Loud Pedal
September 2010
The OfďŹ cial Magazine of Oregon Region SCCA
$3.00
Loud Pedal The Membership Magazine of Oregon Region Sports Car Club of America Editor: Randy Unsbee, ABC Sponsor PR & Marketing 1260 NE 20th Gresham, OR 97030 info@sponsorpr.com Please send address changes to: Oregon Region SCCA 4800 SW Macadam Ave., Ste. 110 Portland, OR, 97239 Photographers: Doug Berger, George Dwinell, Wayne Flynn, Ron Coelho The Loud Pedal is published monthly by the Oregon Region of the Sports Car Club of America. All contents copyright © 2010 by Oregon Region SCCA Inc. Articles and letters to the editor may be submitted in writing, by mail, by fax, electronically on a CD disk or by electronic mail. Original photographs may be submitted, but do not submit, and Oregon Region will not accept, copyrighted materials without prior written permission from the photographer specifically granting Loud Pedal permission to reprint his or her work. It is to be understood that all materials submitted and accepted for use by Oregon Region for publication in Loud Pedal may be used by Oregon Region in all of the forms that Loud Pedal is published and in all of the ways that Loud Pedal is used and distributed by Oregon Region, both as a physical magazine, and as an electronic magazine available at the Oregon Region website. These additional uses include, but are not limited to: membership communications, membership recruitment, and publicity. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the credited author only, and not necessarily those of Oregon Region, its officers, members, or the Loud Pedal staff. Publication of ads, articles, photos, etc. are subject to available space.
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CONTENTS From the R.E. Double Regionals with Vintage ORSCCA at GASS ORP SRF & Vintage Invitation Solo II Report The Twisty Bits Rallying with Chris & Kristen Board Minutes Classifieds Upcoming Events
Page 5 Page 6 Page 12 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 20 Page 22 Page 23 Page 23
These Businesses Support Our Region Please Support Them! Need a place to stay near PIR? Motel 6, p. 19 Need body and paint work? Straightline Body & Paint, p. 3 Need car preparation and horsepower? Fast Specialties, p. 19 Need SRF preparation and management? Flat Out Racing, p. 5 Need race training and track time? Pro Drive Racing School, p. 15 Need roofing? Columbia Roofing & Sheet Metal, p. 6 Need parts, accessories and service? Competition Motorsports, p. 11 Need Estate Services? Shirley Sanders, p. 23 Want to drive in a 12-hour race? Cascades Sports Car Club, p. 11 Want an auto repair business? Century 21, p. 15 Need to rent an RV? RV Northwest, p. 11 Need tires for street, track, rally or solo? Trackside Motorsports, p. 21 Need thousands of loyal, pre-qualified customers? Randy Unsbee, p. 24
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2010 Board of Directors Regional Executive Asst. R. E. Past R. E. Road Racing Director Solo II Director Rally Director Director at Large 1 Director at Large 2
Dan Halloran dan.halloran@yahoo.com Dan Mullin danm356@yahoo.com Jeffrey Zurschmeide J.zursch@verizon.net Jim Murray jmmurrayjr@aol.com Andy Howe andy.howe@verizon.net Chris Hale chris@cubedisorder.com Peggy Gaston peggygaston@hotmail.com Kimberly McFarland kuzmc@hotmail.com
Region Officials Membership/Merchandise Region Office Admin Secretary to BOD Treasurer Publicity/Marketing Loud Pedal Publisher/Editor
Karen McCoy 503-224-9469 Karen McCoy 503-224-9469 Mary Thompson memamare3@aol.com C. Sutherland carrie_sutherland@yahoo.com Randy Unsbee info@sponsorpr.com Randy Unsbee info@sponsorpr.com
Rally Officials RoadRally Manager RallyCross Manager
Kevin Poirier Rebecca Ruston
Road Racing Officials Road Racing Director Race Ops Manager Regl Points Keeper* Vintage Racing Chair Vintage Points*
Jim Murray jmmurrayjr@aol.com Bob Smethers 971-207-5147 Kari L.Macfarlane karimac@qwestoffice.net Dan Mullin 541-683-1091 Dave Franks 503-968-8134
503-224-9469 Fax 503-224-9542 Tues. - Wed. - Thurs. 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Please call office@oregonscca.com
Todd Butler
Mike Gunnip Ben Hockman 503-645-4755 Ken Killam 503-970-5644 TBD Del Bockman 503-515-5977 Julie Winslow 360-513-6728 Sherm Egge egge5@hotmail.com Ric rrar Fa 503-245-2506 Karen McCoy 503-224-9469 Win Casey 503-297-4049 Dwain Panian 503-285-0989 Tim Stanley 503-693-8139 Rick Bahr Randi Graffy K.Macfarlane karimac@qwestoffice.net
Stewards Gary Meeker - NorPac Executive Steward Jeffrey Niess - OR Deputy Executive Steward Ben Bradley - Norpac RallyCross Steward Howard Allen Steve Archer Bill Bachofner Todd Butler Bill Carr Win Casey Erin Ebelmesser Gail Fetterman Dave Franks Spencer Gorham Don Holland Bob Mead Dan Mullin Alan Robinson Lewis Scott Don Smethers Dave Shively Gary Van Horn Skip Yocom
http://www.oregonscca.com SCCA National Toll Free Number 1-800-770-2055
todd.butler@intel.com
Road Racing Chiefs Course Marshal Emergency Flagging & Comm Medical Paddock/HotPits Pre-Grid Sound Judge Radio Tech Registration (pre-race) Registration (at track) Chief Starter Asst. Chief Starter Tech Inspection Timing and Scoring Driver Services/Trophies
Voice and Message Line
or use email below:
*Please contact Dave Franks for Vintage Series Points. Contact Kari Macfarlane for all other Oregon Region points matters. SCCA Area 13 Director
Oregon Region Office 4800 SW Macadam Ave, Suite 110 Portland, OR 97239
