[DeTomaso] Sandhills Open Road Classic

[Tom Di Iulio]

Hi all,
I wanted to offer this recap as so many of you have been instrumental in
me making it to the event with a running car. One very nice feature of
the race is that it is only 300 miles from Denver, which makes it
extremely convenient as opposed to the Nevada and Texas gigs. The host
town is Arnold which boasts about 500 residents. This is definitely
small town America at it's best. This race is arguably the largest event
the town has and all the townspeople are involved in one way or another.

Mad Dawg and I were contacted last September by a host family who
offered their terrific RV for us to stay in. it had all amenities and
utilities. I kinda suspect a big reason Mad Dawg didn't make the gig was
because I kept telling him how much I enjoyed "Brokeback Mountain" and I
wish they'd make a movie like that about open road racers ("I can't quit
you Mad Dawg!"). 
Anyways..the course is VERY technical (lots of curves, elevations
changes, and blind crests) and provided a good challenge even in my
speed class of 100mph. you also have a lot of wildlife and bugs to watch
for. Mike borders of MKM set a new course record of 133 yesterday which
gives you an idea of how tight the course is. most other events will
average MUCH higher speeds. 
Although the course is not closed for practice a day or so ahead, I had
some spirited runs that provided some pucker factor and got me ready for
the big day. race day was great weather and we started close to the
advertised time but alas, we had an "incident" early on with a viper
burning up (literally) on track so we were delayed a bit. I finally got
to the starting line and was off. I hit my first checkpoint pretty much
dead on but then quickly ran up on the car that had left 30 seconds
ahead of me. Ultimately 3 cars jammed up behind a slower car (same speed
class just spooked by the curves, not enough practice) and we had
trouble passing due to the complexity of the course. I finished the
first leg 8 seconds behind which is okay as I knew I could make that up
on the way home..WRONG! on the return trip the race was stopped while I
was on track due to another wreck (there were 4 I believe) and my final
leg was not timed so I was stuck with the 1 segment time recorded
earlier. 
Well, I didn't win any trophies but the town and racers were very
appreciative of the car and I'm proud to say the Pantera left no parts
or fluids on the track. I slept heavily this afternoon after returning
and now just now starting to feel normal again. I thank each of you
again for your help and encouragement during the engine rebuild ordeal.
I am proud to have removed, dis-assembled, re-assembled (twice), and
re-installed the unit into the car. To have the car run fine at
sustained speeds over 120 made me feel pretty good although I will say I
was super-sensitive to every noise or sound from the car. 
Well it's back to the real world tomorrow but you can be sure I'll be in
Nebraska this time next year again. I hope there will be other panteras
to join me, I promise you won't be disappointed. 
Tom Di Iulio
Denver, CO