John Heinricy/20th NCM

[Vetman]

The NCM 20 anniversary, August 27 - 31 was a great event. I flew in from Washington State and drove my rental Toyotaeach day to the event. Our Z's got significant recognition with the help of John Heinricy's induction into the Corvette Hall of Fame. There appeared to be nearly 1000 thousand in attendance at the banquet. John spoke for about one hour the next day in the theater at NCM and again on the following day and spoke about the "record run" at Fort Stockton. I asked him to speak about details on the run and what speeds they were actually running through the laps.

He stated their plan was to average 181 to 182 mph on each lap which meant they were going into the corners at each end of the track at 190 mph, foot on the floor and the corner would then pull car down below 181 but then it would slowly build back to the 190 point by the time the next corner would come up. He also indicated the 75% throttle opening was in place, but a throttle opening of 75% was delivering most of the power. 100% only gained about 2 to three miles per hour at the top end.

John was an engineer for GM for many years, but also was a major player in corvette racing during this time. He loved racing the two Z's (blue one's) indicating they were eventually ban from some of the racing events due to the feeling they were just too fast thus giving drivers an unfair advantage back in the day.

One interesting fact John spoke to was the fact that the L-98 car that was doing the record run with the LT-5 was pulled after six to seven hours because there was a problem with the "cam bearing sprocket" and the car was brought in. (I had never heard that the car developed an engine problem but rather that it was just time to fly it to Europe) He then said that this was okay because it was about time to ship the car over to the Geneva car show in Europe. Makes me wonder if push rod engines even now could withstand the 24 + hours at WOT??? Long live the King!

I will be driving my 90 Z to the gathering in May (25 anniversary) and look forward to doing some laps at the Motor Sports Park. (beautiful set-up) Guess the exact date for this event is on hold. Should know soon the exact days according to David. Hope to meet some members / Z owners there. Not a lot happening on the West coast.

[JThomas]

Thanks for posting. I was in attendance at John's induction to the Hall of Fame. It was great to see him be inducted and represent the ZR-1 and of course the Grand Sport too. He is an awesome driver! We are fortunate here in Michigan to have him come out to an event from time to time. His presentation was informative, just as you said. He is a true gentleman and a legacy to Corvette's history.