gmeeker@earthlink.net niess@comcast.net bradley@reed.edu howduck@qwest.net mikah@comcast.net wgbach@comcast.net todd.sherry@verizon.net bcarr@varicast.com msiltd@integraonline.com lylaskye@msn.com gailfetterman@comcast.net franks97@verizon.net sgorstew@aol.com hollanddl@verizon.net ramead@q.com danm356@yahoo.com robinsah@engr.orst.edu 503-646-3840 don@smethers.com mos33c20@centurytel.net gvanhorn@minetfiber.com rampant53@gmail.com
On the Front Cover: Volunteers make all Oregon Region SCCA activities possible throughout the year. Here are but two of the many dozens of workers at a race event earlier this year - Lee Casebeer (left) and Hugh Figueroa (right).
Want to advertise in Loud Pedal? Please contact Randy Unsbee @ 503-544-5944 to receive an advertising packet with current rate card. Rates are as low as $5 per column inch and expose you to pre-qualified SCCA members in the Oregon Region at home, in libraries, coffee shops and auto dealerships. • 80% of SCCA members own their own home or condo. • 50% own three or more vehicles (4.6 average). • Over 60% of SCCA members hold professional and/or managerial occupations. • 65% hold college degrees. • 89% have annual household incomes over $50,000, Median HH income is $98,500, Average HH income is $105,800.
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From the R.E. Dan Halloran, Regional Executive Email: dan.halloran@yahoo.com
Issues Needing Attention for the Next R.E. In several months Oregon Region will have a new Regional Exec and I will have completed 4 years in the job. Looking forward the new RE will have a number of issues to address but here are some I think need to be addressed:
adding an extra fee to each entry with that money going specifically to the capital expense fund. This will insure we have the resources to run our races when we need them. But it is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Capital Expenses
Rally and Solo both have similar needs but their costs are much lower and thus don’t face as serious a problem. I would still recommend they go through the same process as described for Road Racing Volunteers and Participation
Road Racing makes up about 95% of the revenues and budget for Oregon Region and thus gets most of the attention. Over the past several years Road Racing has essentially broken even but we have not made many capital expenditures nor put extra money aside for the day we need to replace our existing equipment. A number of our trucks are old and survive because they are only driven around the PIR track. When they do need repairs it is difficult at times to justify putting money into equipment that is old and decrepit. And as we think about using the new ORP track in Grass Valley this equipment will have to be driven or moved down there putting more miles on some of these vehicles in the round trip than they get in a season of racing at PIR. It is doubtful some of the trucks could even make the trip. Our radios need to be upgraded as the FCC changes rules on what part of the radio spectrum we can use for communications. We have had discussions with a number of people about how to proceed and we think we have a good solution in hand. But, it will cost money in the very near future. Other items like fire extinguishers, scales, tech equipment, flags, copiers, computers, etc. also wear out and need to be replaced. I would recommend we complete a capital budget that looks at our needs for the next 10 years. We then look at how to pay for those expenses. Possible sources are generous sponsors, fund raisers, sharing the cost with other clubs, or possibly
Those of you who read my column on a regular basis are familiar with my appreciation for the many people who volunteer in the cold, heat, rain, and snow to make our events happen and my concern that we need more volunteers at all levels. Our sport survives because of the generosity of many people committed to amateur racing. But, our overall membership is getting older and at a time when there are so many ways we can spend our leisure time we need to make sure our club is attractive. We have developed new programs to address this with modest success. This issue is as important as the money issue and will require some creative minds and I believe help from Topeka. We also need to be sure we are attracting new participants as well. Inviting people out to watch events and encouraging people to enroll in driving schools and high
performance days to whet their appetite are very effective ways to invite participation. Keeping Racing “Affordable” OK, putting “racing” and “affordable” in the same sentence probably violates some basic rule of logic if not grammar. By affordable I’m concerned not just with money, although that it is important, but with time. When we run a two race weekend we typically take three days to do it. This involves more track and equipment rental and as important more time from volunteers and time away from our families. As supportive as our families are all of us have been in the situation of having to give up a family event (what did that “cost” you?) or skip a race because of conflicts children’s sporting events or family occasions. I don’t think we will ever have solved that entirely but we can reduce the number of times it happens. Over the years we have gradually expanded the amount of time it takes to run a race weekend. We need to look at what it would take to squeeze our racing into less time. Jim Murray has spent a lot of time thinking about this and looking at various models of how to accomplish this. Undoubtedly there are other issues the next RE and Board will get to address. But these are three that will help keep our sport available and fun!
