Club Racing Report 

 

 

 

 

The Majors Program 

By Cesare Venegoni 

The SCCA National office named Gayle Lorenz as Program Manager for the new Club Racing Majors Program.  This is great news for both the National organization and our St. Louis Region/MiDiv.  MiDiv is being used as the "prototype" for this new program in both 2012 and 2013 as the kickoff/test/pilot.  After we get it fine tuned and make adjustments, The Majors program launches nationally.  This is where Gayle's 23 years of SCCA experience will come in handy.

Gayle is a member from New Bern, NC.  She has been an R.E., Director of Club Racing and spent 12 years as Race Chair of the MARRS (Mid-Atlantic Road Racing Series).  She was also the National Administrator for Grid/Pits from 2005 - 2010.  She's sharp and really knows her way around Club Racing.  I think she'll do a great job.

The Majors program is the biggest thing to hit SCCA in a very long time.  There are some big changes afoot in the SCCA and this is just the first of them.  After attending both the MiDiv Convention and the National Convention, I realized two things about The Majors.   One, its a big move not only for the National Club, but in many respects a bigger one for MiDiv as the pilot program.  Two, I needed help coming to grips with this ASAP, so I pulled together a great team to assist me.  As The Majors will encompass a lot of changes in drivers schools and licensing as well as the development of "invitational races", "majors events" and "special events", I needed people that understand how Club Racing runs and get things done.  I'm happy to tell you that I've got Dave Jones, Steven Burkett and Bryon Prokopf working with me on this.  As things stand now The Majors is a work in progress and with these fine gentlemen working alongside me I think we have the experience, know how and imagination to pull this together in St. Louis.  With some guidance from Gayle Lorenz I'm confident that St. Louis will make a big contribution to this program.

What are The Majors?

You can find out online at the SCCA National webpage.  In short, it is a program that will encompass all car classes, promote faster licensing of drivers, promote larger class events and help to make Club Racing more competitive.  It's a very ambitious move to breathe new life into Club Racing while at the same time attract new members and drivers to SCCA.  It is the first move in many that SCCA has in the pipeline.

Curt Faigle's I.T. car.  Photo by Curt Faigle

G.R.I.T. Challenge Series 

By Steve Burkett 

Attention Improved Touring drivers!

St. Louis Region is proud to present the first ever Gateway Region Improved Touring (G.R.I.T.) Championship Series to be held at Gateway Motorsports Park in 2012. This special IT-only series is designed to recognize our talented IT drivers and encourage regional competition.  In addition to the excitement of competing for a championship title, participating drivers will also receive additional track time at the Gateway races and other perks. 

The May race kicks off the new series.  On Saturday, there will be a bonus IT race (group seven) with qualifying grid based on fast lap from the regular MidAm points race (group four).  There is no extra charge for the bonus race, which will be the first points race in the G.R.I.T. series.  The Sunday IT Tour race will also count for G.R.I.T. points.

You read that right - IT drivers get three races for the price of two! 

For full series rules click here to visit the St. Louis Club Racing Website.

 

Gateway Motorsports Park Track Test Day
and Garage Space 

By Eileen Waters 

Gateway Motorsports Park is again offering a Track Test Day for SCCA Club Racing competitors on the Friday before our Club Racing weekend.  The date is Friday, May 18.  Pre-registration is $150 per car by Tuesday, May 15 and $200 after that date.  There is a minimum requirement of 15 pre-registered participants to hold the test day.  No refunds will be provided if the test day is held, but GMP will refund the participants money if the day is cancelled by GMP.  You can call Dan Harman at GMP to leave your name and phone number.  He can be reached at 618-215-8893.  He will call those who have left the required info to charge their credit card ONLY after they get close to the minimum number required.

GMP will also offer early move-in on Thursday afternoon.  The cost is $20 per vehicle (cash or check).  If the test day gets cancelled, move-in will begin on Friday afternoon/evening instead.

