PitStop 
July
2002 Volume 49 Number 7
Report
July, 2002
Our RE has been under the weather the last few weeks and has missed the
deadline for his column. We’ll hope to
see his words of wisdom next month. Paul
2002 Board
Members
Regional Executive (RE) Ken Andrew 812-473-3375
Assistant Regional Executive (ARE) Bob
Sonntag 812-477-5936
Secretary (SEC) Terry
Davis 812-853-2875
Treasurer (TRES) Gary
Heck 812-858-9919
Pit Stop Editor (PSE) Paul
Dornburg 270-685-4470
Activity Chairman (AC) Gene Young 270-764-5950
Assistant Activity Chairman (AAC) Tim Green 270-926-2859
Advisor (ADV) Ron
Groenert
Event
Schedule
Autocross #3 Saturday
June 29th Owensboro
Airport Owensboro KY
Autocross Sunday June
30 Mid America Air Park
Lawrenceville IL Southern Illinois Region
Rally #2 Sunday July 14 Bob Sonntag, Tech and
Registration 12:00 to 1:00 First Car at 1:30 PM
Autocross #4 Sunday July 28th Castle High
School Newburgh IN
Autocross #5 Sunday August 18th
Mid America Air Park Lawrenceville
IL
Autocross #6 Saturday
September 21st Owensboro
Airport Owensboro KY
Autocrosses: Course Setup
9:00 AM Tech and Registration 12:00
to 1:00 First Car at 1:30 PM
Notes and such
We have rescinded our proposal to send out the PitStop
electronically. We felt that it would
be very hard to get the computer monitor into the bathroom, which is evidently
where most of the board members read this paper. The discussion didn’t take too long before we decided to keep
mailing the PitStop.
Every week I get the National Speed Sport News and
turn immediately to the Editor’s Notebook to get the latest on what’s what in
racing. Chris Economaki, the editor,
must read a mountain of articles each week as well as handle a lot of emails,
letters and phone calls to get the information he prints. I was surprised to read his remarks about a
column he read in an SCCA Ohio region newsletter. I guess I’ll add Mr. Economaki to our mailing list. I’ve always been a fan of his articles and
writing style and my “Notes and such” is patterned after his
column. Thanks for the inspiration,
Chris.
Our autocross number two
was held recently at Heritage Hills High School near Santa Claus, IN. There was no snow to contend with but the
asphalt proved to be slippery as the hot day wore on. 28 drivers showed up to test their skills. For the first time in a long time we had
very few guests, only five. It appears
that our scholarship program is really paying off. The scholarship program will get you a SCCA license paid for by
the club after you participate in your fifth club event in a calendar year,
more or less. The results are detailed
later in this paper.
Mike Freeman has been getting better at launching that
turbo Rabbit and his class win showed that, beating Steve Backer by almost a
second. Gerry Bubenzer bested Myles
Grant by a small margin (.4) to get his class win. Ryan Waelde and Corey Krietenstein finished second and third in
their class (SM) separated by only .001 of a second! Thomas Furgason had the only Corvette in SS and took home the
trophy. Jeff Jackson took the upper
stock class honors, beating co-driver Terry Davis by over two seconds. Jeff’s done a lot of travelling this spring
to get as much practice as he can and it shows. He should do well in the upcoming SCCA Tour Event at Peru. Our lone female driver, Julie Seeber got
third behind Jeff and Terry and also garnered the “Kone King” award with 14
cones for the day. Chris Moore was a
distant second with nine. Barry Beaman
and Dave Moredock battled it out in DS but I think they were going for most
DNFs not fast time. Barry beat Dave
this time in both categories with his first four runs being DNFs. Dave has showed a lot of improvements
through the spring and today he got off course just one time. Way to go, Dave! Gene Young beat James Kirk in the big and noisy Cobra class, AP
and he was also the fastest street car.
He should drive that thing to every event instead of trailering it. Bob Sonntag topped the Prepared class cars
while Michael Allen took the Modified class honors. Our next event is Saturday June 29th at the Owensboro,
KY airport.
The first rally was run on Sunday June 16 but we
haven’t received the official results yet.
Nine teams showed up with one in the A class and eight in the B class. Terry Davis and Bob Sonntag won the A class
while Jim Cannon and his navigator won the B class. Results next month or on the web page. Don’t forget the coupon for the next event!
Come Play In The Street
This year, the rally program is back and
there have been a few changes since many in our membership have rallied. The Board wants to foster a renewed interest
in rallying. Rallies are another way we
can expand our membership. Often its
easier to get potential guests more interested in a gentle Sunday afternoon
drive than it is to get them to "race" in an autocross -- rallying
doesn't require helmets and doesn't wear the tires like an autocross can. Go figure.
As
part of our efforts to redevelop the rally program, a rally article has become
a monthly feature of Pit Stop.
This month's article is being written without the benefit of having run
a rally since the last article. The
rally calendar started with the rally school in May and there is a rally event
planned for each month through November.
Our rally events will be a combination of time/speed/distance and other
scoring methods. In this article I'm
going to touch on some of the more recent changes to how we run rallies and
plug the next event.