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Paul Goudy drove around the outside of front row qualifiers Gary Manchester and Dan Halloran, but by the end of lap one those two regained the lead. John Draneas and Steve Fogg then challenged Goudy for third. Manchester, Halloran and Draneas pulled out a lead from the rest of the field.
By Randy Unsbee Loud Pedal Publisher-Editor, ORSCCA Marketing/PR The second weekend of August brought together championship hopefuls in regional road racing and vintage classes at Portland International Raceway. At the start of the Spec Racer Ford main race
After 13 laps Manchester, Halloran and Fogg were nose to tail entering turn 1 of the Festival Curves. Fogg pulled out to pass Halloran on the inside and Halloran tried to outbreak Manchester, doing his best imitation of free-style drifting. Manchester regained the lead, Fogg held on to second, and Halloran dropped back to fifth behind Draneas. Nonetheless, Halloran regained steam and moved his way back into fourth around Draneas. In Spec Miata leader Robert Linse #55 went wide at turn seven and dropped back
to seventh, while Bruce Wilson, Matt Schultz, Gary Bockman and Jason Rawlins fought at the front the pack. By the end of the race, Linse had regained all his lost ground as he took the win. Other weekend class winners included William Bachofner in S2, Tom Abernathy CF, Nick Fluge SPO, Steven Streimer GT2, David Rugh GT3, Barrett Smith ITE, Craig Powers GT1, and John Grant SMP. The Group 7 Main Race featured Frank McKinnon taking first overall and in CP1, followed by Terry Miller in EP, Michael Harley in SPU, and Jon Wilson in ITS. Robert Linse also won ITA while Eric Schwenter claimed ITS. David Cormier was first overall and in class in PCA1, while Bob Rygg took PCA2, Arnie Loyning PCA3, Barrett Smith SP911, Kevin Smith AS, and Tim Micek PCA4. In the vintage race group Gordon Ledbetter was first overall and in VP3 ahead of classmates Richard Albrecht, Dave Dickoff and Dennis Roberts. Ward Barbour was first in VP1 over Mike Zubko and Patty Norlin. Paul Sundermier won VP2 over Tim Scott and Philip Weaver. With the final ORSCCA round of the season being at Oregon Raceway Park, the September and October races take on added significance for those wishing to improve their season-long point standings. Complete race results and point standings can be found at the region’s Web site, www.oregonscca.com. (Above: Robert Linse #55 of Lynnwood, WA took first in Spec Miata. Doug Berger photo. Opposite page: #90 Mike Zubko from Medina, WA finished second in VP1 while Paul Sundermier of Salem, OR #41 won VP2. Ron Coelho photo).
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August Double Regional Races With Vintage
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#60 Monte Curtis, #84 Doug Russell and #23 Kimberlee Taylor negotiate the Festival Curves at Portland International Raceway during the August Regional and Vintage races. Doug Berger photo.
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Photos clockwise from top left: Patty Norlin #03 has transmission problems, #1 John Grant wins SPM, #58 Dan Halloran shows #7 Gary Manchester his drifting skills, #58 Monte Shelton takes third in SPO, #6 Carl Clinton was second in AS, class winners #36 William Bachofner, #79 Tom Abernathy, and #00 Paul Ellis in the Competition Motorsports Neon. Doug Berger photos.
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Oregon Region’s Jeff Mincheff #55 leads #98 Kevin Culver and fellow club member Gary Bockman #5 through the Festival Curves at the GASS race in July. In their only GASS starts of the year, both drivers were impressive with Mincheff taking second and Bockman third. Story on page 14. Doug Berger photo.
