What do a violin and a race car have in common?
For most people, absolutely nothing, admits Paul Nortrom, senior computer manager in the College of Engineering鈥檚 Department of Technical Communication. But in his case, the musical instrument helped build a passion that has him on the racetrack every chance he gets, screaming down the straightaway in a revved-up Honda Civic at more than 125 mph.
The relationship isn鈥檛 as unlikely as it seems. Upon close examination, the steps involved are as logical as those in the computer programs Nortrom works with every day. They ran something like this:
- His mother signed him up to take violin.
- The 8-year-old noticed that the teacher鈥檚 husband had a go-kart in the garage, buried under a pile of do-it-yourselfer detritus.
- Young Nortrom befriended the husband.
- The negotiating began.
鈥淭he deal was that I would try to improve my violin playing if they would sell me the go-kart,鈥� Nortrom recalled. 鈥淚鈥檇 seen those things go before, and I knew they were pretty darn quick.鈥�
He earned the cash with a paper route and made satisfactory musical progress. So that summer 鈥� and a number of summers thereafter 鈥� the Nortroms鈥� neighbors in the rural outskirts of Plymouth, Wisc., endured the high-pitched whine of the mini speedster鈥檚 lawnmower engine as it raced back and forth along the quarter-mile driveway that connected Nortrom鈥檚 home to the public thoroughfare.
鈥淲e鈥檇 start at 8 or 9 in the morning, and go until dark,鈥� Nortrom said. 鈥淭hat was my introduction to driving,鈥�
Many things have changed since then; some things haven鈥檛.
Nortrom, now 30, still likes to tool around in a quick car. But instead of the driveway, it鈥檚 at places like Pacific Raceways in Kent, where he raced in the Solo 1 class over the Memorial Day weekend. And his latest machine, a 1995 Honda Civic, is a bit of an upgrade from his first set of wheels.
It has aerodynamics in the form of a spoiler and sports a beefed-up suspension that hugs the ground.
The bars of a full roll cage line the interior, and netting covers the windows.
A fire-suppression system and upgraded brakes provide peace of mind.
And a new motor 鈥� a 1997 Integra Type R, balanced and blueprinted with high-performance dual cams and a few other tweaks 鈥� keeps things exciting with about 207 horses, nearly twice the power the stock motor provided.
鈥淚t gets up and goes,鈥� Nortrom said.
That was evident on a recent Monday, when Nortrom went to Pacific Raceways for a 鈥渢rack day,鈥� a chance to practice driving around the course and get tips from professional racing teachers.
Strapped into his Honda 鈥� bright red with No. 87 neatly painted on the side, looking, as Nortrom himself describes it, like 鈥渁 red roller skate鈥� 鈥� the computer techie deftly navigated the turns, opening the throttle on the straightaway to roar past the advertisement-plastered grandstands at a loud 125 mph.
Twice, cars in front of him lost control and spun out. The first one, a comfortable distance ahead of him, was on turn No. 8. The second was right in front of him, on turn No. 5, a tricky passage that track officials dub the least forgiving on the course, having claimed more than
$1 million in damaged automobiles last year.
鈥淭hat makes for a tense, exciting situation,鈥� Nortrom said during a break. 鈥淚 just focused on what I was doing, on being sure I got around the car and got out of the way so I didn鈥檛 get hit by the guy behind me.鈥�
Speculating on the attraction of a sport that involves an element of danger, Nortrom says he thinks it started very early, even before the go-kart incident. He suspects his father ignited the initial spark.
The elder Nortrom was a sports car buff who owned a Porsche 356. He didn鈥檛 race, but he belonged to the region鈥檚 Porsche club and attended the group鈥檚 races as time allowed. He also occasionally took his son to the races at nearby Road America and wasn鈥檛 shy about sharing his enthusiasm.
鈥淵ou know how fathers can be when they talk about things they did or saw when they were young,鈥� Nortrom said. 鈥� My father would tell me stories about past races with such graphic detail that I couldn鈥檛 help but develop some sort of bug for racing.鈥�
When he was a little older, Nortrom and his buddies would often spend their Fridays and Saturday鈥檚 peddling programs at the racetrack in return for free Sunday admission to watch the races.
That fertile ground provided motivation to pursue the go-kart, his first hands-on racing experience. And although he suspects he may have disappointed his mother at the time, it all worked out for the best.
鈥淚 think my mom had aspirations that I would be a concert violinist,鈥� Nortrom said. 鈥淚 played first chair at a few youth symphonies, and that鈥檚 about as far as it went. But I did get that go-kart out of it.鈥�
Later on that recent Monday, teachers with the racing school sponsoring the track day took the drivers on the course to walk the corners, describing what to watch out for and how to best accommodate the peculiarities of each section. They spoke of a corner鈥檚 camber, timing one鈥檚 apogee, of trail-braking and throttle steer.
Paying attention to the details helps a driver control the car, rather than vice-versa.
That鈥檚 where the real attraction lies, Nortrom said.
鈥淚 think for me, it鈥檚 the sensation of being focused solely on one task, in this case an essential one, which is navigating around the track as fast as I possibly can,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I do it. It鈥檚 almost a sort of meditation.
鈥淭hat, and I like to go fast.鈥