F.A.S.T.

SOUTHEAST

Reply to: Ken Miller

40 Oakmont Lane

Greeneville, TN 37743

For Pictures of the Hill Climb Click Here

FIDDLERS AND FIDDLEHEADS 2008 HILL CLIMB

April 25, 2008

The afternoon of April 24 the sound of Ahooga and the cackling of the Model A engine filled the air in East Tennessee near the small town of Unicoi as Hill Climbers and hill climb watchers arrived from the states of FL, GA, SC, NC, TN, VA, KY, OH, IN and even NY.

Friday morning the weather was beautiful with bright skies and a predicted high of 80 degrees. The timing equipment was set up, cars re-fueled, helpers manned their stations, and cars started arriving to try their luck at taming Bluegrass Hill with its 10.5 % slope.

David Moore from Hixson, TN had his 1930 Coupe running great until he stopped before driving to the hill and pumped in some foul ethanol gas – his car barely made it to the hill. Betty Goebel in her 1930 Coupe again captured top honors in the S-1 class and defended her Queen of the Hill title from last year.

Newcomer Charles Currier was unchallenged in the S-2 class in his 1931 Tudor.

Dave Keplinger was the quickest car with his 1931 coupe in the ST-1 class.

The ST-2 class was won by Spencer Strickland in his 1929 Tudor, edging out Tony Chambers by a whisker or was that a mandolin string.

Spencer’s dad, Randall Strickland had his 1930 Pick Up roaring and blew away everyone except for a couple of Speedsters to capture the M-I class.

SP-1 was again the most populated class. Seth Sayler (Ken Miller’s 17 year old grandson) again proved the value of being young and lean as he raced to become King of the Hill. (Well, you see I had a little oil on my foot and it slipped on the pedal. I ate something that disagreed with me, someone tinkered with the car, the ………….). Shut up Ken you got beat!

George Vineyard brought his 1932 beautiful Sprint car and ran in the Historic class.

Ron Meister from Cleves, OH brought his 1930 Town Sedan and ran in Time Only class. Hey – Isn’t that a Model A? What’s he doing in the TO class? I hate to even type this but it has a Chevrolet (can I say that here?) 4 cylinder motor and an automatic transmission. It cruises smoothly on the Interstate but lacks low end torque for hill climbing.

Several people who normally attend our hill climbs were missing this year due to sickness or recovering from recent operations. When you look around at all the silver hair I guess that is to be expected. I am sure the price of gas convinced some to stay at home.

Friday evening we gathered at the Farmhouse Gallery and Gardens for a delicious barbeque dinner and the Awards presentations. Entertainment was provided by a group of Hill Climb drivers who had brought their instruments with them: Dave Keplinger, guitar; Greg Deal, banjo; Randall Strickland, guitar; and Spencer Strickland, mandolin. The winner of a 50/50 drawing was David Moore.

On Saturday morning the Model A’s joined with other antique cars at a car show at the Farmhouse Gallery and Gardens. Over 30 bands played Bluegrass, Gospel, and Country music to the delight of everyone.

The next Hill Climb is scheduled for September 5 in Morganton, NC in conjunction the Historic Morganton Festival. Read your F.A.S.T. newsletter for additional information.

This event was hosted by East Tennessee MARC with the Hill Climb conducted by F.A.S.T. Southeast.

FIDDLERS AND FIDDLEHEADS 2008 HILL CLIMB RESULTS

Car No.	Driver	Type Car	E.T.	M.P.H.
CLASS S-1
14	Betty Goebel	1930 Coupe	15.76	29.04
18	David Evans	1930 Coupe	16.03	29.40
12	David Moore	1930 Coupe	18.03	24.08
CLASS S-2
	Charles Currier	1931 Tudor	16.10	27.59
CLASS ST-1
11	Dave Keplinger	1931 Coupe	14.19	34.97
15	Wanda Daugherty	1931 Roadster	17.41	27.35
CLASS ST-2
17	Spencer Strickland	1929 Tudor	13.05	37.07
5	Tony Chambers	1930 Tudor	13.46	37.80
4	John Moseley	1930 Town Sedan	15.08	30.73
21	Jim Dunlop	1931 Tudor	15.84	30.24
CLASS M-1
6	Randall Strickland	1930 Pick Up	11.00	46.26
10	Buck Wellborn	1931 Roadster	13.29	37.95
CLASS M-2
7	Jesse Scott	1931 Town Sedan	13.34	37.34
8	David Young	1931 Tudor	14.47	33.47
CLASS SP-1
3B	Seth Sayler	1930 Speedster	10.51	50.08
16	Greg Deal	1929 Speedster	10.62	50.12
3	Ken Miller	1930 Speedster	10.78	49.32
24	Abbie Prince	1929 Speedster	11.70	42.99
97	Don Wathen	1929 Speedster	16.65	25.18
CLASS H
9	George Vineyard	1932 Sprint Car	11.85	43.21
CLASS TO
19	Ron Meister	1930 Town Sedan	18.53	26.10