If you'd like to reserve a spot under the covered garages, the procedures remain the same from previous years.  Call Dan Harman and leave your name, phone number and type of race car.  The charge also remains the same at $50 per day per numbered bay.

Club Racing reminders: 

Both driver and worker registration is now open for our May 19-20 Regional/National/IT Tour.  Online registration is available at Motorsportreg.  We hope to see many smiling faces at the track!

If you would like more info, you may contact Club Racing Chair Bryon Prokopf or call him at 618-660-6174.

2012 Club Racing Chiefs:

Course Marshal - Bob Burnham
EV (Emergency Vehicles) - Paul Nittel
Flagging/Communications (F&C) - Diane Prokopf
Food Coordinator - Charlene Lain
Grid/Pits - Dave Bohler and Cesare Venegoni
Hospitality - Michelle Oder
Pace Car - Ken Robertson
Radio Tech - Bob Bentzinger
Registrar - Sheila Burkett
Starter - Daryl Tryson
Sound - Alex Furla
Tech - Mike Wolf
Timing/Scoring (T&S) - Bryon Prokopf

A reminder - if you are looking to go racing, we now have a buddy program of seasoned racers in all sorts of cars.  Contact Steve Burkett and he'll put you in touch with a local racer who can help you get started.  There's still plenty of time to go racing in 2012!

 

PDX Report

The St. Louis Region will hold their first PDX of 2012 at Gateway Motorsports Park on Wednesday, May 16.  For more information check out the PDX website.

RallyCross Report

By Brian Schwantner 

The second event of the season The Sandbox RallyCross was the largest attended event yet since I took over the program.  The morning course run an average time of 2.56 minutes with the afternoon course having an average time of 1.30 minutes. I'd like to thank James Bass, Maria Morris, Steve Slotten and Matthew Conte for making this event a great success.   We will be working in May to improve the course for the up coming events in June and July.  

 

James Haas drives Brian Schwantner's car at the April 22 RallyCross.  In the photo on the right Rob Wright is behind the wheel of a Saab in the same event held at the Big River Sand Drags in Bonne Terre, MO.  James Durbin took both photos. 

Solo Report

 

By Jan Rick 

We have completed two events in the Solo Program and both, although quite different in entry size, were excellent.

 

Event one saw 161 entries at Gateway Motorsports Park and challenged all of our specialties to the max, as our average is 112 entries. But even with all the extra people, starting late, and some first event delays, everyone got five runs and we left at 5:45PM. Our 2012 mantra of "More Seat Time for Everyone" rang loud!

 

The first event created lots of event organizational suggestions, ideas on the forums, and letters to the Solo Committee for all of us to consider.

 

Event two was at Family Arena and the arena was holding a rare Sunday event. We had to be off the lot no later than 4PM. To add to that challenge the weather forecast included possible severe storms at times, to start sometime after 1PM (depending on which weather gurus you listened to) as we approached the event.   Many drivers were mumbling about bailing out on this sure to be flawed event.  

 

To those who were scared away from attending, this should teach you a lesson in St. Louis weather and the SCCA autocross community. You all missed a really great event. It was an excellent autocross. We started the first car at exactly 9:15am. Weather was windy, but in the high 70s, overcast but bright. Everyone got five Runs and we had plenty of time to be off the lot for Family Arena's event to start parking at 4PM. The course was fast, and fun, T&S kept everything moving, our equipment all worked perfectly, and everyone pitched in. The SIUE Formula SAE Team was there offering "adoptions" for them to work for you on course and allow you to just drive. The wind ate another EZUP, but.... that was the only down side to the entire day. One heat worker change over at heat 2 was ONLY 7 MINUTES! We had 105 drivers that all had a good time. Results were posted as the severe weather warnings started across the TV screens of the local stations.

 

After just two events at the top of the Index Championship, Richard Weise is leading with 19889 points. Adam Deffenbaugh is close behind with 19626, John Powell, Tom Sotiropoulos, Chris Lybarger, Rich Wise, Joe Floretta, Chris Mertens, James Poeling follow, with Jansoon Song rounding out the top 10 so far. There are 166 drivers right behind these ten, clawing their way up the index pole!

