[DeTomaso] Willow Springs Update

[Dan Courtney]

I just hauled "The Beast" back from it's debut at Willow Springs- it was a heck of a weekend!
We had quite a few Panteras present and even more Pantera people, but only a handful took it onto the track. Myself, Larry Stock, Dale Erikson, Colin Haney, Jeff (with Jim Saxton's blue and white striped Group 4), and several others whose names are escaping me following a tiring weekend. Lot's of Porsches, Cobras, Ferraris, etc.
I picked up "The Beast" from Di*k Drenske at the same time I dropped off "The Winged Warrior" for an engine installation late Friday.
After the normal session of fixing this and that I finally got "The Beast" out for two laps in the green group - not even enough to warm the slicks, let alone get re-acquainted with the line, or get to get a feel for this car's limits, - then it was time for the feature race.
Since I had never run in a track event where unlimited passing was allowed, I was re-thinking my participation commitment due my absence of warm-up laps . Especially after seeing some of these cars jet around on 1:25 lap times.
Then I ran into Larry Stock.
The conversation went something like this:
Me: "I think I'm going to wus out of the race, I only got two laps so far."
Larry: "I only got one."
Me: "You gonna run?"
Larry: "Yup."
Me: "Guess I gotta run too."
It's a good thing neither of us has any sense because I think we were the only two Panteras in the event (and this is a Pantera club show?)
I was late getting fuel and gridded dead last, which was actually kinda cool.
After the two pace controlled laps it was a green flag and "The Beast" wanted to run. I weaved through a handful of slow starters and got within spitting distance of Larry when I started losing power and said "Oh No" but decided to stick it out for another lap, during which I found I could still pull a little power but only above 4,500 rpms. I managed to finish the race (12 laps) but got lapped twice by this out of this world Porsche which was taking the turns like the rest of the cars were taking the straights. Crazy!
About 1/2 the pack lapped me one each and I was able to avoid being lapped by the other 1/2 (including Larry) but had fallen off the pack so much in the first lap that I never caught up.
Still, it was a blast and a real rush. It felt good to finish (quite a few didn't) and running full speed a into a sharp left with another car on your side just a handshake away actually wasn't as scary as I had feared. 
It turned out my mechanical problem was a distributor hold down clamp that wasn't, which is a shame because the car had been dyno'd to run like a bat out of hell in Vegas prior to the Silver State last May.
I found  a clamp Sunday morning and was able to get in enough laps to be content but it was a real well organized event with a lot of serious racers, nice people, insightful instructors and cool cars.
Matt Merrit showed up late Saturday in time to (along with Richard) host another fun after dark BBQ.
We need to get more Panteras running at these track events though. There used to be dozens and now there is just a handful.
This experience is well controlled and feels pretty safe and it gives you a great opportunity to see what your car can do. 
Quite a few of our race prepped Pantera's seem to be getting sent back to Europe (Candy, Foster's "Warhol", Matt's lemon, etc.)
MAN LAW: IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE A FAST CAR, YOU NEED TO LET IT ALL HANG OUT ON THE TRACK.

Dan F. Courtney


Excalibur Commercial Real Estate Services
La Jolla, CA

Phone (858) 551-5455
Fax (858) 551-5456