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Oregon Region Drivers Shine in Great American Stock Car Series by Randy Unsbee Dozens of Oregon Region Sports Car Club of America (ORSCCA) volunteers came out to work and help staff the recent NASCAR weekend at Portland International Raceway. Among the many participants were ORSCCA’s Jeff Mincheff, who you’ll often find behind the wheel of vintage cars, and Spec Miata and Mazda expert Gary Bockman. They have driven with the Great American Stockcar Series (GASS) group in the past, but the Portland round was a one-off race for both drivers. Starting positions for the 25-lap road race for identically-prepared stock cars were determined by draw, and Mincheff drew the seventh starting slot while Bockman lined up third. As the 19-car field took the green flag and charged into the festival curves several cars made contact. Mincheff started from
the seventh position and had to take evasive action over the festival corner’s curb to avoid the first corner melee. “I got through the chicane without having problems,” Bockman explained, “but between turns five and six several cars crashed, I had to come to a stop, and Mike Silcox ran into me. We dropped back to about 11th place, so I took a little time to feel the car out. The front alignment was off a little, but the car seemed okay,” Bockman said. Heading into turn five Mincheff said, “there were guys spinning to the right and to the left. There was a little hole open on the grass and I got through okay and came out in second position. Bockman added, “I started picking up a couple of spots each lap while Jeff was having a good race with the leader, Tim Spurgeon. I knew I could
have caught those guys but don’t know if I would have gotten around them,” he added. “I was trying to drive hard enough to catch up but not hard enough to burn off the tires.” “I saw Gary back there but I was relieved when all of the sudden the checkered flag came out,” Mincheff said. Though scheduled for 25 laps, the race ended after 11 with Spurgeon first, Mincheff second and Bockman third. Mincheff added, “I was surprised I was even in second place. The last race I had done in these cars was the same event a year ago. Early on I was thinking about the tires so I was trying to be as careful of them as I could. Fortunately, the race wasn’t long enough to worry about it. I would love to do it again.” Bockman agreed, “it was a lot of fun.”
Sorted o
July 17 - 18 PIR Event GASS
Portland International Raceway 1.969 Miles
07-18-10 GASS RACE PIR
7/18/2010 01:40 PM
Race started at 13:49:46 Pos
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No. Name
Laps
Diff
1
1
Tim Spurgeon
11
2
55
Jeff Mincheff
11
0.940
Total Tm
Best Tm
Points
17:42.606
1:21.825
50
17:43.546
1:21.643
46
3
5
Gary Bockman
11
1.509
17:44.115
1:21.468
42
4
98
Kevin Culver
11
4.280
17:46.886
1:20.008
38
5
76
Joe Lamberti
11
23.662
18:06.268
1:22.962
34
6
24
Majid Hajari
11
24.175
18:06.781
1:23.660
30
7
12
Howard Johnston
11
24.516
18:07.122
1:23.190
26
8
3b
Dave Blankenship
11
24.963
18:07.569
1:22.740
22
9
46
Larry Clement
11
40.125
18:22.731
1:25.071
18
10
11
Larry Olson
11
42.301
18:24.907
1:24.594
16
11
00
Ross Kusah
11
42.479
18:25.085
1:23.608
14
12
19
Martin Stanwood
11
43.967
18:26.573
1:25.404
12
13
3
Barney Bushore
11
54.571
18:37.177
1:26.465
10
14
21
Larry Cunnally
11
55.347
18:37.953
1:25.811
8
15
10
Larry Nulliner
11
1:07.137
18:49.743
1:26.087
6
16
14
Brett Staples
10
1 Lap
18:10.834
1:33.693
4
17
2
Jeff Smith
9
2 Laps
15:01.590
1:20.018
2
18
73
Rob Gordon
2
9 Laps
7:24.903
1:42.005
0
19
22
Mike Silcox
11 Laps
5.412
0
Vintage and SRF Drivers Invited to Oregon Raceway Park Event on Oct. 2-3 Team Continental has invited all SCCA Vintage racers to participate in their own “special race group” at the October 2-3 William D. Murray event at ORP. The following is included in the $275 entry fee: - 100 minutes of track time to include three races. - One ticket to TC’s famous Saturday Night Dinner and Social with lap record awards and live music! Additional tickets are only $10 each. - Oregon Region Vintage rules. - Reserved paddock space and Thursday evening or Friday move in. Registration will be at the track and opens Friday afternoon at 2 pm and Saturday at 8 AM. The anticipated schedule includes a Saturday morning practice/qualifying session with an afternoon race, a Sunday morning race and then a final Sunday afternoon race, finishing no later than 5:30 PM. Spec Racer Ford and other Sports Racer drivers are also invited to participate in Team Continental’s Race Group 6. This group is typically lightly populated but offers the same track time and a similar schedule as above. Race entrants can also enter a “race cars” only group in the Friday, 10/1 HPDE for only $100. Enter the HPDE and William D. Murray Grand Prix at motorsportreg.com. Questions? Call Steve Leonard, TC Race Chair @ 503-230-1103 office or 503-320-1028 cell; or Don Crawford, assistant TC Race Chair, @ 503/232-8600.
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Solo II Report Andy Howe, Solo II Director Email: solo.howe@comcast.net
Oregon Region Drivers Win at Packwood Natl. Tour By the time you all are reading this, several Oregon Region folks will have made the trek to Lincoln, Nebraska for the Solo National Championships. Check out the results on the event webpage. Back to events closer to home… The Packwood National Tour event came and went in early August. If I counted right, Oregon Region took home 19 trophies. There were several really strong performances, but I’m going to pick on the team of Adam Ruff and Dennis Healy. These gentlemen drove Healy’s Pontiac Solstice GXP to the top two spots in a 14 driver B Stock class, Ruff taking the top spot on the strength of his Saturday time. Not only did they take the top two spots, they were the only two drivers in B Stock to finish with a better time than Jerry Jenkins, who won E Stock.
