[Max_Thompson]

What a day! My dad and I headed up from the peninsula and arrived at about 10:30. There were almost 50 cobras there including Dick Smith's orginal 427 race car, a 289, and a formidable fleet of spec racers from across the country. Also in attendance were 2 coupes and the new FFR GT V8. The Norcal cobras were out in force, and they all looked fantastic!

The cars all took to the track for a demo lap, which was uneventful except for a certain cobra that spun coming out of the hairpin.

Next the HPDE groups ran with only Mr. Potatohead's awesome ride and Weendoggy's beauty representing FFR out on the track. Both cars looked and sounded great. The day took an unfortunate turn when Mr. P disappeared from the track and was seen coasting down the back straight with his left arm and orange glove in the air having destroyed his T-5.

The favorites in the HPDE groups had to be the Lincoln LS rental car (although I hear he rolled the car today), a Dodge Intrepid, and a VW Jetta 1.8. The Lincoln was fast!

At 4 P.M. the "main event" took to the track in the form of at least a dozen spec racers being driven by Mark Smith, David Borden, Dan Elam, Dick Smith, Gary Cheney, Cates, and McIver among others. The racing was fantastic with some great battles among the top 4 positions with Mr. Borden, Mr. McIver, and two other cars (sorry I don't know the drivers) battling it out for the lead. Cresting the hill at turn 2, McIver lost his left rear wheel and spun! The force of the spin and the backwards travel flung his trunk off of the car onto the track. The race ended soon afterwards with the white car winning and David Borden finishing second. I can't speak from the driver's view, but as a spectator the racing was fantastic.

Looking at McIver's car after the race some of the lugs had sheared off of the rear hub!

Overall the day was great fun. The cars were numerous and beautiful. The racing was exciting, and it was great to put some faces with names from this great forum. I hope everyone is having fun today and wish you socal guys had come up; you are missing one hell of a good time.

You can see my pictures by logging in to the community clubphoto account at www.clubphoto.com/
Sign in as [email protected] password: roadster

You will see the album titled FFROG fest west pictures (saturday). Or you can click this link:
http://members13.clubphoto.com/cobra608553/1014522/owner-ea19.phtml

The pictures are best viewed in the highest resolution mode.

A BIG thank you to Bill, Russ, the Smith brothers, Dick Smith, the Spec Racing guys, and anyone else who helped put on this wonderful event!

Max Thompson

[ November 24, 2002, 06:24 PM: Message edited by: Max Thompson ]

 

[Max_Thompson]

Some of the highlight pictures:

This twin supercharged beast:

Dick Smith's gorgeous 427:

The GT V8:

289:

 

[Max_Thompson]

Now for some racing action:

McIver leading up the hill (he would later lose a wheel at the top of this corner):

"The Swarm" up into turn 2:

Later in the race they were still close:

What a pass!

 

[Max_Thompson]

All of the cars together(they go all the way back in 5 or 6 rows to the SW truck):

Mr. Borden's Spec Racer:

And lastly, Mr. McIver's car being towed down to the paddock:

Hope everyone is having as much fun today as we had yesterday!

[ November 24, 2002, 06:19 PM: Message edited by: Max Thompson ]

 

[fljmarz]

sooooooooo, what's the new name of the gt-v8?

[ November 24, 2002, 07:05 PM: Message edited by: fljmarz ]

 

[John Phillips]

Max, thanks so much for all the pics. My jealousy knows no bounds, what a weekend I missed.

 

[David Borden]

Max,

Thanks for posting such great pics sooo quickly!

It was great seeing you and your father again. What a great event we had.

Im trying to decompress... will write more later

David

 

[Max_Thompson]

David, If you didn't see my other post, congratulations! It was good to see you again and even better to see you race. I was extremely impressed by how professionally you guys raced and how talented and fast you were!

 

[tcta61]

Max,

Thanks for taking us to the event with you descriptive article and Great Photos! Sure wish I would have had mine finished so I could have joined in all the fun but this was a close as I could get! Perhaps next time!

Thanks again!

Terry

 

[steve card]

Thanks to all the guys posting pics. I left my camera behind, and didnt get any pics of all the cars. It was a real positive experience for me to be there and see all the ways that the cars get completed.I came home with a lot better vision of what I want my car to look like when done.

 

[Ophitoxaemia]

i want to know why david didnt finish first in the race!!!

-james

 

[Max_Thompson]

[ November 25, 2002, 08:25 AM: Message edited by: Max Thompson ]

 

[Podus Rex]

There was a white flag (last lap) and a checkered flag. I saw it. I was also up on the little hill above the carousel (turn 6).

It was getting kind of dark at that time, too! Great race. By the way, who was the driver of the white car (that won)?

 

[Bill]

Thanks for the report.

It sounds like the evnt went smoothly. I wish I could have made it. Thanks Russ for doing such a great job at judging the car show with the help of your friends.

As a reminder, the National FFROGFEST in Atlanta is going to be just as fun! So everyone start making plans to be in Atlanta March 27-31, 2003.

- Bill

 

[Tony Leonardi]

Thank you Factory Five.
What A great time !
Congrqats Dave You are the Man.
Here are some of the pictures I took on saterday.

FFROGFEST WEST

 

[FASSNAKE]

Thanks to everybody AGAIN , my family had a wonderful time. Mary, Rose really enjoyed her ride around the track and says you are very smooth(just rubbing it in )not like me. My son actually did a great job of filming our two parade laps on sat. I know I was probably the slowest autocrosser but I should get an award for not hitting any cones. Had a great time talking to all the Norcal guys again and yes Russ I know you guys have something else planned for this weekend. But like I said the commute is a killer. I really enjoyed meeting all the Factory Five people,some again some for the first time. I had two highlights and one was shaking Dick Smith's hand and the other was shaking the NASA NATIONAL Spec Racer winner David Borden's hand. We taped his race and it couldn,t have been any more exciting !!!! You can hear everybody at the end of the stands yelling during the last couple of laps!!! Way to go David.

Don Rose Tony