May 2nd, 2010
Event 4 of 4 for the 2010 Spring Series
by Dave Lahey
Are we in Kansas, Toto ?!?!?
Man, what a crazy day! The wind started rockin' pretty early, and there were times where you couldn't even see 100 feet; dust blowing through like crazy, and blowing over cones, getting all over our cars and the course, and nearly blinding at some points. I swear, I saw Dorothy and the wicked witch go flying by, and even a sign that said "Kingman, 1 mile!"
Ah, but our stalwart drivers and workers stuck it out, through thick (and I DO mean THICK) and thin, and only a few timing misalignments and cone replacements stopped the festivities, and only for short periods of time. Heck, we were pretty much packed up and outa there by 4pm, so nice work, folks!
And while we're at it, everyone pat yourself on the back, not only for sticking it out, but stepping up when extra help was needed, helping others find their way, and volunteering beyond the call of duty to make our Phoenix events some of the best there are! Our equipment chief, Kevin Venisnik, didn't even get to run, due to prior commitments, but was there to make sure setup went smoothly as usual, and the teardown crew did their part, as usual, and well yeah, EVERYBODY gets special kudos and thanks. Even with the low turnout we have been experiencing lately, every job that needs doing gets done, and everyone gets to have their fun! OutSTANDing !!!!!
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A great course today, and "only" three runs when we have become accustomed to getting four, but with 40+ second runs, and not much overlap to put more than two cars on course at a time, there isn't much to complain about, really. After all, at any SCCA National Tour event, and indeed at Nationals, you only get three runs, so if you have any aspirations of taking your interests further than the local level, this is good practice! Besides, with three runs, you had better step up your game, and do it quickly!
Elliot Speidell came up with this course, called "Rustier Bucket," but DUSTIER Bucket might have been more appropriate, considering the windy conditions. Suffice it to say that it was a REALLY FUN and FAST course, but you had better have done your due diligence when walking and spotting the course on your walks. There were a lot of DNF runs today, but that should not reflect on the design or setup, but on the drivers themselves. As usual, there was plenty of time to walk it, our usual Novice Course Walk, and the course map was posted in the Forum ahead of time. Enough said, ... ;)
So, up the right side of the lot and to the Start line, where you faced a sharp righthand turn into the lower sweep. Be sure to go THROUGH that double line of cones, and then up the middle and make the hard left around the inner loop. 2/3rds of the DNFs occured in those two places, as folks just did not get it done. Around the bottom of this inner loop, and you were back where you started through a long sweeping line that led to another pretty hard left across the top of the course, through a couple of offsets, and then a left into a slalom. As usual, a lot of those slalom cones took a beating, as people tried to get to the Finish as quickly as possible. And make sure you shut it down soon, because traffic control was a key element at the event, and handled expertly by those working the grid, staging, and finish area. There could have been "issues" in some of these places, but there weren't even any close calls. Again, outstanding worker placement and execution! So, how did everybody do? Well, thanks to our Timing and Scoring Chief, Kevin Gleaton, the results are posted, less than 5 hours after the last car ran!
Fred Zust decided to give us all a break and ... broke the Frankenlotus! So, he gets first mention, but the Fastest Time of Comp Runs was Ted Lewis in his now VERY quiet ASP Lotus Elan! Ted picked up a Hayabusa motorcycle muffler, and the car was simply hooked up and scalding fast, and QUIET! His 40.607 bested Steve Eymann's 40.781, in the '07 Gt3 Porsche; the only 40 second runs in competition. Third fastest was Mark Johnson, driving Ted's Elan, with a 41.051, then Fred, who got at least one run in, at 41.098. Next best was Kevin Gleaton in his supercharged SSM Miata at 41.294, folled by Steve Ashcraft, CSP MIata, at 41.420, Chlint Child in the Clement EVO at 41.735, and Brian Peters, DSP BMW at 41.775. Elliot Speidell clocked a 42.050 in his STX BMW, followed by David Lahey in Ashcraft's CSP Miata at 42.067, Ben Clement in the EVO at 42.184, and Miata Matt Soeffner at 42.693. Don Sattler was the first of the cars at 43+ seconds, and everyone else was ... slower!
