The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Seattle International Raceway was hot over the Fourth of July weekend. Especially for race car drivers from Sisters.

Curt Kallberg, Jeff Taylor and Eric Dolson, joined by stablemate Randy Blomquist, formerly of Bend, went to the Pacific Northwest Historics to race against cars from all over the Northwest.

John Goodman, of Seattle, was waiting.

Thousands of fans wandered through the paddock, looking over about 250 cars, from delicate Catherhams to the fire-belching, ground-pounding Corvettes. Goodman's Corvette, with at least 427 cubic inches of power, was in its patriotic glory, painted red, white and blue. Lurking under the hood was A Mystery Motor.

Kallberg had been quietly busy over the winter as well, putting together his own new "427," The Unknown and The Unspoken. A mighty engine housed in an unassuming "taxi cab" yellow '67 Corvette with the disarming license plate that reads, "Run, Forrest, Run."

Dolson's '69 Corvette sat low, a black and yellow vaguely sinister car exuding intent, lean and ready.

Blomquist's '69 coupe was in quicksilver, with flares and stubs where wings had been removed from when the car ran a legal race over the roads of Nevada at 196 miles per hour. Blomquist had been working for months to make the car ready for the road course in Seattle.

Qualifying on Friday was short. The drivers were quick. Dolson landed in first, Kallberg second, Blomquist in third, with local favorite, Goodman, in fourth.

When Friday's race began, Blomquist dropped back because of mechanical problems. Goodman moved up past Kallberg. Two laps from the end, Dolson thought he saw a yellow flag, and pulled into line behind a Jaguar. Either there was no yellow flag or it was not seen, and Goodman went by, followed by Kallberg. Dolson caught back up with Kallberg at the next lap, but Goodman owned the finish.

The rest of the field, cars with smaller engines, were further back, with the exceptional surprise of David Edelstein of Bellingham, Washington, who drove the wheels off his '67 Corvette roadster to keep the smaller car right up with the leaders.

Saturday began as another hot day. Someone had a pyrometer and measured heat off the asphalt at 136 degrees. The only shade was under the canopies that covered the cars, heat radiated from every surface.

When the green flag came down Goodman blasted off, with Dolson and Kallberg in pursuit. Goodman had put on new tires, Dolson and Kallberg were running year-old rubber. It was no contest. Goodman walked away from the field, Dolson in lame pursuit, Kallberg having an interesting battle with Edelstein.

In the race on Saturday afternoon, Kallberg took matters into his own hands. He went right by Dolson and after Goodman with no holds barred. He went right, couldn't get by. He went left. It was like a short length of string separated the first two cars, left turn and right, mile after mile. Kallberg pressed harder and harder. Goodman could not get the yellow car off his bumper. Tires got hot, then they got soft, the race was only two-thirds over.

Dolson hung back, hoping the two leaders would wear each other out, make mistakes and open the door. That was only half successful. With about two laps to go, after Turn 6, Kallberg made a move on Goodman at a section of track that heads uphill after an odd left-right-left set of turns. He stuck his nose in and put down the power. Goodman shut the door on him and Kallberg spun, his car facing backward on the track. Dolson shot around the back of Kallberg's car and went after Goodman, but the gap was again too large.

Goodman was dominating the weekend, with only one day to go.

Farther back in the pack, Jeff Taylor was driving the Rex Easly Studebaker in his third race ever. He had moved to within two seconds of his father Jerry's time in the car. Jerry was in the pits, acting as Jeff's crew chief and top lug nut specialist. They were working on small but persistent problems, a noise, an oil leak. Jeff was having a great time, and once again, the Studebaker was proving to be the favorite of crowds who never expected to see such an unlikely race car.

Blomquist worked tirelessly on problem after problem. Brakes. Throttle. The car was new to him. He needed to sort it out.

That night at dinner, the racers from Sisters plotted on how to end Goodman's grip on the weekend. They thought about how to get in front and slow him down, how to get in the head and rattle the leader, how to just be competitive.

When the green flag fell on Sunday, those plans remained in effect for about 3/10ths of one second, which was how long it took Goodman to get in front as the pack headed into the sweeping left-hand Turn 2. The cars lined out in the same order they finished the day before, and it looked like it was going to be a repeat.

Dolson decided to have nothing to do with that. He dogged Goodman, watching carefully for any pattern of mistakes, pushing the leader, trying to get him to lose concentration. Finally it happened, Goodman bobbled slightly and went wide just after Turn 6, the same place Kallberg tried to take him the day before. Dolson made the move, fired past and lead Goodman into Turns 7 and 8, and not giving up the lead before the checkered flag fell.

In Seattle, the boys from Sisters, Oregon finished first and third. Taylor was out. Coming around Turn 8, a rear brake rotor failed on the Studebaker, split in two and landed on the track. After somewhat heated discussion with his crew chief, Taylor decided not to run the later session without brakes.

Originally the Oregon racers had debated leaving before the final race in the afternoon to make their six-hour haul back home. Those plans were canceled. There was one more race, and they were going to be in it. Kallberg wanted a win.

And Dolson knew that it might come at his expense. Dolson figured Kallberg would use his serious firepower to blast up on the left, so before the green flag came down, Dolson moved all the way left toward the edge of the pavement. But that was not Kallberg's plan. He intended instead to slice between Goodman and Dolson on the start.

When the green flag came down the three cars howled as they hurtled through the first slight right-hand turn and toward the wide left sweep of Turn 2. Dolson went deep inside and did not intend to give up position without a fight. Just as Kallberg got the nose of his car even with Dolson's right rear wheel, Goodman shut the door, squeezing Kallberg back into third as the three rounded Turn 2 and shot down the hill toward the quick hairpin turns known as 3A and 3B.

Kallberg knew he was in trouble. His tires, new on Friday, were already beginning to give up their grip. Goodman's tires were new that morning. Though he had one more race on them than Kallberg, Dolson had conserved his tires on Saturday.

At the bottom of the hill Dolson stuck his left front wheel in the dirt and rotated his car, allowing the wider and slower path to Goodman and Kallberg. On exit, Dolson decided to leave nothing in Seattle but a memory. He blasted out to the next section of track. If he could drive fast, and own the spot where Goodman needed to be in order to pass, he thought he would win.

Mile after mile Goodman and Dolson ran, left-right-left, hitting 160 miles an hour down the straight, picking off slower cars driven by drivers who knew they needed to be someplace else as the leaders threaded the needle between concrete walls, lurched sideways where the track was uneven in the turns. Goodman could not get by, despite trying to brake later, power down earlier. Dolson would not give him an opening. Kallberg stayed close, but could not close the gap.

Finally the checkered flag fell, and cars from Sisters, Oregon were again first and third in Seattle.

After the race, Kallberg went up to one of the Seattle racers to see if they would be coming down to Baxter's Portland Historic Races the following weekend.

"Yeah. I suppose," came the reply, "but we don't have anything for you guys."