 

The Novice race is still very early too - Kurt Gallina is leading, but just two points behind him is Brett Rhodes (his dad Dean is our Chief of Course for 2012).  Following is Robert Kammererer, Greg Barren, Wade Walters, Steven Paster, Randy Dawson, Sandy Young, Ian Maloney and in 10th place David Gurley. We have 28 Novices who are registered for the race to be the 2012 Novice of the Year.

 

In the Ladies Race, April Schnardthorst is leading Jenn Mertens, co-drivers in GSL, but Martha Lou Haddon and Joyce Ruth are nipping at those ladies heels for this 2012 Ladies Championship.  

 

The class results are still all up in the air after only two events, but there are already some neat stats to note. The largest class is our Street Tire class, which allows anyone to run their car with street tires and get a scored indexed against others on street tires, it has 35 drivers competing. Street Touring eXtreme has 18 drivers so far, and Street Touring Ultra has 13. Our new PRO class has eight Pro Drivers who also make some interesting bets with one other on the forums each week.

 

We have had entries in our Race for Nationals class which does not score for any regional year end awards, but allows the drivers to run two heats, work once and run both heats as a two driver car, talk about More Seat Time for Everyone. At the first event, Carla Russo got over 20 runs. A tire company should pay us to offer this class! For those interested, the cost to run this class is $100 and you must pre-register.

 

The 2012 Autocross season is looking great, so come join us at our May 6 or May 20 event both at Gateway Motorsports Park.

 

If you need a minor waiver for your child you can go to the SCCA website, print the Minor Waiver (it must be printed in color), and execute it before you arrive.  If both parents sign and execute the waiver, it can be good for all year.

Not an SCCA member yet?  If you have not been a member before or in the last five years we have a deal for you.  Buy a membership for $80 (individual) and get two FREE events (a $70 value).  No other discounts can be used with this deal.  If you had to buy two entries and two weekend membership you would pay $100, so this is a great deal!  Why are we offering this?  Because we want you to be a part of the SCCA.

We can't wait to see you around the pylons!

Check the Solo website for all the latest information at  www.stlsolo.org.


 

Gateway Kickoff Thanks  

 By Bruce Stephens, Event Chair  

Thanks in part to generous donations of food and drink by the Club Racing and PDX Committees as well as the St. Louis Audi Club, the Gateway Kickoff event came in well under budget.  The event raised $254 for Backstoppers through a 50/50 drawing and individual donations.  Member Charlene Lain suggested that the Region put some of the unused budget toward increasing the donation to Backstoppers.  The BoD agreed and the total donation was $400.

Started in 1959,  BackStoppers provides needed support and financial assistance to the spouses and children of all local and county police officers, firefighters, publicly-funded paramedics and EMTs and volunteer fire protection units who have lost their lives while on duty.       

If you have comments or suggestions for the Board they may be reached at BOD@stlscca.org.

 Was there something you wanted to see in WHEELSPIN, but didn't find it.?  Submissions for WHEELSPIN may be sent to wheelspin@stlscca.org.   

●  Saturday, May 5, 2012 - Street Survival School at Gateway Motorsports Park.

● Sunday, May 6, 2012 - Solo event #3 at Gateway Motorsports Park.

●  Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - Pre-registration deadline for SCCA Track Test Day at Gateway Motorsports Park.  Call 618-215-8893 to leave your name and phone number. 

 
●  Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - PDX at Gateway Motorsports Park.

●  Friday, May 18, 2012 - SCCA Track Test Day at Gateway Motorsports Park (if enough pre-registered).   

●  Saturday-Sunday, May 19-20, 2012 - Regional/National/IT Club Racing at Gateway Motorsports Park. 

●  Sunday, May 20, 2012 - Solo event #4 at Gateway Motorsports Park.

●  Monday, May 21, 2012 - General membership meeting - check the website for meeting location.

A complete calendar of events can be found on the Region's website. 

