Roger Garten’s bad Friday

Words and photos by Brian Losness

Roger Garten had not been having a great day Friday.  In the first qualifying session Garten made a troubled lap, going into the second and last session of the day unqualified.  Garten and the “War Horse” AA/FC team looked to really step up, and the car did until about the 1100 foot mark. Then a catastrophe for the SoCal team when they blew a motor and launched the body high above the track.

Roger took time to talk to DRO’s Nostalgia Editor, Brian Losness, Saturday morning after the incident.

DRO: Roger, first off, are you alright?

RG: Yeah, I’m fine, but the car is not fine, a bit sore but that is mostly in my wallet. (chuckles)

DRO: Is the car a write-off?

RG: I will have to “back-half” the chassis. I need to put the car on the (chassis) jig when I get home to make sure it is straight. The rear end housing broke when the car flew through the air after the body blew off. 

Sidebar continued here.

Chad Head (Michael Fischbeck photo)

Popular picks for setting low elapsed times in the field didn’t always materialize this year and some notable “players” in AA/FC competition failed to qualify for the legendary event. Probably most notable was DRO AA/FC Challenge 2011 National Champion John Hale and his Mike Burkhart Tribute Camaro. Hale blamed himself for his misstep in the first round of qualifying.

“I wasn’t holding the brake hard enough while staging and when I let out the clutch the car jumped forward an inch or so,” the Texan explained.

John Hale’s team at work.  (Michael Fischbeck photo)

It was just enough for Hale to leave before the timing system was activated. Later in qualifying, Hale said his first-round issue compounded and prevented his making the field, ending up in the 26th qualifying position with an uncharacteristic 7.145 elapsed time.