Date:  Saturday May 12, 2001
Where:   Spokane Raceway Park:

Here is what David had to say:

                 On Saturday, May 12 the PacNW9289 group (an informal group with NO officers,
                 dues or other distractions) got together for a Test and Tune day at Spokane
                 Raceway Park.

                 The *first* thing that has to be said is "Wow, what a neat group of people."

                 The weather was wonderul on Friday and Saturday.  Folks drove in from the
                 Portland and Seattle area and we had arranged to have dinner together at a
                 Tex-Mex restaurant across from the Travelodge where some of the folks
                 stayed.  Everyone made it to dinner except Don Hanson who had gotten a late
                 start and Heinrich who was unable to make it because of mechanical problems
                 remaining on his shark.  (Heinrich stayed up till after 5AM Friday morning
                 to get his intake back on only to find another problem with no time left to
                 acquire the part.)

                 After a fun meal with everyone we all headed to get some sleep.  I had two
                 folks staying with me (Pat Edwards and Adam Birnbaum).  Chris Ford and Tom
                 Middleton also wanted to come up for a while to watch some videos of Don
                 Hanson's high speed runs I had borrowed so we had 5 sharks in a row heading
                 for my place (at the speed limit).

                 By the time we reached my house we had acquired another set of headlights,
                 which I had assumed was just a neighbor.  Turns out it was a guy driving a
                 souped up Toyota who was looking for a race, and he figured that by
                 following 5 928's he was going the right direction!  We notified him that we
                 were saving the high speed for the track the next day and he went on his
                 merry way.

                 We stayed up till about 1AM watching car videos and talking cars.  It was
                 good to get to know Pat a bit better as I'd only met him briefly at the last
                 DE at PIR.  I'd been watching race videos so much I had trouble falling
                 asleep with all the race footage running through my mind.

                 The 5AM alarm came all too soon.  A quick shower and then the guys helped me
                 swap wheels to the ones with my older, track tires.  We then packed up all
                 the drinks I'd purchased and headed for breakfast with a quick stop by the
                 gas station.  We got a few comments with 3 sharks pulling up at once.

                 After dropping Pat and Adam off at breakfast I proceeded to the track to
                 help get things set up.  Don Hanson was already there along with one of our
                 "host" drivers, Bill Simer.  (Scott Adare had arranged to have some folks
                 available to ride along with anyone that wanted some local track
                 instruction.)  Scott and Steve Cassel arrived shortly thereafter and by the
                 time we had gone around the track and gotten the cones placed the rest of
                 the gang had arrived and the paddock was full of sharks (and a few 944
                 "cousins" we'd allowed to join in).

                 After a brief track meeting (and collecting of funds) we headed for the
                 track.  We had warned everyone about not staying on the track too long
                 because of the fatigue that can set in, and had planned on closing the track
                 periodically to make sure nobody was overdoing it.  Instead, it seemed like
                 everyone had taken the advice to heart as most folks were doing 5-6 lap
                 sessions and coming in on their own.  I never saw the checkered flag used
                 once to bring folks in.

                 We only had 13 Track Attack attendees (18 cars including our local hosts) so
                 I don't think we ever had more than 5-6 cars on the track at any time.  I
                 ended up doing much shorter sessions because I was always able to get 5-6
                 HARD laps in with no distractions from slower/faster cars.  The cars I did
                 (occasionally) manage to catch up to were going fast enough that I didn't
                 feel I was missing out on much.  The few times the opportunity came up folks
                 were REAL nice about waving faster cars by (we were doing indicated passing
                 only, and only on the straights).

                 During the day we had NO off track incidents and the cars were generally
                 running quite well until late in the day when Adam Birnbaum's car started
                 making grinding noises going down the straight and he immediately pulled
                 over to the side.  The red flag pulled all the cars off the track quickly
                 and we got Adam's car towed to the paddock.  (Appears to be a drive shaft or
                 torque tube problem.)  Chris and I both had leaking cam cover problems so I
                 sat out the last half an hour so as not to agrivate it.

                 Adam arranged to have his car towed to Chris's house where it was left and
                 Adam caught a ride back to Seattle with one of the other Seattle contingent.
                 Hopefully we can get his car back in full health (along with our own!)
                 quickly.

                 I have to comment on what a FANTASTIC group we have.  I received comments
                 from EVERY one of our host drivers and from the track operator about how
                 well behaved all our drivers were.  They had been REAL concerned about
                 having a group of high-horsepower cars like ours along with a number of
                 first-time track drivers.  That, as much as the track time, made this just a
                 fantastic event.  I was told that we'd be welcome to arrange another event
                 like this any time.  I told Scott perhaps we could make it another PacNW928
                 annual event and he replied "how about another one in October?"  We'll see!

                 Car comments?  Well, my GT drove great all day, even as it started leaking
                 oil from the cam cover.  I was taking only 1-2 laps per session as I tuned
                 in the tire pressure but then proceeded to do 5-6 lap sessions.  Brake
                 heating/fade was an issue for my car as I'm running stock pads/fluid and
                 brake bias.  I had one incident where the pedal reached the floor coming
                 into the degree sweeper at over 120.  Luckily, it's an easy sweeper and the
                 car stayed right on track.  I'll have some in-car footage on my web site as
                 soon as I have time to capture and convert it.

                 Don Hanson was there with his Black Devek Stroker.  All I can say is "WOW".
                 Looks and sounds wonderfull!

                 Pat Edwards "Predator" was also sounding great out there and Pat looked like
                 he was having fun.  Hopefully he'll share his video footage of me as we
                 shared a few laps together, trading places about halfway through.

                 Tom and Adam's black cars were hard to tell apart out there, until you
                 caught sight of Tom's FAT tires and slightly rolled rear fenders.  They both
                 looked good.

                 I caught site of Rob Fossett racing past entering the straight a few times
                 and he was looking like he was enjoying himself.  He had some transmission
                 heat problems so I hope he got a chance to get enough track time.  I offered
                 him some time in my GT but got turned down (but saw him out there again
                 later in his car).

                 Welcome to Tom Blaesing who contacted me the week before the event and has
                 just joined our PacNW928 mailing list.  He just purchased a silver, low
                 milage '81 Euro 5sp which had been sitting in a hanger for 17 years.

                 We had invited some of our 944 "cousins" to participate and Barry Woods and
                 John Hassel were out with their 944 turbos.  I really like John small track
                 trailer that he tows behind his 944.

                 Terry Thomas and Dennis Wilson were driving matching white S4's and it was
                 hard to tell who was who out on the track.

                 Hopefully I haven't forgotten anyone.  My appologies if I have, but there
                 were just so many nice sharks out there!

                 I look forward to doing some more of these in the future, and from the
                 comments I received we'll have no problem arranging for the track or hosts.
                 I want to give a special thanks to Scott Adare.  I couldn't have done this
                 event without him.  Period.  I just did the e-mail coordination and some
                 incidentals like food and drinks.  Also, thanks to the 5 other locals that
                 showed up to help show us the lines.  I hope we shark owners didn't tease
                 you too much!

                 Way to go, PacNW928!

                 David Schmidt
                 '90 GT, Guards Red, RMB
                 http://www.tower-mt.com/

On the Trip out........

At the Track........
 

Don Hanson's 6.5 liter Beast!

Lunch