Duke Langley won X Prepared over Britain Smith. X Prepared was another large class as 10 drivers took times. There were several cars in the class that elected to run in X Prepared because of a lack of competition in their normal class, but that should not diminish the efforts of these two drivers. Duke was in the top 15 overall times out of 258 total entrants. With the event doubling as the Northern Pacific Divisional Championship event, several Oregon Region drivers completed the second leg towards the Solo Triad Award. In our corner of the country, this award is given to a driver that wins the Western States Championship, a Northern Pacific Divisional Championship, and a Solo National Championship. Jerry Jenkins (E Stock), Kyra Jenkins (E Stock Ladies), Tami Daniels (D Prepared Ladies)
and Tom Kotzian (Street Modified Front Wheel Drive) can all complete the Triad with a win in Lincoln. As far as our regional points chases go, Street Modified Front Wheel Drive is coming down to the wire. Gilbert Calkins swept the August Packwood weekend making things rather interesting. Perry Keller leads the class with 107 points. Becky Zacharda is second with 100 points. Gilbert moved himself up to third place with 95 points. All three drivers have competed in the 7 events so far this year, so they are looking to replace marginal finishes from earlier in the year to increase their points totals. Perry looks to have the strongest position going into the final weekend – with both the points lead and a low finish to drop – but any of them can win by sweeping the weekend and getting a little help. In Street Tire, Russ Rainforth kept his personal perfect streak alive winning both events. Russ’s results mean that one more strong finish should wrap up another Street Tire class championship, making a threepeat if he does. It isn’t a done deal yet, but Russ is looking strong. The last item of significant note to report… did anyone notice that Jerry Jenkins was not top overall PAX at either of the August events? More importantly, did everyone see the car that took that honor both days? Joe Cheng and Gary Milligan brought the Vancouver Special down for our August events. This car is quite possibly the fastest autocross car ever built and was impressive to watch. This car was approximately 7 seconds (!!!) faster than any other car both days and took top PAX honors in spite of its brutal 1.000 A Modified index.
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The Twisty Bits Jim Murray, Road Racing Director Email: jmmurrayjr@aol.com
Racing for Dummies, continued . . . Flat out past Start/Finish into the braking zone for T1, making progress forward. OK, now; ease to the right, brief glance to the right mirror (we had company earlier); eyes front WHUMP!s#%tskyholys#%tMarkWebberoverBAMskrrWHAMskrrrrspar kssparkssparkssparkssparkssparkssparkssilence. OK; no fire. No smoke, no heat, no fuel smell. Good. No need to pull the little red handle below dash left. Flip the kill switch. We’re fine. Nothing hurts, no hits on the head, nothing but normal. Except we’re hanging upside down in the belts. OK, we can fix that; release the clasp so we can be right side up. Still gotta wait for the E-crew to come get this car over; no problem; we’re not that far away; but can’t get our legs out of the cockpit, it’s just too short. Huddle like a squirrel and wait. Seems to be taking a long time. Guess that’s just the way it would naturally feel; a long time. Pretty soon it’s “Hey Guys, I’m in here, I’m fine”; “I’m Fine!” Really Fine. Then, from outside: “What’s your name?” “Fritz” “Okay, Chris, we’ll get you out of there” voices, noises; activity with the car, scraping and a jiggle. Hmmm; wonder how they’ll grab onto it to lift it; last we checked there’s no lift spot on the underside. We climb into the cockpit like a gymnast so that, if the car drops, we’re not underneath. More scraping; eventually the car lifts a quarter inch, another, got a couple of inches clearance now; more; now there’s a few inches clearance on the left; someone’s trying to bend our leg to get it out of the cockpit but, you know, it’s already fully bent and I gotta handle that…now there’s a bit more clearance; now, enough to wriggle out from under and stand up! And only now do we find we’re between T2 and T3; ten minutes ago we went about
200 yards, total; flipped over backwards, in the air, back on the ground, upside down, passed two cars; slammed into the third; then around; all in it was 180 degrees flip over and 180 degrees, maybe more, around. EMTs are there; two big hunks all starchy pressed and looking like something out of “Baywatch”; “Does it hurt anywhere, sir?” “Only in the wallet”. Where’s my hat and sunglasses (always in the car in a little bin). “Anyone see my hat?” They flip the car back on its wheels; we look inside and nope, no hat or sunglasses. Someone says the hat’s in his truck. We start to walk over there “Driver, come back here!” And we meekly obey. Someone produces the hat, a little scruffy but welcome; next the sunglasses frame only; worse for wear; then a lens, scratched. Eventually the other lens shows up, unmarked. A place for everything and everything in its place. Into the ambulance with the EMTs watching us closely. William is there too; he took a big hit from the back end of our upside-down slide, just as he innocently turned in to T1; ruined his race and, in fact, everyone else’s; although William would get back in a loaner car for the afternoon race, it wasn’t the same having to adapt to an unfamiliar car; but he still did well. EMT still looking at us closely “How do you feel?” “Thirsty” and he gives us a water bottle from his own backpack; then we ride in the ambulance, back to the paddock and, eventually, rejoin the car; tail smashed, nose shattered, fenders worn through, smashed; center section off and scraped badly; the roll bar ground down to half-diameter; engine and accessories smashed and pushed into the frame, big dent in the roll bar just behind driver’s head.
