Superformance MKII, Riverside Racer 289 FIA vintage race car

[byronpete21]

Congrats on the podium Jim. Well done and well deserved.

Best regards,
Byron

[Alfa02]

Jim, we here are proud of your "driving" and all your success, Hope some of our talk helped The Cobra look's like it's ready for another go, nothing like spending time, with you & the Cobra being one on track. When you get time give me a call, and we'll decompress, love to hear about the weekend The first of many, buddy. Cheers Tom.

[1795]

Tom,

I will give you a call when I get the chance. I paid closer attention to hand placement and would correct myself when I noticed that I had started repeating old mistakes. Got some great feedback from an old SCCA racer/race instructor on Friday and started using that feedback on Saturday. He pointed out that my entry line and apexing were good but that I was not letting the car track out to the edge enough. Focused on that and it helped on Saturday.

Was happy with my times, dropped 4 seconds over the last race at the Glen and ran consistently within a second of that time.

Unfortunately it may be a few days before I am able to post video. We had a power outage secondary to a lightening strike recently and it killed the monitor to my desktop that I use to download the videos to youtube. I can set it up to download at night and get up in the morning and it is finished. My laptop hibernates too quickly to download videos without constantly being there to keep the laptop open. So, I will shop for a new monitor.

Sorting out the car still and making plans for the next race.

Jim

[Alfa02]

Jim, my friend that's HUGE!!! 4 second a lap faster, image what you would have to do (mechanical) to the Cobra to take 4-sec. a lap off your time . And then to be consistently within a sec. of that time, very, very well done, my man. I can hardly wait for the video's, and our time to talk. I'm sure you've said atta-boy to your crew, but being a driver too, I want to thank your crew, for putting a good piece under you, Very done Folk's! Cheers Tom.

[1795]

Tom,

Well, when you gain 4 seconds a lap, and you have not done anything mechanical to the car, then it says a little about how poorly you were driving previously....

You are absolutely right, no race is ever an individual effort, it takes a team to race well. I had a ton of support and would have given my kudos early, but was just too tired when I got home and had to eat and rest. I do not eat much during a race weekend as I am the primary mechanic as well as driver and also since my crew are volunteers and family I try to do as much as I can to not take advantage of them. I usually lose about 5 lbs on a race weekend.

First and foremost, a big thank you to my wife Brenda for being there to help with crew, moral support and to help with the big pasta dinner that is a lot of work. We probably served 30-35 people.

I could not have gotten this far without the support of Rick Muck, Ross Henry and Dennis Olthoff. Time Machines has been a great sponsor and hopefully we will get some more SPF 289 FIA's on the race track. Their knowledge and hands-on support keeps me on the track. Olthoff Racing has been there consistently for me. It amazes me how much Dennis steps up to the plate and offers his assistance and guidance without asking. Finally, there are my cousins and friends who take the time to be there to help with car prep, offer advice and support.

I could not ask for a better crew!

For those of you looking for video, I will go out and get a monitor today and will not post again until I have some video to show. I have not had time to view them all, but just to warn you, Friday's races both finished under a black flag all. So the video's will be a little short. The first one happened because a corvette stared to drop oil and they wanted to get us off the track so that it could be cleaned. The second one was due to a pretty bad collision. I have not been able to fully view the video yet.

Jim

[Mark IV]

Our "hero driver" on Sunday at our display. Thanks Jim for a good showing and helping to promote vintage racing/

[Sawdust]

Jim
A huge congratulations to you and your team! Also congratulations to Rick Muck! Awesome job guys. The first of many podium finishes.

[Mark IV]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

Our "hero driver" on Sunday at our display. Thanks Jim for a good showing and helping to promote vintage racing/

And this is the guy who with his wife Brenda, served dinner of homemade sauce and pasta for over 30 people on Saturday night. The Watkins garage was filled with Jim's friends, fellow racers and the entire Olthoff Racing crew (yes, Allison go a night off from catering!) all enjoying a delicious meal and some serious bench racing! There was perhaps a bit of wine drunk with the meal but is was well more than 8 hours bottle to throttle so all was well.


A successful weekend and a great time. More pictures to come.

[1795]

I have two videos from the time trials. I wish that I had a rear facing camera, because a lot of the video at times shows an empty field in front of me and it looks like I am running by myself. What it does not show are the Mustangs and Corvettes that I am holding off. Had a lot of tight competition with a 66 Mustang, a GT350 and some early 70's corvettes.

In both videos, the sessions ended with a black flag all and we had to return to the paddocks. In the first video it is because a corvette started dropping oil on the track. Also, my line in the first video on the back straight prior to the bus stop is a little off as in a prior race someone dropped a lot of oil on the outside edge of the track and it was covered in speedi dry (you will see white powder on the outside edge) and it was quite slippery on it, so I had to alter my line.

