OK, now we're talking! As we swept through the plains today, running in 90+ heat and sun from Springfield MO, through Miami, OK (where my mother grew up - bonus points if you know why it and that Florida place share that name), to Wichita, Kansas; we showed yesterday was no fluke! We had six timed legs instead of 3 - and we scored 28 seconds - a tie for thrid in Rookies!
We had a great turnout and a beautiful Main Street welcome in Parsons, Kansas; then the first really big turnout for a larger city - in Wichita. IT seems we arrived coincident with the national meet of the T-bird folks! I met two IMLers today. Steve Christy and his Dad drove the 2+ hrs from Kansas City to cheer us on at Parsons (Steve's original hometown!). Thanks, Steve! Then, we met Chris Menges in Wichita. We had excellent placement in the show at both cities and we gave away ALL our postcards of the Imp and signed a load of autographs again.
The car was a rock today. I mentioned that I had some light knock on long hills yesterday. Today, with a degree less advance, we heard a ping or two on only one hill, late in the afternoon, when we were running really hot (Never out of normal range of course). The brakes were fine all day - our new, low-scoring technique is significantly easier on them, too, aas well as moving us up the ranks. There was some attrition today, as the heat took out some other cars and the lone mercedes (190SL) that had dogged us the day before showed that the oil smoke we saw then was NOT benign: they rode in on the truck.
Tomorrow, we start early. It's another high-speed day as we are to make Pueblo, CO - which I'm told is normally a 7 hour run on the Interstate from Wichita. This should be another favor to the big cruisers, compared to the older swelterboards. We'll see. I think it's a top-up day, though - so we don't die of sun and windburn if we really are to blast along.
Still no pix posted of the Imp at GreatRace.com. This is starting to bug me! Oh well, we moved from #70 to #60 overall today. Pretty soon, they'll have to notice. Tomorrow, we do even better! jc
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