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2013 marks the tenth anniversary of owning one or more Festivas for circle track racing for the #46 team.
I remember the day by son and his friend came dragging home this "shoe box" looking piece of junk called a Festiva. He claimed he got a great deal because the guy threw in 2 extra engines and that he and his friend wanted to go racing. His friend soon found out that there was more to racing than showing up on race day and driving. He stopped coming around to help before the Festiva ever saw a track and I got drafted for mechanic duties for my son.
We took the car to a welding/machine shop to have a custom built roll cage installed. Next door to the welding shop was a race shop for a former NASCAR Busch Series driver. My son went over and told the Busch driver that he (my son) was going to be a race car driver, too. The Busch driver said to him, "tell your dad to take a piece of pipe and beat the snot out of you because that's how it feels to be a race car driver". A few years later my son would learn that that is exactly how it feels to be a race car driver.
By the time the car was "ready" for the track, there were only 5 races left in the 2003 season. "Ready" consisted of a carbed engine with all the smog/feedback stuff still on it, a very tired B3 that smoked under all conditions, and a racing seat and roll cage.
About 75% of our racing occurred at the Clinton County Raceway and this is where my son (David) started racing. The race track rules stated that all new drivers must start in last place for their first 2 races before being able to qualify. The first race of his life he started in 24th and finished in 18th. The second race was a 24th start and a 9th place finish. With 3 races left in the season, he managed to get a best finish of 6th which wasn't bad considering the number of cars and his tired engine.
The first full season, we installed a B6-ME with a very cobbled up carbed B3 intake to bolt on to the B6-ME. He had his first feature win with this set up. Below is a link to the last couple laps of that win. Note: Some of the videos have had music added.
The next season we built a new car using a '90 model. (The original was an '89) The new car had a regular 8 valve B6 and carbed with the stock Festiva carb plus some modifications to the carb. This car was also a winner against a very strong opponent, a Pontiac running a Quad 4 engine. The Festiva was smoking during the race, (but won) and afterward a bunch of us motorheads got together to try to figure out why it was smoking. The best we could determine was that the timing was so far advanced that the engine was pinging causing the pistons to vibrate in the cylinders and allow oil past the rings. We retarded the timing and checked for internal damage. There was no damage and it never smoked again with less timing advance.
The following year we were still using the '90 model Festiva with the B6, but this would be its final year. One very dusty afternoon the Festiva was involved in a multiple vehicle wreck in which it rolled down over the back stretch bank and came to rest on it's roof. An idiot rookie driver that had started in the back came upon the dust clouded wreck and thought he was Cole Trickle and never lifted. He ended up driving down over the bank because he couldn't see where he was going. He hit the overturned Festiva so hard that he rolled the Festiva back over onto its wheels and he came to a stop facing head on to it. You can see his stopped car in the video. This was the beginning of the "beating" the Busch driver had told my son about. He wasn't seriously injured, but did say that the guy hitting him while he was upside down hurt worse than rolling.
The roll over of the '90 Festiva finished its racing career and we then used a '91 with a B6-ME and a factory fitted carbed intake from an Australian Ford Laser for our new car. We had now been using the Escort carb for a while. The Woodhull Raceway in Woodhull, New York started a 4 cylinder FWD division and we were there for their inaugural race in 2006. We finished second behind a 2004 Chevy Cavalier that was sponsored by a junk yard. The junk yard had acquired the late model car because it had been rolled and declared "totaled". They pounded the roof out and sent it racing. Woodhull is a very well maintained track with nice high banking. If it wasn't such a long tow, we would have gone there more often. The announcer gave the Festiva the nickname of "the box rocket". Below is the complete video of that race.
Ace High Raceway Near Monroeton, PA had been closed for several years and only ran an occasional special race. On one of those special occasions, we took the old '89 car there to run. The track was not well maintained and the night time lighting was terrible. Someone remarked that the lighting was like a bunch of flashlights taped to some poles. Since that time the track has been purchased and renamed Dunn Hill2 and is well maintained by some very nice people. We ran a full 2010 season there except for the first and maybe second race of the season. This is the video from when it was still named Ace High.
http://www.jmflumber.com/xtrafiles/Ace High.mpg
We finally went to the B8-ME carbed and the first time on the track in the heat race the Festiva blew away the field. Below is that video.
Everything went along fine until 2009 when the Festiva was involved in one of the most spectacular crashes for a 4 cylinder FWD ever seen at the Clinton County Raceway.
The driver was sore for a couple weeks but did not suffer any serious injuries. http://www.jmflumber.com/xtrafiles/Flip.mpg
Below is the in-car view of the flip and the things that the spectators don't see from the grandstands. Watch the time counter on the video from the time the car comes to rest until the first track personnel is on scene. NASCAR should be so fast. Below the video is a picture of the car after the crash.
We went to the Mountain Speedway in St. John's, PA (in the Poconos) one year as spectators only, for a 4 cylinder Enduro Race. It is usually at least a 100 laps or more and no limit on the car count. There are no caution flags - only red and green. If you wreck, you are expected to recover and keep going. If you can't move and are in a situation where you could be hit and injured, then they will throw the red flag and everybody is supposed to stop and maintain their position on the track until the green flag is waved again. The only other time the race is stopped is when there is a massive wreck and the entire track is blocked. Mountain Speedway is holding one of these races on January 5, 2013 for anyone that wants to go. Below is a partial video of one of these races that we attended. No way was I going to put a Festiva out there in that.
http://www.jmflumber.com/xtrafiles/Pocono Enduro 4 cyl.mpg
We currently have 2 race cars left and one parts/Christmas deco car. We have the original '89 with a B6-ME and a '93 model with a B8-ME that replaced the totaled one in the major flip. We didn't race in 2012 and don't have any current plans for 2013.
