Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Ferrari Digest, Vol 173, Issue 18

[Douglas Anderson (dnt]

Erik notes “The biggest lesson I learned in racing a “spec” series was “if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying”

 

 Cheating?  CHEATING in auto racing?  Son, that’s called “tuning.”

 

I recall a NASCAR driver – Fireball Roberts (not named “Fireball” because he was a ‘fireball” driver but because he had been a baseball pitcher and had a wicked fast ball) any way Smokey Yunick set up his engine oil blow by catch tank, that when it filled up close to the top, and in the high banking tracks, it would spill oil onto the hot headers. 

 

This would occur most naturally towards the end of the race.  Other drivers seeing Fireball smoking KNEW he was going to blow up and they knew one of two things (maybe a lot more) would happen: 1) when he blows the tracks gonna get oiled; and, 2) after which I’ll inherit his position (mostly #1) so just be patient.  Ol Fireball would then smoke smoke smoke right to the checkered flag.  Heh heh.

 

Other “tuning” tricks was to build all sorts of huge, uh, spare, engines with one random correct cylinder size in each engine.  At the time, the method to check c.i. volume was a gizmo that looked like a compression checker.  Somehow it computed the volume of the cylinder and the techs would multiply by whatever number of cylinders and come up with the total c.i. displacement.  So some spy would find out what cyl techs are checking.  And when the team knew which cylinder was going to be checked - lo and behold THAT engine from all their “spares” was the one in the car at tech time.  My my.

 

At RIR 1967 NASCAR Motor Trend 500.  In those days the bumpers were the stock show room steel.  The novice drivers had to have their bumpers painted yellow until such time as thems that were in charge let them take the yellow paint off –

 

Overheard in the pits - small discussion with the teams but it ended with a big brutish tech guy waving his right hand at the novice drivers and said . . . see this ring?  (A good sized ring with a nice big circular thing nicely burnished into it.) . . . THIS is a magnet.  When I come up to your car this ring better jump at your bumper and the rest of your car too.  Nice way of putting it.  But I’m sure by then the big teams figured out that a 1 mm thick 3 pound ferrous bumper would make that ring jump as well as the Penske acid dipped roofs.  Rumor has it Penske hired one crew person just to keep birds from landing on the car and denting it.

 

At the Monterey Historics a few years back, or was it 10?  I visited the Edelbrock Automotive Aftermarket Performance Parts pit.  Cool collection of old time winners . . . to include Smokey Yunicks #13 Black and Gold Camaro.  I asked one of the Edelbrock’s – is this THE warmed over Smoky Camaro?  Yep.  Um, how many things were, uh, warmed over?  We lost count at 32.  My my.  Not sure if he said this had one of the flat crank engines or not.

 

Flat cranks?  Ferrari V-8’s rock.

 

Fun times had by all.

Doug