I was just back at Laguna Seca for the Historic Motor Sports Association’s spring club event. We finally got a nice B-Sedan class group of about 20 cars running together. To give you a little background, the B-Sedan was a class that was sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America from 1966 to 1972. The biggest engine you could run in the class was 2.5 liters. So, the B-Sedans are all pretty small cars.
Maybe there’s something about the small engines that gives these guys a Napoleon complex, but the B-Sedan drivers at these historics are a hard-charging bunch of dudes. They’re kind of like little dogs that are more aggressive than big dogs or short guys that are always picking fights in bars.
I was running my BRE 510—an actual original race car. Now, at the Rolex Historics, you can’t run a clone car or a tribute car. You have to run a car with some real racing history, with a period-correct setup. At this event, anyone with a built, super-fast 510 can get in so you can get a bigger group.
Not to take anything away from these great drivers but when I saw the way some of those guys blew past me up the back hill during practice, I had to think they had an extra 10hp and 100 less pounds than me. Heading straight up that hill before the corkscrew, you’re just flat out. Driver ability isn’t really a factor there.
I’m happy with how my 510 did. It just seems to always run well. In qualifying, I clocked respectable lap times—about 1:49 with an average speed of 75-80 mph. I passed a couple of cars and a couple more cars broke. I thought I’d qualify 7th or so, which was fine by me. There were going to be a bunch of really fast guys at the front who I’d never catch anyway. If I picked off a few cars in the race, I’d be happy.
Troy Ermish had been out there in the world’s fastest 510. He sheered off a strut and didn’t finish qualifying. I figured he was done for the weekend, but no. He said he was going back to his shop to fix the strut, which meant that not only was he going to be in the race the next day, he was going to be gridded up in the back because he didn’t complete qualifying.
Sunday morning rolled around and I decided to skip practice and take my time getting to the track. I’d been around Laguna Seca 100 times by then and I was confident in the 510. So, another set of laps would just be another opportunity for something to break on the car.
We rolled up around noon and everybody was buzzing about the BMW that got into it with an Alfa during the practice session. The BMW had dropped a couple of tires in the dirt, got off the track after turn six and while trying to regain control, had t-boned the Alfa GTV.
I was talking to Dave Stone about it. (Dave was running the Frellsen 510, which has been restored by Troy Ermish.) I thought the accident was on the BMW because he’s the one that got off the track. I said he should have taken it easy trying to get back. Dave said it was on the Alfa. Since he was behind the BMW, he says he should have lifted off his accelerator and given him more room.
Adam Carolla Racing at HMSA 2013 Datsun 510
Smash cut to the race. I somehow got put toward the front of the starting grid. I don’t know how I ended up with Dave Stone and a bunch of other super-fast, seasoned drivers behind me. About 10 seconds into the race, one of the BMWs and an Alfa just pull away from everyone. Then Dave Stone gets right behind me and starts dogging me.
I missed a shift and Dave got past me, but I got him back a few couple laps later. After dicing with Dave for more than a few laps, I missed a shift and he got me.
And then it happened. He went inside so hard, that when he came out of turn six, he dropped two tires off the track. While he was sawing at the wheel, trying to get his 510 under control, I was passing him and realizing we were about to recreate the accident we had argued about 20 minutes earlier. At least when our wrecked cars we were towed back into the pits, our arguments would have been consistent.
Thankfully, we narrowly missed each other and I was able to get back in front of him. Unfortunately, a few laps later, Dave got past me on that same back hill behind turn six.
When the race was over, the first thing Dave did was come over and ask, “Did you lift?”
“Nope.”
And he said, “Awesome.”
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