 Wet braking at the August 2011 Tire Rack Street Survival School

By Chuck DeProw and Jan Rick

On May 5th the ST. Louis Region SCCA will host its Spring Street Survival School at Gateway Motorsports Park.  It will hold its second one on Sept. 29, 2012 at Family Arena, in St. Charles, MO.

The first event is sold out with a full roster of students (35) and 21 on the waiting list.  A recent article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch about the BMW Club event held in March created a rush of registrations with an incredible 19 the weekend of the article. The second event is also quickly filling, with 27 already registered. 

Last year, the Street Survival Committee was helped by the Road Racing Grid Team and they have again offered to help with this event.  They worked with the parents at each of the 12 events the students drove through to learn more skills.  Their Green Grid shirts and friendly smiles really enhanced the event.

Tire Rack is the title sponsor of these events all over the country with the 114 SCCA regions.  This year Enterprise also joined them to assist on the National level.  Enterprise is a perfect fit as a sponsor and the St. Louis Committee has worked with them for two years now as the local presenting sponsor.   The St. Louis Region Committee likes to think their sales work with Enterprise helped pave the way for their National sponsorship.  

The committee would like to thank everyone that comes out to help put these events on.  If you would like to get involved, please contact the program manager Chuck DeProw .  This event is one of the most rewarding community efforts the Region has ever worked on, and everyone that gets involved says they get so much out of watching these teens build self-confidence as the day progresses.  The pride in these teens that is so visible at the graduation is really something, and worth all the work it takes to hold these events.

The primary emphasis of Tire Rack Street Survival School is a "hands-on" driving experience in real-world situations! We use your own car to teach you about its handling limits and how you can control them.

The students will become more observant of the traffic situations they find themselves in. They will learn to look far enough ahead to anticipate unwise actions of other drivers. As the students master the application of physics to drive their cars, they will make fewer unwise driving actions themselves. They will understand why they should always wear their own seat-belts, and why they should insist that their passengers wear seat-belts, too!

The August 2011 graduates of the Tire Rack Street Survival School.

Both photos by Jan Rick.

The St. Louis Region congratulates the following members for the membership milestones they've reached and salutes the contributions and time they've given to guide, lead, staff, support, and participate in our region and our events. 

Ted Haines and Tom Dvorak are each celebrating 40 years as members.   

Martha Lou and Joe Haddon have been members for 35 years.   

Royce Estes, William Grundel, Barry Huff, Tony Pandjiris and Peter Zekert are all counting their 30th Anniversaries as SCCA members.   

Brad and Patti Baer, Tom Coppage, Robert Fullriede, Paul Nittel, and Steven Sawyer are all marking their memberships of 25 years.     

(Editor's note:  If I have managed to overlook someone's Membership Milestone - of 25 years or more - feel free to point out my error and beat me thoroughly with a wet noodle!) 

Congratulations to Mark Morhaus in Spec Racer Ford, Chris Albin in ITB, and Curt Faigle in IT7 as they all currently lead their classes in the Mid-Am Championship in Club Racing.  They each doubled their pleasure winning both events at the opener in Memphis.  Albin and Faigle also lead their classes in the Midwest Division I.T. Tour standings.

Over in the Midwest Division National Racing points Jim Wright leads in Formula Atlantic as does Albin in H Production.    

Late breaking news...Save the date:  June 2.  There is a BBQ Competition  between the Police and Fire Departments.  The event is being put on by Jackson's BBQ in Dog Town on Manchester.  There will be an autocross at the shopping center on Manchester near Hampton.  Stay tuned to the Region website, the Solo website, and Facebook pages everywhere (not to mention the next issue of Wheelspin) for more details.  

You will find several St. Louis Region members (and sometimes their cars as well) at the European Car Show at Plaza Frontenac on Sunday, June 3.  The event benefits the St. Louis Shriner's Hospital.  More details can be found at their website.   

Congratulations to Curtis Francois who was recently recognized by the Southwestern Madison County Chamber of Commerce for reopening the new Gateway Motorsports Park.   

We currently have 530 members.