This one won’t be fixed anytime soon. But we’re fine. FINE. Couple of small scraped on the shins, little blood spots on the Nomex underwear; we’re Fine. Hard to believe. Had worse injuries on the bicycle. And on the tennis court. Fine. So we’re now a member of the club we never wanted to join: The-110-mph-upside-down-and-backwards-SRF-society. Lucky Number 11 did its job and we’re still here. Apologies are due to everyone who had to watch that. A tiny delay in making the pass, caused by the quick glance in the mirror, and it all happened faster than you can imagine. Horrifying to watch, I suspect. Not so horrifying in the car; oddly tranquil, being out of control of one’s destiny. Could have been a really bad deal. As it was, took the tail off Dave’s #37 and over the catch fence left; whacked William’s #32 right side amidships, took the nose off and bent the frame like a longbow; punched something through the bodywork into his cockpit, and turned the #11 (mine) into a winter project. As above, could have been a lot worse; but it was bad enough. Freaked out everybody. Unlike, say, NASCAR, no one comes to an SCCA race weekend to see someone crash. It does happen, but nobody enjoys watching it. Sometimes crashes occur because a driver is too aggressive, misjudges things, or makes a simple error. Even the tiniest error can be the difference between a successful pass and a significant crash (see above). In SCCA, we believe there’s a strong culture of safety, and responsible driver behavior. When stuff happens, it’s due to a mistake of some kind, not some intent. And even the tiniest mistake can have huge consequences (again, see above). The most unthinkable thing can happen. It almost did. And we’re still here to write about it. Thankfully.
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Gary Bockman had an eventful race but worked his way back up to third place during the Great American Stockcar Series race at Portland International Raceway. Doug Berger photo.
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Rallying with Chris & Kristen Chris Hale, Rally Manager and Kristen E. Tabor Email: chale@nwscan.net
August/September Events Highlight Season Ah, summer. Time for relaxing by the BBQ and trading rally stories with friends. It’s also time for driving down some great twisty roads or flogging your car through a cone course! Let’s look back at August’s activities and then look forward to September’s scenes. Our August RallyCross was somewhat different from our usual events. For one thing, we held it in a completely different location—in Chehalis, on a field owned by the Port of Chehalis. For another, we held it in conjunction with a charity event put on by our friends to the North, Off Camber Events. Off Camber Events have been wanting to put on a RallyCross in the Chehalis/Centralia area, and asked Oregon Rally Group to give them a hand. August 7 and 8 was somewhat rainy, somewhat muddy, somewhat sunny and somewhat dusty—all of which sound like our usual RallyCross events held at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Hillsboro. The Port of Chehalis field was at the intersection of Rush Road (that’s exit 72 off I-5, with all the gas stations, about halfway to Seattle) and the Jackson Highway. The field itself was quite large and fairly flat, without the usual ruts and bumps at our usual venue. However, one of the things we had to watch out for was how the field would change as the events progressed—a big unknown, as the field had been previously used to grow hay and had not been as compacted as we would like prior to our events. Saturday’s charity event was held as part of the Chehalis Festival of Speed and the Chehalis Planes Trains and Automobiles Festival. We decided that, as a charity event to raise money for the Children’s Hospital, the event should not be a points event. In addition to the RallyCross itself, there was also a car show, some food vendors, and the Chehalis Roller Derby team
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selling cupcakes and other baked goods to raise money for the charity. The organizers also raffled off a car, a green old wagon they dubbed “the pickle”. They also had some local police officers come out to run the course between the morning and afternoon session, which was fun to watch. I talked with the officers afterward and they all had a blast. Outside of entry fees for the 30-40 cars entered, about $500 was raised or donated for the Children’s Hospital directly through the RallyCross and car raffle. Not bad for a first-time event in a first-time location with a first-time organization crew! I’m sure the weather—gray and damp for the morning, then dumping rain for the afternoon—put a dent in the entry numbers. We still had enough people to cover all the worker positions and run like usual. Saturday night in Chehalis a bunch of us went out to dinner and rehashed the day. With the Planes Trains and Automobiles festival going on, downtown was lit up and busy. I was surprised at how busy things got but the food was good and the music was hopping! It’s an interesting place to visit. Sunday was ORG’s points-paying event. We had one twist—a young man was so impressed with Saturday’s car raffle that he offered his car to raffle on Sunday! Yes, he had the title and held it free and clear, so we raffled it off for ORG’s preferred charity, the Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon. The car was in better shape than “the pickle” and we had a lot of interest and took in just over $400 in raffle funds alone. We’ll be rounding that up to $500 to donate in Gloria Hale’s name for her Sole Support for Parkinson’s team, For The Hale of It. Great job, everyone! Sunday seemed to be in stark contrast to Saturday—the sun was shining, the dust was rising, and we had more competitors
