Mt. Ascutney II Summary (2005)

Sports Car Club of New Hampshire (SCCNH)
Website: www.SCCNH.org

Ascutney II, September 17-18, 2005, as presented by SCCNH and chaired by Jeff Barrette.

Please send me corrections etc. for any errors or omissions in the following. It is as usual being typed from memory, which can be wrong, and I may not have been told about everything either.

On Sunday, at the drivers meeting and Friday tech spot, Michael Wilson, Dave Valliere, George Young and one or two others were standing around Dave's car. One of the Hayes brothers pulls up in their VW. Dave says, "Your car is pretty loud". The Hayes brother says "This is an unmuffled event, Sir." A brief pause and everybody laughs. George says, "The Sir was a nice touch" and everybody laughs again. So Dave says "I was just afraid the muffler was going to fall off". The Hayes brother replies "I've had mufflers fall off before". More laughter. This all after one of the Hayes brothers slid around after finish, causing the two Valliere brothers to be red-flagged, and Dave, one of our masters of rudeness-as-humor, made some remarks at the top. (Not everyone is fully clued-in to the rudeness-as-humor; this is an attempt to tell everyone.)

This was the 50th year of Mt Ascutney hillclimbs, and my 25th year attending. I have missed only 2 -- fall 1981 and spring 1984 -- since my first. Although I entered in fall 1988, and was there for part of the weekend, I did not drive up the hill. This is not as good a record as Dave Valliere who apparently has been at every one for the past 27 years, or Smokey who first did one in 1968 (maybe that was Okemo - Smokey please tell us) or Bob D'Amore who was there in 1972, or Jon Coffin ("acid-dipped" bug) who was there around then, or Drew Young (who told me about the "acid-dipped" bug) or George Young. But longer than I ever contemplated, so a bit of history is in order. (If you want to skip the history, go down about half-way. Search for "September 2005!")

Side story about the "acid-dipped" bug. I met Jon Coffin around 1988 at Burke when he asked "What is the penalty for all 4 wheels off?" "Nothing if you still have a car. Where did you do that?" "Outside of 17" (Checkpoint 4) "I did not know there was room for a car on the outside of 17". I believe he is driving the same car still. Jon later talked about being at hillclimbs before in a VW bug. Drew later talked about Jon and the bug, which was very fast and "acid-dipped" - a process where you strip the car and dip the shell in acid to lighten it. Jon told me that the car, while set up with a lot of nice and expensive parts, was by no means acid dipped.*

My first Ascutney, and my first hillclimb, was spring 1981 in my 1958 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint 1750. My friend Marcus Barrow said, according to Al Salerno, that Ascutney was the premier driving event of the season, and we should go. So we went. Little did we know that Al was not talking about the driving, but the Saturday night drinking parties.

Dave Valliere was there driving a VW bug. Jim Hale had bought a Surtees TS8 F5000 car and this was its first event. From Corvettes of Mass were Marcus Barrow, who had a Ford Fiesta with a 110 hp Ken Duclos motor, Dick Harding in an RX3, and me in the aforementioned Alfa. I have no memory of what Doug Valliere was driving. Charlie Dykes and Tom Drake were sharing Charlie's Opel Kadett, because Tom had done a lot of work on it. There was some other newcomer in a Spitfire, and the person who started Yankee Sportscar (which he sold to Dave & Doug which became Northeast Foreign Cars). John Reed had the Flintstone Flyer, Don Jackson had the RX2. Ralph Cota had the Dauphine with the 1600 in it.

Marcus & I arrived late, so we watched from the base and wondered why everyone was slowing so much for the steep banking of turn 1. And why people kept going up and almost instantly returning down with a new bent panel. Our FAM run -- Marcus in the Fiesta, the Spitfire, and me -- came after lunch in the rain, following Dave V. in the VW bug, who dropped me by about corner 3. For our first practice run the Spitfire driver said he would go the same speed, then promptly did a full-throttle launch (looked faster than the FAM run to me). I did a 4:08.

