Great Day!

Got up early (for me), grabbed the girls and headed out to watch the Ferrari Challenge races at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Awesome day, low 70's not a cloud in the sky, the smell of Ferraris everywhere, and hardly any spectators. I was there a couple weeks ago to watch the AMA Superbikes and it was packed! Today there were about 12 Ferrari F430's race prepped screaming around and then 8 vintage Ferraris howling and you could pretty much watch from any place you wanted. It was awesome! My wife even liked it. :)

I cannot WAIT to run there next week!!!!!

Mickey - very cute kids! I'm sure you're a very proud dad. Talk about being in the right place at the right time - a sparsely attended race event featuring your favorite marquee, sounds like you had a great time.

BTW - I sent you a PM regarding my visit to PA.

Peace - Out!

Two of the most beautiful cars ever built - with two equally beautiful kids in front of 'em. What a nice way to spend the day.

Mickey, sounds like a great way to spend the day. Looks like your girls were having a good time too! I love those cars, and am glad I don't have to keep those Webers in tune!

HEY U
GOOD FOR U
U R ALMOST A WEST GUY
U R A GOOD DAD

Mickey,
Sorry I missed you. I was at the track Friday and Saturday. I was told that the pontooned fendered Testa Rosa is the first one of it's kind produced by Ferrari. Value-$18,000,000. It was the thrill of a lifetime to be able to walk up to those vintage cars and talk about their history with the mechanics(caretakers). Even more thrilling was to see them racing. Did you get to meet Lee Keeno from the "Antiques Road Show"? Daughters are beautiful. See ya next weekend at the track? What days?

Mickey-

OK. No more complaining about where you live. That is just flat-out cool.

As far as the pics of your daughters- they reminds me of my two girls about 20 years ago. One is married now, and one engaged.

It just gets better and better.

Hey! That number 18 is a 250TR, my very favorite F car ever.

Dave Love is kind of famous for having his car show up for most every CSRG (Classic Sports Race Group) twice a year races, not so much any more - time goes by.

Another '57 Testa Rosa was restored by a friend of mine for a San Francisco fella, the car is (was) silver with a red stripe down the middle, a poster of the car was distributed about 15 years ago. Tragic end to Bill's ownership, but that is a different story...

1-4-3-2- out!

I wonder what the v12 firing order is - out!

1-7-5-11-3-9-6-12-2-8-4-10

I think all the V-12s from '65 through '73 used this order.


GK

Yes, all engine and wheels. Ferraris are cool, no doubt about it. I have a friend who is part of a Ferrari Challeng pit crew here in DC-- or at least was. The sponsoring dealership she is hooked up with has fallen on hard times, was sold to a CA enterprise and the group of owners who were paying the frieght to race have suffered from the "economy" as well. We think this will be just a year's hiatus, and they will be back at it next season with the new owner. I hope so, 'cause she gets me pit passes and I put on my Ferrari shirt and get to look like a pit crew helper. We did this last year at the last-ever(?) Grand Prix in Montreal, where the Challenge was running between GP heats along with many others: P-cars, Beemers, and a lot else. THAT was a glorious race week-end, I gotta tell you.

I did a 24 hour mountain bike race a few years ago in Monterey. The "base camp" was the center field of Laguna Seca - how freakin' cool is that???

So I'm out busting my buttocks on the first day (start at noon Saturday end at noon Sunday). I was probably on the first or second lap. As I headed uphill toward the camp, I would hear just little clips of engine noise...

When I crested the top and headed toward the bridge (we crossed over the track) I could hear them at full song! It was the Ferrari club's lapping session! These guys were GETTING ON IT!!!

I stopped on the bridge and just watched them go by. The rising pitch of the engines made the hair on my arms stand up, then they would flash by and the hot engine/exhaust smell would waft up to me.

Absolutely awesome. Ferrari's are lovely standing still, but at full throttle, they are music!

angela

It's funny you mention Ferrari's and music Angela. I was trying to explain to my wife the emotion that I felt when I heard that GTO and TR go by. I said "Did you ever hear a song that brought a tear to your eye? Not in a sad way, but because it just hit something when you heard it?" Then she said "Oh, I get it now. You're insane." :)

She didn't know that before??? Tell me how you hid it all these years so I can try it with the LMS!

Dusty

PS
LMS is currently in Ohio with our youngest daughter who just (9/17/09) had a little boy. Our fifth grandchild!

Dusty - bad news mi amigo - she's already on to you...

angela

Oops, sorry I jumped the gun and missed a few posts.

Allan,
I'm hoping to run all three days but if things get tight I'll probably be there for practice on friday (all day) and race sunday (pretty sure it's morning race #2 probably 11am-ish).

Stan,
Yes, having the track in NJ certainly has made my life more enjoyable. It's awesome to have a place an hour away that hosts the Rolex Series, AMA Superbikes, Ferrari Challenge, and countless other vintage and sports cars events. But the west coasters still get the great weather year round and the beaches and bikinis that go with it. ;)

Gerd,
Even though I was born in Michigan, live in Delaware and have spent all of my life on the east coast, I'm at west coaster at heart.

Oh, and Kelly, feel free to take me along for the ride next year. I hear the Canadian GP is back on, or very close to. I believe I saw it on the 2010 F1 Schedule.

I think I got my wife hooked on to something! We were at a charity event tonight and she was saying what a great time she had with me and the girls yesterday. She's planning on coming to watch me race sunday and asked me what day the vintage race was in October. There's still hope ............ ;)

Mickey, in what city were you born?

A few years ago, my brother in law moved, he has a 1963 250GT Luso Ferrari and also had a 1956 D100 Austin Healy. The Ferrari was the exact same kind of Ferrar that Steve McQueen owned. I got to drive it from San Diego area up to Temecula to their new home. For a car that was over 40 years old, it still drove in a spectacular manner. Since then, he's had the engine rebuilt and it runs even better. (I think he paid over 30,000 for an engine rebuild)

Looks exactly like this: http://www.motortrend.com/classic/roadtests/c12_0511_1963_ferrari_250_gt_lusso/index.html

Larry - taking that 250GT on the road...how COOL was THAT?!!

Mickey,

I was wondering if the great city of Montreal was going to kick it up a notch and give the F1 guys what they ask for. I just could not see them not ever having a Canadian GP event again. If it all comes together next year, and the local Ferrari folks get their sh-- together, I'll give you a shout.

One advantage of being really old is that I saw all those great cars race at Watkins Glen, Mosport and Riverside when they were brand new! Nobody curves body metal like Zagato, Farina, Touring, et all. Vintage racing is the best!

That said, I've read enough biographies of the original drivers to know that despite their fabulous looks, most of them handled quite like an American pickup truck of the same era - flexy chassis, stiff springs lousy shocks and a ride that simply beat you to death. Somehow, I think those original "pilotos" just didn't care about that.

Ahhhh... the Lusso. My most favoritest Ferrari.

...when men were MEN!!

Right. "You're a lumberjack and you're okay...."

When I was at the VSCCA race this spring there was a Lusso in the pits and it was driven by a fairly attractive woman. Her husband drove a Maseratti. I have pics somewhere (unfortunately not of the driver), I think it was the first disc brake Ferrari imported to the US.

...and wear women's clothing!

That took long enough. Here, of course:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clPYfaTvHT0

Congrats!nice car and a beautiful kids.