Along with that excitement have come classing changes. SCCA National, in it’s quest for Stock Classes that are competitive and sensible, has made some adjustments. Mostly in the SS to BS range, but a also in the DS to GS arena. These changes will make for interesting watching, if nothing else. Just don’t run out and buy the hot car for your favorite class too soon … you may find yourself in a different class! And, locally we have added ST3, through a simple reshuffle of the very successful Street Tire classes. The Novice and Street Tire class patterns now match: NV1 with ST1, NV2 with ST2, and NV3 with ST3.

This event had 178 class entries and 56 time-only's, for a total 234. Wow. For the Firebird site, there is a limit of 240 entries (to assure room and time for the event to run properly and safely). The situation may change at Arizona Motorsports Park, but for now the number of entries is capped. So, be sure to pre-register early for both competition and time-only runs. (If all the run groups fill from pre-registration, then neither competition nor time-only entries will be available on site.)

The results from this first event of the Spring 2003 Series show that Chuck Voboril's course was a well received one, as usual. He (FM, Zink) seemed to like the course himself, as he laid waste to the rest of us by a good 26 PAX points. David Rock’s STS Celica was second overall in PAX time. He seems to be improving ever since he changed the suspension and wheels. Jim Harnish’'s FSP 95 Civic was a few tenths back in third. Say……. don’t we know him from somewhere? In fastest cars in raw time were: Chuck Voboril (32.065, '86 Zink Z19), Alan Wagstaffe (34.749, Formula Ford), Jim Witkowski (35.489, ASP Lotus, fastest fendered car), Greg Duncan (35.494, ’84 Fiero), Ted Lewis (35.652, ASP Lotus). I wonder if Ted will let Jim borrow his car again?

Open Classes - Jason Isley continues to scare off the competition in AS with his 89 Vette. Just like his car, he seems to be getting better with age. Dave and Marc McCombs evidently have decided to form their own class … they both entered their S2000 in BS for this Series. Mark scored a nine point lead. The CS Miata saga continues, and lookee here! Tom Dukerich nipped Brian Peters by one point at this event. Mark Johnson and Dawn Maxwell are each just a few ticks behind. A real dog fight. Makes me wish I had found a 1.8 so I could join the fray. In DS the Nissan Spec V of Ron Mercer is firmly in control. The Meyers’ 92 Miata led ES despite a severe front sway bar problem, and GS witnessed the debut of Wiggy Greacen driving his recently purchased red Neon to a solid victory. He hammered the car's previous owner by “only” 48 points. (Gee, thanks, Wiggy.) Who says the Neon can’t compete in the realigned GS class? After all, Wiggy had the day's eighth fastest PAX. The Schupfer Corvair leads HS by 25 points.

Jason Boles has headed to SM2, leaving the ASP field to the Corvettes. Rolf Aberegg’s 99 led the pack, but only is 2 points ahead of Dan Sniezek’s ’01. The DSP class filled up with the visiting Fletcher’s Miata taking the top two spots. Ben Clement did well though, finishing third this time. ESP has a new player, and it’s not a Chevy or Ford! Although the Rippy ’98 Camaro leads the Jones '00 Camaro, Zaron Welch’s 91 Supra served notice that it can compete, by coming within 1.7 seconds of the Camaro times. Hope he hangs around and develops the car! Notice the fast little FSP Civic last event? Jim Harnish scored the win at this event with third fastest overall PAX score of the day. Audrey Harnish was second in that class, so Ross Meyer has his work cut out for him.

I think I see a trend, here. It seems that folks who are tired of running in single car classes are encouraging others to join in. Good idea! Or, perhaps classes are just filling up serendipitously. Either way it’s a good thing. In DP Lahey leads Sattler, in EP Rederick leads Lowell, in CM the Wagstaffe Formula Ford leads a pack of three. In DM it’s Spitfire vs … VW Pickup? (Yes!) In EM the Tom Hill Fiero from Tucson spanked the Jim Cullen Kit Kit. Those cars look like go-carts on steroids.

The newer SCCA Open Classes continue to attract entrants. For example, SM. Seven entries with: Mustangs, Civics, Subarus, and even a Dodge Challenger. What an interesting mix. At this event, it was the Harsay Mustang ahead of the Leiber 85 Civic, by eleven points. The best that previous class champ Steve Steele could muster this time was fourth. Maybe it’s time for power steering? SM2 is for the street-driven (in theory anyway) modified two-seaters, and Miata was king here. Harry Berzes finished at the top, co-driving the turbo Miata owned by Brant Bauman, who drove his car into a very close second place. Jason Boles was close behind Brant in his 99 BMW Z Coupe however, so watch this class; the contest isn’t over by a long shot. STS, another popular class, finds Subaru's dominating … at the moment. In this tightly knit group, the Mark Eddy version was best, but the fourth place car of Bud Caldwell was only 26 points behind. STX received a big shot in the arm this year with the allowance of 245-series tires and 8-inch rims. So here come the big V-8’s, right? Wrong. Mark Goerner’s Integra Type R is still the fastest in this class, leading the Cook WRX and the Galo Prelude by more than a few points.

