Great day at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park yesterday, it was the grand re-opening of the oldest road racing course in the United States. This historic event is being run by VRG and VSCCA.
http://www.thompsonspeedway.com/
Not as spectator friendly as LRP, not that many close up viewing areas or trees for shade. Like Louden they use part of the Nascar track. I did find the perfect spot though, similar to the uphill spot at LRP. Ton of race cars and lots of action, great track, fun fun day!
Below a few photos from the Friday.
Colin
the older one

Good photos, as always! Thanks, Historian.

What is that weird #136 car chasing John Jeffery's Bad Dog Z car?

It's heartwarming to zee a couple of our CTZCC members' cars (#33, #481) racing there this weekend. #51 and #19 might be someone we know, too, and TMurph thought he might sneak his Z in there today, as well.

I'm on my way up there today ~ it's free to all veterans. 100 miles each way, great day for a Z ride.

Frank

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1970 240Z

Thanks Frank.
I put that photo in just for you!
That is a Marcos, you can see it in the paddock today.
Photo of John's Z.

Colin
The older one

(I knew it was a Marcos; wanted to hear your dissertation of it! We discussed those wonderful odd cars in an earlier thread, somewhere......)

Well, this ended up as a wash-out for me today. Try as I might, I was unable to find Thompson Motor Park. I used to think LRP was hard to find ~ whew! This place is buried in the middle of nowhere. (No, wait ~ it's "somewhere", and *I* was in the middle of 'Nowhere'). The good news is, I got to put more than 200 miles on the Z today, searching for the track. I know I got close a couple times; I saw a few race-prepared sportscars flashing past in the opposite direction.

Odd conditions (i.e. "wife & kids") resulted in me having neither a GPS nor a map available to me today. I did the positive-thinking thing; I copied the directions from Google Maps.

Those directions took me about 90 miles up I-91 and over I-84 and dumped me into the CT backwoods. From that point, not many of the roads did what Google said they would. Due to some very minor backroad construction (totally deserted on Saturday), a few road signs were apparently missing. I got within 10 miles of the track at least once. I stopped to ask directions 3 times, once when I got gasoline. Everybody gave me different directions. I did exactly what they said to do each time, but got further lost. So as the sun began to sink, I saw a sign for I-395 South and just took it.

I think I went right past Uncle Phil, Big Al, Keith, Jack, and maybe others on the way home. Of course, they were all probably at the track!
So if anybody else got some good pictures of Thompson ystrdy or today, plZ share them?

The Z ran flawlessly, altho the only gas station I found "out there" in the boonies only sold 87 octane. I worried about pinging but it ran perfectly all day. I found some long-distance stretches of Jersey Barriers I could snuggle up next to and play with the Twice Pipes for miles at a time. That car taunts me to become such a perverted kid .

This will be the final long-distance cruise I will put on my original L24 engine for a long time. It will be pulled next week and replaced by a trick-built L28. The L28 will remain in the car at least until the L24 is rebuilt. This will be the original engine's second rebuild. The first was 0.10 over, with a shave to the E-31 head causing a slight CR increase. The L28 is expected to make perhaps 60 more hp available to my car. Could be fun.

Vinny will do all the work, and the L28 will be in the car in time to drive to Rochester and WGI. Vin will have the rest of the year to redo the original L24, then it should go back into it's original nesting place.

I guess it's not a total loss that I didn't find Thompson park. If I had, I would have parked the Z and tried to hump all over the race course. As it was, I got to spend several prolonged uninterrupted hours blasting thru the CT backwoods and wide-open highways in my Z.

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1970 240Z

I am surprised I didn't see you I was also out that way yesterday afternoon . . . . not trying to find Thompson though just taking a ride in the Quiet Corner . . . .
Did you know your Phone (if its a smart phone) is a great go to GPS ? ? ?
I used mine to find Bryan Little's house to pick up some parts . . . . worked great.

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W.Karl Walton
Somers CT



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

Frank, you were not alone, I got lost coming and going!
You would think they would have some signs at intersections as you got closer to the track. At one point I came up behind a couple of old sports cars, yea! I'll just follow them to the track, well after some nice back roads, hmmm these guys no a short cut?? Well they turned into a driveway and I was were Frank was, somewhere in nowhere! No ESSO stations with free maps in site! Finally figured it out. Three hours for the home trip should have been two.
Colin
the older "no apps" one

Great looking T-Bird

_________________
W.Karl Walton
Somers CT



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

I absolutely want that MB.
Right now.

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1970 240Z