I mean, why else would 149 of us be out there -- click here for a window on results -- other than for the “love” of the sport? It was after “Labor” Day, and some of us did labor more than others. It was one of those courses where the harder you tried, the slower you went. Many had their fastest runs on the first run. Bummer. It was all about smoothness, putting two or more corners together, and watching the apexes. Carry a little too much speed, and you missed the apex, and, well, you know the rest. Discipline, that’s what we need – more discipline! Self control leads to car control.

In the SCCA Open Classes, the competition is based upon raw times within a class, not PAX'd times. It’s kind of like “No Excuses”. In Super Stock, Jim Young leads the pack and ain’t lookin’ back. Brian Peters and his now dialed in C Stock Miata continues his winning ways with a three point (!) victory over Tom Dukerich, and Brian also leads the Series by nineteen points over Don Sattler. In D Stock Ron Mercer and his new Spec-V Sentra have the handle on the IS300 Lexus of Jim Barks. Same for Ken Terrell in F Stock, as his 94 Firebird has the upper hand. Looks like Larry Dues in G Stock is “due” a little competition soon as he enjoyed a thirty point victory this event over David Vasquez’ Audi A4. But lurking in the wings is Chad Mizner and his potent Del Sol VTEC, who won Street Tire 2 class with a faster raw time than Larry. Wow! Look's like G Stock is heating up. Mark Shaw leads H Stock comfortably by picking on the antique Corvair of Greg Schupfer. Mark’s Beetle really seems to like those Hoosiers….

We had us an upset in A Street Prepared! Erik Davis (911 RSA) handed Jason Boles (BMW Z Coupe) his first defeat, but Jason still leads the Series by twenty points or so. Another good battle shaping up here. C Street Prepared used to be Honda territory, but no longer. The Audi TT of Tyler Thompson figured out a way to get ahead of the Bloomberg Porsche and Freeman Miata. This time. We all missed Jan Shank this event, and hope he is able to return next month. The Rippy Camaro has won E Street Prepared twice now, but with a very close margin – nineteen points first event, and only sixteen points this one over Abraham Jone’s Camaro SS. That’s a margin that one good (or bad!) event could easily wipe out, so Richard better stay on his toes. E Prepared found that Aldolfo Malagon stormed ahead of Dick Lowell in the “Battle of the Datsun 510’s”. The ‘76 Formula Ford of Ken Edney wiggled ahead of the ‘82 Formula Ford of Alan Wagstaff for the C Modified win, so in this case older was better!

SCCA’s newer classes seem to be enjoying great popularity. Especially enjoying Street Modified is the “Man of Steel,” Steve Steele, as he and his muscular ’65 Mustang once again carried the day. Steve has been quoted as saying “Power steering is for wimps.” Drive his car and you’ll know why. Mike Shapiro was only ten points back this time, however, and may have found some extra speed to challenge Steve’s grip. Street Modified 2 is for the two seater cars, and the “Miata meeting” was spoiled this time by the Vette of Paul Hamersly, seizing second place from Brant Bauman. Harry Berzes carried the banner and the day with a three-tenths victory. The Street Touring S guys are smaller in number recently, but not in spirit or quality as Ron Huber led that pack with a 947 PAX score. Subaru’s may be back.

The Local Classes that the Arizona Region offers are by far the most popular, as far as participation goes. PAX Ladies finds Deb, Glenda and Jodie driving as fast as they talk…or is it the other way around? Anyway, they have fun together and Deb led the ladies this time with a blistering raw time of 44.845. Our PRO Class runs for money, not trophies, and the competition is always tight. Typically the top PAX time comes from this group, and this event was no different, except that it was Ted Lewis doing it for his very first time! A fluke, you say? Not likely, as he bested National F Modified champ Chuck Voboril to do it. Way to go Ted. Chuck did mumble something about a flawed course design on his way out the gate. (Psst! He’s the course designer). 2002 National trophy winners Jason Isley and Marc McCombs were also left in Ted’s wake. The Sportsman Class contest is getting interesting as Scott Meyers’ Neon (yes, it’s still around) eked out a slender seven point victory over Tage Evanson’s borrowed Miata (just buy the Neon, Tage!). Dave Young was left in 3^rd another four points back. Steve Eymann was lucky to finish 5^th, as one of his suspension control arms broke a weld and almost fell off. Better here than Open Track, right Steve?

Street Tire 1, a shadow of it’s former glory days, once again failed to best the top ST2 time, but some might argue that there just aren’t any Street Tires capable of holding all that brute power! Jim Rohn would probably argue so, since he was the top finisher this time in ST1 with a score of 902. The Neddermeyer Supra Turbo was half a second back in 2^nd place, and he certainly could use more grip with all that power. Four more points back finds Sheng-Wen Seow’s S2000. The top six finishers here are all within about one second of each other. Nobody better blink or they’ll drop five places! Street Tire 2 continues its dominance of ST1, with Chad Mizner’s GS Del Sol VTEC leading the charge. In fact, the top FIVE finishers here would have beaten the ST1 Rohn BMW M3. Wow! Don’t ever suggest that the Street Tire classes aren’t competitive. Speaking of which, Chad Mizner is planning to join the Open G Stock group after this Series. Small wonder as he scored a 939 PAX this event. I think he’s ready now! (Wait a minute…I’m in G Stock. Oh, oh. Better get some faster tires, or faster something). Dwight Smith (2^nd Focus) and Pat Fisher (3^rd) each drove very well too, but it was just not to be this time. Debbie Cox finished ahead of Kat Kemper in Street Tire Ladies this event, but the margin remains close.

Forty one entrants in October were Novices, and here too were some close competitions. In Novice 1 Robert Billson kept his lead, but the Ahren Strumpf Mustang Cobra closed the gap significantly. Same for third place Mario DiForte, as his gap to second was cut in half. Lots of improvements here. I’m happy to report that Novice 2 did NOT beat ST1 (wink), but not by much. They did beat NV1, however. Ryan Cook’s WRX scored a healthy 891 PAX to win, but was only nine points ahead of 2^nd place Clint Child’s Type R. Recall all the hype about the new BMW Mini Coopers? Well, Richard Rivenes evidently didn’t get the word as his Novice 3 original 1962 Mini Cooper had the fastest Novice time of any group with an 898. He was only thirteen points ahead of Jeremy Galo’s Prelude, and only another FIVE points back was the WRX of Jason Pierce. Close enough for you? Some of the folks languishing in the current SCCA Open or Street Tire classes better watch out as we have a very talented crew of newer drivers about to rattle their worlds.

Well, it’s about time! We had five entries in Novice Ladies this event. Jessica Jackson finished first in her ’00 Civic, just ahead of the Corvette of Tammy Roland. Leah Delozier (Miata) was in third, but Anne Mullan (Grand Am) and Ashely Bibby (Accord) were also very close. Good job ladies, hope you had fun.

Next event will be Sunday, November 10. Same schedule for the day, different challenging course. Remember that its best to run all four events if you can, as your lowest score gets dropped. Hope to see everyone there.