In the second video the session ended due to a crash coming out of the toe of the boot. One of the participants was in the garage bay next to me, he was driving a corvette. According to him another corvette, that you will see on the right, broke his shifter linkage and pulled over onto the grass. The guy next to me was chasing down a Mustang and right about where the corvette was parked the Mustang's rear broke loose and he got sideways. The Corvette tried to avoid him and then realized that he would hit the parked corvette and turned towards the opposite side of the track heading towards the wall so that he would not hit the parked car. At that time, an E type Jag decided to make a move and pass all of them on the left. The Corvette and the Jag collided and you can see the aftermath on the track.

So, for both videos, once you see me slow down and go by the wreckage, you might as well stop watching, pretty boring views of me heading back to the garage. Looking forward to comment and suggestions. Do wish that I had video of the Enduro.

by the way, trying to decide if I go to Virginia International Raceway for the race next Wednesday. North Carolina and Virginia are going to be hit by a hurricane soon and I am not sure if the race will be on or not. Dennis Olthoff thinks that the worst of it will be done by the endow Saturday. He will let me know if it looks good. Byron is checking for me as well.

https://youtu.be/VmcEpoliP68

https://youtu.be/Yhe-zLEIDwo

Jim

[Mark IV]

Jim,

While some will say "gee, he got passed a lot!" they don't realize you are running a very mild motor compared to the "hand grenades" the big budget vintage guys are using. All in all, a very good weekend. All races finished with the car intact for the next race and lap times falling with every session.

[1795]

Rick,

I know. Pretty happy with the results. Hopefully VIR does not get cancelled with the Hurricane coming in. Dennis thinks that it will be fine, so I am still preparing to leave next Wednesday. Thursday is test day and I have never ben to VIR before. Races Friday-Sunday morning and then back home. Times will start out slow while I get to know the track and then should pick up by the end of the race weekend.

Jim

[Blas]

Does your trailer have floatation devices on it.

[1795]

I am going to tie a bunch of life jackets to it. Latest forecast has the hurricane heading more south and west than VIR, hopefully for my race that happens. Sucks for everybody in its path.

[1795]

The race weekend is on. Dennis Olthoff said that he was going to be there and I have registered as well. I have an opening for one more person on my crew list. If anyone is planning on attending the race there, let me know and I will add you to my crew list. I will be heading down there Wednesday morning and registering later that afternoon. Hope that everyone living in the area affected by the hurricane is safe and does not suffer too much property loss. Take care.

Jim

[Jim Kellogg]

It was great to spend some time with you at WGI!
Congratulations, Jim!!!
And keep me advised of your 2019 schedule. Would like to help when possible.
Jim

[1795]

Jim,

It was nice to se you again as well. Great to se you back with your old cobra. I will post my race schedule next year sometime in the spring when I have it figured out.

Jim

[Moto One]

Another great run. Congratulations Jim.

Mark.

[1795]

Well, it's been a while. It is still bitter cold in upstate NY and plenty of snow on the ground. It has been a busy winter for me. Pulled the engine and took it to Donahue Brothers in CT for a rebuild and to change over to the Webers. It should be ready the end of the month and I will go out for the dyno tune and have some video and numbers from that. We also will be doing some suspension changes, which I will discuss as those progress. I should be getting a new set of race pads from Prosystems shortly. I sent out some old pads and they cut the material off and placed their race pad material on the old plates. They also pre-bed the brake pads before shipping them out.

We also are building a new home this year and are partway through that project. I am doing about 1/4-1/3 of the work and building a home in the middle of the winter in upstate NY is a pleasure that everyone should experience Nothing like puling 300 feet of 200 amp wire through conduit 3 feet deep in a muddy ditch in 30 degree weather.

Due to building the new home and trying to get into it before the end of the summer I will have a shorter race schedule this year than last. I will be starting out at the SVRA Vintage Grand Prix of Mid Ohio from June 20-23, then heading to the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix and SAAC race July 11-14 (hope to see a lot of you guys there), and finally finishing up at Watkins Glen for the SVRA US Vintage Grand Prix September 5-8.

Going to be a fun year. Mid Oho will be mostly about sorting the car out with the new engine and suspension changes, hoping to have a better feel for the car at Pitt Race and then back to my home track at Watkins Glen. Looking forward to seeing people, gaining advice and having fun.

Jim

[MOTORHEAD]

Jim: congrats on all your success ! If any of your fellow vintage racer friends are looking for a 427 s/c to race, my Kirkham may be worth a look.

Ted

[1795]

Ted,

Thanks. I will mention it to them. There is vintage racer from Florida, Steve Shody that races a 427 Kirkham. I think I missed the posting that you were selling yours, either that or I forgot about it. The one expensive thing that someone purchasing your car for vintage racing would have to do is replace the engine, as only iron blocks and heads are allowed and no stroking.

If anyone knows of some good ear plugs, I will need a pair. One of the changes that i am going to be doing is eliminating my flow through mufflers and going with straight pipes as the mufflers hang down just far enough to occasionally hit the curbing on tight corners. The car is loud already with the minimal muffling and will be even louder now . Coming out of the boot at the Glen in second gear, when I get on it my ears hurt with the helmet on, foam ear plugs in place and the mufflers!

Jim