Part 2 of the Big Apple to Big Easy Rally

What’s Inside:
- BA2BE Rally, conclusion
- Awards Banquet - Jan. 26th
- Philly Region hosts first local Street Survival Program (Teens)
- Local Racing - preparation
- Solo Safety Steward Seminar
- Karting Outing - 12/2
- Classifieds
The Official Newsletter of the South Jersey Region SCCA
November 2007
Part 2 of the Big Apple to Big Easy Rally
In our last edition of At Speed we last heard
about the teams shopping for as many items
as could be bought for $1.00, matching
intentionally obscured photos to scenes
along the trip, and the various issues of
keeping the cars running.
During the end of Day 1, the team using a
73 Bug bumper slot for opening bottles of
beer, and in their altered state, inaccurately
launching water balloons. (pictured right)
Day: 2
Mood: All Shook Up
Vehicle Status: Speedo fixed, heat stuck on
Start Point: Harrisonburg Va
End Point: Asheville, NC
End of day Points Standing: 2nd
Daily Challenge: It’s Elvis Day! Dress like
the King and get unsuspecting random
strangers to pose with you for points. Max
10 photos, bonus points for groups of 10 or
more.
Picture taken during an up hill climb on a road referred to as the Tail of the Dragon.
Continued on p. 5
Solo Season Recap.
Awards Banquet
Street Survival Program
On October 14, 2007, we conducted the
final event of another very successful Solo
season. (p. 9)
Details and entry form for this past
year’s season will be held at Fontana’s
Cafe’ - everyone is welcome! (p.10)
Pilly Region hosted their first Tire Rack
Street Survival Teen Driving Clinic on
November 18, 2007. (p. 3)
November 2007 – At Speed
1
Board of Directors
Regional Executive
Asst. Regional Director
Secretary
Treasurer
Jim Tornetta
13 S. Carolina Tr.
Browns Mills, NJ 08015
609.893.5701
[email protected]
J. D. King
759 Stanton Ave.
Franklinville, NJ 08322
856.694.5012
[email protected]
Sue King
1643 Bluebell Rd.
Williamstown, NJ 08094
856.629.4966
[email protected]
John Borden
62 Riverbank Rd.
Beverly, NJ 08010
609.387.0576
[email protected]
At Large
At Large
At Large
At Large
At Large
Jack Oliver
7 Old Salem Rd.
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
856.667.2858
[email protected]
Meg Meyer
10 Normandy Lane
Willingboro, NJ 08046
609.835.4450
[email protected]
David Hess
296 Orchard St. West
Hammonton, NJ 08037
609.704.1996
[email protected]
Jim Wakemen
23 Silver Birch Rd.
Turnersville, NJ 08012
856.228.9249
[email protected]
Brian Heun
1717 Devon Ave.
Linwood, NJ 08221
609.926.4842
[email protected]
Chairpersons & Specialties
At Speed and Meetings
Competition - Meg Meyer ............................................609.835.4450
Membership - Meg Meyer ............................................609.835.4450
Merchandise - Jim Tornetta .........................................609.893.5701
Race - J.D. King ..........................................................856.694.5012
Rally - Jim Wakemen ..................................................856.779.8521
At Speed is published monthly in print and online:
www.sjr-scca.org/atspeed.html and is the official publication of the
South Jersey Region, SCCA, Inc. The subscription price is $12.00
per year and is included in the membership dues with non-member
subscriptions available at $15.00. The opinions expressed herein
are those of the editor or authors and not necessarily those of the
South Jersey Region. Acceptance of any advertising does not constitute endorsement of the products or services being advertised.
Permission to reprint material in other SCCA publications is granted
providing credit is given to the author and At Speed. A copy of the
publication shoud be sent to the At Speed editor. Please send
change of address information to the membership charperson
(listed to the left).
Scrutineer - open to volunteer .......................................xxx.xxx.xxxx
Solo 2 - John Borden ...................................................609.387.0576
- Brian Heun .....................................................609.926.4842
Flag & Communication - Dan Zane .............................609.351.3973
Starter - David Teal ......................................................610.566.4795
Grid - open to volunteer .................................................xxx.xxx.xxxx
Pit, Paddock & Sound - Alex Collins ...........................856.753.9660
Registration - open to volunteer ....................................xxx.xxx.xxxx
Timing & Scoring - Jack Oliver ....................................856.667.2858
Activities - David Hess ................................................609.704.1996
At Speed - David Hess ..............................................609.704.1996
Tri-Region Representatives:
David Teal, J.D. King, Jack Oliver
Alternates:
Fay Teal, Dolores Oliver
Pennsylvania Hillclimb Assn. (PHA) Reps:
Sue Salsburg, Dave Arron, Thor Pitman
Anthracite Race Association (ARA):
Terry Hanushek
2
At Speed – November 2007
Editoral copy and ad contacts should be submitted to the editor,
David Paul Hess, 296 Orchard Street, West, Hammonton, NJ
08037, or [email protected], by the twentieth (20th) of the
month prior to the next issue. It is perferred that all editorial copy
be submitted in a format compatible with an IBM/PC platform
(ASCII “email”, MS Word, rtf, etc.). Classified ads are free provided
they are not business related and that the ad is from an SCCA
member. For business-related advertisments, please contact the
editor for policies and rates.
