Norman Nelson

two of their one of a kind Minis were totally destroyed with nothing salvagable. Nelson went on, “We lost our salute to the Veterans, Mini Eagle and our short wheelbase Mini Chiquita that had just came back from being updated. It was a crazy time for us at Old Shasta, the positive for us was even though we lost the house, our garage where our other cars were stored survived without a scratch. I don’t know if it was me feeling sorry for myself and needing to cheer myself up but I got on the phone to Shawn and after a bit of haggling I bought Fireball and Shawn threw in the enclosed trailer that is painted similar to the car itself.” So what is the story behind Fireball?

Engine Spec

1310cc A-Series engine 1275 .040 Performance Piston Set Fortech center main caps strap Nitrided Performance Crankshaft for hot street or competition use. Vandervell main, rod and cam bearings Elgin 268/278 Hot Street cam ARP racing rod bolts ARP racing head bolts 123 electronic billet distributor Pertronic coil Billet Golan’s billet fuel filter 11 LBS steel racing flywheel AP Racing clutch Mini Sport aluminum radiator

Gearbox Spec

4 speed syncro box Straight cut drop gears Rod change kit fitted Quick Shift kit

Fireball really gets its distinctive look from the Fortech GT Mini flares which are normally just seen on racetracks. Made famous by the Fortech Minis of Mike Kearney and driven by Doug Peterson these wide arches can accommodate large width wheels in many diameters. In Fireball’s case the wheels are 13” x 7” Sierra Pacific three-piece racing wheels currently fitted with 175/50-R13 Yokohama A048 tires. Fortech also provided one of their GT air dams to finish off the front end of Fireball perfectly for an aesthetic and aerodynamic solution.

pair of Recaro seats matched with Sparco full harness belts locate both the driver and passenger.

The chassis was upgraded with Spax lowered suspension, a poly bush kit and brake updates. Maintaining the disc front end, drum rear set up, 8.4 inch rotors along with red four pot alloy calipers from Kent Auto Developments were fitted to the front end, while Superfin alloy drums are fitted to the rear. Braided brake hoses, pads and shoes along with upgraded brake fluid complete the brake package.

Because Life’s too Short to Play it Cool!

While Fireball is set up to look like a race car it has some nice touches, a classic dash equipped with the typical gauges required for a Mini. The interior is finished with door panels that have flamed inserts and billet window winders as seen in the photo to the right. For those of you for those of you who know Norm and I, you understand that while we work hard on the magazine, we also like to play hard. So, during the part of our trip we decided to build a faux advert using Norm’s new Mini, Fireball and the Louisiana produced cinnamon whisky of the same name. The label on a bottle of Fireball whisky includes a fire breathing dragon and what better match for a product like that then a fire breathing and flamed Mini Cooper. Norm just happened to have at hand many miniatures and a few bottles of that amber coloured nectar lying around which helped us set up the shot. So where we imbibing while we were doing this, we’re not seeing anything on the grounds we may incriminate ourselves. But we had fun setting up the shoot. Norm and Jesse’s new workshop lent itself to a garage setting photos shoot especially with a British sports car on the lift behind Fireball. Because of the work setting we wanted to remind everybody about drinking responsibly and to that end Jesse just happen to have a black board that we could set up at the side of the shot to remind everybody how important that fact is. And the image you see at the left is what we came up with. The speech baloon on the floor was edited to look like we had written in chalk on the floor. And how about the discrete things like the minatures on the table and Fireball Whisky flag hanging off the car lift. And yes we had fun, hic!

Mari Miller’s Diary

I’ve raced or taught on road tracks throughout the Eastern USA, but this would be my first experience on the track at Watkins Glen. I didn’t give it much thought until we pulled up to the main gate, and the awe and grandeur of the track became real. I now understood why it was known as the Mecca of North American road racing. Watkins Glen track has banking, and substantial elevation changes along it’s 3.4 mile course. I’ve raced courses that are the same size, but banking and the 57 foot elevation going up the Esses would be a challenge. I race a 1966 Mark 1 Mini Cooper S, “Bridget” as we call her is an all original Mini with the exception of the safety equipment added per the Vintage Racing regulations with a 1293 cc BMC engine (we are allowed to bore 20 over per regulations). She weighs in at her original weight of 1300 lbs, and can red-line at 9300 rpm. Bridget is definitely a beast on the track, and Watkins Glen would test her and my abilities. Thursday would be our first scheduled practice session, and I will admit I was a little nervous getting out on the track. First couple laps around I was learning braking points, apexes and the flow of the track. I was the newbie on the track, and had lots to learn. Fortunately