Excellent - this is going to be a very, very special meeting!

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

- Jim

Looking forward to my second meeting . . . . . anyone else coming from North of Hartford ? ?

_________________
W.Karl Walton
Somers CT



75' - 280Z - HLS30203249 - #304 Gold Metallic (stockish)
96' - 300zx TT - JN1CZ24d3TX960293 - Black on Black (enhanced)

I will be attending the meeting tonight. Will be great to meet you all.

Welcome, RJB! We'll be expecting you. Drive a Z if you have one. Come on foot if you have to !
Looking fwd to meeting you.

Frank T

_________________
1970 240Z

Not going to make it after all . . . way to far to go with the storms I am seeing on the radar.
Maybe next month and definitely for the Bob Sharp event.

_________________
W.Karl Walton
Somers CT



75' - 280Z - HLS30203249 - #304 Gold Metallic (stockish)
96' - 300zx TT - JN1CZ24d3TX960293 - Black on Black (enhanced)

I AM SO UTTERLY JEALOUS OF EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU...

This event last year was awesome!

Now back to schoolwork I go.

Thanks to all of you who came out for last night's meeting. "Karting night" proved once again to be a very popular activity.

This year, Colin Gentle Jr. had some stiff competition in the form of Justin Tang and a few others. It was exciting to watch the results of the first heat (#71) as Justin and Colin alternated the fastest lap time. But in the end Colin went home victorious for a second year in a row with a lap time of 47.158! Justin followed incredibly close behind with a best lap time of 47.335. Justin also had the fastest time of the night when both heats were factored in: 45.893!

The top five lap times from people's first heats were:
Colin Gentle: 47.158
LRRS#521(?): 47.177
Justin Tang: 47.355
Ross: 47.799 (undoubtedly a computer error)
The Stig (?): 47.996

Thanks to Jim Hagani for pre-feeding us with a great selection of ice cream in the parking lot, to Dave (and Mario) who unveiled his newly completed Bob Sharp 510 replica car and of course to Bob Sharp who I know enjoyed chatting and watching the competitive racing.

Thanks also go to our meeting photographer Alan Dempsey who I know will be posting some great shots of the evening shortly.

I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting and hope you did as well.

Don't forget to join us and Bob Sharp at Lime Rock day on Saturday, July 26th!

_________________
Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles

I missed "The Stig"
Maybe next time . . . . .

_________________
W.Karl Walton
Somers CT



75' - 280Z - HLS30203249 - #304 Gold Metallic (stockish)
96' - 300zx TT - JN1CZ24d3TX960293 - Black on Black (enhanced)

What a hoot THAT was - I am still picking tire chunks out of my dentures!

Thanks to our intrepid club organizers for another fun event.

After a great CTZCC meeting and event at Track Karting, Brookfield, CT I have posted photos of the event. Phil Parent was not able to attend. I'm glad to help out.
https://picasaweb.google.com/philctzcc/July102014

_________________
2007 350Z Grand Touring Roadster "OURZ"

Alan,

The link is not working for me.

_________________
Ross Williams
1978 280Z Black Pearl Edition 38k Original Miles

Ohhh....my linkee no workee.

Please, you fixee?

_________________
1970 240Z

What an Event! I had so much fun with you guys, and I want to thank everyone for making me feel right at home in CT.! Outstanding job of organization and great fun. I'll be looking forward to Bob Sharp day on the 26th! Oh by the way my link isn't working either, and I'd love to see the pics!! Thanks again guys!

_________________
BSR510Trib

(This post was written last night after the meeting. I had trouble attaching my photos and just went to bed. That explains the references to "tonight" )

What a great, fun, memorable night this was!! Thanks to PreZident Jim, PreZident (and -Z-Queen)-Emeritus Ross and Brenda, Bob Sharp, Dave Levinson and all 25+ others who joined together and helped make this a great time.

Dave Levinson drove his outstanding #33 tribute 510 street/race car up from Philly to join us tonight. His buddy Mario followed him up in his own daily driver 510 (with several useful modifications). Bob Sharp arrived and mingled with everyone, but mysteriously (sort of predictably) ended up drawn and glued to Dave's #33 car. Can't blame him. The car just inspired memories and stories from 40 years ago. When Dave was a little kid, his dad documented Bob's racing exploits on 8mm film. Today Dave has converted those reels and many color slides onto DVDs and they are in high demand. They had lots of stories to share and laugh about, and it was high adventure to listen to them.