Monthly Meetings are held on the Second Wednesday of each
month at The Elephant & Castle, adjacent to the Clarion Hotel and
Conference Center, Cherry Hill, NJ on West-bound side of Rt. 73,
about 1/2 mile past Rt 295. Meeting starts at 8pm, but come early
for some good food and excellent banter!
Board of Directors (BoD) meetings are held on the first (1st)
Wednesday of each month. Locations vary each month, so contact
any of the above members of the Board to find out where the next
meeting will be held.
Events & Announcements
The Region Needs Your Help!
The South Jersey Region is on the cusp of a new
era with the Thunderbolt Raceway’s scheduled
completeion this upcoming Summer/Fall sesion
2008.
In order to facilitate a prosperous racing program
for our region, not only will we be receiving help
from other, local SCCA regions, but we need your
help as well. There are quite a few specialties
that will allow you to get up close and personal
with the racing action.
Flagging and Communications will allow you to
stand track-side, “I’m in the front row” to the racing
action. As many who work these events say, it’s
the second best seat in the house.
Timing and Scoring usually has the fringe benefit
of being one of the only specialties that keeps you
out of the elements. Watch and keep track of cars
and their numbers as they pass before you.
Grid and Staging is a great place to meet drivers
and take special notice of the race cars they drive.
Your help here allows folks to line up in the order
in which they qualified, and making sure each
driver and car is ready to go out on track.
Registration is a great place if you like to meet
and greet people, and/or like to collect money
and/or have a nack for organization.
There are many other areas that one can be a
part of racing without investing the money it takes
to actually race. Many have found this to be just
as rewarding as racing itself. Often times people
make life-long friendships as a result.
For more information about Thunderbolt Raceway,
Racing in general, or the Positions described
above, contact J.D. King
856.694.5012
[email protected]
SCCA/BMW Street Survival
First Teen Driving Clinic in the
Tri-Region Area
The Philly Region’s First Gear Team, in cooperation
with the Tire Rack and the Delaware Valley Chapter
of the BMW Car Club of America, will be hosting our
first Tire Rack Street Survival Teen Driving Clinic on
November 18, 2007 at the Boeing Helicopter Plant
in Ridley Park, PA. Check out the information for
this event at: http://www.streetsu rvival.org/ schoolinformati on.php?ID= 18
If you have a 16 to 21-year-old driver in your family,
or have friends and neighbors that do, invite them
to register and join us on Sunday, November 18 for
a fun and educational day. This is geared for teens
who have at least a few months of driving experience. The requirement is that they have completed
at least half of their required driving permit period.
The FAQ and more info are found here:
http://www.streetsu rvival.org/ faq.php
The DelVal BMW club has video on their web site
of a recent school they’ve hosted: See http://www.
delvalbm wcca.org/ multimedia. html then click on
Street Survival 2007.
Questions? Contact Rich Dunbar at 267-218-4476 or
by e-mail at: rddgt@comcast. net
Jon Rush
Regional Executive,
Philadephia Region, SCCA
--------------------------------------------------------------------Solo Safety Steward Seminar
SJR will be hosting a Solo Safety Steward Seminar
in January, 2008 on a date yet to be determined.
Anyone who has an interest in becoming a Solo
Safety Steward should contact Mike Allenbaugh at
856-906-3116 or via email at [email protected]. The only requirements are that you must
be a regular or a spouse SCCA member, and you
must be at least 16 years of age. The specific date
and further details will be posted on the SJR website
and forums when they are finalized.
Next Membership Meeting is
December 12th @
The Elephant & Castle, Cherry Hill, NJ
ALL ARE WELCOME ... see p.2 for details
Awards Banquet!
January 26, 2008.
Make sure to mark
your calendar for
this event.
Details and entry
form on p. 10.
The Jersey Racing Board (JRB) Forming
Are you active and involved in SCCA racing, and
would you be interested in serving on the JRB?
The Jersey Racing Board is a group of 6 folks, 3
from South Jersey and 3 from Northern New Jersey
Regions. The purpose of the JRB is to schedule and
coordinate a number of races each year at New Jersey Motorsports Park. There will be a few meetings
a year for this purpose, as well as working together
at each event when your schedule permits.
Let me know your thoughts, and please do not feel
any pressure to join the JRB board, your input as a
contributing consultant will always be valued.
If interested contact:
JD King | 856.694.5012 | [email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------Group Outing, Karting
SJR will be hosting go-kart outing, on Sunday,
December 2, 2007, at 10:30 - 10:45am.
