EAGLES NEST HILL CLIMB REPORT


We were loaded by Thursday afternoon and that night as predicted it began to rain. It rained all night and Friday on the trip down it rained all the way to Banner Elk.

The sun came out a little here since we arrived and tomorrow is supposed to be sunny.

After clearing sign in and tech we were dispatched in groups to take our cars up the hill to the pit/paddock area. Everyone had two assigned pit spaces, one for the racecar and one for a support vehicle. All open trailers had to be parked half way back down the mountain. All of this was due to a very limited pit area which was in fact a soccer field on the mountain side.

During our wait in tech to go up the mountain we went across the road to a very nice restaurant and had supper so, after setting up camp we retired to the hotel.

The weather Saturday for the first day of the climb was great and the rains held off until after five just as the weatherman said they would.

Out of the five Corvairs there Bob Coffin was the only one not running due to a fuel cell leak that could not be fixed.

At first it looked like Dan Giannotti was not going to get his runs in either as he broke a diff yoke on his first try but, Spence knew a Corvair guy in the area who had one and Dan got his car fixed by non other than the Ellison brothers Tony and Barry.

The four of us managed to get our runs in with Dave Clemens taking top spot for the Corvairs. I came in last as it were but, I didn’t hit anything either! That could not be said for one of the open wheel guys.

The host club put on a cook out for all attendees at the local Best Western and the core Corvair group was the first ones there. We did ourselves proud of the burgers, franks, potato salad and all the rest of the goodies plus, the cold adult beverages! Thanks!

As was predicted the rain began about 5:30 PM and by the time we got back to our hotel it was pouring. It poured all night!

Sunday morning when I looked out and it was still raining I made the decision to load up and head for home. Even if it quit soon the hill would not have dried out in time for very many runs.

Most of the other drivers made the same decision. We were on our way by 8:00 AM and as I found out later they cancelled the rest of the event by nine.

Again, my car just ran and ran. No problems at all. I just know it's going to have the big one any time! In the meantime I'll enjoy my good fortune.

Words cannot describe the beauty of the area nor can photos show it or how steep the hills really are.

It was great as usual spending time with the folks of our extended Corvair family and making some new ones in the process.


Rick




Back to Race Events