Indy pole day

I took the family to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Old National Armed Forces Pole Day for the upcoming Indianapolis 500. Ed Carpenter took the pole for the second consecutive year as the final qualifier in the Fast Nine Shootout with a four lap average of 231.067 mph.








































This isn't your average Corvette. It is a technology demonstrator and was driven around the track by Sam Schmidt, who was left a quadriplegic after a testing crash in January of 2000. Sam has stayed active in racing since the accident as a team owner, and everyone greatly enjoyed seeing him being able to get back out on the track.

YRT project

This is a project I've been kicking around for some time. I'm ready to start doing some work on it, although not much will be done until the DT1 racer is finished. It is a '67 Yamaha YR1 frame with a '68 YR2 tank. This bike originally had a 350cc twin, and I'd decided to go with a single. I had a spare 250cc engine, but picked up a '73 RT3 360cc engine for it, so it will be a YR and RT mix, which is why I'll call it the YRT. It is fairly common to use an earlier piston port 250cc DT engine and later R5 chassis for 250 GP vintage racing, and this bike will be similar to those, but I think the bigger reed engine will make it more fun on the street. This should be a fun one. Engine mounting will be first, since it determines exhaust mounting and a few other things.

Here is a loose mock-up. It will be a 'parts bin special', so shouldn't cost too much. I might do a half fairing for it.

Saturday morning

I finished the bodywork on the new seat for the '75. Once I finish shaping the foam it'll be ready for paint and upholstery.

today