Here is my report of the National Race held at Nelson Ledges,
Ohio on May 18 and 19.

It appeared as if weather was going to be a concern for this
event based on information obtained from the web. Overcast,
cool, showers or rain were the prediction for the weekend. It was
overcast, it did rain on the Friday, however it was not cool, it was
cold. We also learned that it had rained fairly regularly in central
Ohio for the past 3 weeks, consequently the paddock area would
be difficult to negotiate. When we arrived at the track on Friday
afternoon around 4:00, there were several competitors working
to free up their truck/trailer rigs from the mud. Some of them
were buried up to the axles and required outside assistance
from a tow truck.

At registration, there was information passed out to the
competitors to be aware that if they went off course during the
weekend, they WOULD get stuck. This would mean delays to
retrieve vehicles and disrupt racing if they ended up in a
dangerous position. In order to deal with this situation, the
organizers divided some race groups in two so as to allow
smaller fields. This should have the effect of reducing the
number of possible incidents and minimize any disruption to the
actual competition as well as save clean-up time between races.
Good idea, and it worked, too.

We were in race group 6 along with G and H Production. There
were 20 entries for our group including 10 GT5 cars. Of the 10
GT5 entries, 8 showed and only 7 started the race. First practice
was Saturday before lunch and our strategy was to try for a fast
time right away in case it rained Saturday afternoon. Chris
Kopley saw snow flakes at the hotel parking lot in Warren, Ohio
early Saturday morning. Following the first session, John Knox
had the fastest GT5 time at a 1:19, followed by Chris Kopley and
I both in the 1:20's. Other cars posted slower times but a timing
sheet was not made available, so that information is not clear.
However, we all expected Chris Fox to burn the place up in her
Nissan, but she was experiencing a slipping clutch and only
managed a 1:25. The other GT5 entries included Jay Ilohan
(Alfa), Jack Baumgardner (Mini), Chris Kopley (Mini), Bill
Brownlee (Mini) and Jim Rauck (Nissan 1200). The no-shows
were Joe Camilleri (Mini) and Bob Tarzwell (Mazda MX3).

The morning practice was interrupted on the 2nd lap due to a
stalled car that brought out a full course yellow and eventually a
black flag to clear the track. From pit lane, my engine would not
re-start due to a week battery. A push start got me going again
and back on the track. As the car and driver warmed up, I
remembered just how scary and bumpy Nelson Ledges is. The
car wants to fall off the track (just before the kink in the back
straight) or fly off the track from a bump somewhere. There
were new asphalt curbs at several corners around the circuit, but
no other apparent repairs or improvements to the actual racing
surface. We survived the session and headed back to the trailer
to check over the car and charge the battery.

I spoke to Chris Fox on the grid prior to qualifying late Saturday
afternoon and she said she thought her clutch slipping problem
was solved. All GT5 cars present were gridded for the qualifying
(Rauck had not yet arrived and we only expected him to show on
Sunday morning anyway). There was no rain expected, however
it remained overcast with sunny breaks and cold. Good weather
for making horsepower, but not for sticking to the track,
consequently I had new front tires fitted and was ready to go.
Kopley showed up on the grid with 4 new tires in an attempt to
go faster.

At the start of qualifying, Chris Fox blew the engine on the front
straight down towards turn 1 and oiled up the track bringing out a
local yellow. A slipping clutch was the least of poor Chris'
problems now! One lap later, a pesky G Prod lost a front wheel
entering the loop leading on to the back straight and this brought
out another full course yellow and immediately a black flag. We
re-started from pit lane following a 5 minute clean-up period and
set out to improve our qualifying times. No matter hard as I was
trying, I didn't seem to be getting the performance I was hoping
for. I was to get a signal from Norm (brother) in the pits as soon
as I had achieved the lap time set as our goal. Since we have no
radio, I was depending on a visual indication of having reached
the lap time but it never came. I intentionally slowed down for 2
laps just to get Norm's attention as I thought he had perhaps
forgotten about me. Well, I got his attention because I received a
"shrugged shoulders" sign from him on the next lap. Since he
was awake, I guess I just had to bear down and try harder.
Along came John Knox in his Sentra and he appeared to be
going quite fast, having already set the fastest time in the
morning session. I let him by and decided to follow from a
distance to see what he was doing different and perhaps get a
tow down the straight. Well it worked. I couldn't seem to break
below the 1:20's but in 1 lap following Knox, I dropped to
1:18.733. In fact, his Sentra was slowing me up on certain parts
of the circuit but was very quick through the loop leading on to the
back straight. I was able to catch up to Knox down the straight
but was not close enough to benefit from a draft. Chequered
flag! As it turns out, I didn't go below 1:20 till that lap following
Knox.

