Milwaukee Midget

[Milwaukee Midget]

He stole that movie.

[manta22]

Yes, he did! I've noticed that in many Clint Eastwood movies he lets his supporting players to do outstanding parts rather than Clint's dominating the whole movie.

[Stainless1]

Hey Chris, no one looks at all that stuff during a run anyway.... they are useful for data afterwards and during dyno work.  Hopefully you have it turn the screen red if something is out of kilter to tell you to quit. 
During the run you are too task saturated to absorb all that info... but you can't have too much data for analysis.

[fordboy628]

Hey Chris, no one looks at all that stuff during a run anyway.... they are useful for data afterwards and during dyno work.  Hopefully you have it turn the screen red if something is out of kilter to tell you to quit. 
During the run you are too task saturated to absorb all that info... but you can't have too much data for analysis.

x2

It's the driver's job to: "Drive the car" and protect their butt during the run.   Waay to intense for anything else, EXCEPT, obvious full red shutdown situations.  Going fast, regardless of actual speed, is always "edgy", and requires the driver's complete attention.

And Bob, I agree, analysis comes afterward.   And you need every bit of data you can get, and preserve.

Just my 2 cents

[jacksoni]

On one my runs at SW 2020, with some weight in  the wrong place, I forgot to turn on the coolant pump. At 180 or so I glanced at the temp gauge. Holy S..t I said. Next I knew was "finish line, start line, finish line, start line" out the windshield. Only time have ever done that.

I agree with Fordboy.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Jack said:  "... Next I knew was "finish line, start line, finish line, start line" out the windshield..."

What a wonderful way to describe the ever-changing panorama.

[jacksoni]

I must admit to some plagiarism here. I think some roadster driver ( or a lot of them) said it first. Sorry guys

[Stan Back]

I called it Sign Inspection on my first (and only) Posi-Traction Trip.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Having never driven a race car down the salt I've only heard, not experienced.  The phrase I've heard most often is "Suddenly there's the freeway, then there's the mountains, the freeway again, the mountains again..." and so on.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Attended the 50+1 anniversary event for the Blue Flame this weekend in Menomonee Falls - and caught up with Stainless and his lovely wife, Linda.

If they look grumpy, it's because their lunch was getting cold when I asked for their photo. Next time they're up, I'll clear my schedule of gigs and family and get them a proper tour.

20211024_123223 by Chris Conrad, on Flickr

I stopped out by Pete Farnsworth's a few weeks back to deliver my check for the luncheon, and he gave me a tour of the farmstead/shop where he lives. I didn't have my camera with me, but he gave me a personal tour of a lot of the artifacts he still maintains from the Blue Flame effort.
 
It was fascinating, really. Pete was a little winding in his remarks - hey, he built it, he organized the get-together, and he's entitled - but I think what was really inspiring is how he, Keller and Dauseman wound up putting together an ad hoc team of young professionals and enthusiasts who threw themselves into this project and made it happen.

I compare that to the Bloodhound SSC project, which at the current pace of advancement may never turn a wheel again, and it's mind boggling. It's probable that the next series of tests the Bloodhound needs to complete - provided a new owner is found - will be in the multiples of millions of dollars.

AGA and IGT agreed to sponsorchip of the Blue Flame to $147,000.

Pete brought out the X-1, which he let me get up close and personal too a few weeks back. It was my hope he'd pull it out of the trailer, but no luck. It's in the process of restoration at the moment, and it turns out that Dave Bartelt, who modified the engine crossmember and turned the valve spring cups for the Midget, also rebuilt the brake system on the X-1.

Man, this sport is small.

20211024_103053 by Chris Conrad, on Flickr

For those of you with good eyes and remember Can Am when it was referred to as "Group 7", yes, those bearing housing/knuckles on the X-1 are off of a McKee Mk series. Tough parts to find on eBay . . .

20211024_103013 by Chris Conrad, on Flickr

[Stainless1]

Chris... I can see my dimple, so I know I'm smiling... Linda was thrilled to be at a car event with a 150 people she didn't know   
I think she might have been happier drinking Bloody Marys with Kate and your Sis.... 
It was a good program... Those old guys were very interesting when they talked about the stuff they did when they were young and didn't know better

[Peter Jack]

The meal looks great but the real question is is there anything really interesting in those brown bottles?

Just as an aside. We ran a McKee transaxle in a group 7 car for a while.

It's great to see the X-1 maintained in such nice shape. Too much automotive history has been dumped on the scrap pile!

Pete

[Milwaukee Midget]

The meal looks great but the real question is is there anything really interesting in those brown bottles?

Stainless was hoping for something on the dark side, but the venue didn't have a porter or even an Octoberfest available. But they did have a couple of pretty decent Wisco-centric offerings.

Mine was Riverwest Stein, made by Lakefront Brewery, one of the older microbreweries here in Beerhaven. Imagine something slotted in between Lowenbrau Dark and Lowenbrau Lager - very Teutonic but drinkable to most light beer drinkers.

Part of the schtick on their tours is they replicate the scene in the opening credits of "Laverne and Shirley", which was shot in the old Schlitz Brewery in the 1970's. Lakefront purchased the conveyor system from Schlitz when they went belly-up, and now at the end of the Lakefront tour, they throw rubber gloves on bottles and play the Laverne and Shirley theme song for the guests. They've gone regional in their distribution, and you can get it in Chicago and, I think, the Twin Cities.

The irony of Lakefront is that it's not on the lakefront - it's on the river bank.

Robert's got a "Spotted Cow", another Wisconsin brewed specialty out of New Glarus Brewery. It's a light ale - a little clouded with a bit of a home-made taste to it. They REFUSE to distribute outside of Wisconsin, but in my opinion, their best beer is a seasonal item called "Fat Squirrel" - It tastes like a camp fire.

Too much automotive history has been dumped on the scrap pile!

And one of the guests sitting at our table was Christian Overland, a director at the Wisconsin Historical Society, and he's working on a historical retrospective of Road America.

I almost fell out of my chair, but I kept my wits about me long enough to collect his card before we left.

It's nice to see a concerted effort on an impirical basis to gather up and properly present racing history. There will always be geeks and enthusiasts that will know every detail down to the manufacturer of the cotter pin - we'll never be completely satisfied - but it's gratifying to know that at least the big things are not getting lost.

[PorkPie]

Pete,

the X-1 wasn't in a so nice shape when Pete starts with some friends the restoration of the rocket dragster....

this guys done a fantastic job on that racer....

some minor things to do and the X-1 can move in the special place in the museum which is currently still in build....

the Blue Flame is well protected here in Sinsheim....

[Milwaukee Midget]

the Blue Flame is well protected here in Sinsheim....

Under Pork Pie's watchful eyes, I have no doubt.