2011-07-28 11:41:50
The success of the Bandit’s three races in June and July exceeded our expectations. Ronnie Swyers dominated the big vintage race at the Portland Rose Cup, I ran a strong fifth in the Historic Stock Car class at the Portland Historics, and the recent NASCAR weekend was best of all, thanks to Ronnie, Chris Billings, and Chris Drysdale.
In practice Friday for three sessions we were stuck at 1:25.2. Ronnie Swyers, who’s a driving instructor as well as a great crew chief, studied the in-car video and found two places where I could gain time. In Saturday qualifying we surged down to 1:24.2, with six laps under 1:25. Gridded on the inside of the third row, I was pumped and we were ready.
The heat race was a photo finish. We ran a close 5th, just a few car lengths behind the leader coming off the last turn. It was the Bandit's best race ever. Mine too. Six hundred and twenty horsepower makes you feel like that.
Here’s the YouTube in-car video from the last lap of the race. You can see me catching the pack of four in the front. You can also hear the gearbox break just before the checkered flag. Makes me cringe to watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFlXMQtdq2Q&feature=youtube_gdata
Bandit was big crowd favorite, because she's so old and still hot. Wide-hipped 1982 Oldsmobile against slick mid-'90s look-alike Winston Cup cars. Distinctive howl at 7500 rpm, out of the old boombox. Bandit looks bulky and sounds sweet, the others look sweet and sound bulky ... as they disappear down the backstraight, with their '90s horsepower.
Fans streamed up to the Bandit with compliments. “Man, it's the real deal,” one guy said. “Lookin’ gooood. FAST out there.”
But I missed the 179th out of 180 gearshifts in the race, and gnashed off a few teeth in the gearbox.
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I thought we were done. But a savior named Chris Drysdale, who crews for one of the top NASCAR teams with his Borelli Motorsports, worked till midnight rebuilding the Bandit’s gearbox with parts he had in his trailer. His generosity was astonishing and moving. "No big deal, it’s what we do for each other here,” he said. When they say that NASCAR is a family, this is what they mean.
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“You’re doing way good, running up front,” he said. He pointed to the pole-sitting #15 Thunderbird that he worked on. “This car won Sears Point in 1995, with Geoff Bodine. It’s got a 750-horsepower motor. And the front clip is out of a 2008—it’s newer than our K&N car."
Ronnie and Chris Billings showed up at 7 a.m. Sunday to install the transmission, and got it done just in time for the big race.
We couldn’t quite run with the top three cars in the main event, but we sure tried (see above), and were running a solid 4th until the engine went off. Bandit pulled in making noises that didn't sound good.
The two pics below show the cars Bandit couldn’t run with, and some of the cars Bandit had covered. Not bad for an “Old Refrigerator,” as she was once called.
It was a charmed weekend. My crew chief from back when I raced the car in the book "Fast Guys, Rich Guys and Idiots" was there. I hadn’t seen Tex Powell since we walked away from the Bandit after blowing two engines in one day at Daytona in 1983. He’s a legend now. He hasn’t changed much, silver hair now replacing the red. But the same long tall walk. Chris loved meeting him. Those are Ronnie Swyers' legs sticking out, as he bolts the transmission back in.
After the race, Tex told me not to worry about the engine. Like he said when I hit the wall at Charlotte, "It’s nothin’. Didn’t drop no oil, didn’t make a puddle of water, there’s no holes in the block, it’ll be okay.”
The race was won by the series' top driver, Steve Schoellhorn, in the beautifully prepared ex-Jeff Gordon Chevy Lumina, over Steve Beck, in a Thunderbird once raced by Dick Trickle. All the names have stories. I wrote about Trickle in Sports Illustrated in 1989--he was Rookie of the Year at 48 years old, wearing snakeskin cowboy boots in the car and lighting up a cigarette on the cooldown lap after a race (until NASCAR took away his boots and smokes).
Great stuff, great show. Check out www.stockcarraceseries.com. I look forward to running with these cars and racers again.
The Bandit is done racing for this year. She'll come back next year, better than ever. The team's goal is to make the big enchilada of historic racing, the Rolex Reunion at Monterey. But no matter what happens, we're looking forward to sharing this special machine, a true-blue historic racecar.
ALL PHOTOS EXCEPT THE FACE PICS BY ROB HARBECK
Sam Moses
Previous Blogs:
Bandit Strikes Again
2011-07-28 10:49:36
The weekend at the Portland Historics couldn’t have gone much better. Entered in the Historic Stock Car class, my 1982 Oldsmobile Bandit held her own against the mid-90s Winston Cup cars. What a blast it was to drive! It had been 7 years...
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Bandit Photo Gallery Portland Historics
2011-07-16 09:53:13
...
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Bandit Smokes the Rose Cup
2011-07-13 05:06:55
The rich history of the 1982 Oldsmobile Bandit that starred in the book "Fast Guys, Rich Guys, and Idiots" resumes, with a dominating comeback win at the Portland Rose Cup last weekend, driven by local hotshoe Ronnie Swyers....
Read More
Hero Card
2011-07-12 21:52:07
1982 Skoal Bandit Oldsmobile Cutlass
Star of the book "Fast Guys, Rich Guys and Idiots," named one of the 5 Best motorsports books ever written.
...
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Rose Cup Gallery
2011-06-22 08:32:44
Photos by Doug Berger, Jeff...
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Rose Cup Day One
2011-06-22 08:09:13
It was a great day of practice for the Portland Rose Cup. The Bandit hadn't been on the track since it won its class and finished 10th overall in the 3-hour Historic race at Sebring in 2005. But it's sitting on the front row for the vintage race on...
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Return of the Return of the Bandit
2011-06-15 22:42:51
For the last three years the Bandit has been licking its wounds after blowing a head gasket in practice for the Portland Rose Cup. A lot of good work has been done since then, and the car is better than ever--even faster...
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Shakedown Run
2010-09-21 04:11:52
Lots happening with the Bandit. Videos coming soon.
Read More
Concours de Maryhill
2008-06-17 07:48:56
Over the weekend, in less than 24 hours, the Bandit shot from show car to contender, and I soared from resignation to rejuvenation.
Because this blog is episodic, the back-story is in the previous posting. But...
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Lightning Strikes Bandit at Rose Cup
2008-06-16 10:27:00
So much has happened since my last blog entry that I haven’t had time to do this update. Nor much enthusiasm, because mostly what happened is I blew a head gasket at the Rose Cup at Portland International Raceway on June 1.
Sometimes...
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