Mid-Atlantic Grand Prix is located at 4060 N. Dupont
Hwy, New Castle, DE.
Contact Brian Heun for more details:
[email protected]
Welcome to our
Newest Members:
David, Teresa, and
Christian Nate, and
Chris Roberts
November 2007 – At Speed
3
Tri-Region - Minutes (October 2007)
- Submitted by: Judy Bloeser
Chairman – George Bloeser
Vice-Chairman – Joe Aquilante
Treasurer – Joe Wilkie
Secretary – Judy Bloeser
The October meeting of Tri-Region Race
Group was held at the Spinnerstown
Hotel in Spinnerstown on 10/18/07.
Nine
members
representing
all
three Regions were in attendance.
(Philadelphia – George Bloeser, Judy
Bloeser, Karl Iochum, Marge Iochum,
Dennis Steskal, Bob Maurer. South
Jersey –JD King, Jack Oliver. NEPA –
Joe Wilkie.
The minutes of the September 2007
meeting were approved.
The Treasurer gave a financial
recap of the Double National. The
figures available at this time show
approximately $94,000 in income from
the Double National with expenses
topping $89,000, resulting in a net gain
of under $5000. This does not cover
our losses and expenses for the year,
but leaves enough in the treasury to
begin planning for 2008. It was agreed
to raise the entry fee at least $50 to
be more in line with costs and other
events.
Discussion of the finances of Tri-Region
and the costs related to events and
SCCA charges ensued. Of importance
were the following thoughts:
* The sanction fee for a Double Regional
is not twice that of a Regional, but for a
Double National, it is.
* The entry fee for the Double is not
twice that of a one day entry fee, yet
our SCCA expenses are double.
* The tow fund monies collected by
SCCA should go to the workers for
travel expenses for the Runoffs.
* The numbers used by different
individuals as the number of entries for
the event vary considerable. Joe Wilkie
will submit to National a revision of the
4
At Speed – November 2007
fees based on the number of entrants
recorded on the Observer’s Report
of the Chairman of the SOMs. In the
future, the Treasurer will try to wait for
the Observer’s Report before making
payment to National so as to only pay
for those cars reported.
* Why do we pay more for SRFs?
Where does the money go?
* Look for ways to lower the costs such
as having baked ziti or lasagna similar
to Lime Rock.
* Look for sponsors for food/hospitality
part such as a car manufacturer such
as Mazda.
Double National
Carol Davis sent her critique of the
Double National after the September
meeting. A key point she mentioned
was the difficulty of the communication
with the Stewards in Control, noting that
they were unresponsive on a number of
occasions when called. The Stewards
need to work to communicate better
with the specialties.
Next year the Supps need to include
different statements about where
children are, and are not, allowed so as
to not have a conflict over children in
Tech and the Impound area.
Next year we will meet with Security to
make sure we are in agreement about
what they are to do - what we consider
their responsibilities and where we
need them the most such as Turn 8 and
Gasoline Alley. We used to hire Security
directly, but now they come as part of
the track rental contract and have not
been as directly involved with us.
Next year we will meet with the
ambulance crew chief each day. JD
will connect that person directly with
the Safety Steward so no “unsafe”
procedures or incorrect track positioning
occur.
A number of trophies were not picked up
by the end of racing Sunday. Judy took
them to the Runoffs and delivered them
to drivers. The rest will be taken to the
Mini-Con for distribution to the REs.
New Business
We will continue to give our support
to NNJ for their May Regional race at
Pocono in 2008.
Possibly the PDX will be replaced by
a Double Regional if the scheduling
allows. We’ll know more after the MiniCon. There has been discussion with
other Regions about possibly holding a
NARRC race at Pocono depending on
the cost of renting Lime Rock.
Discussion of possible weekends for our
use of Pocono resulted in a number of
options. Thunderbolt does not conflict
with the dates discussed.
Karl indicated that new scales are
needed – the pads are 10 years old,
the plates are corroded, and the ramp
is bent. Karl & Marge will get prices of
replacing our equipment.
Brian Holtz will order the two (2) 50’
cables required for better operation of
the new Tri-Region sound meter.
The next meeting will be held on
November 15 at the Spinnerstown Hotel
at 7:30.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Bloeser, Secretary
Rally from NYC to New Orleans - Part 2
SJR folks rally from Big Apple to Big Easy (BABE) - Refer to p.14 of August At Speed for part 1.
Narrative: Caravanned with 2 More Misfits
today. Safety in numbers and all that stuff.
Plus each of us was a different Elvis. We
had Fat Elvis, Speedway Elvis, Blue Hawaii
Elvis, King Creole Elvis and Gay Matador
Elvis. We have since realized after looking
at everyone’s costumes you can be any
Elvis you want with a wig and glasses. Jeff
and Jim W had the idea that we should have
just done Village People elvises.