By the end of Sunday I had a 3:37, 2nd in class behind Charlie Dykes, whose car had been rolled by Tom at the beginning of the actual straight that leads to 29. The car was left there, a sobering sight as one approached finish. Jim Hale did I think a 3:06 for a new hill record (previous record from about 1969 in a cobra at 3:07 ??), and later discovered that he had 2 spark plug wires swapped (a bit down on real power?). I believe it was a single-plane crank which uses a non-standard firing order. We had had a break in the action while our ambulance took an injured hiker, unrelated to our event, off the mountain, and I talked to Dave V. and others a bit about the mountain and where the road went.

Almost a year later, in April 1982, I was in the COM Bryar paddock and Charlie Parsons walked up and said, "You have been to a hillclimb before. Are you coming back?" I said, "I would if I knew when they were." Some things never change. If you go through the US Mail list for the year-end awards, and look at all the hillclimb entrants for the year, there are always a few who entered that year who are not on the mailing list.

When I got to Ascutney a week or two later and mentioned it, they said they cleaned up the mailing list and dropped all the names they did not recognize. By that time Doug Valliere had an old Royale Formula Ford with Webers and Dougie-bars (forward bars from the roll hoop to ward off tree branches) and Dave, I believe, had the Fish (not his P1800 which I saw in 1977 at Bryar but the Corvair-powered Piranha formula car). Arlo was sharing Nelson Sheppard's street-driven blue GTV Alfa. Most of the 1982 season John Baldwin in an RX4, Nelson Shepard & I were within a few seconds of each other in U2.

Somewhere in 1982 or 1983, when Jim had the 5000 and Doug the FF, I remember Doug getting out of the FF and being told Jim's time. Doug said, "No way I can get there. I thought I had a chance with the previous time." I think that was 1983 when Jim did a 2:40, and Doug had something like a 2:48.

John Marsha moved from the Cockroach (Mazda rotary powered FWD race car) which he crashed at Okemo 1982 to a 4door RX2 for 1983-1985? In 1983 he led the U2 class most of the year.

Spring Ascutney 1984 I missed because I had crashed the Alfa the previous fall and not resurrected anything yet. The TVR was not ready and I had blown the motor in the Alpine-Renault M63 on its first track outing. Doug V. tried a turbo on his FF and had a bunch of troubles (like crashes) but was lucky enough to be able to get it back to the bottom and back to the shop and fixed and back to the hill without missing runs.

I think fall 1985 Doug in the FF turned a 2:43 with the right (or possibly left) upper rear control arm disconnected from the car at the inner end. (I was at the top; I saw it; he said he saw in his mirrors that it came off going into 29, but kept on going.) At that point it seemed that Doug was dropping 3 seconds every 2 years. I was still driving the Alfa, with a bent-in driver's side from the late 1983 Bryar crash, and had it down to a 3:18 on Yokohama A001Rs. I was running U1 (SP arrived as a class in 1996) because the TVR was "almost ready" and expected to be at a hill "soon".**

1986 rolled around and in January it is obvious that the TVR would again not be ready anytime soon. Having the garage fall on the roof of the car during the hurricane that impeded the travel to the St Adele hillclimb was no help either. My stock option plan statement came in the mail, and it was almost enough to buy a 944 turbo. So I bought a 1986 Corvette. Doug had converted his FF to a sports-racer for SCCA racing. It was a bit slower but now he had a new place to play. I did a 3:10 with the Corvette on my second practice run, on the OEM tires, equaling Jim Hale's previous best in his green Corvette (the car he drove before the Surtees, and the car in which he won King of the Hill in 1980). On the Sunday I followed Doug on the FAM and stayed with him to check 7 (the bridge) where he promptly drove away from me, and I next saw him as I crested onto the top straight (see above) and he was disappearing around 29. We were both stopped at holding before the third car went by (fast FAM runs are not new either, and I am not the only one). I did one run, a second slower, and went to the COM time trial. I wrecked that corvette at the fall Ascutney in practice going into check 2. (The corvette had one vice, which was it would lose and regain grip on the front end quite dramatically over certain pavement conditions, and I was not good enough to recognize the shift in car attitude as a front-end issue rather than a rear-end one. The front end grabbed and I literally steered the car into the rocks on the right just below check 2. I later spun the next corvette 2 or 3 times, with one major crash at Bridgehampton, for the same driver error.)

