CRG Discussion Forum
Model Specific Discussions => Trans-Am Camaros => Topic started by: Swede70 on December 11, 2021, 05:17:30 PM
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Greetings,
A friend related an area enthusiast had posted such on YouTube, it being footage of club racing at nearby Waterford Hills (myself being situated in SE Michigan then), fleeting glimpses of a marriage procession, and finally at the 9:48 mark - some footage of the dreary weather and utterly makeshift road racing circuit that characterized what was experienced at Michigan International Speedway for the running of the '69 Wolverine Trans-Am. Quality isn't the best, but once again, any discovery becomes part of the mosaic of understanding what once was. Thanks...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8gDGZ11qgw
Mike K./Swede70
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...and this of complimentary interest, a history of MIS with specific reference to the road course/circuit related above. Perhaps my 'makeshift' comment seen above would be considered harsh, but it hardly seems as though the entries trying to negotiate the what seems a very narrow outside the oval road course are just focusing on not going off, nor harboring much hope of passing or making up places given others are in the same boat. Thanks...
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2015/06/racing-rain/
Mike K./Swede70
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Thanks, Mike for posting!
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Good post Mike....and commentary!
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...and this of complimentary interest, a history of MIS with specific reference to the road course/circuit related above. Perhaps my 'makeshift' comment seen above would be considered harsh, but it hardly seems as though the entries trying to negotiate the what seems a very narrow outside the oval road course are just focusing on not going off, nor harboring much hope of passing or making up places given others are in the same boat. Thanks...
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2015/06/racing-rain/
Mike K./Swede70
Texas International Speedway, built contemporary to MIS, offered a different road course layout.
The primary difference was that it was run in the same direction as the oval, making the first turn essentially a downhill left that had a broad sweeping radius.
I raced there in three different cars, my first '69 Camaro, then a C3-chassisied '82 bodied Corvette, and finally our Trans Am spec '86 Camaro.
There were cones placed in the outer catch fence that gave us a three, two, one countdown to the corner entry.
We'd achieve about 180 mph at the S/F line in both the Corvette and later Camaro, and would start shutting down at the second cone.
I asked a friend who raced a Formula Ford where he started his braking, and he told me the middle of Turn Two.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51742108078_50ebb41404_o.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mQgQ4G)texas-world-speedway-college-station-texas (https://flic.kr/p/2mQgQ4G) by Jim Forte (https://www.flickr.com/photos/157859435@N04/), on Flickr
I have often wondered why the MIS road course was run backwards, and had that abrupt almost 90 degree right hander from the road course onto the banking.