David Jalen's Formula Ford effort at the 2003 Valvoline Runoffs National Championship at Mid-Ohio Raceway, Ohio Valley Region SCCA, Mansfield Ohio.
Photographs by Tom Duncan
BACKGROUND:
David Jalen had long been encouraged to participate in the Valvoline Runoffs National Championships in the Formula Ford class by his 83-year-old father (and principal crew person) Henry. He decided that 2003 was the year to do it, and won the Northern Pacific Division Championship on the way to earning an invitation.
Rough weather during the flight to Columbus, Ohio on the way to the Mid-Ohio Raceway venue meant the loss of one day of testing which put David behind the learning curve that he had hoped for. He had never seen the track before. However, the car was mostly trouble free for the week and David was able to improve his times every session except one (due to wheel failure), although he was disappointed to not get into the 1:31's.
Reasonable goals were set for his effort, David feeling if he could finish mid-pack he would be satisfied. Depending on how you look at the stats, 27 cars entered and participated (at least taking qualifying times...only 26 took the start) so the 14th car in line at the finish would be mid-pack, and that is where David ended up, 14th. Starting 23rd, a spinning car in front of him at turn 9 on the first lap put him very near dead last, but he passed a few cars and watched others take themselves out to end up right at his goal.
Henry comes to all the races with David. They work very closely together, and that contributes to the teams success. Seeing David without Henry or vice versa is an odd sight. Henry suffered a series of strokes some time back and as a result his day-to-day life has been affected, but he understands his limits very well and is a classic team player. Amazingly, he never seemed to tire of the long days at the track for this event. I hope I can do so well at 83.
David's fiancee Felicia Chappell flew out on Thursday to join the team. Racing is a bit new to her, but David's dedication and commitment have impressed her. After finding the people who inhabit the paddock are somewhat different (and more appealing) than what she imagined, she is now quite at home at the track and is a welcome addition, a quick big smile always at the ready.
David has been racing in the San Francisco Region of the SCCA in the Formula Ford class for 6 years with first a Van Diemen and then his current Swift DB-1. Prior to that he ran in Spec Ford for 9 years with the same Van Diemen. Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca, Infineon Raceway (Sears Point), and Thunderhill are the Region's tracks. He started his racing career autocrossing (what is called Solo II today) and then graduated to the Russell School series before coming to SCCA. In 2002 David was the Regional Champion in both Formula Ford and Formula B. He and Henry were always busy in the paddock that year.
In many ways Team Jalen (my label) is a classic grass-roots racing effort. He still has an open trailer, and until recently towed with an old Bronco. He occasionally gets professional advice, but like many of the drivers seems to mostly learn about his sport by thinking about what he is doing, some trial and error, and discussions with the rest of the drivers. He does most of the work on his car himself, his hand-eye coordination skills as a dentist likely translating well to wrenching (or maybe it was the other way around). With his father as a companion and crew person, it almost could be a Norman Rockwell painting. And you know what? He wins.
When on track with David, I always know that he rarely does anything stupid, that he is completely aware of what is going on around him, and that he is fast, precise, and fair. We once raced side-by-side, wheel-to-wheel, through the entire esses (7 thru 8a) complex at Sears Point/Infineon Raceway, and I never had any doubt that we would both come out in one piece.
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All photographs and text copyright 2003 by Tom Duncan
Email: TomD@Oddog.com
This page updated 10/08/03