Jim Pettengill
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Articles by Jim Pettengill
An introduction to open road racing | From the Archives
[Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the December 2000 issue of Grassroots Motorsports. Text has been left as it originally appeared in print.] Story by Jim Pettengill Silence. Nothing but cactus, sun and a faint buzzing of insects. You're waiting in a rest area along a deserted two-lane road in West Texas when a faint roar drifts to your ears from … This content is available for GRM+ members and Grassroots Motorsports magazine subscribers only.
2024 Classic Motorsports Empire State Tour: Day 4 recap
Get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and explore New York’s unique Finger Lakes region from behind the wheel of your favorite car? That’s the idea behind our inaugural Classic Motorsports Empire State Tour, taking place this week July 14-19. Today, July 18, marks the final day of the tour, though that doesn’t mean we’re winding down on the excitement.
Is a print magazine still worth the price in 2022? | Column
As we all know, prices have gone crazy. It’s certainly not the time to buy a house or a car. Still, life goes on, and sometimes you must stick your neck out and make a major purchase. Personally, I’m thrilled to see Chris Tropea, who runs our video department, buy his first home–and perhaps more importantly, now have a decent garage. We were recently unlucky enough to need a new refrigerator here at the Suddard household. Refrigerators now cost what I used to pay for a decent project car.
More On Plated Shot
Dear Technoid, There have been a couple of recent questions that involved nickel shot. Which is what prompts this question. I know that some of the manufacturers use copper and nickel plated shot, primarily for long range shells. My question is; has the technoid done any long range patterning with copper and or nickel plated shot? Is it worth the extra money? Is nickel, as I’ve read elsewhere, really better than copper? Thanks in advance, and keep up the good work.
What’s the worst fuel mileage you’ve gotten out of a road vehicle?
Don’t get us wrong, we like to see ourselves as smiles-per-gallon over miles-per-gallon people, but we can also appreciate not having to frequently stop for gas on longer drives and road trips. Perhaps not surprisingly, a number of you retold stories of fuel economy well below 10 mpg, even going so low as 2 mpg in some instances at the time of writing. Think you have a vehicle that gets even worse mileage?
What Number Do You Run on Your Car and Why?
Any rhyme or reason for those digits on your doors–or, maybe, fenders or end plates? Superstition? Remembering an icon? Just luck of the draw? Like what you're reading? We rely on your financial support. For as little as $3, you can support Grassroots Motorsports by becoming a Patron today. I've often requested the number 73. It was the number on my high school football jersey once I had been on the team long enough to get a permanent number and not whatever they handed out before game day.
whos-working-what-week | News | Grassroots Motorsports
Life seems to slow down during the week between Christmas and New Years, meaning one just thing: projects. So, what’s on your to-do list this week? And who here can use some inspiration (persuasion?) to get something on the list? Now's the time to spin some wrenches, knock out those lingering projects and, in general, make some progress, right? And I'll go first: I'm about to replace our thermostat with one of those fancy ones that talk to the cloud. Why? So we can adjust the temp when upstairs.
Word of the Day: Bob Sharp Racing
In 1965, Datsun awarded their East Coast race team to a relative upstart: Connecticut’s Bob Sharp Racing. In 1967, Sharp gave the brand their first SCCA national championship by winning the F Production race in a Datsun roadster. The driving roster–and the wins–would expand and include names like Sam Posey, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Tom Cruise, Scott Sharp, Paul Newman and Jim Fitzgerald. Mixed feelings here. Paul Newman would be the closest thing I ever had to a hero - 3 words Cool Hand Luke.
You Tell Us: How Do You Value the Bullitt Mustang, Something That’s One of One?
Photograph Courtesy Mecum Auctions Story by David S. Wallens • Photography as Credited Whether talking about a Capri or a Cobra, past sales usually hint towards tomorrow’s sale prices. But what about something that’s one of one? Two cars that will cross the Mecum block later this week fall into that category. We’ve seen the cars, discussed it with a few friends, and wonder what the rest of the class has to say on it. (This is where you comment at the end of this story.) Photography Credit: David S.
Hook me up with your knowledge: Cordless electric snowblowers| Off-Topic Discussion forum |
Okay, here's the situation, (parents went away on a week's vacation, and they left the keys to their brand new Porsche...) Ahem. Okay, here's the situation. My next door neighbor (retired) used to clear our driveway because he was a cool guy, and we also sent him cookies now and then. Sadly, he died this summer. Aside from all of the reasons that sucked beyond the scope of this thread, I will need to clear the drive myself.
Right Man, Right Place
By Jim Pettengill February 2018 • Wild West Magazine In his three decades as a Colorado lawmen Jesse Benton survived 21 shooting scrapes without a single mark Many lawmen in the Old West had short careers. Some served for a couple of years, others for mere months. One southwest Colorado lawman served his communities for more than 30 years. He was fearless, a superb marksman and steadfast in enforcing the law. He was also a successful businessman and devoted family man.
