ARIZONA REGION – Steve Ashcraft grew up in Burley, Idaho. (fast forward:) He then taught high school in Washington for a couple of years, got a master's degree in computer science from Washington State University, and in 1976 went to New Jersey to work for Bell Labs "for a few years." Almost thirty years later he "finally woke up and came back west." He wanted to be closer to his folks, who live in Mesa.
(rewind:) Steve got seriously interested in cars and driving after he bought a Porsche 911 in 1982. He "finally discovered the SCCA" in 1986 and has been autocrossing and road racing ever since. Sometimes to excess, if that's really possible. On 45 of the 365 days in 2000, for example. His autocross cars have included a couple of 911's, a couple of Toyota MR2's, a Porsche 944, and – his favorite – a blue 1990 Miata.
(rewind further:) One of Steve's other hobbies is skiing, which he's been doing since he was eight. One of the perks of growing up in Idaho. Here in Arizona, he spends a lot of time in his garage, working with cars. He likes elderly cars and has several to play with: a 1984 Ford F250 4x4, a 1988 Suburban, a 1985 Toyota MR2, a 1993 Audi V8Q, and a slightly modified 1990 Miata. There's also his wife Lynn's 2004 VW Touareg, but he's not allowed to play with that. Steve is also an amateur electronics buff. He built and programmed autocross timing systems for both the South Jersey and Northern New Jersey SCCA regions.
(pause:) Lynn was also an active autocrosser while in the east, but hasn't been since the move to Arizona. It was her Porsche 944 that Steve autocrossed and, unfortunately, totaled one day when a truck turned left in front of him.
(fast forward:) There are a few things that Steve especially enjoys about autocrossing: meeting new people and sharing what he knows about the sport. He feels that he'd be a more competitive autocrosser if he could better apply the things he does know about the sport.
(rewind:) One of the ways he meets new people at automotive events is by volunteering to help out with this or that. Steve was the autocross chair for the SCCA South Jersey region for six years, and spent eight or nine years being a driver's ed instructor with the Northern New Jersey Region of the Porsche Club of America. He says that nothing is quite the same as getting into a new 911 Turbo with the 21-year-old who got it as a birthday present and heading out onto the course at Watkins Glen for the car's and the owner's inaugural track event.
(fast forward again:) Steve is currently our Assistant Worker Chief. He makes almost all of our events and usually instructs at our drivers' schools. He enjoys "being on a team that makes events run smoothly and safely," something he feels the Arizona Region does well.
(rewind:) It pays to spend a lot of time on the track or on the course. Steve has been doing SCCA ProSolo since 1995. He's picked up a few second place checks from Mazda, but has never been able to score any tires from Hoosier for placing first. But his car has won a few ProSolo firsts, driven by a friend who also has some eight years' experience co-driving Steve's cars at SCCA National Tour and National autocrosses. Being beaten by this friend has tended to keep Steve convinced that he doesn't need to spend much money making his cars faster. Closer to home, Steve took first place in CSP for the 2004 Arizona State Championship, first in CSP for the 2005 Idaho/Nevada Challenge, and first in X class for 2005 with the Arizona PCA.
Steve is retired, a state he intends to maintain until he "gets bored or runs out of money." The major part of his career was as a computer consultant, specializing in creating custom software systems. He's built everthing from a system for Ford to simulate driving cars up Pike's Peak (done in a enviromental control chamber, controlling barometric pressure, temperature, and humidity) to an Internet-based automated event registration system.
(pause:) Steve's wife Lynn, also a computer consultant, currently does a lot of work in California. She collaborated with him on the software for the timing systems he built in New Jersey.
(play:) Steve says that "You can drive a lot of courses in 30 years." And, he adds, "You should."