Road Stories

Don and Marie on the Open Road at 180 MPH

Don and Marie on the Open Road at 180 MPH

Hi All,

Taking advantage of Mark and Susan Thomas being occupied with Devek Days, my intrepid navigator, Marie Schofield and I ran in the Gamblers Run Open Road race at Elko, Nevada, this past weekend and had a great time, as is usual at these events. Anyone interested in the complete results should check out the CARS website at http://www.openroadracing.com/
The event was very well run, credit going to some new personel, and a continued refinement of the format by all concerned. The weather was perfect, though the usual gusty winds made driving fast - an attention grabbing task.
Dave Goldner set a new course record in the Unlimited class, driving his NASCAR to an impressive 181mph average over the two leg 90-odd mile very technical road course. Chery Layton, who usually runs her GTS in these events co-drove her "other car" husband Bob's 427 Mallett Corvette, clocking a 163mph average on her driving leg, and finishing with a 161mph average for a second place in Unlimited.
The Black 90 GT(Devek-prepared) clocked 4 out of 6 radar times of over 180 mph(fastest being 187) on our way to a first place in the 160mph class ("Honest, Marie, I will only go as fast as I feel like we
should...") and a time just a tiny bit behind the Mallet, which was good for third over-all fastest time. We probably could have put down some better speeds if we were not lifting back between radar sites in order to keep to the 160mph average. It takes a bit of time to gain velocity at over 175, and it definately makes you pay attention, though the 928 is a really solid feeling car at those speeds.
The two usual high placing, higher speed category 911-variants both went out with mechanicals. Carl Young, the almost sure-fire winner of the 170 Super Sport class, a 70+ year-old, very talented driver and
ex-jet pilot, had a flat in his 993 twin turbo at somewhere near 190, but managed to haul it to a stop with just the back quarter blown off by the exploding Pirelli. The Ruf 993 blew a turbo hose not far into the course, so it was up to us, and one other 928, plus a Chebby-powered 914 to carry the Porsche colors. The red 928 S4 from South Dakota (sorry did not get the driver and navs. name) finished 4th in the 145 class, I think.
Our car ran great, no problems whatever. My navigator did not even "squeek" when she read off "185!!" on the GPS, just before I lifted for the next corner. That has got to be tough, sitting over there at those speeds.
Again, the open road races are perfect for the 928, and lots of fun.

Don Hanson

928 Tips Home     Greg's Home