Fantastic Plastic

Road Trip: Road America (or, "How I Spent My Summer Vacation - 2003") [June 21, 2003 - near Elkhart Lake, WI]: The June Sprints® makes for a great week of racing at one of the most beautiful tracks in the world, *Road America. In this park-like setting, racers from all over the country compete in a multitude of classes for the mid-season jewel of SCCA Club Racing's "triple crown". To add to the fun, during the lunch break of Saturday & Sunday's race schedule, a "track tour" in your own automobile was offered. I signed up for Saturday; driver's meeting at 11:30am behind the media tower at the start/finish line... After the usual signing-of-the-waivers ceremony and a "hoods up" tech inspection (say What?) of each car, we gathered for the meeting. After a few preliminaries, the official began explaining the use of hand signals (??), "passing zones" (really?) and where the pace car would pull off after the first lap(!). With a smaller-than-usual turnout, they were going to turn us loose!* My "shotgun" rider, John Knosp, took a bunch of pictures while we were out there and I've used a composite set to illustrate the story: "A Lap of Road America"
Steeply up-hill and accelerating all the way, we pass the start/finish line and the VIP/media tower on the east side of the main straight. (Fig. 1)
Figure 1	Figure 2
My bone-stock C5 can boogie pretty well. (Fig. 2) Note the speedometer reading and the angle of the key fob and fuzzy dice! (Click on any of these pictures for a larger view.) Turn 1 (Fig. 3) is a broad and flat 90 degree right hand turn that starts you down hill...
Figure 3	Figure 4
... over the Briggs and Stratton tunnel and the the barely perceptable Turn 2. (Fig. 4) to another broad 90 degree right hander, Turn 3. (Fig.5)
Figure 5	Figure 6
Look Out! It looks like we're gonna broadside a cheese truck (Fig. 6 - This IS Wisconsin!) but you pass safely underneath the Sargento Bridge. This run through the beautiful tall trees passes through "barely-there" Turn 4 as we accelerate downhill all the way.
Figure 7	Figure 8
I pick a VERY early brake point (Fig.7) remembering that this is a street car with 32 kilo-miles on the brakes and a few hundred pounds of middle age kids on board as we brake into Turn 5 (Fig. 8), the slowest on the course. The hillside to the right on the outside of Turn 5 is one of the best places to watch the racing, by the way.
Figure 9	Figure 10
Out of Turn 5 we accelerate sharply up hill to the historic Corvette Bridge (Fig. 9). "CORVETTE" is, inexplicably, mis-spelled "T-O-Y-O-T-A" in the paint on the side. I re-touched the picture to correct the spelling. I don't seem to have any pictures of Turn 6, a blind-entry 90-degree left-hander at the crest of the hill just past the Corvette Bridge, or Turn 7, "Hurry Downs", the open right-hander on the flat. On the first hot lap, I got on the rumble strip (Big time!) exiting Turn 6 so my otherwise-unflappable passenger may have been busy hanging on just in case I did it again. Hurry Downs requires only a slight lift on the throttle before the downhill straight to Turn 8 (Fig. 10). This is a 90-degree hard left next to the go-kart track.
Figure 11	Figure 12
The Snap-On bridge (Fig. 11 & 12) leads to Turns 9 & 10, the Carousel, also known and honored by drivers, crew and course workers everywhere as the final resting place of Brian Redman's Cat. (Fig.13 & 14)
Figure 13	Figure 14
This 180-degree right hand sweeper has an almost constant radius. I had a blast throttle-steering with my shoulder pinned again the door. Add some throttle and drift to the outside; lift just a bit and the tires' bite carries you to the inside. Yee! Haw!
Figure 15	Figure 16
Out of the Carousel, we set sail toward Turn 11, The Kink (Fig. 15). Legend has it that Real Racers don't lift going through The Kink. Well, I'm certainly not a real racer and, apparently, neither are the Corvette Factory drivers. I was watching their in-car telemetry during the broadcast of the ALMS race and they lifted a bit each time. I'm thinking that the reason Real Racers don't lift going through The Kink is because they're down on horsepower or getting a lousy exit out of the Carousel. By the way, the little red Austin Healey Sprite Mk IV(Fig. 16) I blew past in this section on one of the laps is a dead-ringer for my very first car! I owned a '67 Sprite that my Mom & Dad bought for me. The Car That Started It All! Its license plate hangs on the wall of my office to this day.
Figure 17	Figure 18
The Kettle Bottoms run, Turns 11A & 11B (Figs. 17 & 18) are more wiggles than turns. Beautiful tall trees line both sides of the track.
Figure 19	Figure 20
Deep in the trees, Turn 12, Canada Corner (Fig. 19), turns right and up hill. This spot was, unfortunately, decorated with the track tour's only casuality, a Rice Rocket on fire in a huge puddle of its own oil. There are reasons why real cars don't run 50 lbs. of turbo boost... They had the fire truck out and everything. Out of Canada, we accelerate all the way through Turn 13 (Fig. 20) and 13A under the Bill Mitchell Bridge in the distance.
Figure 21	Figure 22
Just past the Mitchell bridge, a quick look right (Fig. 21) sees the paved and baracaded run-off area from Turn 5, the north end of the paddock and the up hill run on the main straight in the distance. Quickly to the left (Fig.22) is the old barn and silo with three of my "fans" hanging on the fence.
Figure 23	Figure 24
Through right hand Turn 14 and we square up to climb the hill on the main straight (Fig. 23). As we crest the hill a checkered flag awaits (Fig.24). A BIG "Thank You!" to my fearless passenger, John Knosp, for all the great pictures! *The June Sprints® is a registered trademark of the Chicago Region, Sports Car Club of America. Thanks, guys! Track Map

Own a C5?
Your help is requested in the C5 RPO Code Project. I am attempting to document ALL the RPO codes on the option sticker (located either under the cover of the left-rear storage compartment or in your glovebox).

Go to My RPO Code Page and compare the codes to your option sticker. If you find any additional codes, please tell me!

Thanks,
Bob Craig, amps @ fuse.net

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Bob Craig, amps @ fuse.net

Copyright © 1998-2007 Robert O. Craig
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Except for owning a very cool car they built, The Author is not affiliated in any way with General Motors.
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Road Trip: Road America

(or, "How I Spent My Summer Vacation - 2003")

"A Lap of Road America"

Track Map