by Wendell Strode
Executive Director, National Corvette Museum
| When my eyes open, I am sure that it is near
5:30 am and time to get ready for our 57.5 mile journey to Gate 73 and where my wife, Jan,
and I are assigned to work the PE 100. I turn the light on and it is 2:21. I just can not believe it as my body...with all the excitement it has developed from 30 hours of talking about Corvettes, the PE 100, the speeds some of the drivers planned to average, the course, meeting new friends....my body is ready. I lay back down and think, "you are not even driving or navigating so why are you so excited?" Regardless, I am excited and it continues to build. Finally, 5:30 am - I put on the weather channel, look out the window and it is very cloudy. I shower, shave, put on my PE 100 T-shirt, blue jeans, socks, shoes, cap, check to make sure that my wrist band survived my tossing and turning and borrow the extra roll of toilet paper from the motel room....just in case. |
The Pony Express 100 is a road race held twice each year in Nevada on a closed section of Route 305. Anyone can enter the race, though there are some minimum requirements for car speed and all entrants must meet stringent safety requirements. Drivers can drive solo or with a navigator as they wind their way through the 42 curves of the course, which is just shy of 100 miles long. Most drivers are assigned to a speed class. Race officials calculate the time it should take to reach the finish line without exceeding the class' top speed. Winners finish as close to the calculated time as possible, without arriving too quickly and getting disqualified for speeding. Radar at checkpoints along the way ensures that each driver stays below the maximum speed set for the class. Now, there is no top speed for the cars in the unlimited class, so for them, the PE 100, as it's commonly abbreviated, is just an all-out "go as fast as you can" race. Learn more about the PE 100 and the NCM by contacting Wendell Strode. |
As Jan and I drive down, several other course workers are already positioned. We honk and wave - most wave back. We meet 5 Corvettes and guess they are doing an early morning practice. We wave and no one waves back - I conclud their mind is on something other than someone waving from a green Jimmy.
There are places where the road has washed from the hard rain the night before. The Highway Department has a crew that is cleaning everything off the road.
We arrive at our spot about 7:15 am. We set up our chairs and begin the task of waiting. It is a cool morning. The clouds are overcast but thinning.
We are on about a 10 foot high bank and have a great view of about a mile to the north and the same to the south. To the south are snow covered mountains and also to the southeast.
Six cars pass by on their way to their stations. Time begins to drag.
I walk around our area and see an old soda pop can, an old glove, some bottles, an ant hill (the hill looks like fertilizer), old box springs, a cable wire and some buffalo chips. I imagine what stories may be behind some of them.
As I wander around, I remember that it is Sunday and spend some quiet time remembering my God, my family, my church revival that is beginning that night, and ask for a safe race for the drivers.
I go back to my chair. My mind begins to think about NCM and some of the discussion that have taken place over the last couple of days. How do we touch more enthusiasts out West?
There are cows behind us and being the farm boy I am, I wonder just what are they eating as I am used to Kentucky fescue as pasture grass. I wonder if I had one of Daddy's tractors and a turning plow that would go about 2 feet deep, would the dirt then be the type that you grow vegetables, grain or something besides tumbleweed and whatever else that other bush is. It is obvious that I am still a hillbilly and a farm boy and getting bored.
I decide to do a radio check and push in and say, "This is Gate 73 doing a radio check. Can anyone out there hear me?" I get no response. The radio appears to be dead. Almost instantly my mind flashes to a time in Vietnam when this happened. I am again reminded of the importance of communications. We hope that we will not need the radio and begin to think of alternatives we will use if necessary. Another quiet time and a plea for a safe race.
The time is now 9:05 am. We wonder if there are any problems at the start line. We guess at the time we will see the first car. I guess 9:20 and Jan guesses 9:25.
The sun is now out, it is getting warmer and it looks like a great day for a race.
9:19 - Two planes fly by very low. We are sure that is a sign. We become still and quiet. We listen intently as we anticipate the first car. It is so quiet that just moving our feet provides a distraction. A fly appears and interrupts our straining to hear. We are looking north at the curve they will come around as the cars emerge from a canyon with hills in the backgound.
9:40 - Jan gets up and walks around. I do another radio check with no response. I go back to my chair. A big black bug, over one inch long, comes crawling by. It reminds me of a Viper I saw yesterday - kinda going in any direction with no real purpose.
9:50 - We hear a noise. We cannot tell if it is a car or a plane or both. The noise gets louder and we conclude it is a plane. Disappointment sets back in as we begin the anticipation game again.
The plane circles and heads back north. We hope that is a good sign. The plane disappears over the the canyon and the noise is gone.
But wait - there is a different noise. Coming around the curve is a red car coming right us. We stand up! We can tell that it is a Corvette. And ZOOM it is passing right in front of us. We wave but they are already past. We realize the PE 100 has started. We watch it until it goes over the small hill to the south.
We think how appropriate for the first car to be a Corvette. It is red, white and blue and we think how patriotic that is. We learn later that it was going about 210 MPH when it went by. What an experience!!
The time is 9:54. At 9:59 the second car comes around the curve...but wait, there are two of them - a red car and a white car. The red car passes the white car right in front of us.
I am so concerned about safety that I do not even notice what type car they (except I do know they are not Corvettes).
About every 2 minutes a car comes by. A black Camaro, a red Corvette, a purple Corvette and we watch from the time they round the curve at the north canyon end until they top the hill at the south end.
Planes flying back and forth, as they take TV footage of the cars in the curves at the canyon, become a regular occurrence.
Every car passing is a story to itself. At one point we see two semi's coming our way and they are side by side as they go by. It appears the faster one gets just a little off the road while going about 110 MPH.
It appears that about half of the cars that pass are Corvettes. The Corvettes pass us by with such ease and eagerness. They remind me of thoroughbred horses - just doing what they were bred and raised to do and loving every minute of it.
Other cars seem to be participating only because someone forced them. They appear to be tired and struggling as they strive to reach the finish line.
As each Corvette passes by, something inside of you gives us a feeling of kinship to the driver, the navigator and to the car. This feeling emerges even though we have not even met each of them. We sense building inside of us, along with all the other excitment, a humbling pride that circumstances have permitted us to be affiliated with the Corvette family.
The time is going by ever so fast now. Our appetite for a different car is quickly met and minutes have turned into hours. All to soon the race is over. We finalize plans for the ride back. Both Jan and I agree that we hope we can return next year and again be course workers. Jan hopes that someone will offer her a ride during testing the day before, as she wants to experience life at 180.
As we drive back we reflect on the first night and meeting many at the reception - having dinner with the ZR1NET group, getting to know them on an individual basis, receiving a nice contribution from Bruce and Carolyn Wolfe, and working on Saturday with volunteers who helped us sell NCM merchandise and raised $570 (Thank You).
We realize the significance of stronger and improved relationships with Corvette enthusiasts everywhere and expanding Team NCM. We think of the importance of making the mission of the NCM a reality and the impact this will have on future generations. We hope somehow to convey that everyone has a role in that mission. Our accomplishments will astound us. It has been, indeed, a grand time for us and we encourage others to experience this either as a driver, navigator or course worker.
So, what was it like to drive in the PE 100? Read A Winner's Story.
Copyright 1997 Barbara Spear