Click the results over to Overall PAX, and Elliot Speidell is showing in the top spot. Elliot's car is listed as a "3795 BMW 325," so he either has a car from the WAY distant future (if there even will BE such a thing as a BMW 325), or he paid that much for it!? Clint Child was next in the EVO, then Ted Lewis, Brian Peters, and Steve Eymann. Ben Clement is in the sixth spot, followed by Kevin O'Neill in the '08 Audi TT, Steve Ashcraft, then Mark Johnson, and Britt Dollmeyer in his trusty '90 Civic Si rounding out the top ten. All these other cars mentioned are current, not cheater future cars like Elliot drove.
It looks like almost all the Miata guys are filling up the Open classes, as they are certainly among the most popular cars out there, but also because the current SCCA classes support them! But first, Mike Terrey drove to the SS win, with Kim Kemper defecting to an entirely different car make and class (more later). Chris Groppi came up from Tucson with some brand new R compound rubber, and took the AS class. David Webb, running DS Open in the '06 Mini Cooper, took that class. In the ST Open class, Josh Johnston took the win in his 240Sx, and Brock Palmer and Chris Largent co-driving the '00 Subaru close behind. STX Open belonged to Chris Kohler in is '87 535Is.
On to those pesky Miatas, in CSP Open, Steve Ashcraft put the hurt on co-driver Dave Lahey, and Tom Tcacik, with Eric Malsack in fourth. Kevin Venisnik did not get to run, due to other commitments, but Steve says he had him covered too! In the STS class, Dave Branson was .6 quicker than Joe Sandoval, with Carl Girard in his new purchase, on All Season tires and worn out shocks, just .3 behind! In the STR class, Miata Matt put a half second on Don Sattler, with Larry Burrow third, Clayton Saffell fourth, and Evan Brom in his first "girly car" experience, coming fifth (pictured, sideways!).
On to the PAX indexed classes, where Ted Lewis took the PRO win over Mindi Cross. In the PAX Ladies class, Colleen O'Neill in the Audi TT once again took the top spot over Teresa Clement, jumping into Kevin Gleaton's SSM Miata. and Diane Deanovic, back from hiatus in the FrankenDragonLotus, with Mitzi Burrow and Mandy Bennett sharing the 10th Anniversary Miata, fourth and fifth.
The biggest class of the day, as usual, was the Sportsman class, where Elliot took the win over Clint, followed by Brian Peters, Steve Eymann, and Ben Clement. With just a few exceptions, these are pretty much your overall PAX-sorted standings, with Kevin O'Neill next, Mark Johnson, then Britt Dollmeyer, Kevin Gleaton, and Matthew Reams in Elliot's '95 BMW 325I. So evidently Elliot's car is not from the future, nor did he get it for that price, but may have transposed from an E flat horn into B flat? You know how those musicians are.
In the ST1 class, Chad Mizner pretty much took the Spring Series by the throat in his 330I, and would not let go, taking the win again. Jeff Goggin was next best in his '04 Audi A4, followed by Chris Steele, Mini Cooper S, Scott Meyers' '02 "Jaguar X Type (aka Ford Mustang), John Leonhardt in his Cobalt SS, Jim Rohn jumping into Chad's car, then Mike Rogers, Acura RSX, Jim Witkowski, Mazda 3, Tim Bergstrom in his new yellow zonker '06 Mustang GT, and Rick Paradis, in his '08 Civic Si. Elliot Goltsman took the ST2 win in his '04 SRT-4 over Ryan Bernholtz, '08 Civic Si, Jeff Israel, '04 R32, Brad McCann, '08 Saturn Sky Redline, and Kim Kemper in his new toy, a 2010 Porsche 997. The grin on Kim's face pretty much tells the story on that Black Beauty, as he was VERY pleased indeed! In the ST Ladies class, Glenda Meyers took the win over Kat Kemper and Kim Chenoweth. Though listed as a Jag X-type, we all know it was the white Mustang V6 car!