Now getting people to group up and pose
with the Elvises is not exactly as easy as
you might expect, lets face it, most of us
looked more like weird pervert Elvis than
anything else and our lovely cars weren’t
helping. No we needed a plan. So Jeff,
being a college activities director started
seeking out colleges. Chris made a call to
the home office for his company to find a
local branch who would work with us, I
generally did my best to stop looking like the
worlds scariest elvis, with less than stellar
results. Without going into all the stops here
are the highlights.
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and
Museum – we actually didn’t plan on this
as a photo op. We just thought since it was
there we would take a look around. Well the
curator of the place was great and loved all
the Elvi so he rounded up a group of tourists
and employees and got our photo in front
of the 1919 Pierce Arrow presidential limo.
After that photo he had the alarms turned
off and the ropes taken down and actually
let us all get in the limo for another shot.
Seems we paved the way for other teams
as there were a few more photos to come
out of there later.
- Submitted by: Jim Thwaite
Virginia Tech –
It was a solemn
moment to see
the memorials
to the students
after
the
shooting but at
the same time
something we
are all glad we
got to share
and express our
support
over.
The
students
were great and
this was by far
our
biggest
group with 25.
Cracker Barrel,
TN
–
After
having
good
success at lunch
with our wait
staff we decided
to hit a Cracker Barrel for dinner in TN. Well
wouldn’t you know the first employee we
found is an Elvis impersonator himself and
he used to be from NJ. He set us up with the
manager who got the whole staff together
for a photo and a few customers joined right
in. After the pics we ate dinner and were
pleasantly surprised at the end of the night
when they said the meal was on them for
providing them with such fun. Sweet, free
food. It’s good to be the King in Tennessee.
Outback – The hour was late and we
just needed one more. Time to play the
restaurant card one more time. Not wanting
to be mooches we went to the bar and got
some drinks (coke only for the drivers)
The staff was great and a bunch of the
patrons wanted pics too. We did a lot of non
scored photos there just because people
wanted them. Even one lady who came up
and asked us to pose with her grandkids
(probably about 4 years old) We generally
avoided kids all day because well….its
creepy, we get that.
Not 10 miles after we got back on the road
we got pulled over by Tennessee’s finest.
Taillight out. Thank god I just had a coke.
Now on a normal night in TN in a normal car,
I don’t think they would have wasted the time
November 2007 – At Speed
5
Rally from NYC to New Orleans
- Written by: Jim Thwaite
to stop us for a taillight. But with Elvis driving
a clapped out VW Bug with rally stickers all
over it, yeah, you are gonna meet officer
friendly. He was pretty good about it actually,
asked about the rally, asked if we had any
drugs (funny how he asked that after we told
him about the rally) Said he would run my
license and if it came up clean we could go.
It did and we were on our way again.
We did a lot of driving to make sure we
went 10 for 10 and it paid off, but it was a
long day and we pulled into the hotel just
before the cutoff for the 11:00 scoring. Not
even enough time to unpack the helium for
a proper rendition of our Viva BABE Rally
song for the judges, but they seemed ok
with the regular version.
The scores on this day not only put us on the
verge of overtaking 1st but made us realize
that 2 More Misfits were coming up fast and
with the right effort we could have both our
teams in the hunt this year.
After scoring and check in we joined the
parking lot bash for the night but did not get
too heavily involved, it was a long day and
we knew what lay ahead with the mountian
gap runs in the morning. It was too late to
do anything about that danged heat again.
So it was early (relative term) to bed for us
with most of our memories and sensibilities
in tact.
Day: 3
Mood: Preparing for the worst
Vehicle Status: Heat stuck on
Start Point: Asheville, NC
End Point: Gadsen, AL
6
At Speed – November 2007
End of day Points Standing:
1st
Daily Challenge: (Semi) easy
one today as the drive is most
of the challenge. Get one
photograph, find the oldest car
you can on the rally route. Dang
shame about that “on the rally
route” part, we were all set to call
up the TN AACA and hunt down
a car.
Narrative: So the trip today
takes a very specific route. Most
days we are all free to find our
own way to the endpoint but this
time they gave us directions. And
since the challenge specified our
picture must be taken on the route we had to
stick to it. The first major departure from the
highway was to get us to SSR 23 which the
event organizers likened to a nice warm up
for Deals Gap in the rally handbook. It was
later confirmed that they never drove the
route themselves, but it looked good on the
map. Well it was good….where there was
pavement. Unfortunately those spots were
few and far between. On one hand it was a
tremendous amount of fun, on another we
were all pretty sure we were lost. At the end
of the run we congregated at an abandoned
gas station to see who survived and who
didn’t. The place had a big sign over it that
said Jim’s Junk so we couldn’t miss the
photo op.
Back down the road when we suddenly
started to realize things weren’t well. The
car was dragging…more specifically we
later learned, the
front left brake
was
dragging.
