Walter Mitty obviously never envisioned the whole picture, though. If the race itself is an exhilarating experience, the long hours of preparation that precede it can be enough to try the patience of the most devout car-jockey.

Medenica began the weekend early Friday afternoon, retrieving his racer from its garage in Concord and then towing it along on the four-hour trek to Lime Rock. The next step was a few hours of sleep before rising at 6 a.m. Saturday to beat the crowd to the registration line.

Bad Karma

Bad luck seemed to plague the effort, though. After a series of official delays, the time for Medenica's first practice run came--and went--without Medenica. A faulty battery kept the car out of the trial, preventing him from establishing a good practice time that might have put him near the top of the starting field.

After a rain-soaked second practice, Medenica found himself placed 15th out of 18 starters. A strong effort in the monsoon weather brought him in seventh after the rain-shortened ten-lap race, but he fell one position shy of garnering points towards the series championship.

Still, Medenica was not dejected after the outing. Racing, he explained, has an intrinsic appeal apart from the glory of finishing first or breaking a speed record. "It's like beating your head against a stone wall because it feels so good when you're finished," he said. "The whole process is a pain in the ass, but when it's over you still feel like you've accomplished something."