Dave H
Well-Known Member
Trying to not overload with non-fishing related stuff but still have a few from my racing days period.
Here's one.
So, after getting a car from the O’Dells, we started modifying it to fit our rules at Oyster River. This included changing the carb and intake manifold from what Victoria and Nanaimo ran to our more liberal rules, which allowed any two barrel carb you could make work as legal.
I arranged with Digger that I would buy a Holley R-4412 from a place in Victoria and he would pick it up and make an adapter from the carb to the intake manifold for me. He made one up and sent it along with the carb bolted on so all we had to do was bolt the adapter to the intake manifold.
We did, and it worked pretty good for a few weeks.
Now, in the interest of having a few different events at the track, we were encouraged to get a female driver for a Powder-puff race to be held in the near future. To that end I had the track announcer declare we were looking for a female driver and to see me after the races that night.
Germane to this story is the fact that the car started acting up that very night and wouldn't run more than nine or 10 laps before starting to sputter, lose power and generally not go. We suspected something in the fuel delivery system so had a good look on Sunday before I went back to Gold River until Thursday night testing at the track.
But back to Saturday night after the races when a young gal named Agnes Hildebrand appeared at our pit and expressed an interest in driving the car. She was late teens and seemed like a good prospect, being a country gal from Black Creek and all. She also had a good dose of self-confidence which was encouraging to see.
I explained a few things to her and we arranged to meet Thursday night so she could try driving the car and get a feel for it.
From Monday until Wed. the crew in Campbell River checked the car over very closely, trying to figure out the problem. Checked the tank, the fuel lines, the fuel pump and the filters. Everything seemed ok and that's the way we arrived at the track Thursday where Agnes waited for us.
Towing the car to the track and talking about the problem revealed that Ray had adjusted the float level too, thinking that might help.
So, we got Agnes belted in and I explained what little I knew about driving. I told her to take several laps around to get used to the steering and then give her snoose.
Everything looked good so after four warm-up laps I gave her the sign and she opened up coming down the front straightaway, near where I was standing. She went through number one pretty good, then into two nicely and powered out of three really well as she approached my position. As she sailed past, setting up for one again, I was horrified to see a substantial flow of gas vapor from the carb streaming right into the car and on to Agnes.
I turned and sprinted across the infield to wave her off but she was through one before I could get across plus was concentrating on driving and not looking my way, so I turned and sprinted back and was able to signal her to stop and cut the engine as she exited three.
Upon arriving at the car I noted she was damp with gasoline and I was very concerned about that so we got her out and she wiped as much off as she could under the circumstances.
I asked her why she hadn't pulled into the pits when the gas first started to spray her and she said: "I thought that was normal and didn't want to seem wimpy."
We quickly sent her home with instructions to shower immediately and apologized profusely for what had happened.
Ray’s adjustment to the float level was the culprit, so we adjusted that back and I jumped in to test the car.
Unfortunately, our problem was still there, and we simply were baffled by what was causing it.
We never followed up with having a female driver afterwards, so never saw Agnes again.
I have often wondered what happened to her though, and how she remembers the time she got soaked with gas at the racetrack, back in '71.
She seemed like she would have been a good driver too.
Take care.
Here's one.
So, after getting a car from the O’Dells, we started modifying it to fit our rules at Oyster River. This included changing the carb and intake manifold from what Victoria and Nanaimo ran to our more liberal rules, which allowed any two barrel carb you could make work as legal.
I arranged with Digger that I would buy a Holley R-4412 from a place in Victoria and he would pick it up and make an adapter from the carb to the intake manifold for me. He made one up and sent it along with the carb bolted on so all we had to do was bolt the adapter to the intake manifold.
We did, and it worked pretty good for a few weeks.
Now, in the interest of having a few different events at the track, we were encouraged to get a female driver for a Powder-puff race to be held in the near future. To that end I had the track announcer declare we were looking for a female driver and to see me after the races that night.
Germane to this story is the fact that the car started acting up that very night and wouldn't run more than nine or 10 laps before starting to sputter, lose power and generally not go. We suspected something in the fuel delivery system so had a good look on Sunday before I went back to Gold River until Thursday night testing at the track.
But back to Saturday night after the races when a young gal named Agnes Hildebrand appeared at our pit and expressed an interest in driving the car. She was late teens and seemed like a good prospect, being a country gal from Black Creek and all. She also had a good dose of self-confidence which was encouraging to see.
I explained a few things to her and we arranged to meet Thursday night so she could try driving the car and get a feel for it.
From Monday until Wed. the crew in Campbell River checked the car over very closely, trying to figure out the problem. Checked the tank, the fuel lines, the fuel pump and the filters. Everything seemed ok and that's the way we arrived at the track Thursday where Agnes waited for us.
Towing the car to the track and talking about the problem revealed that Ray had adjusted the float level too, thinking that might help.
So, we got Agnes belted in and I explained what little I knew about driving. I told her to take several laps around to get used to the steering and then give her snoose.
Everything looked good so after four warm-up laps I gave her the sign and she opened up coming down the front straightaway, near where I was standing. She went through number one pretty good, then into two nicely and powered out of three really well as she approached my position. As she sailed past, setting up for one again, I was horrified to see a substantial flow of gas vapor from the carb streaming right into the car and on to Agnes.
I turned and sprinted across the infield to wave her off but she was through one before I could get across plus was concentrating on driving and not looking my way, so I turned and sprinted back and was able to signal her to stop and cut the engine as she exited three.
Upon arriving at the car I noted she was damp with gasoline and I was very concerned about that so we got her out and she wiped as much off as she could under the circumstances.
I asked her why she hadn't pulled into the pits when the gas first started to spray her and she said: "I thought that was normal and didn't want to seem wimpy."
We quickly sent her home with instructions to shower immediately and apologized profusely for what had happened.
Ray’s adjustment to the float level was the culprit, so we adjusted that back and I jumped in to test the car.
Unfortunately, our problem was still there, and we simply were baffled by what was causing it.
We never followed up with having a female driver afterwards, so never saw Agnes again.
I have often wondered what happened to her though, and how she remembers the time she got soaked with gas at the racetrack, back in '71.
She seemed like she would have been a good driver too.
Take care.