The final qualifying produced the following GT5 grid results;
Ilohan at 1:18.623, Phenix followed by Knox both with identical
times of 1:18.733, Baumgardner at 1:19.447 Kopley at 1:19.997,
Chris Fox at 1:25.491 (her morning session time) and Bill
Brownlee at 1:32.668.

Baumgardner did only about 4 laps and parked it as he doesn't
need the practice at this track and neither does Rauck who had
not yet made his appearance at the track for this event. His
strategy is to apparently use this race to get a start and a few
points starting from the back of the pack. He has done this
successfully in the past.

Checking out the car showed that a new battery was needed for
the main event. All other mechanical systems and components
were OK. The car's performance (max rpm on the back straight)
was not what I was hoping for, but a 2nd place starting position
and a personal best lap time were what I had to work with. I
have been worse off before. In analyzing the final grid qualifying
sheet, I see just how much of a momentum track Nelson is.
Randy Canfield in his Bugeye Sprite qualified at 1:18.673 in 5th
position overall and just ahead of me. This is one of his "home"
tracks and his ability here is incredible. As a matter of fact, a GP
Datsun 510 had the outright pole at 1:16.756. Pesky cars, these
GProds, especially the Sprites.

Putting together a fast qualifying lap at Nelson is relatively easy
when you learn where the bumps and holes are that need to be
avoided. Putting together a succession of fast laps to complete
the race is another matter altogether. Track knowledge and
driver experience count more here than certain other tracks as
there are precious few passing spots, especially if you want to
avoid "falling off" the track and having to wait for the tow truck.

Sunday morning arrived and was damp and cold. The rain did
not persist and the sun even threatened to show on occasion,
but it remained cold and windy.

On the grid, all GT5 quailfiers showed up but for Chris Fox who
did not get her car screwed back together following the Saturday
afternoon blow-up. One pace lap and we were off. I knew that I
had to prevent Randy Canfield from getting in front of me before
turn 1, otherwise I would need a couple of laps at least to get by
him and chase Ilohan. Of course, I also had Knox with a fast
Sentra right behind me and Baumgardner and a hungry Chris
Kopley right behind him. Well, the Mini power band and gears
were right where I needed them at the green flag and I got a
jump to get in front of the Sprite and ease to the right for the
inside line into turn 1 behind Ilohan. Man, is that Alfa a big car
compared to the Mini. This is a narrow track and passing would
be a chore. As I pursued the Alfa for a couple of laps sizing up
possible opportunities to make a pass, I remembered that
Baumgardner and other capable GT5 cars were not far behind.

I looked into my rearview miror and saw that Baumgardner was
more than anxious to have a go at Ilohan in the Alfa. It became
obvious that Jack was more at home on this track than I was and
I was slowing him up just as Ilohan was slowing me up. We
settled into a train for 2 or 3 laps with Ilohan leading me in front
of Jack. Jack was getting antsy and started seriously looking for
a way by. He passed me going down the main straight and
closed on the Alfa. "Not this time" said Ilohan as he protected
his line. As Jack passed me, I noticed blue smoke coming from
his left front wheel well. This did not stop him from taking
another stab at passing the Alfa and this time he made it stick.
Jack was off leading GT5, and I was left to deal with the Alfa in
front of me as other GT5 cars were dissapearing behind me
embroiled in their own battles. However, there was now Randy
(Pesky) Canfield on my bumper. I would pull him on all the
straight sections and he would catch me in all the corners. He
was on me like glue. I observed the Alfa for another lap and
decided my best bet was to pass him and lose Canfield
because if Canfield passed me and became involved with the
Alfa, I would certainly fall into the wolf pack of GT5 cars behind
me. As Ilohan pushed in an attempt to stay with Baumgardner,
he became a little ragged in some of the corners but I didn't see
a hole anywhere near big enough to squeeze the Mini through.
Then it happened... he went wide coming into the last corner.
Just wide enough for me to get the nose of the Mini inside and
make it a drag race down the pit straight.

