Over the 3rd weekend in April the conclusion to a new type of race format was run, the 10-lap “Enduro” for muscle cars. The idea was to run the fastest time possible for 10 laps-that’s a lot on a track the size of DC Mk IV!-with a “3 Strikes” rule in effect for all laps. The “sudden death” final lap was dispensed with, but with only 3 chances and 10 laps to traverse, the amount of skill needed was extreme, pushing the drivers to find the perfect balance between speed and stability.
The full fleet of 64 cars signed up for what was to be an entire week’s worth of racing, run after hours on weeknights with the final heats occurring over the weekend.
When The Final Battle finally arrived, it was an “underdog festival!” The 2 drivers that faced off were consistently amongst the highest fleet performers, but were also frequent bridesmades; “Low Flyer”, the gold 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 W-30 driven by Roy “Railbender” Ruskin, took the favored lane 1 against “Golden Dawn,” the gold 1966 Ford Mustang fastback of William “Werewolf” Ward in lane 2. The average 10 lap race time throughout the event was approximately 1.18.500; during the Final Elimination, Ruskin turned in a 1.13.558, beating Oscar “Outlaw” Obermann’s 1.14.305 in “The Landlord,” a red 1970 Chevy Chevelle SS454, while Ward turned in a 1.13.145 against a 1.14.049 set by Jason “Mr. Menace” Monroe in “Havoc”, the yellow 1970 Mustang Boss 302.
When the ultimate victory arrived, the times were nothing less than shocking! No one has seen performance like this since the Mk IV track was built; the skill involved in turning in these times with such primitive and powerful cars is almost beyond comprehension; these are some seriously talented drivers!
In his typically sullen manner, Ward’s only comment to the press was, “I always do whatever comes next…no matter how difficult it is!” *
HAIL “WEREWOLF” WARD, king of the “Enduro” for Spring 1984!
* = A special shout out to any reader who can name the movie that quote came from!
Man! This is one of your best posts yet and congratulations to the werewolf!!! This must have been some exciting races!!! The news print is a nice touch!!! Lots of cool details and planning! I love how you have pulled out all the stops 😉