This wasn't part of the plan; overnight snow fall in Cedar City,
Utah
It was late afternoon following our ten day mixed business and leisure trip to Long Beach, California. Having left California Monday morning and trekking the
500 miles to Cedar City, Utah, it was now the last dash of 650 miles to Windsor,
Colorado, that we hoped to manage covering in about ten hours. Home, sweet
home! Or at least that was the plan. With spring time in the Rockies you can
never count on favors from Mother Nature and as it so happened she began
showing her indifference to our plans the moment dawn broke on our Cedar City
hotel. Under all that snow? Our Infiniti X35 all-wheel drive cross-over!
The plan was for Margo to drive the first leg; this
would be a 150 mile stint which normally she would cover in about two hours.
However, looking out at the parking lot the cars were all covered in snow.
Winter apparently hadn’t received the memo. Margo did her stint, gave the car
over to me and then took her turn for the third stint that would take us into
Glenwood Springs. And that’s where the fun began. While the show had stopped
falling by the time we drove out of Utah it began looking awfully like we would
be driving into it again as we left Vail for the ascent to Vail Pass before
tackling the Eisenhower Tunnel that would give us passage over and through the
Continental Divide.
It would be risky. On the morning of the outbound
journey we had elected to switch cars only minutes before departure choosing
the Infiniti we believed would prove to be the better alternative to the BMW i8
dual motor. Call it intuition, but then again, maybe it was the thought of
tackling the mountains with summer-only tires on the Bimmer. Good decision it
turned out to be as no sooner had we begun the climb to Vail Pass then all
lanes of traffic came to a halt. No indication as to what was happening and
when vehicles would start moving again, after more than an hour and travelling
perhaps a hundred yards, we chose to break the law in a case we were determined
to call self-preservation.
Idyllic
mountain landscape hid what was about to happen
Between the concrete separation-barriers there were
small openings so first responders could break into the oncoming lanes,
something we had been watching state troopers do as they passed by. When others
started to follow and to turn around, the troopers made them return to their
place in line. Once these troopers left and before another moment passed we
whipped around through the barriers and headed back to Vail where we settled
into a Hilton Doubletree Hotel for the night. Risky? Sure was. Worth it?
Absolutely.
As is often repeated, perhaps the most notable quote
from the movie Risky Business was “No guilt, no doubts, no fear. None of my
specialties!” Not sure which of the characters said this but it always struck
me as something that could be applied to many situations that I have
experienced over the years, none less than being stuck out on a highways
without water, fuel, bathroom and cash. Was that planned? Not this time, so
sitting at the hotel bar eating fast food, we heard from the driver of the
hotel shuttle that blizzard conditions at the summit meant the interstate would
be closed for at least another ten hours.
…not
looking good at all.
“Just leave me alone, I know what I’m doing,” came loud
and clear over the radio from F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen during a race. A quote
that became famous such that tee shirts were quickly manufactured. No such luck
for Margo and me as even though we would like to say we knew exactly what we
doing and that we were clearly breaking the rules of the highway code there
would be no tee shirts appearing any time soon. Fortunate? Yes! Happy to have
made the move? Yes. Recommend others do so? No! Would we do it again in similar
circumstances? Yeah, most likely! Perhaps fortune only favors the brave or
something like that but as all those who follow Indy driver Sato know,
sometimes attack goes awry with no win achieved only a wrecked car pulled
aboard a recovery truck.
“No attack, no chance!” This has been the moto of dual Indy 500 driver, Takumo Sato. Perhaps this more succinctly summed up the moves we made that afternoon. And appropriate too as we had gone to Long Beach in part to attend the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. We had been to this track once before, but on reflection it was way back in 2010 – where did the time go – and you can read more about that in the post of May 13, 2010, Changes aplenty! The weekend of track events including an NTT Indy Car race and a round in the IMSA GT series over the course of a three day weekend. When it comes to Indy then we were there to support our good friends Brian and Jan Kenny as they cheered for grandson Colton Herta. As for the GT series we were extra curious about how well the new Corvette Z06 R car would perform.
Mario Andretti intent on watching a live feed from the track
When last at Long Beach we were only there to see the Corvettes race but the nice thing about that weekend was that we signed on to the Corvette Corral that gave us access to the Corvette hospitality tent and we were able to hear directly from the drivers as they returned to the paddock after each on-track session.
More than a decade later we had an opportunity to sign-on for the Andretti organization’s much superior hospitality facility and for that we have to thank team Herta (Bryan and Janette Herta) and the Grandparents (Brian and Jan Kenny) for giving us the chance to take in all the atmosphere that arises at times like this.
