Watkins Glen in the fall – you will be hard-pressed to find a more picturesque backdrop for a racetrack in North America. With the foliage turning, the ride up Rt. 17, following the river up to Binghamton, is part of the DE weekend. The views are spectacular.
Monday started with everyone receiving a shirt at registration. With colder weather ahead, the long-sleeved shirt seemed like perfect timing. We want to thank Bela Sztanko, owner of EPS (European Performance Specialists), for being so generous to the DE program and for sponsoring the WGI shirt giveaway. Bela, and/or his son Bela Jr, come to just about every CVR DE. They are there to support their customer’s cars and they also help other drivers with unexpected mechanical issues. And when the stars align, they sometimes even have time to drive on track. If you’re looking for help with your Porsche or other European cars, look to EPS based in Watertown, CT. A big thanks to EPS – looking forward to next season.
Said with a smirk, a couple of drivers told me they needed to work on how to play nicely with others on track, so going forward they won’t get in each other’s way in a race (not at a DE, at a race). This was discussed during our Monday morning drivers meeting, with a lot of kidding and laughs. Two drivers in particular were Todd and Nelson. They are in different race classes but run together on track (both race and DE). ‘Chopping someone off’ on the track is not proper etiquette. This topic is continued in two more sections of this article.
Monday’s weather was fantastic. We had a beautiful fall day with cool temperatures and blue skies. The drivers and especially the cars loved it. We ran with only two rungroups so everyone had tons of track time.
On Monday evening we had a buffet dinner at the Harbor Hotel for all drivers. After some socializing, we were served salad. After the salad (and bread), we lined up to load up our plates with all sorts of food options – sausage and peppers, turkey and carved top sirloin for protein, potatoes and pasta for carbs and roasted veggies for a ‘healthy food’ spot on the plate.
After everyone was done eating the main course, the staff at the Harbor served up slices of cake.
While everyone was enjoying dessert, we gave out door-prizes and almost everyone got something. Thanks to Bob and Laurette at Stable Energies for sending up a bunch of nice swag for our drivers. The hoodie sweatshirts were the first items given out and made the recipients very happy. Remember when you need anything for driver safety – seats, harnesses, helmets, cool suits, etc., give Stable Energies a call and make sure to mention you are a CVR member.
Back to the playing nice discussion. Todd ribbed Nelson during the dinner prize awards and Nelson smiled and laughed. Both of these guys bring a lot of entertainment to our gatherings.
Everyone was in a great mood after dinner and such a good day on track. With everyone full and drowsy, and with most holding a door prize, everyone called it a night, with great expectations for the next day.
On Tuesday, we woke to cloudy skies and rain, neither of which was in the forecast, but this is always to be expected at Watkins Glen. The weather has a mind of its own up there.
We held our Tuesday driver’s meeting and once again, Todd and Nelson were highlighted. Both received a crown (Burger King had them on the counter that morning) and we declared them equal (each had to accept their deficiencies, with no more bad driving or behavior). Oh right, I am only spoofing on Todd and Nelson, as they are two fantastic drivers and both bring a happy and fun attitude to the track that is enjoyable to be around. Both are true sportsmen and are great examples of what a DE driver should be like. There was a lot of kidding at the driver’s meeting because the rain was trying to squash our fun but we had some good laughs anyway.
The day stayed wet throughout and those who were prepared with the proper tires had plenty of track time working on their rain line. Even with the wet weather on Tuesday, the drivers that drove got a ton of track time.
Thanks to our two WGI sponsors for being so generous – Stable Energies and European Performance Specialists (EPS). And thanks to all of our drivers that come to our events. Thanks to Randy at ClutchFoto for coming to our event and taking great pictures. Click on this link if you want to check out the great-looking cars that were at our event: https://clutchfoto.zenfolio.com/f71095561
l hope to see some new faces at our final 2022 DE for the year at Lime Rock Park on Nov 5. If you are a last-minute entrant, send our Registrar Mark an email asking if there is a spot still open.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention this – Brian, those new Porsche driving shoes look really good on you.
See you at the track.
Dave
