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Show Page 1C North Edition Lakeside Review Wednesday, July 27, 1983 Janice Barlow took a written test in high school that showed she had an aptitude for mechanics. The test wasnt necessary though, because a more practical aptitude test for Janice had been conducted on the streets. After football games, we used to drive down the Boulevard. My friends would be looking at boys in the cars and Id be looking at their engines. And, at 41 much of Janices life still involves cars. Nothing as docile as repairing them; too calm, not enough action. To be precise, and Janice is, she races 1205cc unit is fed by twin DHLA-4- 0 De-llro- to with 28mm chokes, and with 12.5:1 compression from its ported and polished competition heads puts out 115 horses at es 8,000 rpm. Right. The suspension? cipher this. ' De1 This little beastie is stopped h solid discs up front, by while the rear binders are from 8.5-inc- a and have finned aluminum drums. The strut inserts are by ar Mac-Phers- Carrera, while the rear shocks are Spax units. Firestone slicks on Revolution Beta mag wheels complete the package. Understandably, Janice does Her head takes that trip on only the minor maintenance weekends during good work, like changing the spark : weather, usually at Hill Air plugs. Force Base in Sunday races Because of the expense and " ; ' sponsored by the Hill Sports Car the commitment of purchasing Club, of which she is a member. the car, Janice debated about The trip on her head draws going into the prepared class. ; . its life from one question and But the car, which was designed one answer. You ask yourself and built by a genius in San was avj at the first of the race, Are you Francisco, Rick Hines, a at ailable good price and really good enough to do this? it. Janice bought says Janice, and if you win, you say Yea, you really are. Jahices mother, Fern McNally, who knew first hand Janice has asked the question of Janices love for cars and often in her career in came to Janices Layton racing, ; not the always receiving racing, to take a look at the car. home preferred answer, but asking the question nevertheless. I thought you were going to outgrow this, she told Janet. her-; Janice was even asking self the question when she fin-- ; Outgrow it? Never, says ished last in the National Auto- - Janice. Its too much fun, too cross Championships at Dallas, much of a challenge, and she is Texas in 1979. Her motor home too successful at it. Besides, broke down 800 miles from Dal-- ; why give up a car that looks like las, and she had to drive her it is owned by Felix Unger and .stock, Datsun 1200, her race cleaned with a rocker arm of its car, on to Dallas. She was tired life? by the time she arrived, and Her family is also involved in blew both of her runs at the ' the racing. Janices track. son, Jeff, helps her at the track But J anice came back in 1980, and wants to try racing when he winning the nationals in Salina, is older. Her husband, Jay, and Kan., in the same Datsun 1200, daughter, Patti, are also under-- . ,'which is also the one she drives standing about her racing. ; to work. They excuse the messy house for a few days, Janice says. Her racing career underwent ' a major change last fall when But precision racing is not ; she bought a new prepared just an excuse for Janice to get out of the house. It isnt a casual ; Datsun 1200, one that she cant a car so pre-- . housewife hobby as in Girls, drive to work pared it is difficult to explain, lets get together this weekend ; especially if your knowledge of and race. cars doesnt go past the ignition : No, Janice often races even key and the gas pedal. up with men, and beats them : Heres how one trade while driving a car through magazine described it: The short, maze-lik- e course, often . cars around precision courses with turns as sharp as Mr. Spocks ears. A real trip on your head, is how Janice de-- : scribes it. 1 1 . 20-ye- ar , 5 ! .traveling 60 mph in the straight aways. To prepare herself for the race, Janice gets in the car before shes scheduled to race and starts drawing a mental picture of the course. I go around the course in my mind. Everybody who does this (race) well, does this. After traveling through the course mentally, Janice begins to do it physically and, if things go right, she says she feels like she is driving in slow motion. After the race, youre doing one of these, she says as she .shakes her hands nervously. Youre just pumped up. Its a high, but not a danger- ous one. Ive only seen a couple of minor accidents, says Janice. Every 10 years youll see someone Hip over or they may spin out. Or, another racer put it, We dont trade chrome and paint out here. After the race, Janice pulls out her version of a black book. Like a baseball manager who keeps track of each hitter, Janice writes about every course she runs. In a sport where championships are determined by tenths of a second, 4ny advantage a racer gets, she takes. She makes notes of mistakes she has made on. the course, areas where she could have punched the gas pedal a little more braked a little softer. Its a meticulous process, but one that pays off. This precision, this ability to accomplish a task with few mis- takes is something that spread into Janices work as a program analyst at Hill. Im very precise,. thorough and dedicated, Janice says in a manner. When I decide to do something I get right into and do it. She doesnt look like a person who would make such bold statements about intensity and precision. Janice smiles easily a person confiand happily dent in what she is doing. And she plans to continue driving race cars until she can no longer push a gas pedal. I told Jeff the other day, Youre going to jiave to help me into the car with my cane. Cruisin geriatric style on a precision race course. Story By Kent Somers Photos By Dan Miller i 1 ? - v |