I think PAX Ladies have more fun than any other group out at these events. They have a great time competing. This event found a few new players as seven took to the track. Deb Eymann chuckled her way to the front, but Mindi Cross in the ASP Lotus was less than a second behind. For some serious fun, look at the PRO Group. These guys laugh at trophies and run for the bucks. With the absent Mark Huffman fearing for his bearings, Chuck Voboril delivered a lesson to the rest of the pack, by 26 PAX points. David Rock’s Celica GTS flew well enough to take second, and Jim Witkowski has his missing “Mojo” back with a solid third. Nice to see Dan Maloney back out again. The Sportsman Class is for Open Class drivers who need run group choice. Usually quite a competitive and fast group, and today was no exception. With fifteen entries, it's also a popular group. Cal Craner was to have run his kart, but with missing paperwork we could not allow that, so he ran his GS Neon instead. Too bad for the rest of the pack, as he leads the class and had the sixth fastest PAX time too. Mark Shaw’s Beetle was second, just seven points behind, and Greg Duncan’s AP Fiero was third. The top eight cars were all within 55 points of each other. Wow.

Street Tire classes – 37 entries, over 20% of the total, are in the Street Tire Classes. Don’t think that just because they aren’t on “R” tires the competitive spirit isn’t there. These classes are just as competitive as the others. We have found in the past that the higher horsepower ST1 cars score lower than the smaller but more nimble ST2 cars. That “truth” still holds. Perhaps the brute horsepower is too much for the street tires? Who knows. In ST1, Jeff Williams’ ’00 BMW M Roadster dethroned the Jim Rohn ’97 M3 Sedan by less than a tenth of a PAX second. OK, maybe “dethroned” isn’t the best word here, but bumped Jim was. Dallan Buschman and his Corvette came out of retirement (well, from SCCA events anyway) to take a solid third. I notice that a Lincoln LS belonging to Chris Noyes finished a remarkable seventh place. Seems I’ve heard that’s a very well-balanced car, and I believe a V-6 too? [Editorial Note: Chris reports that his LS has a 3.9-liter V-8, not the 3.0-liter V-6 that would have classed it in ST2.] The ST2 crew was led by Chad Mizner’s GS Del Sol VTEC (say, I thought he was going to GS Open?) with a remarkable 922 PAX score. Only one PAX second behind the well-sorted Neon ACR’s that ran on “R” tires. Wiggy and Cal better hope Chad doesn’t buy the sticky tires, as they might then be in for a shock. On the other hand, Jay Balducci (second, WRX) and David Webb (third, Focus) might decide to chip in a little towards his tire costs. By the way, did I see that right? David Webb finally besting Dwight Smith’s Focus? A nice improvement it seems. ST3 was added at the last moment so Robert Rose was a man in the right place at the right time. I’m sure he will have company as this new class grows with the rest of ST. Jessica Jackson hopes the same will be true for STL, as she would appreciate some classmates.

Novice Classes – 41 entries here, 23% of total. In NV1 Derrick Disharoom's Vette climbed to the top, besting Tim Clayton’s S2000 by about half a PAX second. Fourteen others are following close behind. The NV2 crew has thirteen folks doing battle, and Chris Vasilakos ’03 Sunfire was best this day, finishing two-tenths ahead of Rich Damp’s ’87 Supra. Lee Short was less than a tenth behind him, so this is a nice battle shaping up. In NV3 the WRX of Joshua Sortor had first, as well as the fastest Novice PAX time of 31.596, and 907 points. The Todd Houser ’03 Mini “S” was four tenths behind in second place, and Clint Child’s Type-R was in third. Jennifer Steere leads in NVL.

As we transition to Arizona Motorsports Park (AMP), we can expect to see longer courses running three cars at once (as was done at this event), but early loops will no longer be necessary to gain course length and time. We should be able to run more cars on longer courses in the same timeframe, much like California groups do. In fact, we will probably start seeing drivers from other venues visit us to experience one of the better autocross tracks available anywhere. Next time you bump into Dan Maloney, be sure to thank him for the great opportunities that AMP will provide for all of us.

Even with 234 entries at this event, we were packed up and gone by 4:30 pm. And the “Hot Dog Lady” was back – she was sorely missed in January, when her cart took a tumble on the way out to Firebird. I believe I experienced withdrawal symptoms that day. She is a real asset to our overall experience, and we are glad for the service she provides.

The most obvious advantage of the approach is its easy implementation. But there are many others, such as the elimination of several worker positions (observers, recorders, etc.) and reduced anxiety for those who, ahem, are prone to DNF. It will be easier for announcers to keep up with activity on the course, since they'll not be announcing completion times. And the laptop scoring computer can be forgotten at home along with its power supply.

More important, this method completely sidesteps the issue of whether or not really skillful drivers are just accidents of nature. In addition, it has celebrity support! Butt-Head has endorsed it by saying "I'm, like, angry at numbers." Beavis agreed, saying "There's, like, too many of them, and stuff." Woody Allen concurred that at least "ninety percent of life is just showing up."

Disadvantages of the method are tolerable. It is inherently dull, no denying, but that more than makes up for its lack of excitement. No trophies are awarded (it would be silly to give trophies to everyone), but that saves money. An actor, portraying a televangelist wearing a black-&-white checkered cape of universal harmony, noted that a competitive attitude is understandable, but is also the first step onto a slippery slope that ends with something really uncharitable. Such as tossing your coins into the fountain and then wishing that no one else's wishes come true.

Near the end of its deliberations, the Braking Committee narrowly defeated an amendment requiring that participation awards be issued to all entrants. The majority felt that smears of shoe polish on the windshields sufficed.