Healy-Guttman Blog

On a crisp, clear Fall day in Portland International Raceway our team of 6 drivers covered over a thousand miles and 510 laps in Mike Helton’s BMW M3. The event was the “12 Hours of the Cascades” put on by the Cascade Sports Car Club . The result was an astounding first in our P1 class and a second place overall.

According to our team’s crew chief, Ron Kiel, it was the smoothest enduro event he had ever taken part in. This was due in no small part to Pat Boyle (not only one of our mechanics and owner of Pat’s Autosport, but also one of our drivers) along with J.R. Nagy (BMW mechanic). Both of these guys put a great deal of effort into car prep and setup that is so crucial to enduro races. In addition, Ron and crew (Tim Dunahee and Dino Davis) performed flawlessly during the pit stops resulting in less than 12 minutes in the hot pits for the scheduled driver changes and fuel (including one unscheduled flat tire repair). It was poetry in motion. Mike’s wife Mary Lee was an enduro veteran that handled timing and scoring for the entire event with very few breaks.

The drivers - owner Mike Helton, Wes Tipton, Doug Mill, Bill Spornitz, Pat Boyle and me - all kept the car on the track (for the most part), ran consistently while preserving the car and stayed out of penalty trouble. The rear window was crowded with all of our names:

At 8 AM on Saturday morning, everyone convened in pit #16 for final car prep and some laps around the track in the practice to make sure everything was in order. The M3 was campaigned for many years in Grand Am by Mike and was built like a tank for these longer enduro events. You can see some of the history and battle scars in this picture:

Fish showed up to take over unofficial photography duty:

Mike went over some final strategy with Wes and Doug:

Fuel was sorted out. …yeah, it takes a lot to run this car for over a thousand miles…

Dino and Tim suited up and brought out the dyno juice:

…and got us fueled up:

Pat got all “geared up” and the car was positioned at a 45 degree angle for a quick Le Mans exit:

At around 5 minutes to go, all the first drivers get lined up for the start. The signal would sound at 9:45 AM (a siren). Pat (in the black) is looking pretty relaxed:

As a result, crew chief Ron goes out to give him some last minute pointers he had just learned the night before in his square dancing class:

…now Pat was a little nervous…

They all look pretty hopeful at the start:

But by the time they hit the cars, the smokers are on all fours and the sprinters like Pat are already buckling up. You can’t see him in this picture because he’s already in the car thankful he never took up smoking…

…OK, maybe not when you look at if from this angle:

Ron and Pat worked fast and out of all the cars, we were third out of the hot pits - what a great start!

Pat ran a very fast first stint (each of the first 5 stints were scheduled at 2 hours, 5 minutes) and then it was my turn just before noon. I was a bit nervous and had visited the porta potty about 10 times before I was scheduled to go out. Most of the other drivers had run enduros before and were really helpful in offering up tips and advice on how to run a successful race. The consistent theme was to stay on the track, err on the side of caution when passing other cars (or getting passed), stay out of penalty trouble and drive “9/10ths” so as to preserve the machine - that is, don’t drive like a sprint car driver! I got myself ready:

…probably thinking “I might have to go one more time…”:

…then it was a blur after Pat drove into our hot pit stall after his stint… I jumped in:

…Ron helped me buckle in and connect the radio:

…and I was off… Here are some photos of action during my stint taken by Fish:

This 944 above was tough P1 competition but had a problem with their exhaust later in the day that along with some other lucky breaks (pardon the pun) helped us immensely in the end:

It was amazing following this Mazda RX7 through a few turns before I got by. Check out those flames:

The Mazda ended up not finishing - probably due to sucking up all the available fuel - and oxygen - in their pits… Another tough competitor that ended up with some mechanical issues that cost them quite a bit of time in the pits was this TC Motorsports Ford Mustang:

There were two sports racers in the enduro - this one, a Norma M-20 F, passed me too many times to count during my 2 hour stint:

They had a major mechanical problem later on and were forced to drop out. 2008 ICSCC points winner Jeff Van Lierop brought his “Country Green Turf” BMW 325 and took first in his P2 class and third overall:

This Caterham Super 7 was leading P2 until he had a mechanical a few hours before the end of the race:

..and the other sports racer - and winner of the SR class and first overall - an Elan DP02 from Active Autosport driven by Peter MacLeod and Tom Sutherland. These guys were laying down laps in the 1:07 range and the reason you really had to watch your mirrors while driving this event:

This next picture shows the range of cars that were on the track at the same time - a sports racer, Super 7 and a Dodge Neon:

As you can imagine there was a lot of action going on when I was on the track. I covered 95+ laps and had a best time in the high 1:18’s. I learned more in this two hours on the track than I think I had in the entire previous vintage racing season. It was a blast! I was disappointed when I got the radio call that my stint was over and to bring the car back in… I was careful to observe the pit lane speed limit and brought the car in for Doug Mill to take over around 2 PM:

I can’t remember when this photo was taken, but one thing you can say about Pat Boyle - he’s ready to jump in whenever necessary!

The tires were only changed once at the halfway mark and all the practice paid off for an incredibly short pit time:

Bill Spornitz had brought his radio gear so all of us had communications while on the track - this is crucial to a successful race. Ron was our primary radio contact - Dino looks on:

Mary Lee was dubbed the “iron lady” for her tenacity and tolerance through 12 hours with very few breaks keeping track of each lap - lap after lap after lap. She was listening to the “common frequency” and keeping everyone informed of issues going on around the track throughout the day:

After Bill Spornitz took his turn, the sun went down and the night racing began:

The white Mazda Miata in the foreground ended up first in the P3 class and fourth overall. …just goes to show that you don’t need to be a hare to win this race - a tortoise will do just fine…

Bill flashing by:

When Wes took over the car from Doug, the seat rails failed and the seat was stuck in it’s fully extended position. Wes drove his entire stint using the tip of his toes to reach the throttle. …and of course the view from his side mirrors was toast. I thought he was just a super-relaxed driver and liked the “Detroit Lean” reclining position…. It was a great effort and he ended up with some sore calves after two hours of stretching! When he came in for the driver change, we were losing time fast as the crew tried to figure out how they could somehow get the seat up closer so Bill could reach the pedals. …he got a rolled up blanket… But when he came in to turn over the car to Mike, in a flash of inspiration, one of the crew grabbed “Lighting McQueen” out of their car and positioned the cushion behind his posterior. ….it wasn’t perfect, but in the end, ‘ol Lighting was a hero as Mike reeled off some great lap times - here he is sitting proudly on top of the roof:

As the race wound down, Ron and Tim took a rare break and demonstrated why they are the best in the business:

The final stint was driven by Mike Helton who turned some great times and brought the car home to a very happy team. After 12 hours of racing, the car was in amazing shape! The driver’s Kodak moment:

…and one happy team:

As Mike Helton had predicted, I’m hooked! …and have already signed on to the 6-hour Enduro in Seattle next March…