Club Racing Report 

 

Gathered by Eileen Waters   

 

 

The St. Louis Region Club Racing Committee has been working on some creative ideas to help build driver attendance at road race weekends.   

 

The Gateway Road Racing Group and St. Louis Region have been working closely to plan next year's club race schedule.  They've also been ironing out the details as
to how to work together most effectively over the next few years as we
rebuild the local program.  They are looking forward to a real
resurgence in St. Louis SCCA Racing beginning with the 2013 season.   

 

A Track Day has been planned for August 31 at Gateway Motorsports Park.  See the flyer below for details.  Watch Facebook and your emails for updates.  Here is a link to the Facebook event page.  

 

 

The 49th Annual SCCA National Championship Runoffs will be held Tuesday, September 18 through Sunday, September 23 at Road America in Plymouth, WI.  You can find all the information you need about this event at this link 49th Annual SCCA National Championship Runoffs.  The last day to register online is September 10.  You will also find information about volunteer registration at the same link shown above. 

 

 

 

Road Rally Report 

 

By Rose vonHatten 

 

  

Follow the Yellow Brick Road 

St. Louis Region visited the Land of Oz last month when it held "Follow the Yellow Brick Road", a Road Rally that took competitors over 60 miles of country roads in St. Charles County.  The July 29th "gimmick rally" event required participants to find signs - but only while they were on "the yellow brick road".  There was a huge turnout of thirteen cars from just about every end of the vehicle spectrum, from a Rallycross-prepped Subaru to a Mercedes SLK, a Corvette to a Silverado, even a Hummer!  There was also an interesting blend of both SCCA members and non-members checking out what Road Rally is all about.  Although for a little while it looked like the weather was going to put a damper on things, it became a beautiful, sunny day that was perfect for a Road Rally.  Competitors found their way to Dave and Buster's for the finish, and when all was said and done SCCA members (and first-time rallyists) Steve and Sheila Burkett (along with son Steven) won the lovely first place trophies.  Dan Wormek and Christa Young placed second (and took home "Instant Glinda" kits for their efforts), with Phillip Van Booven and John Dowdy finishing third, receiving the "If I Only Had a Brain" prize package (who left before their photo op).  Thanks to everyone who helped make this event a success, and helped me organize it.  You certainly made this first time rallymaster live up to her event title of "Rallywizard"!

Finishing first in their first road rally were the team of Sheila and Steve Burkett flanked by their son Steven and "Rallywizard" Rose vonHatten. Charlene Lain photo.

Yellow Brick Road second place finishers Christa Young and Dan Wormek with their "Instant Glinda" kit prizes.   Rose vonHatten photo.

There are currently no other rallies on the St. Louis Region schedule this year, but they are not hard to put together and a lot of interest has been shown in wanting another event.  Road Rallies are also great events to tailor to your special interest or other organization.  If you want to get more involved in Road Rally, or would even like to put on your own event, please contact Tom vonHatten at 314-741-0508 for assistance and advice. 

 

 

Follow the Yellow Brick Road Rally Results 

(listed driver, navigator, car, score out of a possible 48) 

1.  Sheila and Steve Burkett, Mazda CX7, 45
2.  Dan Wormek and Christa Young, VWGTI, 43
3.  Phillip Van Booven and John Dowdy, Mitsubishi Spyder, 41
4.  Douglas Voss and Jeni Harris, Subaru WRX, 40
5.  Mike and Sue Houser, Chevy Silverado, 39
5.  Steve and Kyle Slotten, Subaru Legacy, 39
5.  Kristy Reiss and Mike Major, Mercedes SLK, 39
8.  Charlene Lain and Cherie Wilson, Honda Civic, 36
9.  Mike McGinnitey and Marcia Moore, Chrysler 300M, 35
10.  Rick and Andrew Poepping, Hummer, 27
11.  Joseph Strong and Alexandria Pierce, Ford F150, 25
12.  Bruce Stephens and Cindy Galimberti, Corvette, 24
12.  Sue and Bob Katsev, Ford Flex, 24

   

PDX Report

The St. Louis Region will hold their next PDX at Gateway Motorsports Park on Wednesday, September 19.  Also note that the Wednesday, August 22 PDX date HAS BEEN MOVED to Wednesday, October 3.  For more information check out the PDX website.

Solo Report

The 40th Annual Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships will take place Monday, September 3 through Friday, September 7 in Lincoln, NE.  St. Louis Region member Susan Anderson is a "100 Percenter", meaning she's attended all 40 National Championships.  You can find all the info you'll need about the event at this link 40th Annual Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships.   The Pro Solo National Championship are also held in Lincoln, NE prior to this event on Friday, August 31 through Sunday, September 2. 

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.   

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

By Chuck DeProw  

On Sept. 29 the ST. Louis Region SCCA will hold its fall Street Survival School at Family Arena, in St. Charles, MO.  

The St Louis Region SCCA Teen Street Survival schools have been so successful, we are having to expand our instructors' base. This year our schools were sold out in record time. The September 29th event had a waiting list of 21 students. WE NEED YOUR HELP. We've also want to expand our schools for next year, but the only way we can do this is expanding the instructor base. If you want to help teens drive safely, we would like to talk to you.  

An Instructors class will be held the on Monday Sept. 24, 2012.

You say you've never done anything like this? ---- don't worry ---- we work with you on being an instructor. You can contact the Chairman, Chuck DeProw at  cdeprow@charter.net . There is no greater reward than knowing you helped a teen become a safe driver.

The May 5 event was sold out with a full roster of students and had 11 on the waiting list. An 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 Street Survival Committee is always helped by the Road Racing Grid Team and they are a real asset to this program. Cesare Venegoni runs the parents van and delivers and drops them off at the various worker stations, all while answering questions, to make their day go well.   The rest work with the parents at each of the 12 events the students drove through to learn more skills. Their Green Grid shirts and friendly smiles always make the event better.

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 came out and helped put this event on. 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!

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

The crew of instructors, who were each honored with a St. Louis Street Survival hat clearly marked "INSTRUCTOR", are a big part of the foundation of this program. But, as important as many think they are to these teens news skills, many instructors state that they get more out of these events than the teens in satisfaction and knowing they made a real difference in saving these teens from accidents.

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

Photo 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. 

Congratulations to Cecil Harness on his 40 years of membership and Dan Landiss on his 25th membership anniversary. 

(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!) 

 St. Louis Region sends its condolences to the family of Lloyd Borgstede who passed away on August 3.  He was loads of fun, part of the Grids/Pits team at Club Racing events, and a former Assistant R.E.  Borgstede graduated from Lafayette High School, served in the US Navy Seabees, was active in the American Legion and served on several pit crews, but most of all he treasured his friendships.  

The August issue of SportsCar is available in digital only format on the SCCA national website.  Once there you'll need to login (your member number and password), once that pages loads click on the far right tab that says SportsCar.  You should see a picture of the current issue of SportsCar.  On the left hand side of the screen is a tab for back issues, click that, and select August 2012.  You can turn pages by clicking on the arrow keys at the top of the screen.  If you'd like to print a page select the print button to your right and it will then give you options as to what you'd like to print (the left or right page on your screen, a range of pages, or the whole magazine).