"Team Scrappy" was registered number 45 for the History Channel Great Race 2000. Steve was recently interviewed for an article to appear in the next GR newsletter "The Great Racer", talking about the car and what makes it unique. Rookie Steve Hedke of Saugus, CA said, "I'm the one who nearly hugged Tom when he announced in Anaheim last year the 2000 Race would include pre-1960 cars," Steve Hedke exclaimed.  "We are so excited about the Great Race 2000.  We've followed the race for years and are just as dedicated to it as NASCAR fans are to their event."  Steve and his navigator wife, Janet, joined the race in their 1957 Triumph TR-3. 

You can read about the their progress in daily news bulletins by clicking on the link below. CONGRATS ON A GREAT RACE STEVE & JANET!

http://www.britishpacific.com/great_race.html  

       Thanks to Barry and everyone from the TR2-4 'wetliner' website who followed our adventures on The History Channel Great Race 2000. While TR3's had participated in regional events before, this is the first time such cars had been eligible for the 'big' race. Director and organizer Tom McRae had realized cars such as the TR 'cut their teeth' on rally's just like this when they were new, but he might not have realized just how well suited the TR was for this event.

Most Americans are unfamiliar with European road rally's such as the Alpine or Monte Carlo (as originally run), or how important success in these popular contests were to the manufacturers. While Ford (US), Hudson, or Buick were far removed from building cars capable of excelling in these events, we all know what it meant to Standard-Triumph, and how much effort Mr. Richardson
put into the TS series to make it a winner. We had the 'unfair advantage' of knowing that a good TR, if driven well, would be tough to beat. We were right. First, the Great Race is in it's 18th year as an event, and is well regarded internationally. The route changes every year, and the statistics are
impressive: over 100 antique and classic cars competing for over $250,000 in prizes, driven over 4,000 miles, on all kinds of roads (many just plain bad) and in every type of weather. Spectator attendance is conservatively estimated at 300,000, and each car is required to attend the equivalent of 30 car shows over the two week run. 600 people, from support teams to race officials, are required to take this event through America's heartland. At the prescribed one minute intervals, it would take a farmer sitting on his lawn tractor over an hour and a half to watch all the racers pass by!

In the past, the competition was open to any vehicle built pre-1951. This year, it was opened further to add sports and racing cars, plus motorcycles, up through 1959. Scrappy, being a '57, was therefore one of the newest cars ever to compete in the Great Race. To make the competition more equal, there is an age factor applied to the year model of the car, giving the advantage to the oldest competitors. In case of a tie, the oldest car gets the win. Scrappy had a .97 age factor applied to it's times, practically nothing. To beat a 1934 car with an age factor more like .5, our scores had to be much better to win, which is completely fair.

The 'race' is really a Time-Speed-Distance road rally, with route instructions being clear (no tricks). Speeds are at or below posted speed limits, and timed sections are usually on two lane backroads. The route has an ideal time, based on a computer model. The closer you get to the ideal time, the lower your score. :03 off, either early or late, is a very good score for any particular timed leg. An average day's competition would include 4 legs of about 2 hours each, with transit sections in between to accommodate gas, pit, or lunch stops. If you had an :03 for each of the 4 legs that day, your score would be :12. If that were the lowest score for the day, you would win that day's first place (pays money). A leg score of :00 (perfect) also earns an 'Ace', a sticker to put on the car like a kill
marker, signifying your expertise for all to see. The maximum score for any leg is 2 minutes, assuming the leg is completed (not a DNF). Scores of over one minute accrued error for the day are effectively out of the money. The other Great Racers are very good at what they do, and while friendly, the competition is tough.

Here's the trick: you have only a speedometer (no odometer or tach), clock (analog, not digital), your route instructions, and a pencil. That's it. If the route instructions says maintain 35 mph from this sign for 22 minutes, that's what you do. The computer assumes you are traveling exactly 35 at the 35 MPH sign, even if you were at a dead stop. Therefore, you create a performance chart which tells you how many seconds it takes to get your car from 0 to 35. If it takes :06 seconds to go 0-35, you start :06 earlier to account for acceleration time. See how easy it is?

Now let's say you have to maintain 35 mph, but the terrain is undulating. If your car can't hold 35 on the grade, you have to go faster on the other side to balance it. Let's make it worse: the start sign is on a grade, meaning your rate of acceleration to 35 mph might take longer. Worse yet: you have a
three speed transmission, and 35 mph is too high for second, but too low for third, especially on a grade. Even worse: your flathead Ford V8 can do 35 in third on a grade, but it's overheating. The kicker; for that 22 minutes you run into all of the above! That's the kind of challenge the Great Race is.