The replacement gray corvette was fast. Jim Hale, the record-holder at all the hills (except maybe Philo), and Doug Valliere (maybe the Philo record holder) moved on to SCCA. While the Corvette was never a potential record-setter, it was fast enough to take FTDs when Smokey and John Reed, and later Jerry Driscoll, had bad days. Such as the fall Ascutney 1993 where I did a 2:51.8 on my first run for the weekend, and managed to do better Sunday than Smokey or Jerry on the not-yet-reseasoned pavement after a brief but hard shower Saturday afternoon.

You wanted to read about September 2005? A few more details first.

After the demise of the Corvette at Mt. Washington in 1997 (not the same error - this was a combination of attempting to drive around a failing chassis, misreading the bumps in the road, and driver overheating) I bought a 1993 RX7. And when that pissed me off and the company for which I worked (I am an engineer, not a founder, but they treated us well) was sold for half a billion and I got a cut, I bought an M3 (something that would be quiet) and ordered a new 911 turbo. At the time Dan Rutan was rising and Jerry Driscoll was at the top, so there was no idea of winning hillclimbs (my last win had been the fog Okemo of 1995). Just something fast and comfortable and the magazines claimed 450 hp, so it would be faster than a corvette (and I had not been paying any attention so I did not know about the upcoming Corvette Z06). Note again the word comfortable. That is what I want to drive.

But I had crashed everything I had owned and driven much: The Alfa twice, once on the street just after my first ever track day, and once on the track 6 years later; The first Corvette, and the second Corvette 5 times (once lightly at Burke when the ABS did something unexpected, the over-the-guardrail at Bridgehampton in 1988, on the street on 31 Dec. 1988 when I fell asleep, once at NHIS when I tried something new in 1991 in the North Oval, and the demise at Mt. Washington); and the RX-7 at NHIS into a stack of tires at the exit of turn 3 just after the wall. So I formed a new plan. Always plan a line that is on the pavement. No planning on dirt on apex or exit. So far this has worked. But maybe not everyone knew about the new plan, or if it would work. Or maybe I am being too self-centered.

Around 2002 roll cages in all cars became an issue at the annual meeting. For 2005 SCCNH added a breakout rule for uncaged cars, such that anything going faster than a 3:30 at Mt Ascutney would need a cage and not be allowed any more runs.

And finally, what everybody has been waiting for -- September 2005!!

This year (which has been dry in my area of New England for the farmers) we have had one dry hillclimb weekend (and I was not there). First Ascutney rained Sunday. Burke 1 was dry but I went to the snob dance in New York instead. Okemo 1 was damp Saturday. Burke 2 was dry for Saturday and group A Sunday (which for some reason is traditionally smaller than group B; maybe that will change). Okemo 2 was dry for Saturday and started raining about the time the workers went up the hill. Then 2.5 weeks of clear dry weather. But a hillclimb weekend in 2005? Must have some rain to keep up the standards.

Second, know that Ascutney has been set up by mostly the same workers for many years. This year was planned to be no exception, but family medical emergencies and deaths of friends conspired against that, so a new crew of RX-7 drivers Mike Buccella, Dan Shepard (no relation to Nelson) and John Marsha came to the rescue. Jeff Barrette, who has organized the Ascutney hillclimbs for the past several years, was not well Saturday either. These glitches were overcome by the efforts of many, whom I do not know besides the aforementioned.

