Man, what a crazy few days! I honest feel like the last week or so has been a whirlwind. Between deciding last second to go, dusting off the ScAries, packing, arranging the time out of work, the trip down and the whole event, I'm still somewhat shocked by how everything ended up going for us. I'm proud of how the car did, but I'm even more proud of the group of people that we've been lucky enough to get to know and race with. I know this is a bit long, but bear with me.
This is my 5th year participating in the Challenge. After really trying to do well the first four attempts with the flamed Shadow and then with the ScAries, I was pretty well burnt out after last year. Part of that was my own doing. Looking back, I was so focused on trying to win, I think I may have been missing out on some of the fun of the event. I had decided I wasn't going to go this year and for 11 1/2 months, that was the case. I then started to have some second thoughts. A few emails to Per, some to the local SDAC guys and next thing I knew, I was back in.
This year, I went into it with a different attitude. I wanted to do well, but I had conceded from the moment I emailed Per that I wasn't going to win. I was just going to have a good time. After the autox and the concours, we realized we had a pretty good shot. All I had to do was knock out a reasonable drag time.
As many of you know know, I grenaded an axle on my first pass. One of the places it broke was in the diff at the splines. The only way we could figure to get it out without removing and disassembling the transmission was with a big magnet, with our fingers crossed the the splines weren't twisted. This is where I realized what I was missing in years past at the Challenge...numerous Challengers, including those who were also in the hunt for the win came over offering to help tear the car apart, go buy parts, hunt for tools, etc. This includes GRM staff. Andy Ried, Per, Gary, Tom and others all were looking to help. Within minutes, I had at least 7 magnets from competitors of varying sizes to try to get the broken stub out of the transmission. In the end, the ones that came up with the magic magnet were the External Combustion guys, who were also the guys who won the autox and were right behind us in the concours. They stood a lot to gain without the ScAries making a pass, and they offered up as much help as they could give to get me running again. That was huge.
There were a ton of others that helped or offered to help, including Steve (aussiemg), the guys with the fast drag Civic, Phil Mickler and my new teamates from Tampa (Yay!). It was such a hectic day, I know I forgot many others....but thanks to everyone.
So, long story short....the Challenge and the Challengers absolutely rock. I had a great time racing with all of you. Looking forward to $2013 already.
Pat
The SDAC is truly a great group of people, and I'm glad you guys got the win this year! Our team was happy to help you guys when you needed it, and you helped us out as well, which was much appreciated. The level of good sportsmanship at the Challenge this year seriously restored my faith in humanity.
