Edition 15, Nov 2nd- 2007 ..."I'm not bad luck after all" and off season thoughtsBy Guest Editor Ryan Farrell The #97 Hankscraft Racing team was looking forward so much to what was shaping up to be great day at Road America last Friday. The championship was locked up and all we had to do was go relax and wave as James drove by at 170 M.P.H. every two and a half minutes or so. According to Adam, we also would all have the opportunity to run a few laps ourselves in the afternoon practices. On the night before the race, it appeared as though we had all our bases covered. All we had to do was get an early start Saturday morning and let the good times roll once we got to the track. The scheduled time of departure Saturday morning was 5:00am sharp. Naturally, I was ready to go by around 5:18am. I didn’t catch any breaks either considering that everyone else was on time. I heard it the worst from James who was so talented that he actually got himself and his young daughter ready to go on time. All I can say to that is maybe I’ll get better with age. Anyhow, by about twenty past five we were on the road. At about 5:40 we were stopped again, this time, the truck decided to give us a fit. As it turned out one of the hoses that channeled water was leaking and antifreeze was poring out of the front of the truck. To people driving along the interstate, it likely appeared that our truck was using a DEI motor to pull the trailer with all the smoke poring out of it. Considering we were on I-43 just outside of Mukwonago, we decided to call my house in search of my dad, or ‘Big Jim’ as everyone else on the team knows him. Dad brought water while James used his mechanical ability to fix the leak. We were cruising again a little before 7:00.
Eventually we did finally make it to the track. We missed the driver’s meeting of course. Fortunately James knew his way around the place quite well from previous visits to the track. After a few early practice sessions James was fairly satisfied with the car, keyword being fairly. Since James was as happy as he would get, it was time for retired driver and car owner Adam Berge to attempt road racing for the first time in his illustrious career. Being the natural he is, we all figured he would likely flirt with the track record his first time out. Unfortunately we will never know because the practice session ended after only one lap on the track. That was likely a blessing in disguise for James considering what could happen if Adam were to get the driving ‘itch’ again. When the qualifying results were sorted out Ken Smart was on top with a time of two-minutes and twenty-nine seconds. We weren’t far behind. After qualifying, it was time for the cancer run/walk that hundreds of people participated in. It was fun to walk the track and see the corners with my own eyes. It was also neat hearing James’ mental notes about each corner’s individual characteristics and some of the mistakes he had made in his first attempts to tackle the four mile track. I was hoping to remember as much as I could, should I get the opportunity to run a few hot laps myself later in the day. The race itself started off really well considering we were in the second spot by the end of the first lap. Unfortunately Ken Smart was already in first after one lap. For the first handful of laps James slowly chopped into the lead Ken had built until Ken Smart’s number 45 encountered transmission troubles which allowed James to easily inherit the lead. James hustled the 97 impala to his first victory at Road America and second Mid-Am win of the year. According to him, it was number two on his favorite wins list, just behind the win at the Milwaukee Mile last August. The best part was that it was the first time his daughter Shelby was in the pits with him. It made for some great victory lane photos. Once the race was over it was time for the real action to start as Don and I decided to take a tour of the track via the racecar. For lack of a better word it was a blast and Don, who initially was a little nervous had the time of his life pretending to be James. For me, the best part of the day was finally getting the ‘bad-luck’ label off my forehead. You see, throughout the entire year, I only missed one race. Of course that was the sole victory of the year heading into Road America. Naturally people started pointing fingers and whispering under their breath about my black cat like presence. It is good to know it wasn’t my fault, and it was even better to be there for a win! It was a great season, and this championship was a challenge from the start, but the struggles of this year will only prove to make us tougher for next season, so look out for the #97 in 2008.
As for the off season, most of us try to cram all of our other hobbies out of the way before next season starts up again. If you spend the weekend before Thanksgiving deer hunting, you might just run into Adam out in the great north woods. If you spend any time at Delevan Lanes you might see Don Stardy bowl that perfect game that has just barely eluded him on a few occasions. Speaking of Adam and Don, they both like to rip up the snowmobile trails after the first big snowfall, just don’t get caught between them, rumor has it they get a little rowdy at times. When it comes to the man who races the car, well, he spends his off season racing of course. During the winter James likes to spend much of his time chasing the KIRL (Ken’s Indoor Racing League) championship that Bill Hartwig has had such a firm grasp on in previous seasons. The races are the first Sunday of every month at Chicago Indoor Racing in Buffalo Grove, IL. It’s a great time, and all are welcome to race. Last season James almost won it all finishing a close second in points. When it comes to me, I enjoy the outdoors quite a bit. Hunting is great and hopefully it will be cold enough for some quality ice fishing time. Of course that all comes second when it’s a KIRL weekend. Look for me to try to improve my 10 th place finish in last year’s season. Like I said before, once February rolls around and NASCAR gets started all of our attention starts turning toward our own race season. Next year seems like a long way off, but it will be here sooner than we all think. I can hardly wait! See you at Rockford. - Ryan Farrell
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