The road got repaved over the summer, with a cross-section more like a traditional peaked roof-top than a normal crowned road. The center is a real point, which gives a good jump to the car as you cross from one side to the other. The new pavement was advertised; the crown was not. It rained Friday night, and the road was wet for Saturday fam runs and practice. Everybody was thrown around a lot. Sherman Baumann came for the new pavement and hated it (his car is short and has very little suspension travel). I concluded after two runs that the wet on the new pavement was causing some movement of the car due to different traction levels on the two sides, and the crown was just a new set of bumps I had to learn. But there was no good way to test this conclusion with official times due to the aforementioned rule.

At the end of Saturday's four runs, and in fact at the end of each heat Saturday, Don Taylor was fastest, eventually getting to a 3:03. The runs of Bill Rutan were not the first two, which is the one failing with Kevin Gale's timing software package - if someone does not take a run it does not automatically place a DNS in that column (maybe it could know by time-of-day? but maybe that is too much work to ask of one of our key volunteers). Saturday evening Doug Valliere showed up with his Sunbeam Tiger, formerly a GT2 car, and now an SPO car. As described he is one of our better hillclimb drivers.

The schedule listed a sunset tour starting at 7 PM. As mentioned, Jeff Barrette was unwell, and had not mentioned it during the drivers meeting. But at 6:15 or so George Young set off in his Shelby GT350, which he has owned for 34 or 36 years, along with Rick Young and me in our cars. We encountered a pair of cyclists near the top and a good sunset. Sadly the Shelby boiled the brake fluid on the way down, and George stopped it against a rock between the gate and the stop sign, bringing out the first wrecker roll of the weekend. Since he was traveling slowly in first gear, the damage was fortunately minor and the car was driven around the rest of the weekend.

Dave C. Dennis hosted an excellent spaghetti dinner Saturday evening, which he announced at the driver’s meeting. I mentioned this at lunch time when asked about my dinner plans. Someone said they did not think Dave Dennis was serious. The Dennis clan is always serious when they offer food, and make good food too.

During the first run on Sunday it rained for about half an hour. After first runs, Doug was fastest with a 3:09, while I had waved off the only dry run of that group (possibly a 2:53 based on self-timing to check 7, but that is fraught with error). With the weather forecast not even mentioning rain at a spot where it was raining, now the plan was less sure. On the second run, self-timing to check 7 appeared solid, so I charged on to the top, with a 2:55.20 for fastest of the heat, since Doug had a 2:56.7. Not fast enough for FTD, because that was my last run under this SCCNH Ascutney regime, and Doug got another run in drying conditions to a 2:50.78, a personal best in that car (although I believe the previous 2:51 was with the smaller GT2 motor). I has been faster, but would probably not have reached that level in the damp conditions, but it would have been nice to get the chance And Don Taylor? He went a bit faster to a 3:02, but was relegated to 4th by Sherman Baumann who overcame the ridge-running to do a 3:00. My third run happened in Dave Valliere's teal 911, a nice car Dave put together that has been running well with little drama in road races and hillclimbs for the past five or so years. Mike Buccella had asked how fast it would be, and the response was not much faster than a 3:20. It was a 3:19.5 or so. Fun car, very nice steering, not rough riding, a bit narrow on the power band. I might try to lower 3rd and 4th gear a bit, or maybe raise 2nd, but maybe Dave's method of just shifting at exactly the right time is the best shot for some new owner -- yes it is for sale.

Brian and Kevin Dennis fixed the clutch in their Dodge 024 charger Saturday afternoon and evening, with Brian beating Kevin for P3 on Sunday. John Marsha was a distant third, and Victor had the only serious body damage of the weekend (and I believe only the second of the year, the first being Clark Hinchman at Burke 1) when he went off the outside of turn 1. We did have a previous wrecker roll for David C. Dennis who spun after finish, hitting very little but high-centering the car (I assume -- otherwise why roll the wrecker for a car that did not hit anything?), getting a 3:04 for his efforts. As previously mentioned finish also called in for the Hayes VW slide, and Walter Clark survived an off-road excursion at check 4 on Saturday and also a more major off-road excursion on Sunday at turn 1 with little damage. Chris Weaver blew the motor of the Alfa Romeo Milano (fairly comprehensively so I understand) and Ralph Cota, after 15 years of trying by Ralph and Arlo, finally managed to over boost a Peugeot into motor failure. Tough cars those Peugeots; they have survived Ralph and Arlo and forests and car-sized rocks etc.

