Airbourne Racing Fly-by of Stapleton - (long)

[QSHIPQ@aol.com]

Well, finally got convinced, by several at Steamboat, that maybe I should ck
out the Colorado environment without snow.  Glad I did, here is the Stapleton
Q-Club Event and toy report from the pilots seat.  

Thursday, started the 2250 miles logged in the 6 day marathon.  Brendon
Rudack showed up, just in time to swap a bunch of type 44 seats around for
our trip (and a foreshadowing of events to come), as well as, help me remove
the tweeked RS2 in Carole's Pearl car.  This accompanied us on our expedition
to CO (hey, a big valve head and 2 piece manifold went along too!), just in
case we found some free time (hehehe) for the wagon.  Had some last minute
tweeking of my old PDQ sedan to do, dropped it off in South Bend thursday
nite (Bendan having too much fun at the tollbooths), THEN started westward
ho.  Brendon proved to be a great accompliss, and a good wrench to boot. 

Friday, we arrived afternoonish and did our usual calls around for
entertainment.  My host again was Mr. Mike Spiers, and the now familiar
(cat's) couch of his fair lady, Ann Feiss.  Mike and I managed to drink a few
beers, but the well laid plans of comraderie were stifled by both my hosts
need to work over the weekend (Mike, btw, is now Win '95 Certified - whatever
that means :).  Early bed proved to be a good idea, and rare one of the 5
days on this adventure.

Saturday AM, hooked up at Dave's for the guilded tour to Stapleton.  Those of
you that remember last Steamboat's now infamous "toolbox" incident, wouldn't
believe what I saw  about happen that morning!  Dave, care to share?  Anyhow,
enjoyed following the nicely restored Urq to the track, me following rather
indiscretely with the 5ktqw with new 225/50 16 BBS' behind.  No tickets, tho
several were possible.  Alas, the ever elusive runway... er, track.

As I usually wing this part, then get corrected for my memory, I kept notes
this time to help me out.  
Listers:
Chris Tucker - 80q
Brendan Rudack (no ride)
Ben Howell - 200tq
Dave Lawson - MC Urq
Me - 87 5ktqw
Chad Clark (no Sherri) - 5ktq
Steve Eiche - Urq (no drive)
Bruce and Eban Bell - 4kq (no drive)

Notables
Scotty Davis - 20vt Urq
Dana Thorpe - chipped S6 with Hoosiers!
6 Vipers 4 Roadsters, 2 coupes - Viper Club shared event
355 Ferrari - Red - need I say more
NSX turbo - no real brakes but real fast
John Beckius - Urq and wrenches 
Deb and Bob Polich - Eventmasters - 944TS (1:58 LT)
1 M6 - very fast
"The Beast" - Carl Jerritts wild 5ktqRS2
Thomas Jervis - 91 200qw that was VERY fast
David Leach's 993tt - Wow
A prepped Carrera and a prepped Vette 

Track:  12 turns, 2.64 miles @ 5280ft, coned and burmed runway and taxiway
conversion, Very wide and fast.  2 straights got speeds into the 135+ (I
heard 160+ for somone's tt) range.  A fast time <2:10.  Vipers = 1:50's, NSX
sub 2:00.  Few Audis broke 2 min, average:  2:15's to 2:30's

Sat Morning was the usual qclub classroom stuff, tho the Vipers running (1
spin too) in the background made the teaching a challenge.  Deb and Bob are
great hosts, the event was smooth and very relaxed, the track was pretty much
free by Sun PM for as much "time" as desired.  Weather was perfect Sat, and
only late spotty showers on SUN PM.  

Sat pm, got my chance to run the wagon, tho  previous owner slagmaster
install precluded any record setting time for the new PDQ.  Thanks to Ben,
looks like some plated crossdrilled will find their way onto the G60's (the
BIG brembos go to the Urq, me thinks).  Suffice it to say, I got all the
shake I could from the smokers that were on the car + 2 bleeds (Chad working
turn 1 made some interesting observations).  Really just exploring the lines,
cuz for Sun, I was to make time for "the Beast" to wreak havoc on some of the
q's ascribed pecking order for the weekend.  More to follow...

Saturday nite, Ben (+ his gal Val), Bruce and Eban, Dave L, Mike Spiers, and
I all ended up at a Mexican Restaurant, nerding the q's once again.  Laughs
and only a "couple" beers (32oz) abounded.  Great fun.  Dave took Mike and I
back to Boulder via the "back route" that was nothing short of great twisties
for 45 minutes straight.  Mike and I did our best to keep up (mike gets most
of the credit, since he was driving the fwd 5k of Ann's).  Once back, Dave
just had to get us to come over for more beer and q nerdin', finally
reliquishing his audience when Mike started to put his head on the table at
2:30am.  The Sport q book and some old racing (my brushes in ProRally)
stories finished a great day.

Sunday.  Back to Dave's house for the caravan to Stapleton.  Dave and I
defended the q honour once again, as a couple of boy racer GTI's challenged
the mighty MC's at the entrance to 25 South.  Both the Urq and the wagon
successfully placed the bestickered GTI's well to the rear of our tails.  For
the longest time, they held back even passing us.  Couple of 30 something
dad's, goofballs filled with q pride. :)

Met up with Carl and the "Beast" at the track for Sunday's lapping.  For
those of you not familiar with this car, it is probably the finest execution
of 5ktq tweeks rolling today.  Mods abound, from 3in exhaust, coil over
suspension, Porsche Big Reds with 13in Nascar rotors, massive IC, to RS2
turbo, ABT body and suspension mods, to Ideal C's and sub in the trunk, CNC'd
audi rings well placed in the cabin.  I truly felt to be the annointed one to
be trusted with this toy, and was sure that it would earn the respect at this
event the 200 did in IMSA back in 88.  And it did.