On final autopsy
it seems for
one reason or
another
the
wheel cylinder
started to stick,
which
caused
the shoes to
drag,
which
caused
heat,
which made the
fluid
expand
and the shoes
drag more in an ever worsening cycle. All
this heat was also cooking whatever crud
we had collected which made the cylinder
stick in the first place pretty good so by
the time we tore it apart it was pretty well
knackered.
Our first thought (prior to the autopsy) was
a collapsed brake hose so I started dialing
on the A.I.R.S. list to find a local for help
Finally we contacted Denver Barry who
couldn’t have been more helpful or nice.
Denver made calls to his local contact and
found a parts supplier not too far from us but
unfortunately we would have to complete
our trek through Right Hand Gap and Deals
Gap to get there. No way to do that on
bad brakes. Denver offered to get us the
parts and bring them to us, but he was in
Knoxville which meant he would have to go
past us and double back, about 2 or more
hours total. We got the information for the
parts place and then decided to see what
we could do.
I pulled the system apart while my partners
in crime killed off an evil looking bag of
cheetos to protect me from them while I was
working. I blew out the brake line, well ok in
my sun baked and frustrated state I sucked
instead of blew (keep the jokes to yourself)
and ended up with the lovely taste of brake
fluid in my mouth for the rest of the day. To
cut a painfully long story short we eventually
diagnosed the wheel cylinder issue and I
was able to do a field repair….bodge job….
on it.
Rally from NYC to New Orleans
- Written by: Jim Thwaite
Now here we sat with now smoked brake
pads, a suspect repair on a wheel cylinder
and one very badly cooked wheel bearing.
We can choose to go the easy and smart
way around the gap but chance missing an
old car photo op on the re-route, or we can
do the unthinkable and drive the gap on a
completely scary repair. Of course we did
what any sensible BABE rallier would do
and pressed on through the gap.
Huge kudos to Chris for some very skilled
driving to get us through without incident and
in better shape than last year. Combining
cycles of braking, engine braking, and
coasting he was able to keep the engine
and brakes cool and we never experienced
any fade or overheating.
Upon arrival at Deals gap we spotted a 29
Model A in the parking lot…this was good.
We were far behind everyone else so maybe
noone else saw it. Our hopes were dashed
when the owner just looked at us and said,
Oh, more of you. Seems most of the rally
had seen him. We took the photo anyway,
better to tie than fall behind.
Now here is where some making lemonade
out of lemons happened. After we got through
Deals gap we would normally turn left for
the shortest route back to the highway. But
to get to the VW parts place we had to go
straight, and in doing so stumbled right on
a 1913 Model T not more than a block from
the gap and visible from the road (if you are
really looking) One other team found it too
but the rules said if you couldn’t concretely
identify the year then you got the last year
that car was made. We were able to find the
1913 ID plate (thank you dad for raising me
as a car addict).
a really great experience to meet her, she
was very fun and good natured. She didn’t
even give us too much ribbing about the fact
that our car was in worse shape than any
of her parts cars. We got ourselves 2 wheel
cylinders, brake shoes and an inner and
outer wheel bearing and limped off to the
hotel to make our repairs in the morning. We
figured if our rigging held up through Right
Hand and Deals we were ok to get to the
hotel where we arrived just before 11:30. We
ran pretty tight on fuel but with the 16 gallon
extended range tank we knew we had a bit
more than the usual reserve so we pushed
on and made it fine….this information does
become relevant later.
The obligatory scoring phase accomplished
and we hit the parking lot party. Sadly we
missed the push off with the gremlin and
caprice. We did enjoy the company of the
rest of the rally though and even had some
fun with pin striping and a little crayola art
was performed on the gremlin (I was busy
striping the tardis so I don’t know who did
it) ;)
Beyond this the nightly drinking kicked in
and the rest is a happy blur, I do know we
retired entirely too late for a team which was
to get up in the morning and do a brake job
and wheel bearing replacement.
Day: 4
Mood: Tired, tired and tired
Vehicle Status: Heat stuck on, bodged
brakes, cooked wheel bearing.
Start Point: Gadsen, AL
End Point: New Orleans, LA
End of day Points Standing: 1st – 2007
BABE Rally Champions
Daily Challenge: The license plate game.
We’ve all played it, we suggested last year
that this would be a good one and this year
they did it. Pretty easy, get one of each
state license plate, Canadian provinces
acceptable.
Narrative: Today started with the brake
job. It went fairly simple no major issues it
seemed. Jim W commented when I put the
axle nut back on that I had it upside down
because the pinch bolt used to face the
other way. I didn’t see that it mattered. Had
to play with bleeding and adjustment for a
bit to get the pedal feel right. Got together
for the group photo and then got to the start.
