Saturday afternoon
John Fitch was watching the races at turn 1. One of my favorites too: you
get to see all the cars brake from under the crossover bridge, round the
wide first turn, aka big bend and then right through the esses.
John Fitch waving
to fans as they greeted him.
Early Friday
morning and all weekend long John was cruising the paddock and meeting with
fans.
The cockpit
of John Fitch's Phoenix.
Next time I
see John Fitch, I must ask him if the Phoenix front bumpers was made from
scratch or from a modified 1968-1972 Corvette front bumper.
That door lock
is a combination of 1968 C3 and a C6 in its pattern and expression.
Early C3 style
targa. Best shown in the GTO Ferrari in my view. Luggage rack with wood
strips and a removeable rear window like early C3's.
John was all
over the place, driving and chatting with old and new friends alike for
the entire weekend. He has been a part of Lime Rock Park from the very start
in 1957.
Friday John
Fitch cruised through paddock near the Skip Barber Racing School. To say
he is a car nut, would be a gross under statement.
Early Saturday
morning I again ran into him at the end of the paddock.
Trouble shooting
why the Phoenix would not start late Monday just before the group 7 race
with four Corvettes were to start. Long shadows and Autumn is arriving in
New England.
Checking out
why John's Phoenix would not start. Quickly someone got a rattle can of
ether and he was on his way.
John is pointing
to where he wants the guy in the Blue cap to spray the ether. That fellow has the Blue rattle can of ether in his right hand.
John Fitch gets
back in just before they started squirting the ether.
The fellow
on the far right had just given a few squirts of ether and John was cranking
it over.
After he got started,
he circled around from the golf cart to go up the paddock hill exit .
John Fitch Chirps 2nd Gear: John Fitch enjoying the Limerock Vintage Races and Driving his
Phoenix. Video uploaded Feb 27, 2009 Time 1:13
The fan on the
right asked for an autograph. John said "have you got a pen?"
The guy just just smiled a "duhhhh". John got 2 pens from
his tote bag and the guy knocked them out of John's hand and then stood
there. John said "aren't you going to pick them up?" and
again the guy gave that "duhhh" smile and then bent down
to get the pens. John gave him an autograph. Few fans recognized him and
I'm glad he could enjoy the races and racers instead of being mobbed by
folk.
John was caught
cruising through the swap meet. For $20 I bought a race program from the
August 1964 Glen 500 - I was there and am thankful that the original owner
even marked it up with all the race results, and in pencil. A true race
fan: stays to the end and logs the results as below. For years I wondered
about those racers.
First overall Ed Lother/Bob Nagel #10 Cobra A-prod
2nd overall Frank Dominianni/Bog Grossman #69
1962 Red Corvette
B-prod
4th overall Alvin M. Forsyth/Ripley #81 1963
Black F.I. Corvette coupe A-prod
5th overall Austin Healey D-prod
6th overall Janet Guthrie in a Jaguar ?-Prod
7th overall Austin Healey D-prod
8th overall Damlier SP250 D-prod
9th overall Triumph T D-prod
10th overall Elva Courier C-prod
11th overall Ben Moore/Bob Mouat #2 White Corvette
B-prod
Don Yenko/Dick Thompson in #11 1962 White Corvette
B-prod are listed in the program, but not among the above.
I learn something new every day. We attended the 25th annual
Vintage car show early Sunday and left in the afternoon to attend a birthday/labor
day party at my wifes uncle who lives just a few miles from the track. Debs
uncle says to me, "did you see John Fitch?" and I'm kind
of taken back because he is a developer and is not a car nut like me. I
say "yea" and he says, "did you know I bought land
from him a long time ago?" And I said, "are you pulling
my leg?" and he say, "no, I really did". And I'm
blown away by the coincidence, and then Debs aunt says "oh he lives
over on such an such street. If you take this dirt road over the mountain,
it leads right to the track near his neighborhood." The world just
got smaller.
Saturday afternoon
John Fitch was watching the races at turn 1. One of my favorites too: you
get to see all the cars brake from under the crossover bridge, round the
wide first turn, aka big bend and then right through the esses.
John Fitch waving
to fans as they greeted him.
Early Friday
morning and all weekend long John was cruising the paddock and meeting with
fans.
The cockpit
of John Fitch's Phoenix.
Next time I
see John Fitch, I must ask him if the Phoenix front bumpers was made from
scratch or from a modified 1968-1972 Corvette front bumper.
That door lock
is a combination of 1968 C3 and a C6 in its pattern and expression.
Early C3 style
targa. Best shown in the GTO Ferrari in my view. Luggage rack with wood
strips and a removeable rear window like early C3's.
John was all
over the place, driving and chatting with old and new friends alike for
the entire weekend. He has been a part of Lime Rock Park from the very start
in 1957.
Friday John
Fitch cruised through paddock near the Skip Barber Racing School. To say
he is a car nut, would be a gross under statement.
Early Saturday
morning I again ran into him at the end of the paddock.
Trouble shooting
why the Phoenix would not start late Monday just before the group 7 race
with four Corvettes were to start. Long shadows and Autumn is arriving in
New England.
Checking out
why John's Phoenix would not start. Quickly someone got a rattle can of
ether and he was on his way.
John is pointing
to where he wants the guy in the Blue cap to spray the ether. That fellow has the Blue rattle can of ether in his right hand.
John Fitch gets
back in just before they started squirting the ether.
The fellow
on the far right had just given a few squirts of ether and John was cranking
it over.
After he got started,
he circled around from the golf cart to go up the paddock hill exit .
The fan on the
right asked for an autograph. John said "have you got a pen?"
The guy just just smiled a "duhhhh". John got 2 pens from
his tote bag and the guy knocked them out of John's hand and then stood
there. John said "aren't you going to pick them up?" and
again the guy gave that "duhhh" smile and then bent down
to get the pens. John gave him an autograph. Few fans recognized him and
I'm glad he could enjoy the races and racers instead of being mobbed by
folk.
John was caught
cruising through the swap meet. For $20 I bought a race program from the
August 1964 Glen 500 - I was there and am thankful that the original owner
even marked it up with all the race results, and in pencil. A true race
fan: stays to the end and logs the results as below. For years I wondered
about those racers.