Wheelworks – After Glow

By Blake Tatum

Well the Runoffs are completed, and although my personal performance was nothing to brag about I have to say that Sports car racing on the West Coast is in a general state of afterglow. What is afterglow?  According to Webster’s: a pleasant effect or feeling that lingers after something is done, experienced, or achieved.

I say this because for all the complaining I do about the qualification procedures for the Runoffs I have to say the Runoffs themselves are truly amazing. Where else do you get 700 of the top amateur racecar drivers in the USA all gathered at one track?

Having the Runoffs on the West Coast has done nothing but infuse energy into sports car racing scene. We have people like Huffaker Racing showing up with a stable of MG, Sprites, and Minis.  We have the race shops like ProDrive running multiple cars, and we have people who have not raced much over the last few seasons excited about being at the track again.

A tour of the paddock is a virtual who’s who of sports car racing.  The teams show up with their large transporters, the pit stalls are staffed with mechanics going over every detail of the car, the activity is buzzing from sunup to sundown.  The Runoffs brought the people out of the woodwork.  People I have not seen in several years, people that I have raced against checking up on the current scene.

Read the full article in the November issue.