We immediately ducked into the gas station
since we knew we ran a bit deep in the
reserves last night and filled up. 13.5 gallons
to be exact (this again becomes relevant
later) While I was filling up Chris ran around
and got all the competitors license plates
continued on p.8
Down the road a bit we get to Foothills
Import Parts, home of Juanita the VW lady
(Foothills Import Parts, 5028 Milsaps Drive,
Greenack, TN (865)856-2196 Tell her jim
the crazy rally guy sent you). As soon as we
pulled up the rest of the guys knew it was
going to be another late day (in my defense
we were already very behind schedule)
Her yard was filled with various old VWs,
parts and just all kinds of goodies. Inside
her basement was stocked with shelves of
aftermarket and NOS VW parts, many of
which I haven’t seen for a long time. It was
November 2007 – At Speed
7
Rally from NYC to New Orleans
- Written by: Jim Thwaite
and then we cruised the 3 hotels in the area
to check for out of town guests. We ended up
with 26 plates before getting breakfast, off to
a rousing start. Once on the road we looked
for opportunities and spotted an ideal one
when we saw the Birmingham International
Airport up ahead.
came back with a gallon can and off we went
again. Well just for the math folks out there
we got to the next exit and topped up with
12.4 gallons....16 gallon tank my azz. This
also means we coasted into last nights hotel
on fumes. Oh, well, lesson learned and back
on the road.
We pulled into the parking garage ($1.00 for
an hour, sweet) and I realized that familiar
dragging feeling was back. Chris went off in
search of license plates while I attended to
my obviously poor work from the morning.
Airport security was circling but they seemed
temporarily appeased when I told them we
just ducked in so I could work in the shade
and it would be a quick repair then we would
leave. Well it looks like I adjusted the brakes
a bit too tight and of course the whole heat/
expansion cycle kicked in. Then I grabbed
the wheel and realized the bearing was
VERY loose. Yeah, this is the backward nut
I put on, it really does matter which way it
goes. Lesson learned. I finished adjusting
the brakes while Chris added another 11 to
our tally, very cool. Of course for the next
hour I was making the teams pull over so I
could check the bearing, it made me totally
paranoid.
Throughout the day we continued to find one
or two more license plates, and by the time
we crossed the bridge into New Orleans, we
were up to 43. Our team had said all along
that we felt pretty good with anything above
40 plates, but 45 was our real feel good
point and we weren’t there yet.
This little excursion put us somewhat behind
and we realized that at our max speeds we
only had a small cushion of extra time to
make New Orleans for the final points turn
in so it was time to hammer down and pray
for no further repairs. Now remember that
13.5 gallons of gas we had...remember that
16 gallon tank. Ok our math said we still had
about 2.5 gallons in reserve when we hit the
hotel last night so noting that spot on our
gauge when we hit it again we figured we
were good for another 40-60 miles today.
Right about the time we hit that spot, two
More Misfits asked if we should stop for
gas (they had noted that we ususally did fill
ups around the time they hit 1/4 tank) We
figgured we could stretch it one more exit, it
was only 6 miles ahead. WRONG...almost
as soon as we replied to them and passed
the close exit she died out.
[explectitive] 2MM headed off to the next
exit to get a gas can and some fuel while we
watched our precious time diminish. They
8
At Speed – November 2007
Suddenly a small truck comes whizzing
past and the license plate is Oregon, we
don’t have that yet. He was going pretty fast
and darting from lane to lane. Chris, who
was driving looked over and me and I told
him to nail it, if we killed her now we could
push her to the hotel. Again in an amazing
display of driving Chris gradually weaved us
through traffic sometimes actually getting
her to break 80, after about a 3 mile chase
which seemed much longer I was able to
snap a blurry but readable shot. We shoot
to the nearest exit to turn around (as we had
passed our exit just to get the shot) and sure
enough that danged truck exits too and ends
up stopped in front of us at a light. We got a
nice clear shot just to be sure. Time to turn
in points was drawing close, 44 would have
to do it, we headed for the hotel.
We made decent time on arrival and we were
in the heart of the tourist zone so with about
20 minutes to spare Chris set off in search
of any plates in the local garages and on the
streets while I got us checked in. He ended
up finding 3 more to bring our tally to 47;
the second place team had 45. Without the
last minute effort we might not have been
victorious at the end of the day.
It pretty much sums up our experience in
trying to win this; there was no room for “good
enough”, or room for missed opportunities.
Our team had to be going all the time. Last
year we all thought the winning teams were
just sticks in the mud because we never saw
them but we now realize they were working
hard all the time to get where they did.
The BABE Rally was tremendous fun, even
when you put in the effort like we did this
year, but sometimes it’s a choice between
hitting the party or scoring those last few
points. This year we were determined to
win, however next year you’ll be reading
more about us at the parties ;)
Preparing yourself and your car for racing can
be intimidating. You can spend lots of good
money in lots of wrong places, and get nowhere in a hurry. That’s exactly why a special
edition of “Go Ahead - Take the Wheel” was
written specifically for the SCCA.