We got members tonight whom we haven't seen in a long time, and it was great to Zee them again. Jimmy brought ice-cream for everyone, which was a big hit with the 'junior members' (and me). We also had a half-doZen new faces arrive tonight, which is always fun; it's good to meet new Z people because they always have new stories about their cars. We learn something new from every new member we meet.

When the ice-cream was gone and the clouds began looking serious, we all hustled inside and filled up the paddock to eat piZZa and chat. One of the very good things which happened was that a few new members arrived with specific questions and quests about hard to find parts for their Z projects. Happily, they met other members who just happened to have exactly what they were looking for. Deals were made, promises exchanged and hands were shaken. Paul got to explain to Paco how to replace a 4spd gearbox with a 5 spd and another member asked how he could sell his like-new 370 parts which he upgraded with new NISMO replacements. Watch for his For Sale advert in our MARKETPLACE forum soon. Maybe the coolest thing I saw was a new member bringing in his ex-Black Pearl from New York, claiming he needed to repair his frame rails. Lo! and Behold! Another member just happened to have a set in his trunk which he no longer needed. They both went home happy and we all shook our heads and laughed. What a great Club.

Looking around the paddock during the pre-race driver's meeting, I noticed a lot of people wearing flat-soled lightweight professional driving shoes. These guys didn't come for the piZZa; they were here to beat the competition into small pieces. There were a few drivers who said they had never Karted before, but to watch them drive it was hard to believe.

When we were each full of 6 extra pounds of piZZa and had watched the pre-race prep instructions, they took us onto the track. The first sortie of 13 cars included last year's champion, Colin Gentle Jr. Fittingly, they placed his kart on the Pole position. His competition was fierce; almost the entire first sortie were hotshots who really knew how to fling a kart around. The first heat set a heart-pounding pace. There were several spin-outs and nerfs, and at least one non-flagged 'pit maneuver' in the turns. More than one aggressive Karter aimed too tight into the apex and nicked the nose on the barrier at speed, spinning their Kart. No injuries, just pride and lap time suffered.

Colin looked like a fast rabbit being chased by determined hounds. He continued to open a wider lead with almost each lap and, in doing so, turned in the fastest lap time for the first heat. That was the precise requirement for this year's trophy, and Colin proudly earned it again this year!

The second heat had more competitors than the first. 14 Karts lined up to do battle. In the final minute before they pushed off to start driving, Colin was seen frantically backtracking everyplace he had been, searching for his lost Time Ticket from the previous heat. He was devastated ~ without his "golden ticket", he felt he had no proof that he had turned in the fastest lap in the first heat. Frustrated, he did the only thing he could think of to do ~ he ran and jumped into the final Kart in line to run the second heat too.

From dead-last, Colin fought his way thru all 14 other positions to a podium finish once again. That proved his earlier victory was not a matter of a faster Kart or the Pole position ~ it was his superior driving skill which carried his day. Bob Sharp kept a keen eye on Colin, Justin, Marvin and Porkbun, who showed exceptional control and smooth skill all night. They had to, to keep ahead of determined drivers like Paul, who turned on his Mack Attack from the Back of the Pack and cut his way thru traffic at almost every corner. He would have run completely over them if they had slowed down.

We selected one of the drivers' pretty young girlfriends to be our Race Queen and she presented a very sweaty, very exhausted, very happy Colin Jr with this year's trophy. Well done, Junior.

While most Karts were turning in lap times of around a minute, about 10% of the drivers were managing 50-second times. Only a handful did better than that. Colin's 47.1 second lap equated to an AVERAGE speed of more than 23mph, which required many dashes well above 40mph to maintain. There were far more turns on this 1660ft course than there were straightaways. If you want to compute your own average speed you can use this handy calculator:

http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/b ... _calc.html

and enter 1660 feet (or 534 yds) for the track length.

Thanks again to the CTZCC Officers who pulled this together and showed us such a grand time! I counted 33 members in my photos (how appropriate!) and I know I missed a few people. Good turnout.

I took loads of pictures, but I'm having trouble posting them on here; they're all coming out as large as roadmaps and they're being rejected by the website as being too big.

Frank T

_________________
1970 240Z

Oh man it sounds like I missed a doozy but with the storms I saw on Radar it was just too far to travel . . . . .

_________________
W.Karl Walton
Somers CT



75' - 280Z - HLS30203249 - #304 Gold Metallic (stockish)
96' - 300zx TT - JN1CZ24d3TX960293 - Black on Black (enhanced)