In
the paddock and alongside Colton’s pit location
Colton
had to pull in to swap his rear wing during practice
We did all of that and more and it must be said that
with the extreme temperature on the Friday and amidst the noise of a pack of
Indy cars, Margo managed to smile from time to time. Temperature reached 102 F
on Firday only to fall to 70s F on Friday making data gathered on Friday almost
useless for the rest of the weekend. Talk about risky business, there were
times where I knew Margo would honestly preferred to be someplace else!
From the outset Colton was pleased with the car he had and wasted no time letting everyone know he had come to race. As last year’s winner of this event, expectations were high and for much of the weekend he delivered on that expectation. Throughout the practice sessions he was on top of the leaders’ board laying down quick lap after quick lap.
The
numbers tell the story!
Can’t
complain about the data
However, this is a story about mistakes; about risks and about taking chances. The year hadn’t gone quite to plan for Colton having finished fourth in his first outing on the street course at St Petersburg, Florida. This was also a race that Colton had won last year so there had to more than a little disappointment in the Herta’s camp.
But then, a lot worse
followed; he was shuffled to the back of the field following a pretty ordinary
pit stop during his outing on the Texas superspeedway outside Ft Worth, Texas.
At least with the one point gained for achieving the pole this weekend, he was
holding down seventh place in the drivers’ championship.
Ever
ready for an impromptu selfie
Perhaps it’s not so much about risks or taking
calculated risks as it is chances. Eliminating mistakes is always part of car
racing but if we all knew the results in advance then we wouldn’t need to
actually send the teams out onto the race track. Then again, it is just another
form of entertainment where the goal is to put on a spectacle worthy of the
admission charges levied today. All of this came together on the Sunday
afternoon where the show provided drama, tragedy, exhilaration and frustration.
The race had it all.
Quick off the mark Colton gradually pulled away from the field and after managing one restart after a yellow flag incident, it was time for the first pit stop. It was then that the plans worked out over the course of the weekend fell apart. Another pit miscue and a loss of just three+ seconds saw Colton pull out in third place having been passed by two of the major contenders for the driver’s championship. However, he stuck around and together all three drivers pulled away from the field to where they were starting to pass back markers.
When it came time for the next round of pit stops, the
leader pulled in at which time the message to Colton came clear and loud over
our team headsets. Push! Push! Push! It was like that old movie line as
suddenly I had a bad feeling about this. Remember Kimi and his request to be
left alone as he knew what he was doing? With this in mind we heard Colton
chide his team when they talked about pit strategy over an open mic!
Irrespective of feelings and what was being said, the race ended prematurely
for Colton.
Colton likes his car setup were the rear end of his car
is firmly planted. He likes to drive deep into any turn, brake later than most
and rotate his car such that he is back on the gas before others can follow. In
other words, he works to maximize the time his car is driving straight and
hence carrying more speed. Pushing hard he came in a little too hot, locked up
his brakes (there is no ABS on Indy cars) and clipped the wall. Indeed, attack
often goes awry! All of this happening right in front of our grandstand. Pretty
much right where his car is seen in the photo below snapped only a lap or so
before the accident.
Just
a few laps later; disaster!
The result was that for the first time that I can remember, Colton dropped out of the top ten in this year’s drivers’ championship as he finds himself in eleventh place. There are many more races that will follow in 2022 and opportunities still exist that will help him in his pursuit of a championship. However, what we came away with is the memory of a young racer that is clearly a cut above almost every other competitor.
Breaking lap records is almost a given and as folk lore grows up around Colton
one incident that we heard was about Colton arriving at any track. “What’s the
lap record and when’s lunch,” has a certain truthfulness about it even as it
speaks volumes about the goals Colton has set for himself.
Before leaving Long Beach we had an opportunity to catch up with a dear friend, Mark, from our time spent in Simi Valley who was at the races as well. As work began on packing up the gear and loading the trucks, together with Brian and Jan we joined Mark in a photo opportunity even as we shared memories formed more than a decade ago. Good to see you Mark and hope to see more of you in the future.
All the while, opportunities to renew friendships trackside
The risks we took on the mountain drive home we
measured even if the legality was questionable. Yes, there was a chance we
would be ticketed for the illegal use of the freeway crossover. All the same,
it would have been a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things as our
wellbeing on the mountain was a priority. For Andretti and team Colton, it was
shared disappointment even as it was another Andretti driver who finished
second and scored a much needed podium for Andretti.
As we look to spring and to an end of wintery conditions we have already begun planning other business trips. Looking back at our weekend in Long Beach, at how we managed to squeeze in business with some time for ourselves, it has become blatantly obvious that Americans are welcoming the freedom to travel and for Margo and me, count us in to be back out in many of America’s byways. We may not always want to be left alone, knowing what we are doing but then again, “No attack, no chance” seems more than appropriate for the times we find ourselves in as we take on new roads to new places.
And Jan scored a hug from the big bird himself!
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