come out to vie for the points. This is the part of the year where everyone starts looking at the year-to-date scores and tries to figure out what they need to do to clinch their class title. Our numbers were a bit down from our usual crowds. A lot of the usual contenders were out there looking to gain an edge, though. With so much use in such a short span of time, the field seemed to require a lot of massaging and course-changing to keep things safe, but we were able to get 4 runs in for everyone. Some of the Port officials came out and got rides; they all seemed to enjoy themselves and wanted to know when we could hold another event there! The site has good potential, so we may see more events in that neck of the woods. Looking forward, our next RallyCross will be on September 12 out at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Hillsboro—back to our old stomping grounds. We have a treat for you, though, because on September 11, the day before, you can come participate in the Rally Against Parkinson’s, and make your weekend a double-header. This is an easy, touring time-speed-distance road rally to raise money for Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon. As in past RAP events, this one includes two regularity laps around Portland International Raceway. Local TSD’er Russ Kraushaar has defined the regularity: “The fact that this particular regularity occurs on a race track helps make it pretty popular. You drive around once to set your base times, then try to repeat it exactly. We’ve had teams take their own splits at various points, make video and/or audio recordings to mark their progress, or just put on the Ace of Spades by Motorhead and crank it to 11.” Russ adds, “I think they set a speed limit of about 65mph and have a radar gun stra-
tegically placed as well. The good news is that you’d be hard pressed to hit much more than 65 before the breaking point for the festival curve and really only need to watch the speed on the back straight. I suspect most would find the limit of their tire’s adhesion or driving talent before reaching 65mph anywhere else. It’s a blast!”
website, and you don’t need any special gear or equipment. The roads are smooth so you don’t even need special tires or jacked-up suspension to get out there. The event runs September 25-26, on top of the Sole Support for Parkinson’s event here in Portland. Gloria Hale’s team, For The
Hale of It, will be split in two, with the Hales up at the rally with the rally folk and anyone else participating in the walk. Lots of choices that weekend! Keep it shiny side up, and we’ll see you on the road!
That’s a pretty good way to describe the regularity runs—one thing I’d add is there will be NO PASSING during the regularity. So if you catch the car in front of you, then you get to follow them all the rest of the way around the track. And make sure you catch them at the exact point the second time around to get those elusive zeroes. This year’s Rally Against Parkinson’s will be ending at the Eagle Fern Park near Estacada, OR. It’s anyone’s guess as to how RallyMaster John Elkin will get you there, but I anticipate a lot of great roads and awesome scenery, and the BBQ at the finish will be a lot of fun. Hopefully we’ll see a lot of you out there, and early entry is open at www.oregonrally.com, with entry money and donations due at registration. You can also enter the event on the day itself; registration will be at PIR starting at 10:30am with a driver’s meeting at 11:30am before the regularity runs during lunchtime of the races happening that day.
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Other rally events happening in September: the Wild West stage rally out of Pomeroy, WA! This year, the organizers plan on using Nasa Rallysport as the sanctioning body and to include RallyMoto— stage rally on a motorcycle!
Jeff Zurshmeide
This should be a fun event. ORG will be taking a stage crew, so if you’d like a great way to see the rally and talk to all the drivers and co-drivers, please consider volunteering! There’s a link to our volunteer coordinator on the ORG
DRAG • ROAD • AUTOCROSS • RALLY
TIRES ALIGNMENT SUSPENSION 8131 N. Interstate Ave. Portland, OR • 503-236-2106
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OREGON REGION SCCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES DATE: 8/4/2010 PLACE: China Bay Restaurant PRESENT: Board Members: Dan Halloran, Dan Mullin, Jeff Zurschmeide, Chris Hale, Jim Murray, Andy Howe, Peggy Gaston, Kim McFarland Officials: Mary Thompson, Karen McCoy, Randy Unsbee, Todd Butler Members: George Wilder, Margie Swanson, Kate Zurschmeide, Absent: Carrie Sutherland CALL TO ORDER – RE Dan called the meeting to order at 7:00 RE EXECUTIVE INTRO - None MEMBER/NEW BUSINESS COMMENTS – None COMMITTEE & OFFICIALS REPORTS REGIONAL OFFICE REPORT – Karen reported that she has been diligently working to keep the offices expenses down. Office Staff & Hours: Karen worked 74 hours in July. Dan Halloran purchased a laptop for the office to use at the track! Thanks, Dan!!! Rose Cup Check in the amount of $54,346.84 has been sent to PRFF per agreement July Double National 101 Double National Combo 9 Single National 2 2nd Entries/Different Car 2010 Total National Entries: 213 Entries (Double National counts as 2 entries) 2009 Total National Entries: 198 Entries (Double National counts as 2 entries) August Regional 79 Entries so far - anticipate around 100 Oregon Region Tow Fund for Runoffs May & July National entries = 295 Total tow fund = $2950 Checks will be distributed at the Runoffs to Oregon Region drivers. As of today, there are 7 Oregon Region drivers entered TREASURER REPORT – Absent Karen presented current Balance Sheets for both Road Racing & Oregon Region.
