 We had never seen an FF bicycling on two wheels before. But apparently, Elden Mk10A AM73-49 was captured doing so at Edmonton in 1973 with ace driver Mike Atkin behind the wheel.
We've been in touch with Atkin over the weekend and he has been super helpful sharing his photos and knowledge regarding the car and his time throwing it around Edmonton, Gimli and other tracks in Alberta. This was the chassis that was too far gone to restore, but was instead used in pieces for the restoration of Michael Argetsinger's Mk10B, oddly numbered '140/1' - and thus, we merged the serial numbers to account for both cars in the final build. Not everything that ceases to be as a whole fails to live on, echoing the past.  The mighty, mighty Aston Martin from the BSport Racing squadron has arrived.
Paul Jay has given it his blessing, mainly due to it partial Bavarian DNA. It shall triumph soon at Road America.  It seems the donor Elden chassis (AM73-49) that was cannibalized to fix Michael Argetsinger's former Elden (140/1) was none-other than Mike Atkin's former Falconer-bodied flier from '73.
Atkin nearly won the CASC Runoffs in '73 if not for a Metso gearbox that got stuck in gear on the final lap. Here was another off-day at Westwood in '74.  Paint by Paul Jay.
Chassis by All American Racers. Driver's weight issue by Oreos. Engine by Curtis Farley. Photo by Bill Nesius Photography.  Finished P2 this morning.
Had to spin to avoid hitting another CF after a FSV missed a shift on the first lap exiting turn 14 and had to let the field go by. Went from 17th to third overall in Fords, and wound up second in CF, setting the fastest lap the CF/VFF field. Jacques drove deeper and harder than he has in a long time. He kept thinking about pride and effort, and what we all do to make this happen on and off the track. A huge thanks to all of those people, Paul Jay, to AAR, to American Cylinder Gas and Werth Racing.  Our friend Doug needed to borrow a suit and helmet to do a start-and-park for the vintage Nascar portion of the event today. Probably only the second time an AAR badge rode pilot in an original racing Superbird.
[Steve Zautke Photo]  DGF #005 went P1 in the CF/VFF group this morning. Mark Repka's 1969 Caldwell is the polesitter for the VFF class, and was hot on our tail. We think David Loring would be pleased with an Eagle and a Caldwell starting first in their respective classes.
 Eagle DGF #005 was P2 in the combined CF/VFF qualifying group. We used the session as an refresher/shakedown, but apparently the Eagle went decently quick. Much more speed is sitting there, waiting to giggle in the wind.
More tomorrow at 10:55.  From JD:
Twenty-five years ago this afternoon, the world lost Jeff Krosnoff and Gary Arvin during the 1996 CART Molson Indy Toronto race. I was in my first month racing karts, but was following IndyCar racing with great interest. My favorite driver, Greg Moore, was in his rookie season in CART, but I was equally impressed with Krosnoff, who was on occasion out driving the Toyota engine that was lumped in his PPI machine. Even in July 1996, when I was still 11, I was collecting things- baseball cards, model cars and on occasion, bits of memorabilia whenever they'd pop up in shops. Then eBay came along, and my collecting 'went to 11.' In the winter of 1999, a suit came up for sale claiming to be one of Krosnoff's and after careful consideration and documentation from the seller- who worked for PPI, we made the purchase. Twenty years later, we still hadn't figured out how to properly showcase an item that is so rare and ultimately- so important to remember the legacy of a man who was just on the cusp of breaking through as a legitimate contender in CART. So, at the Formula Ford 50th event at Road America in September, 2019, I delivered a letter to Paul Pfanner, explaining that as a close friend of Jeff, he should be the caretaker of the suit going forward, and perhaps proudly display it at RACER magazine headquarters. I then told him if it was agreeable to him, the suit was sitting in our trailer in the paddock, and to come on by. I didn't have to ask twice. I won't tell you what emotions came out, or from whom when the now-vintage Sparco bag was unzipped. But we knew at that instant that it was going to the right place. You cannot replace people in this lifetime, but if the memories of them are alive with you, and you are able to spread them to others, it is the best sort of tribute you can possibly offer. Cheers Jeff. #stayhungry |
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Kettle Moraine Preservation & Restoration
KettleMorainePR@gmail.com Hubertus, Wisconsin 'Where History and Integrity Meet' |