Best Cars of the '80s
[Editor's Note: This article originally ran in the August 2015 issue of Grassroots Motorsports. Some information and pricing may be different today.] Story by David S. Wallens and J.G. Pasterjak • Photos Courtesy of Respective Manufacturers MTV. Madonna. Miami Vice. So what if we lived under constant threat of nuclear winter, Terminators and hairspray fires? The ’80s gave us some cool stuff.
Ghost Towns: Animas Forks, Colorado
Prospectors first discovered silver in 1873 and settled where several streams met to form the Animas River, 12 miles northeast of present-day Silverton, in Colorado’s San Juan County. Originally called Three Forks of the Animas, the mining community’s name was changed to Animas Forks by the Post Office in 1875. Colorado transportation magnate Otto Mears built a wagon road linking the Animas Forks area to other area mining communities in 1875.
Milestone Machines
Like stories like this? You’ll see every article as soon as it’s published by reading the print edition of Grassroots Motorsports. Subscribe now. Story by Rich Taylor Grand Prix racers have always captured our imaginations. No compromises, no fat, no concessions to the needs of the general public. Even though these machines are constantly evolving and improving, our seven selections for the best-ever Grand Prix cars hail from throughout the past century.
Ghost Town: Ironton, Colorado
In August 1882, prospector John Robinson was hunting game on Red Mountain, Colo., to feed his partners when he found a large chunk of lead and silver ore. The partners’ subsequent Yankee Girl, Orphan Boy and Robinson claims, coupled with the arrival that year of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in nearby Silverton, sparked a rush. Other area mines included the Guston and Genesee-Vanderbilt. In January 1883, suppliers founded the town of Copper Glen at 9,800 feet in the Red Mountain Mining District.
Ghost Town: Old Hachita, New Mexico
Indians mined turquoise for centuries in the mountains in extreme southwestern New Mexico; the small knives and hatchets they left behind prompted the Spanish to name the range Hachita. American prospectors explored the area around 1875, and in 1877 A.H. Butterfield discovered copper, lead and silver about 45 miles southwest of present-day Deming. The area became known as the Eureka Mining District, and the community that grew up around the mines was called Eureka.
Ghost Towns: Alta, Colorado | HistoryNet
Pat Cullen, Frank Dimik and Thomas Knott discovered the Alta vein in Gold King Basin in 1877, and Jack Mann hit the Gold King the next year. The mines yielded gold, silver, copper and lead— seasonally at first due to heavy snow at their 12,000-foot elevation. Initially, the ore was rich enough for miners to dig it from the surface, bag it and ship it to Silverton on mules. By 1890 loggers had denuded the surrounding woodlands, and the cost of coal was so high that the Gold King faced closure.
Ghost Town: Shakespeare, New Mexico | HistoryNet
A spring in an arroyo near New Mexico’s Pyramid Mountains brought Apaches, Mexicans and Americans to what would become Shakespeare. Dubbed Mexican Spring by whites, in 1856 it became a stop on an alternate route of the early San Antonio and San Diego Mail Line, used whenever hostile Apaches attacked coaches in nearby Doubtful Canyon or Steins Peak on the main line. It comprised a few basic buildings.
Ghost Town: Ashcroft, Colorado | HistoryNet
Prospectors Charles B. Culver and Amos Kindt spent the winter of 1879– 80 at the forks of Castle Creek, 12 miles south of Aspen in central Colorado’s Elk Mountains. In May 1880 Culver and William F. Coxhead filed claims in the area, founded Castle Forks City and promoted their discovery. Others soon arrived, and in August the town site company offered 864 lots at $5 each, the 97 members of the Miners’ Protective Association having first choice.
Ghost Town: Sego, Utah | HistoryNet
Gold and silver drew men west, but coal powered the nation. While most of today’s well-known Western ghost towns prospered during the search for precious metals, Sego was a coal town, supplying fuel for railroads, homes and industry. Extensive panels of Barrier, Fremont and Ute pictographs and petroglyphs in this area of eastern Utah bear witness to the presence of these distinct Indian cultures over several millennia.
What’s the Soonest That You Have Raced Your New Purchase?
By David S. Wallens May 24, 2017 | BMW Think you’re hardcore? Less than 24 hours after registering it, Mister Fister’s “new” E46-chassis BMW M3 was already wearing numbers. And that was just the beginning. Read all the latest amateur motorsports stories in your mailbox eight times a year. Subscribe to Grassroots Motorsports now. Comments GRM+ Memberand UltraDork 5/24/17 1:12 p.m. My buddy bought his E46 M3 on the way to Barber Motorsports Park. It must be an M3 thing...which is to say AWESOME.
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