The event: NHIS National, Race number 2 for the GNA Mini and
crew.

We left Montreal Friday PM for Loudon. A review of all the car's
critical components was completed during the week preceeding
the event. NHIS is a track that we look forward to competing at.
Me, because the track favors the Mini rather than the higher HP
GT5 cars and the crew because they can see a good portion of
the track from the pits compared to other circuits in the NEDiv.

The GT5 turnout for this event was pretty good and there were 6
entries. Bob Dowie, Nissan Sentra (lap record holder at NHIS),
Keith DeGauque, Mini for his 1st event of the 2002 season,
Robert Tarzwell, Mazda MX3, Chris Riley, RWD Mini and Dan
Pattleson in his Datsun 1200 and Ted Phenix, Mini.

Practice went well on Saturday AM, however the car was pulling
to the right. This was not very re-assuring when negotiating
turns 1 and 2 through the oval. Nonetheless, the mechanical
components were generally doing their job. The culprit turned to
be a tire stagger problem that was quickly solved by changing
the left front tire following practice. I managed a respectable
time and came away with the fastest GT5 lap (7th overall of 29
cars) following practice. Bob Dowie suffered a transmission
failure and came back on the hook, other cars were breaking in
engines or feeling out the circuit or, as in the case of Keith
DeGauque, waiting in line at tech for their annual review. Keith
missed the complete first session.

Turn 1 and 2 have recently been re-paved and are very smooth.
The overall track surface is in good condition and it is enjoyable
to drive. There were cones set up to take away the 2 bottom
lanes of corner 1 and 2. Consequently, the line through there
was more up towards the middle of the track than in previous
years. I think the track owners are trying to preserve the surface
and give it more curing time before NASCAR or other similar
series come in and tear up the new asphalt. The Mini was
inspected and fueled for the afternoon qualifying session. I sat
on the false grid, all primed up and ready to rip following my
morning practice session and now knowing that the stagger
problem should be cured. At the 1 minute signal, I attempted to
start the engine, but no luck. It would crank and crank but not
fire. All other cars left the grid and I was attempting to start the
motor one more time when I noticed smoke coming from under
the hood. I had a carbuerettor fire. I unbuckled, climbed out and
called to the grid marshalls who provided me with a screw driver
to remove the hood and the fire was quickly extinguished with a
blast from an extinguisher. The marshal (sorry, name unknown)
had just completed a fire refresher school and she was right on
the job within seconds. So much for qualifying and improving my
starting position. In fact, when final qualifying results were
published, I had moved back from 7th to 10th on the grid and into
2nd spot in GT5. However, I did share the same row as Bob
Dowie who now had the GT5 pole.

Fortunately, the car did not suffer any permanent damage other
than melting the air filter, but it certainly got dirty from the
chemical powder. The car was cleaned and the carbs
dismantled, cleaned, inspected and re-assembled. I test fired
the motor at about 5:30 PM on Saturday and everything seemed
normal. Now, we had to line up for the Sunday morning
warm-up to test the repairs and check out the effect of the tire
change.

The warm-up proved that the carbs were OK and the tire stagger
problem was indeed cured. The car was so much easier to
drive than when there was a 15/16" difference in the
circumferences. The weather on Sunday was sunny and
warmer than Saturday with less wind. It was ideal for racing and
the track condition was very good.

We were race group 3 and had plenty of time to re-check
everything, fill up with fuel and get to the grid. The marshalls
placed a fire extinguisher next to my car, just in case. You gotta
love their sense of humor.

I was pumped and determined to give Bob Dowie a run for his
money. The other GT5 cars were not going very fast for various
reasons and were gridded further towards the back of the pack
than Bob and I who shared row 5. At the green, I got the jump on
Bob and immediately found a hole that let me pass 4 or 5 cars
leaving Dowie in the middle of a pack as I was beating it down
into turn 1. The Mini has got a good torque band for reasonably
slow starts and I I was right in the middle of that band when the
green dropped. I used the power, the transmission and the size
of the Mini to my advantage. The front straight and turns 1 &2 are
very wide and allowed me to find an easy opening to take
advantage of the quick get away. I headed out but found myself
in front of several very quick GT4, EP and F Prod cars, having
passed them all at the green flag. So, I found myself racing in
the mirror, paying more attention to them. This makes it very
difficult to concentrate on the track and the race so I let the
obviously faster cars past and decided the others would have to
find their own way. When I settled down and got comfortable, I
looked in the mirror and saw Bob Dowie about 5 seconds
behind me. Not much of a cushion. So I focused and drove
harder to increase the lead I had. I looked in the mirror again
and could no longer see him. As it turns out, Bob had suffered
another transmission failure and after nursing it for a couple of
laps decided to park it. Eventually he pulled off the track and far
enough away from the racing surface (as a careful driver should)
that I didn't see him as he was not in the natural line of sight at
that part of the track. I happened to glance and spotted his
disabled car sometime past half distance and now understood
why he wasn't menacing me from behind. I did not feel any
threat from any other GT5 competitors and so concentrated on
improving my line through 2 of the corners that give me the most
trouble. The natural tendency of the Mini to understeer makes
negotiating some corners more difficult than others, especiall
the blind ones. Since I have only raced here twice before, I need
all the practice I can get and took advantage of the last few laps
to try and learn the circuit better.

At the finish, threre were only 3 of 6 GT5 cars still running and in
order, Ted Phenix, first; Chris Riley, second; Dan Pattleson, third;
with Bob Dowie, Robert Tarzwell and Keith DeGauque not
running. Tarzwell was credited with a finish having completed
more than 50% of the laps.

As I was preparing to leave for home, Bob Dowie told me that
there was a new lap record set for GT5 and he thought it was I
who took it away from him. I did not see this on any paperwork
and consequently can not confirm it.

No doubt about it...the line of the weekend was when my crew
(brother Rick) told Bob Dowie before the race that the little yellow
thing "on his ass" at the end of the race would be a pimple
because the m ini would be in front of him.

Our next event should be Nelson Ledges in 2 weeks.

Best regards,

Ted

Ted Phenix
GNA alutech inc.