Sad Day for Road Racing in the U.S.A.

After reading about this sad day:

I didn't know Jim Vaill. Never met him. Maybe never even saw him. He certainly didn't know me. However, through the years of the 70's and 80's, he and I connected at the deepest of levels. And even then I never even knew it. During that time I never gave him a thought. I never wondered what it would take to create the thing that he created. I just enjoyed it. Over and over again, I just enjoyed it.

I don't know how many laps I put in at Lime Rock Park. Maybe a thousand. Maybe more, maybe less. I think it would be reasonable to say that the last lap I did there was just as thrilling and as challenging as, well, maybe not the first, but certainly among the first.

I absolutely remember the first lap I took at Lime Rock. Vision and breathing were the biggest problems for me then. I had been crewing for a friend's Formula "B" (a March 722) during the 1973 and 1974 seasons, so I was very familiar with the entire Lime Rock scene. Except, that is, for what it would be like to actually drive around it. I got that chance on an open practice day (they were on Tuesdays then), and I couldn't believe the rush I got. So O.K., I'm kinda lucky that my first ride around Lime Rock was in a Formula "B", and a pretty good one at that. But it certainly does not take away anything from the absolute grandeur of driving Lime Rock Park. After pulling out of pit lane, I can't actually remember when I took my first breath. The driving itself wasn't all that hard, but it turned out that I didn't know where the road went. Even after being there watching hundreds of races. It all looks oh so easy when you're just the spectator. After a couple of laps, I had to pit because I realised I didn't have my glasses. I remember that my eyes were wide and my mouth was dry. I needed more. Back out, this time with my glasses. I didn't really figure out where the road went for maybe two more years. Maybe I never figured out where it went. After all I only have a thousand or so laps there. But those first few laps, maybe ten or so, were enough to humble me. The track is challenging to say the least.

However, it continues to beckon even after all these years. That uphill can't be that tough. Maybe there's just one more line going up the hill that nobody's found yet, even after the millions of laps that have been done. The downhill is a great turn to shake off the rookies. Nobody can believe the downhill is a flatout turn the first time they're there. It can't be possible. The sole left hand turn has always been a problem for me. It's a really important turn even though it's the slowest one, because it leads you into a really long, long straight. I was never able to get comfortable with it. Even after a thousand laps. The "No Name Straight" doesn't look straight, but it really is. "Big Bend" is really two turns. It's a really great track to drive because you can never really learn completely where the road goes. They call tracks like this "Driver's Tracks". And for good reason. It can't really be completely solved. A driver can only work it as best he can on that given day.

The first time I heard of Jim Vaill was while watching a PBS special on Lime Rock Park. The last place you'd think of to see a special about road racing would be PBS. It's an amazing special. Sam Posey talks about the mystique. Lime Rock Park is just Lime Rock Park. In this special, seeing Lime Rock after quite a few years of not racing, was like a wakeup call that I didn't know I'd been waiting for. I'd always considered racing at Lime Rock to be something that would set me apart from mere mortals. It turns out that the track itself is what sets things apart. The aura of Lime Rock is very, very big. Jim Vaill died, at age 83, on April 20, 2004. What Jim Vaill set out to do in 1957, and what he actually did are, I think, two very separate things. He was just looking to make a place where he and his friends could have some fun. What he ended up with was a place that sorted out drivers from DRIVERS. I thank him for that. He did good.

---

just a thought. bill brower, 01-May-2004

 Back to Index  Back to Home Page