Smilin Stu Lasswell won the Novice 1 class in his '04 Mini Cooper. Except for one event, Stu made it a clean sweep of the series with the best three out of four format. Dave Camarillo took second, and won the only event Stu didn't win, so will be glad to get Stu out of the class! (Winners are no longer Novices!) However, rumor has it that Dave might be selling the R32 and jumping into his Miata for the fall. First-timers Frank and Nicholas Churruca ran their '81 Fiat 124 Spyder, and were split by Larry Hudman, also in his first event, in a 911 Porsche SC.
In the Novice 2 class, it looks like John Hogan will also be moving up, as he took the win today, and has the better of the other 2 events that will count for this series. Newcomer Craig Borger thrashed his '99 Pontiac Trans Am into the second spot, while Boyan Vassilev drove his friend's(?) black '97 Eagle Talon Tsi into the third spot. Jose Soto seemed to have problems finding a clean run, but finally put his MazdaSpeed3 into fourth, over Chris Andela in an '84 Rabbit, also cone challenged, and Steve Skabelund in the Talon Tsi.
In the Novice 3 class, Marcus Myer took the top spot in his '09 Mitsu Ralliart, with Michael Taylor second in his '04 Acura TSX, Steven Jensen in his '09 Toyota Yaris, and Edward Lara, '02 RSX. It seems none of these guys made previous events, so nobody moving up from that novice class just yet. Similarly, newcomer Shannon Ecke ran in the Novice Ladies class, her first time out, and having a blast!
In Time Only runs, Elliot tied with Doug Rowse on PAX, and nearly on time, as Elliot squeezed out .003 seconds on corrected time. You figure around 30-40 MPH at the finish line, and that is only a couple of inches! Ted Lewis came third, then Brock Palmer, Mark Johnson, Brian Peters, and Kevin O'Neill seventh. Next was Steve Ashcraft, then Dave Lahey and Matthew Reams in the tenth spot. Lots of cones went flying in the later groups, car swapping, and other fun stuff, as is the norm when the competition runs are over.
The event of the day, and perhaps the Series, but for sure the most sentimental and surprising moment, was when Kim Chenoweth got red flagged at the first turn. With boyfriend and car owner Josh Johnston heading over to the car to check it out, Kim's thoughts were, "Crap! I will never get to drive the car again!" There was a buzz among the onlookers, though, as some had a hint of what was to come. Josh pulled a microphone out of his pocket, and though it had worked in an earlier test in the morning, it failed to work then, but people started to get the idea. So, in this now private, but very public moment, Josh said a few words, and then went down on one knee and proposed to Kim then and there, in front of about 100 of their closest autocross friends! It was just awesome to watch, and something I am sure they will both remember for a long long time! Some of us will as well! Way cool ...
So, a great day for all, in spite of the winds and dust and all that. Yes, our cars are now filthy and dusty inside, and ears, and hair, and clothes, but all that can be cleaned! Heck, there are people who are still waiting for a decent day to autocross up in the northern regions of the country, and we have completed our Spring Series already! The new STR class has been a lot of fun to watch develop, but also a lot of other classes had their battles, while others were decided before today's event even started. Watch for announcements on a special event in June, and then we will be off to Taylor during the ultra hot months for some cooler two-day weekend events, then back for the Fall Series starting in September. Meanwhile, rumors continue to circulate about Arizona Motorsports Park getting a new use permit, the AZ Border Region has an event at Marana Airport, a new venue for them, coming up on May 16th, and there is always Sierra Vista, and MAYBE even Flagstaff.
Also, there aren't many photos yet available for this report, but I will add them if and when they become available. Rumor has it that they are out there, and if necessary, I can always pull some from Rob Rockefeller's excellent AZ Autocross Photo site (link below). Then again, you all know the cars, if you were there, so do we really need photos? Well, ... yeah !!! :)
Thanks to John Leonhardt for most of the pics featured, and as always, to Rob Rockefeller and the Arizona Autocross Photos website.