Remember what I said about the Mini power band and gear
ratios? Well, the corner onto the pit straight is a first gear corner
for my car and I took advantage of all it could give me taking it to
8500 in first and second gears to lead Ilohan into the next corner.
Jay was good about it and didn't really try to shove me off at the
next turn or anything like that either. I looked down track and
there was Jack Baumgardner still leaving a trail of blue smoke,
but it didn't appear as if it was slowing him up. Smoking race
cars can sometimes go for a long time I was saying to myself,
so lets see what happens to Jack. I could now concentrate on
his Mini instead of the Alfa and Sprite and other GT5 traffic
behind. I could slowly catch Jack and was about 100 feet behind
when he was shown a black flag. Not for spilling oil I thought, as
there was no trace of any motor oil on my windshield from his
car. Then entering turn one, I saw a corner worker show Jack
the fire extinguisher. I saw him, but Jack didn't. As it turns out,
Jack didn't see the black flag intended for him either. He was
concentrating on getting away from me. At turn two, the corner
worker there was also showing Jack the fire extinguisher and
then again at turn three. Well, this finally got Jack's attention and
he pulled off on the outside of three so the fire could be dealt
with.

I had now inherited the GT5 lead and began to reel off steady
1:20 second laps. There was that pesky GProd Sprite catching
me, the one who had lost a wheel during qualifying the previous
day. I didn't want to just pull over and let him by so I worked at
staying ahead on the straights and let him catch me up in the
corners. Eventually, he passed me and I let him have some
breathing space as there was no immediate threat to my lead. I
couldn't see Ilohan or other GT5 cars in the mirror so settled
down again to steady lapping. I was very thankful they displayed
a local yellow only at turn three and not a full course yellow while
Jack's car was being attended to. Otherwise, all my GT5
buddies would be right back on my rear bumper and my car was
not as top end strong as I hoped it would be.

Around 3/4 distance, I noticed someone in the rearview mirror
but could not make out who it was at first. Since there were only
a few laps left, I wasn't pushing the car in the lower gears ,
consequently the closing traffic was getting closer all the time. It
turned out to be fellow GT 5 buddy Chris Kopley, in his Mini. It
was time to re-think my strategy. I knew there were not too many
laps left so kept a close eye on Chris and concentratred on not
making any mistakes. He was still closing on me when we got
the last lap sign from the starter's bridge. Well, unless I fell off
the track or blew up the motor, I felt confident I would finish first in
GT5. As we came down the long back straight for the last lap, I
saw Chris about 100 yards behind me and led him across the
finish line by about 2 or 3 seconds. The car had more in it if
necessary, but it turned out not to be necessary.

Another victory! Great feeling! And... another Mini had taken
second spot. If jack had not suffered the oil leak, it might even
have been Mini's 1, 2 and 3. In GT5, Jack had the fastest race
lap at 1:18.294, I had the second fastest time at 1:18.844 and
Chris Kopley at 1:19.282. I came away with a fourth place overall
and there were 14 finishers from 15 starters. A small grid
compared to our normal race group, but the smaller grid allowed
more open racing.

The ride home is always easier when you have a good race
result to talk about. We had 600 miles to go and as usual, Norm
slept and I drove.

Next race for me should be the GT 5 Invitational at Mid-Ohio on
June 1st and 2nd.

Ted Phenix
GNA alutech inc.
9495 Trans-Canada
Saint-Laurent, QC
H4S 1V3
Tel : (514) 956-1776
Fax : (514) 956-0286
tphenix@...
www.gna.ca