This comprehensive guide to motorsports
provides everything you need to know to get
started in Solo events, Performance Driving Experience (PDX), Time Trials and Club
Racing.
“Whether as a hobby or as a potential career,
‘Go Ahead - Take the Wheel’ gives you
everything you need to know to get started in
racing.” Michael Andretti
To purchase a copy visit:
www.SCCACollection.com
or call 888-267-2187
or contact David Hess for an original,
pre-SCCA specific, copy of this book.
[email protected] | 609.704.1996
2007 Solo Season Concluded
- Written by: Brian Heun
On October 14, 2007, we conducted the
final event of another very successful Solo
season. This year’s season involved eight
events between April and October. All
events were at Camden County College’s
Blackwood , New Jersey campus.
The College continued to be an outstanding
host. We had full support from the College
and always arrived to find the lot ready for
us. The only exception to this was when
someone ignored the “no parking” notices
posted by the College and left a car in the
lot. The College had it towed within an hour
so it would not impact our event.
The popularity of the Solo events continued
to grow. We had many, many new faces
this year and the quality of participants
was excellent. We always seemed to have
many people eager to lend a hand to make
sure the events went as planned. The
average number of participants reached
approximately 65 per event which is great
given the lower turnouts we began to
experience while running at Atco.
We were also happy to see students from
the College beginning to attend. We had
hoped that running at the College would
give us a source of new participants and this
year that seemed to happen with a number
of students coming out to run with us.
Hopefully, the work will continue to get out
at the College and we will see even more
new faces.
There was a fun race for PAX championship
this year. Scott Boito won with some really
excellent runs throughout the year. This
was an interesting result in that it was won
in three different cars. Scott started the
year in his Subaru, ran one event in Mike
Allenbaugh’s Subaru WRX and finished the
season in the Honda Civic he acquired midseason.
If there were any negatives to the season,
one was the “dirty” nature of the lot.
Apparently, as a result of sand blowing from
the construction sight next to the lot, the lot
was quite slippery in places. Hopefully, the
construction will be complete by next season
and this will no longer be an issue.
The other problem was with the old timing
equipment. Unfortunately, the old system
finally let us down and we needed to run one
event using stop watches. However, the
“old fashion way” worked for that event. We
then purchased a new timing box, cable and
timing lights from AXWare to complement
the software we already had and the sign.
We basically now have a complete AXWare
system. While it was expensive, it was well
worth it and given the increasing numbers
of drivers, we were able to afford it. Also,
thanks to the generosity of a number of
members, we now have plenty of lap top
computers and a printer.
Remember, if you qualified for a trophy, let
Valerie know you want one on the forums or
at [email protected]. You can have it
presented at the banquet or pick it up next
year.
As for next year, if all goes as planned, we
will start the season at the College and end
at Thunderbolt raceway. We are looking to
keep the excellent momentum going and
look forward to another great season.
One thing we are looking at as next season
approaches is a new requirement from
National that Solo and Rally participants
need to be regular members or “weekend
members”. For a number of reasons (cost,
administrative issues and the “message” the
program could send), the Board has already
sent a letter of objection to National. We
will wait and see if National reconsiders this
requirement. We understand we are not the
only Region concerned about it.
The season was great and all participants
deserve appreciation for taking part and
helping us put together a great season. Look
for the schedule for next year sometime in
early 2008.
This years class winners were:
Chad O’Dell – Super Stock;
Dave Heinig – A Stock;
Joe Pilato – B Stock;
Jack Oliver – C Stock;
Brian Heun – E Stock;
Jesse Berardi – G Stock;
Luis Gomez – H Stock;
Matt Wojkowiak, Jr. – C Street Prepared;
Jeff Dutre – D Street Prepared;
Joe Tramp – E Street Prepared;
Matt Tornetta – F Modified;
Scott Boito – STS;
Barry Hall – STS2;
James Fisher – STX;
Doug Riordon – STU;
Tim Connelly – SM.
Pictured: Chad O’Dell’s Super Stock Corvette becoming un-curbed with the help
of other fellow Solo racers during last 2007 South Jersey event.