Jimi Heyder had already won S4 for the year with 5 wins, but won again anyway.

Charles Holt won U3, and also had won his class for the year before starting.

Robby Smolinski similarly had won P4 for the year, and won for the day. A side note about P4 -- the comment about Earl Hayes "cheating" at Okemo was not about his cheating in the NEHA classes or rules, it was about whether he should be included in the rear-drive category of people who improved their overall positions on Sunday in the rain at Okemo II, since he has his engine over his drive wheels. If you watched Doug Valliere launch Sunday 2nd run and then watched Dave do his launch, you would understand. (Otherwise ask someone or take my word for it.)

After trophies, again about 6:20 PM, the gate was open, and I got permission from the ranger in the gatehouse for another sunset tour. It was a bit late for walking to either West Peak (the hang glider launch) or the observation tower, but a nice sunset, with another of the rangers watching also from her truck.

Anything else about Ascutney 2005 needs to come from someone who had less thinking to do about when to drive fast.

The following are the standings for year-end as best as I can tell. My plan would be to do the trophies not counting Ascutneys, and then if anybody needs to count best 5 of 7 including Ascutneys to qualify they would be placed in class after all the preceding people. Note that officials have officiously declared the need for officiating this, so the method is provisional at this time; if my method is not chosen someone will need to do the work.

For King of the Hill 2005, Michael Wilson has an almost identical time advantage for either method of computing over Maros Zelina - about 1.7 Philo seconds at a 1:10 Philo pace. This because the Ascutney II score is almost identical to the worst score of Maros. If Ascutneys are excluded, Maros has an event advantage, meaning he would win if someone else comes along and wins by more than about 3 seconds. If just the regulars appear, there still is a potential 4-way battle for Philo FTD amongst Sherman Baumann, Arlo Cota, Maros Zelina and Michael Wilson. John Reed and Smokey and David C Dennis and Don Taylor may have an outside chance, but not as good a one as the first 4.

In P1, Sherman has to win by more than about 9 seconds over Don Silloway, and 3 over John Reed if Ascutneys do not count. John needs to be more than 6 over Don Silloway. If Ascutneys do count things are similar I think, but I do not have a good model.

In P2, Shea McLure is leading Steve Turgeon if Ascutneys are not included, and is out if Ascutneys are included. But both need a Philo result, otherwise Greg Haley wins.

In P3 it is between Kevin and Brian Dennis, with Kevin having the advantage by about .6 second at Philo if Ascutneys do not count, a bit more if they do.

In S1 Don Taylor has it unless he does very badly at Philo and Ascutneys do not count, in which case it is Bill Hudson.

In S2 - only Ralph Cota can qualify by appearing at Philo if Ascutneys do not count. If Ascutneys do count, then Arlo and Ralph can both qualify by appearing at Philo, and Arlo would win if both appear.

In S3 I do not think there will be any winners for the year.

In U1, Michael Wilson has won if Ascutneys are included, otherwise he has to not lose to Arlo by more than about 3 seconds at Philo.

In U2, only Maros can qualify. He has already won if Ascutneys are not included, and will win when he appears at Philo if Ascutneys are included.

Nobody has entered U4 at all. Maybe I should see where the smallest engine Toyota Corolla ends up. Maybe it will be slower than a 3:30 if the tires are stones.

For next year - who knows? Dave V made me promise to be at Ascutney, but maybe taking the arsenic out of Bangladeshi water wells is the thing (if you care, in google type "richard wilson arsenic"). There is other loose talk as well. Or maybe bicycle time trials or touring. But absolutely not towing cars or driving uncomfortable cars on the street or driving a truck -- unless Butch offers a chance at the Blazer. Maybe 25 years is it.

Michael Wilson