Clearly, a car that will simply do whatever speed you need, and hold it's rate of acceleration or deceleration the same, would be a big advantage. Ruggedness and reliability is also key, since you can't win if you don't finish. The car has to be equally good on the highway as on mountain roads,
in driving rain or desert heat, as the ideal time doesn't care about loose gravel, leaky windshields, or potholes. Long downhill descents can't burn up brakes. And the occupants need to be decently protected, since their ability to calculate is paramount, and if they are fighting fatigue as well as the
route, they end up exhausted losers.

Scrappy is basically a stock disc braked '57 with overdrive on the top 3. The only modification from stock was an 89mm kit, permitted under the rules, and a TR4 fan. She was also equipped with a special electronic speedometer that uses magnetic pick ups and a stepper motor for greater accuracy (most cars run such units). The rest was all pretty much as new, including the tires. You are required to run period correct rubber, and Scrappy has a set of Michelin X 155/15's, just like she came with. I was a little apprehensive running such narrow tires, especially in the rain, but they handled everything very well and were very consistent (tire diameter can change with temperature, throwing off your speedo accuracy).

Far from being a nice original car, Scrappy was a real junker. Like many TR's she was rode hard and put away wet, and most of it was non standard to say the least. Most of the race prep was just putting things right.

A stock TR, in good running order and with attention paid to those areas you know are potential problems, is definitely the right tool for the job. Scrappy would do whatever speed I wanted, get there right now, hold it under any conditions, then get down just as well. The only weakness was the rear shocks: next time I think we'll go to the gas tube type conversions, as the levers just couldn't hack it on hours of rough roads.

Of course it leaked in the heavy rains. Kept most of it out. Oil leaks? Sure, I had a nagging one from the timing cover: despite a new seal and speedisleeve it blew a thin film on to the downpipe, which was wrapped with header tape. Made a nice cloud of smoke at each stop. Used 1.5 quarts of Mobil 1 15W-50 in 4,000 miles. Electrical trouble? Only one, and I caused it.

The best part is that Scrappy made an impression; the other racers noticed. We had no 2 minute legs through the whole race. Without the age factoring our score was good enough for third overall. The TR was always passing them on hilly transits, and only putting in $5 of gas at a time. Our seating position, while low, at least looked comfortable (it was, we worked on that).

The race requires a good driver, navigator, and car. The car is completely capable of handling anything thrown at it. My wife has proven to be a really good navigator. All I had to do was get her ready and make her do what the navigator wanted. I don't think you could have a better car for GR than a TR. There are faster ones, more historic ones, even prettier ones, but none better.

I think Ken Richardson would have said 'of course, had you any doubts?'

We should be able to run Scrappy next year as well, this time from Atlanta (Olympic Village) to Pasadena (close to home).

The History Channel's special on the race airs August 4, 8:00 PM eastern/pacific, and there will be an article in "Triumph World".

Yes, at each stop at least 10 people said they used to have one, with some amusing variations. One lady racer said 'be sure to have the hood locks down or the hood might fly over your head' certainly, she proved she had one! One guy had three at one point (none running), and a Doctor in Grand Island brought me a collection of books and parts he had around and wanted me to have. Scrappy was popular at every stop, and despite the large number of very interesting and historic cars, there was always someone who said they liked the TR best of all.

I'm convinced that either 100,000,000 TR's were built, or each has had 50 owners...

TR's are not something to 'settle for'; if you want a winner, they are something to aspire to.

cheers, and thanks again!

Steve & Janet Hedke
Team Scrappy

Photo caption: October 1, 2000, Steve Hedke and Scrappy at Santa Monica Airport, in front of the Museum of Flying's operational Hawker Hurricane. Scrappy in full Great Race 2000 regalia, including the 6 'ace' winged stickers awarded for legs with 0, perfect scores.

Also in October, Great Race ran it's "Cactus Derby" a 3-day regional event run through the southwest deserts of California, Nevada, and Arizona. Team Scrappy regretfully had to bypass Triumphest that weekend in order to test modifications done as a result of running the 2000 Great Race. The effort was successful, and Team Scrappy, now moved into the hotly contested 'Sportsman' class, won the Trophy Run (Sportsman division) with a raw score (before age factoring) that matched last year's GR winners!

Scrappy is entered in the 2001 Great Race, having won the entry fee for winning the rookie class in 2000. 2001 runs from Atlanta, Georgia (Olympic Park) to Pasadena, California. The race starts June 17, and ends June 30. To check out the race route, go to the Great Race site: <greatrace.com>. We are going to be in the largest division, but we are hopefull we will score
well.

Scrappy is about to undergo a lower end rebuild and have her suspension beefed up a bit, mostly for ground clearance. And we hope to pick up some more HP with a fresh 260 cam. This year's race runs through the Smokies, Ozarks, and the Rockies, perfect terrain for TR's! We improved our times in the Sierras last year, and we know the Million Dollar highway well.

Once again Team Scrappy will run a daily website log during the race. We hope to see TR fans along the route, so if you're close by, come on out!

Steve & Janet Hedke
Saugus, California
1957 TR3
"Scrappy"