November 2007 – At Speed
9
South Jersey Region
Awards Banquet
Saturday, January 26, 2008
6:00 - 10:00 pm
Fontana’s Cafe’
30 East Main Street
Maple Shade, NJ 08052
(856) 321-1301
In the Main Street Ballroom (upstairs)
Maple Leaf Buffet:
Tossed Garden Salad, Homemade Cole Slaw,
Carved Top Round Beef, Au Jus & Horseradish Sauce,
Stuffed Shells Marinara, Herb Baked Chicken,
Seasonal Vegetable Medley,
Red Bliss Garlic Roasted Pototoes,
Assorted Miniature Pastries and Cookies
Includes, Rolls and Butter, Dessert, Coffee (Decaf and Regular), and Tea
Cash Bar
Cost: $45.00 per person
For more information contact John Borden
phone: 609.387.0576 - or - email: [email protected]
Detach below and mail with payment
Number of Guests: _____________
Total Amount Enclosed: ($45.00 per person) $________________.00
Name(s): ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________________
Send check payable to:
SJR SCCA
Mail payment to:
John Borden
62 Riverbank Rd.
Beverly, NJ 08010
____________________________________________________________
Phone: (_________) - ___________ - _________________
10
At Speed – November 2007
Mail this stub with payment
Classifieds
Classified from collected from SJR’s online forum and via email to [email protected], subject
line “SJR Ad”. Oldest ads will be dropped as newer ads are submitted. Ads subject to editing
Automobiles: For Sale
com/kingvee (08/07)
1970 King formula vee, prepped for solo.
Recent built 1600 motor built to allowances of the class. Previous owner ran 2
hillclimbs on motor and I have done 4 autocrosses so it is still very fresh. Roxanne
stainless header installed, webber 40 carb.
Everything is very fresh and clean.
Miscelanious: For Sale
Great running car, well suited to big drivers
(Im 6.0 and was 220lb when I started with
it, previous owner was 6’2” and 220)
Comes with duralight aluminum rims with
20x6 tires up front 20x7 in the rear, about
1/2 life left in the tires. Also comes with
steel wheels with 20x7 mounted up front
and 22x9 mounted in the rear, these tires
are almost new (2 autocrosses on them)
and 2 brand new sets in the same size
are also included. (working from memory
on tire sizes so I will confirm and update if
incorrect) Tires are goodyear.
Asking $4500, open to offers/partial trades
(especially for a b-body GM wagon)
Will include 6x12 flatbed trailer for an additional $900
Located in Mullica Hill, NJ (just outside
Philadelphia)
email jim at misfittoysracing dot com
More photos at http://www.misfittoysracing.
91 Palomino Pop-Up Camper ***VGC***
**11.5’ base box**bed 72x72**bed
72x54**dinette bed 68x40**attached
awning**icebox w/ drain**3 burner propane stove w/ outdoor hook-up (new
propane cyl.)**stainless steel sink w/
new double duty faucet**5 gal. freshwater holding tank w/ drain**dresser w/
41x16 top w/ 2 drawers & 2 cabinets**ALL
dishes,utensils,pots & pans**folding 6ft.
aluminum table**new radial tires & 2
spares**entire exterior canvas covered
w/ heavy vynil**tinted vynil windows in
living area**good screens**plenty of
storage**very clean**NO LEAKS**MANY
OTHER ACCESSORIES**READY FOR
CAMPING!!!
**PICK-UP ONLY-NO TRADES**
$2000.00 OBO (CASH ONLY) Call: Ray
(302) 981-0584 (11/07)
Pieces Parts: For Sale
17x8 Mustang GT Wheels: Wheels are
a spare set off a 1994 Mustang GT. They
were the optional 3 spoke models. They
are mounted on an old set of BFG R1’s.
They were primarily used for Solo II events.
I’m asking $300.00 for the set. Contact
John 973-495-1407 or john-carroll@
hotmail.com
I have pictures that can be emailed.
(08/07)
Front seats are heated and have side air
bags. You would need to run your own harness, power, and switches if you were to
trade for my seats.
So basically if you own a ford focus, daily
driver or tuner. And either have seats never
installed for a car or looking to get something different for your Focus, my seats are
available.
W A N T E D
SJR Newsletter “At
Speed” Assistance
We need your
stories, photos,
and/or general
assistance
Pieces Parts: Trade
Wanted to trade Complete Focus SVT
Interior for 2 Race Seats
Blue/Black Leather Seats front and rear,
Blue/black Door panels
Location: Blackwood, NJ 08012
Price: Clean Trade
Email: [email protected]
Photos at www.sjr-scca.org forums
This is going to be hard, but I will throw
it out there. I am looking to gut the back
half of my car minus door panels to keep
a clean look. So I would like to trade my
interior for two new or “like new” Race
Seats. My seats are in great condition.
One slit that can be repaired in the passanger’s seat. And you have to look for
it to find it. Just need to give the blue
microfiber another shampooing before a
possible trade.
Professional Graphics
Photography and Multimedia
6908 Railroad Blvd.
Mays Landing, NJ 08330
609.476.4016
November 2007 – At Speed
11
Awards Banquet
January 26, 2008 @ Fontana’s Cafe’
Details and entry form on p.10
The Official Newsletter
Of The South Jersey Region S.C.C.A.
Next Membership Meeting is
December 12th @
The Elephant & Castle, Cherry Hill, NJ
see p.2 for details
SOUTH JERSEY REGION SCCA
C/O JD KING
759 STANTON AVE.
FRANKLINVILLE, NJ 08322
12
At Speed – November 2007