I remember the day by son and his friend came dragging home this "shoe box" looking piece of junk called a Festiva. He claimed he got a great deal because the guy threw in 2 extra engines and that he and his friend wanted to go racing. His friend soon found out that there was more to racing than showing up on race day and driving. He stopped coming around to help before the Festiva ever saw a track and I got drafted for mechanic duties for my son.
We took the car to a welding/machine shop to have a custom built roll cage installed. Next door to the welding shop was a race shop for a former NASCAR Busch Series driver. My son went over and told the Busch driver that he (my son) was going to be a race car driver, too. The Busch driver said to him, "tell your dad to take a piece of pipe and beat the snot out of you because that's how it feels to be a race car driver". A few years later my son would learn that that is exactly how it feels to be a race car driver.
By the time the car was "ready" for the track, there were only 5 races left in the 2003 season. "Ready" consisted of a carbed engine with all the smog/feedback stuff still on it, a very tired B3 that smoked under all conditions, and a racing seat and roll cage.
About 75% of our racing occurred at the Clinton County Raceway and this is where my son (David) started racing. The race track rules stated that all new drivers must start in last place for their first 2 races before being able to qualify. The first race of his life he started in 24th and finished in 18th. The second race was a 24th start and a 9th place finish. With 3 races left in the season, he managed to get a best finish of 6th which wasn't bad considering the number of cars and his tired engine.
The first full season, we installed a B6-ME with a very cobbled up carbed B3 intake to bolt on to the B6-ME. He had his first feature win with this set up. Below is a link to the last couple laps of that win. Note: Some of the videos have had music added.
The next season we built a new car using a '90 model. (The original was an '89) The new car had a regular 8 valve B6 and carbed with the stock Festiva carb plus some modifications to the carb. This car was also a winner against a very strong opponent, a Pontiac running a Quad 4 engine. The Festiva was smoking during the race, (but won) and afterward a bunch of us motorheads got together to try to figure out why it was smoking. The best we could determine was that the timing was so far advanced that the engine was pinging causing the pistons to vibrate in the cylinders and allow oil past the rings. We retarded the timing and checked for internal damage. There was no damage and it never smoked again with less timing advance.
The following year we were still using the '90 model Festiva with the B6, but this would be its final year. One very dusty afternoon the Festiva was involved in a multiple vehicle wreck in which it rolled down over the back stretch bank and came to rest on it's roof. An idiot rookie driver that had started in the back came upon the dust clouded wreck and thought he was Cole Trickle and never lifted. He ended up driving down over the bank because he couldn't see where he was going. He hit the overturned Festiva so hard that he rolled the Festiva back over onto its wheels and he came to a stop facing head on to it. You can see his stopped car in the video. This was the beginning of the "beating" the Busch driver had told my son about. He wasn't seriously injured, but did say that the guy hitting him while he was upside down hurt worse than rolling.
The roll over of the '90 Festiva finished its racing career and we then used a '91 with a B6-ME and a factory fitted carbed intake from an Australian Ford Laser for our new car. We had now been using the Escort carb for a while. The Woodhull Raceway in Woodhull, New York started a 4 cylinder FWD division and we were there for their inaugural race in 2006. We finished second behind a 2004 Chevy Cavalier that was sponsored by a junk yard. The junk yard had acquired the late model car because it had been rolled and declared "totaled". They pounded the roof out and sent it racing. Woodhull is a very well maintained track with nice high banking. If it wasn't such a long tow, we would have gone there more often. The announcer gave the Festiva the nickname of "the box rocket". Below is the complete video of that race.
Ace High Raceway Near Monroeton, PA had been closed for several years and only ran an occasional special race. On one of those special occasions, we took the old '89 car there to run. The track was not well maintained and the night time lighting was terrible. Someone remarked that the lighting was like a bunch of flashlights taped to some poles. Since that time the track has been purchased and renamed Dunn Hill2 and is well maintained by some very nice people. We ran a full 2010 season there except for the first and maybe second race of the season. This is the video from when it was still named Ace High.
http://www.jmflumber.com/xtrafiles/Ace High.mpg
We finally went to the B8-ME carbed and the first time on the track in the heat race the Festiva blew away the field. Below is that video.
Everything went along fine until 2009 when the Festiva was involved in one of the most spectacular crashes for a 4 cylinder FWD ever seen at the Clinton County Raceway.
The driver was sore for a couple weeks but did not suffer any serious injuries. http://www.jmflumber.com/xtrafiles/Flip.mpg
Below is the in-car view of the flip and the things that the spectators don't see from the grandstands. Watch the time counter on the video from the time the car comes to rest until the first track personnel is on scene. NASCAR should be so fast. Below the video is a picture of the car after the crash.
We went to the Mountain Speedway in St. John's, PA (in the Poconos) one year as spectators only, for a 4 cylinder Enduro Race. It is usually at least a 100 laps or more and no limit on the car count. There are no caution flags - only red and green. If you wreck, you are expected to recover and keep going. If you can't move and are in a situation where you could be hit and injured, then they will throw the red flag and everybody is supposed to stop and maintain their position on the track until the green flag is waved again. The only other time the race is stopped is when there is a massive wreck and the entire track is blocked. Mountain Speedway is holding one of these races on January 5, 2013 for anyone that wants to go. Below is a partial video of one of these races that we attended. No way was I going to put a Festiva out there in that.
http://www.jmflumber.com/xtrafiles/Pocono Enduro 4 cyl.mpg
We currently have 2 race cars left and one parts/Christmas deco car. We have the original '89 with a B6-ME and a '93 model with a B8-ME that replaced the totaled one in the major flip. We didn't race in 2012 and don't have any current plans for 2013.
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