton of Automotive Enterprises again helped out the team as crew chief on the BMW. Various members of Bruce's regular pit crew (Bruce campaigns a GT Pinto in the SCCA Mid-Atlantic Road Racing Series) pitched in for the over-all team throughout the weekend.
The first school began Thursday evening with an orientation and flag test and continued through mid-day Saturday ending with the students first race.
Video courtsey of Convenience Car Care
The second school begin mid-day Saturday ending with a race Sunday evening.
Video courtsey of Convenience Car Care
School participants received received three race weekends of track time condensed into three working days. Class time began at approximately 7:30am each day with activities continuing until around 6pm each evening with the SCCA hosting on-site dinner both Friday and Saturday. Students were either in the classroom, riding in an instructors car or driving their race cars continuously throughout the weekend. The SCCA instructors received high-praise from students. All of the instructors were MARRS series participants and instruction was clear, articulate and thorough. Some of the instructors had taught at the school for over thirty years. Instructors manned corners throughout the track during the school weekend, analyzing the line and race craft of the students. Feedback was immediate as each track session was followed by a debrief session. Students worked closely with individual instructors and were treated to laps around Summit Point Raceway in the instructors street cars where they were able to gain insight about the nuances of the track.
Overall, the SCCA put on one incredible school. Instructors, event organizers, stewards, workers and emergency personnel were extremely organized, professional and knowledgeable. The fact that an all-volunteer organization is able to put on an exceptional road race school is a testament to the SCCA and specifically the WDCR. At $550, this school is undoubtedly the best deal going for a professional racing school in the Mid-Atlantic region. Anyone considering getting into any type of club road racing should consider this school. It is absolutely a must for those who plan to campaign their car with SCCA as those who successfully graduate the double-school walk-away with an SCCA novice permit.
ELBRacing wishes to formally thank the unbelievable crew that kept the vintage Pinto on track all-weekend. There was a tremendous amount of track time and their diligence kept one of the oldest cars in the field running throughout the school, allowing both drivers to graduate from the school and receive their SCCA Novice Permits. In the early part of the school, the Pinto kept blowing the sound limit. The skilled crew was able to modify the exhaust system by adding an additional muffler and side-pipe which allowed the Pinto to drop underneath the minimum threshold for exhaust noise. ELB would also like to thank the incredible folks at WDCR for an unbelievable school. You have given us the skills needed to begin our vintage racing campaign.
ELB racing has replaced the vintage 1992 Ford F-150 tow vehicle with a 2008 of the same make and model. The new tow vehicle is an XLT 4x4 and more importantly, features the 5.4 liter engine with gobs of torque. The old truck struggled to pull the race car and trailer over the mountains near Summit Point WV. The ELB crew will have no problem pulling their rig anywhere on the east coast with the newest addition to the ELB stable. And, given the new tow vehicles crew cab, they’ll have no problem bringing a full crew along.
Speaking of vintage, check out this photo of the original ELB race car. Kermit Burroughs dug this drag racer photo out during the latest Mid-Atlantic blizzard.