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LOUD PEDAL REPORT – Randy advised that the Aug issue will be to the printer on Friday and is 24 pages. Discussion followed on the value of the LP and if it would be possible to have it on line only to save costs. It is costly and it would be nice to find a saving factor for it. Jeff said he may be biased, since he is somewhat of an “ink stained Neanderthal,” but he feels that there is value in the LP in it’s present format. Costs are now about 1/2 of what they were in the past while advertising/sponsorship support increased. Randy advised that the region is conducting an extensive marketing communications survey over the next 6-8 mos. to determine the most effective means for information dissemination to members, including print and digital means, as part of Randy’s international Masters Degree dissertation DIRECTOR’S REPORTS SOLO II REPORT – Andy introduced George Wilder, a Solo member and local businessman who has agreed to run for Solo II Director. The last event at Packwood, July 13-14 was on par with their recent events. They hosted 100 on Saturday and 80 on Sunday for the point’s event. The sanction has been filed for the Aug 21-22 event RALLY REPORT – Chris advised that they will be hosting an event this weekend and then on to their premier charity event, The Rally against Parkinson which will start at PIR and end in Estacada. The date for this event is Sept. 11th. DIRECTOR I REPORT – Peggy reported she and Win Casey are still contacting members to run for a BOD position. They will have the slate by next meeting. DIRECTOR II REPORT – No report ROAD RACING REPORT – Jim is working with the powers that be at ORP to negotiate a deal that would carry over our deposit from the cancelled event for October. The carryover would go toward an event next summer, possibly in July. Jim has concerns that he feels need to be worked on before we would travel to ORP.
Some areas of concern are the need to make it easy to make the trip, assist the volunteers, and to look at expenses like an ambulance, etc. He will work with Karen to prepare a budget in preparation for a race at ORP.Todd advised that there is the need to be flexible. It will be far different than an event at PIR and the Chiefs will need to prepare in advance for the differences. Jim advised that the Sept. schedule is online now. In his attempt to make racing more adaptable and economical for the racers he is studying the feasibility of being able to run a Natl in 2 days opposed to 3. This would make it easier on the racers and the workers as well as cutting some costs. Todd spoke about the up-coming Norpac Training Session that the Region Administrators are preparing. This mini convention will be held in Reno on Nov. 6th at The Atlantis Hotel. This is a one day event. PAST REGIONAL EXEC – No report ASST REGIONAL EXEC - No report REGIONAL EXEC – Dan has spoken with Mark concerning the permanent BBQ that we hope to build. Mark sees it as a good thing since it would be available for use by all PIR patrons. Dan asked for a volunteer to be the coordinator on the project. his having built one previously. Margie Swanson volunteered to act as coordinator and Mary agreed to make contact with Doug Barrett (past BOD member) as to if he would be willing to give advise and suggestions based on his having built one before. He will then work with Margie and her group on the project. Dan will now contact the other user groups to see if they are interested in joining the project and contributing to its construction. Adjourn: 8:45 p.m. M/S (Dan M/Andy) M/P Respectfully submitted, Mary Thompson
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2010 Upcoming Events September 11 -- Rally Against Parkinson’s September 12 -- ORG RallyCross #6, Hillsboro, OR September 10-12 -- SFR/NORPAC Vintage Weekend @ Thunderhill September 11-12 -- ORSCCA Single Regional, with Chicane @ PIR September 17 -- CSCC Friday Nighter, Portland/Vancouver Area September 18-19 -- Solo Events #8 and #9 @ PIR South Paddock October 1 -- CSCC Friday Nighter, Portland/Vancouver Area October 2-3 -- Team Continental Vintage Race Event @ ORP Oct. 3 -- Tire Rack Street Survival @PIR October 8-10 -- ORSCCA Double Regional, with Chicane @ PIR October 10 -- ORG RallyCross #7, Hillsboro, OR October 16 -- CSCC Autumn GTA Rally, Portland/Vancouver Area October 16 -- 12 Hours of the Cascades @ PIR October 23 -- Mt. Hood Rally Oct. 30-31-- Vintage CSRG @ Thunderhill November 6 - NORPAC Convention - Atlantis Hotel - Reno, NV November 20 -- ORSCCA Awards Banquet ORSCCA Board Meetings are held the First Wednesday of Each Month at China Bay Restaurant, 13281 SW Canyon Rd., Beaverton, OR
Shirley Sanders, 503-349-2013 SCCA Member #309862
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Loud Pedal
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This could be you and your company! Call now: Randy Unsbee, ABC at 503-544-5944 24