Within 3 laps of driving this car @ 8/10ths (a 5k that stops like an M3?), I
found myself chasing down a prepped 911 that wanted to leave me in arrears,
yet got passed solidly within 2 laps.  With every dash lite warning blinking,
Carls car easily put the Porsche to the rear.  What a ride!  Unfortunately
for me, the coolant decided to vaporize for the second year in a row (yes my
radiator- no, not the problem), so the lapping came to an early end for the
first round.  Managed to get a 2:04 with traffic during the first session,
convinced 1:50's were within easy reach, even with the boost peaking at 1.6
bar.  

Second session, managed to chase down the vette, who made the error of
looking for me in a no passing zone, then flubbing the next line, but pulling
even up on the straights.  Just as Brendan and I reeled him in for the
"pass", we got black flagged for coolant spewing down the left side.   That's
Ok, the vette knew.  Pass we did, passed we weren't.  Gotta like that in a
5ktq given the company we were in.  Anyone who "claims" to have a fast
5k/200tq really has no idea of the potential.  Not even Ned.  The coil over
on this car needed only a little more gas in the tank to be sorted for the
track.  The wick usually sits in the 2.5 bar mode, so 1.6 was less than half
the potential.  Did I say I had fun?  And hardly over.

Since Monday was my "free" day, decided that my big valve head and 2 piece
exhaust office paperweight needed to augment the stealthness of the wagon.
 Mike Spiers managed to get the "fever" and stayed home to help, Ben Howell
has Mondays off, a better team of wrenches unattainable to me in Chicago.  We
started the project (forgot the head bolts -oops) about 12:30pm, waved Ben
off at 2:30am, and Mike at 4:00am, me just getting the front end on the car
by 7:00 Tues AM.   Dave L showed up with some spare pieces parts Monday nite
too, and just couldn't keep his hands off.  Lots of hard work and good
comraderie on this project.  Got pix for someones page, I think the Fat Tire
Ale of Ben's resting in #3 piston is the classic.  Ah, yes, Caroles old
tweeked RS2 unit (really fast 30-70 time) found a new home whilst we were
there.  Tweeked RS2, 2 piece manifold, and big valve heads look really sweet
all bolted together, got pix of that too. 

Ann peered out the door at 5:30am and just must have figgrd that she
inherited a roommate AND a car for a while, but the results of the project
have been smiles all the way home.  Unfortunately for my fellow wrenches and
working stiffs (literally), all had to be at work Tues, so no free rides by
this pilot for the fruits of their labors.  Interesting the comparo to the IA
stage II car that managed to follow me home from CO tho.

Brendan managed to get Mike Spiers (remember the abandonment post? Heretical
Explorer owner!!!) 5ktq running over the weekend, and so bought the car for
the "MC transplant" to Brendan's anemic 90q.  Some interesting swaps of
"precious" parts, then Brendan and I headed fully loaded from Boulder to
Chicago Tues pm- Wed am.  The comparo brought the following observations:
 The wagon could pull from the sedan in third, and was at least even
everywhere else, at HALF the boost level.  I set the boost down to 1.5 max
for the trip back to bed the pieces parts, and found it plenty to even the
stage II boost levels (1.9 indicated) of Brendans ride.   I doubt the stock
exhaust will be on the car long, hoping by choice, but maybe not.  Graydon?
 This thing is restricted big time.  Managed 25.5 MPG overall for the trip,
loaded to the gills, and with an original O2 that I had to clean out the fins
with a dremel to get exhaust to.  Guess the 4.11 in the garage and the late
200 flywheel go in next.  Brendan and I manage to not get arrested, but
certainly "dipped" whenever challenged on the way home.

All in all, the BEST q related fun I have had to date.  Special thanks to
some of my Comrads in Q's on this trip:
*  Brendan - great job man, glad you came without the dobermann, I won't
forget this trip, we had a blast.  You and I know more about type 44 seats
than anyone on this list by now.
*  Dave L. - Thanks for your continued support of my tweeking efforts, your
spare parts were the lifesavers on the "stud" Team section, and your
progressive excitement towards q projects infecteous, the beers, and the GTI
"race" still brings a smile
*  Mike Spiers/Ben Howell Esq, SRS (Stud Removal Specialists).  A couple of
brothers working with me on a project that was just silly and full of
testosterone.  Haven't had that since tweeking big blocks in high school.   
*  Valerie (Ben) and Ann (Mike) and Cindy (Dave) and Carole (me) - A special
thanks for your understanding of the Tim Allen syndrome.  Contageous disease,
my fault this particular "strain", mucho appreciato.  For the storage, the
couch, the garage, and the unleashing of Mike, Ann, you deserve better than
me as a guest.  Promise to come play next time ladies.
*  Carl Jerritts - For trusting me with The Beast (and your new friend
Christine as copilot), a milestone and true highlight of my quattro and
racing experiences.  A q execution of true passion; a fine machine my friend.
 A related thanks for the 300lbs of amplifiers for the ride home (another
story).
*  Steve Eiche - For the "taxi" rides this trip, and the morning "chats" on
the list, always a pleasure.  We could be dangerous if we lived any closer
together.
*  Deb and Bob Polich - For making this whole experience possible.  An couple
of days that should be the envy of every Eventmaster.
*  Coffee and Vivarin - for making this whole trip possible.

Now on to day three with no sleep.  Reality of the real job just hits hard.  

End of Report

Scott Justusson
Airbourne Racing, Inc.
Chicago, IL
QSHIPQ@aol.com