Perhaps
the biggest change to rally program involves the scoring of Time/Speed/Distance
rallies. In the past, we scored rallies
to the hundredth of a minute. Because
of the cost of replacing our old rally watches, a couple of years ago the Board
elected to change the rally scoring to sixtieth of minutes (aka
"seconds"). This is a change
from 100 points per minute of error to one point per second of error. This allows the checkpoints to be run with
standard hours, minutes, and seconds stopwatches. Plus it makes it easier to zero a checkpoint as a sixtieth is
bigger than a hundredth!
A
slightly older change is the implementation of "bought time." "Bought time" allows a rally team
to get back on time without the need for driving in an unsafe way. "Bought time" can be used for any
reason and is purchased, not with money, but with points. Buying time won't result in a perfect
score. It will allow for a more
competitive score without the risks of driving to make up time. The process of "bought time" is
explained at each T/S/D event.
Julie
Seeber and I have put the July rally together.
The route instructions read like a T/S/D route; but, the scoring is
based on the game Yahtzee. The route is
full of roads with lots of undulations.
Its a fun drive! Its also
through an area I don't remember rallying in so its sure to be a fun time. The July 14 rally starts from the overlook
at the intersection of Indiana 662 and Indiana 62. Tech/Reg are 12:30 to 1:15 with the first car off about
1:30.
Bob
Sonntag Assistant Regional Executive
SIR/SCCA
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
June 3, 2002 Ken Andrew’s house, 918 Plaza Dr., Evansville, In
Meeting called to order at 7:07 PM.
The minutes from the previous meeting were read and approved.
Treasurer’s Report: Current balance – we are solvent
Paul will bring a rented generator to the Heritage Hills Autocross.
Gary Heck has purchased 275’ of heavy-duty extension cord for use at
events.
Gene Young will attend the last Owensboro Motorsports meeting to
finalize plans for our June 29th autocross at the Owensboro Airport.
Pit Stop deadline is June 19th. We discussed e-mailing Pit Stop to members. The boards feeling was that members and
guests receiving PS in the mail would be a reminder to attend the events and
meetings. Also the cost reduction for
eliminating those members was not great.
Bob Sonntag is working on a checklist for event marshals to use at the
drivers meeting. Also, pre-registration
for rallies with the entrant’s names going to Gary Heck. Bob will check with the Advanced Auto Parts
store on 1st Ave. to see if we can use team up with them to host an
autocross on the shopping center’s parking lot.
Meeting adjourned at 8:40.
Respectfully submitted;
Terry
Davis
06/11/2002
SIR SCCA Club Meeting Minutes
Meeting called to order by ARE Bob Sonntag. RE Ken Andrew, home sick
Paul Dornburg to take minutes
Carrie and Chris Moore, new club members via WRX purchase
Alan Cannon, another guest, son of Jim and Darlene
Secretaries Report, waived, Terry Davis is in Las Vegas
Treasurer’s
Report, Gary Heck, we are solvent.
Bring five-dollar bills with you to next event No twenties J
Activities Chair Owensboro Airport Event on Saturday June 29th,
part of the Owensboro Motorsports festival.
We may have to wait to work on course until the plane leaves the
tarmac. Start may be late.
Rally on June 23rd, be there!
Trophies handed out for Lawrenceville event, First Bookend.
Mike Freeman gave a speech about first rally event plus a few anecdotes
Rally start is at
Speedy Oiler on North St Joseph Ave
Tech is 12:30 to
1:15 First car at 1:30
Very easy rally,
FREE FOOD at end!! BYOB
TSD rally, all
paved, don’t forget coupon from PitStop
Bob Sonntag told about script used for drivers meetings to make sure
everything is covered
Gene Young is Event Marshall for Owensboro Airport
Mike Freeman related story of SIR bunch “cheating” at St. Louis
divisional event
Meeting adjourned at 8:35
Racingly,
Paul
Dornburg
SPORTS CAR CLUB OF AMERICA
SCCA: A club with many interests
Many faceted in it’s endeavors, the Sports
Car Club of America (SCCA) might best be described as a service
organization. It servers over 50,000
members throughout the United States by sanctioning and administering a variety
of automotive related activities through more than 100 independently chartered
regions. No other single motor sports
organization in the world conducts more events than the SCCA. These events range from amateur and
professional road racing, to rallies, SOLO events, hill climbs and auto
shows. The SCCA is an ever growing
organization for the automotive enthusiast.
Because the SCCA is member oriented, the club stresses participation on
a broad basis. Regardless of your
experience or background, if you are an automotive enthusiast there is a place
for you in the SCCA. The avenues
available range from amateur or professional road race driver, to weekend rally
or SOLO driver, to race worker or official.
In order to successfully sanction and conduct a comprehensive
autocross/rally/road racing program many experts in timing and scoring,
communications, safety inspection, medical, flagging, course/race control and
other skills are needed. Schools are
held to train the drivers and workers and various degrees of licenses are
awarded based on knowledge, ability and experience.
PitStop is the
official publication of the Southern Indiana Region of the Sports Car Club of
America, Inc. And is published monthly at PO Box 1112, Evansville, IN
47706. Opinions expressed herein are
those of the authors or editor and are not necessarily those of the Southern
Indiana Region, it’s officials, members or advertisers. Permission to reprint material from PitStop is granted to
all SCCA regional publications and it’s national publication, SportsCar, with
regards for full credit to the author and PitStop. (Any errors in this publication were mostly
erroneous. All spelling checked with a
Funk & Wagnall dictionary. Ed.)
