12 October 2003, ARIZONA MOTORSPORTS PARK –
175 drivers, plus families and friends, chose to spend part of the Columbus Day weekend with the Arizona Region SCCA Solo 2 Group. It was the second event of the Fall 2003 series. There were some stellar drives, some remarkable DNF's, and lots of great action. Details can be found
here.
We are only two events into this series and we already have some exciting points races.
The idea of celebrating a holiday commemorating a famous mariner by autocrossing in the Arizona desert may seem far-fetched. In essence though, we were exploring the limits of our machines and ourselves, just like Columbus and his crew were. The challenge for many explorers after Columbus was to circumnavigate the globe. We lubbers spent Columbus Day trying to circumnavigate a challenging autocross course.
That course was designed by Dawn Maxwell and Chuck Voboril. While their course map didn’t have
Here Be Monsters inscribed above images of snarling sea beasts, you could be sure a run was lost if one ventured too far off line. From the launch, the course featured sweepers and offsets as it headed to the far end of the skid pad, where a deceptively slow right turn fed into a seven-cone slalom across the back. Taking this corner too fast meant hitting cones or missing whole sections of the slalom. A tight right-hander at the end of slalom aimed toward a series offsets and the finish, which had a seemingly short braking zone. Cones hit there spoiled more than one good run when drivers didn’t drop the anchor just right. The gates on the course were wide and offered a lot of latitude to navigate a fast line. Average run times were in the 49-second range.
Notable in the Stock classes was Ron Mercer, charting the way for
D Stock with an awesome drive in his Nissan SE-R Spec V. He turned in a top-ten PAX performance, although Jim Barks still leads the series. Lee Imler and Kevin Venisnik have a good thing going in
E Stock. With only nine points separating them for the series, every event counts. Today, Kevin prevailed over Lee by 0.3 seconds, not enough headway to catch Lee for the series.
G Stock is a class to keep an eye on, as Chris Bunch and Kevin Gleaton have traded wins so far. Chris is the high school phenom who runs a Mini Cooper S with his dad, Larry. Just before this event, Kevin discovered the Neon’s rear sway bar linkage was loose, so he tightened it up – creating Mr. Gleaton’s wild ride. He was seen spinning merrily around several cones on his way to third place. Throw in the wildcard of Scott Meyers as he sorts out the new Sentra and G Stock gets interesting.
E Street Prepared was a lot of fun as Richard Rippy tried out the “hot new setup”, with wide tires up front on his Camaro. Normally, Rippy is one of the drivers you want to watch because he approaches the limit from the other side, employing big slip angles and lots of counter steering to stay on course. That was especially true here as he had even more grip up front than he was used to. It might not turn out to be the hot setup for Rip though, as he trailed Nancy Maloney and Brian Weikert. Nancy was driving like her hair was on fire, turning in a 938 PAX score with a 43.538 second run, even though some of her best raw times came with cones after the finish.
The Prepared classes can be thin, but no one could tell that Greg Duncan was running his Fiero uncontested in
A Prepared. He battened down the hatches and bore down on course every run, eventually posting a 40.735 that was good enough for a 951 PAX score.
More than just the motors are heating up in the Modified classes; the competition is getting hot too!
C Modified, land of the open wheel Formula Fords, saw Alan Wagstaffe in front of Ken Edney by 0.062 seconds. Make sure to follow this class at the upcoming Arizona State Championship event next month, because it is going to be close! Nick Milton, driving a Westfield 7 made the jump from Novice class to
D Modified and landed right in the middle of the action with a great drive. Ending up second in class, Milton claims to have been asleep for most of the run group.
Although he is a big proponent of gooning (aka drifting) around corners, Milton seems to drive a clean, tidy line when it counts.
Don Sattler ran a blazing 41.079 (for the fifth fastest time of day) in David Lahey’s Miata.
Apparently, the Miata guys aren’t taking any chances. The word is that that Miata will be sporting a supercharger and big, wide, sticky tires at the next event.
What can you say about a class that brings a fire-breathing Pontiac, a boosted WRX, an early 70’s Dodge Challenger, an early 90’s Honda Civic and a hopped up Accord together to run against each other? What could these cars possibly have in common? The
Street Modified class is a diverse group of hot rodders dedicated to making anything go fast. Larry Petrucci ruled the day in his Firebird.
Street Mod 2 is another growing class for the pint-size hot rods. Today, it was a pair of turbo Miatas with Brant Bauman showing way to Harry Berzes.
Contrary to popular belief,
Street Touring S is not just for Subaru Imprezas. Kevin and Randy Hongo brought their Prelude out to play, but just couldn’t keep up with the dazzling drive of Ron Huber. Huber turned in a spectacular 957 PAX score on street tires in his Impreza, followed closely by Bud Caldwell (who does his best work in the dirt) and Kris Castner, also in Subarus. Likewise, Josh Sorter and his WRX have set the bar really high in
Street Touring X. There is a really good race going for second place between Jeremy Galo in his Prelude and Todd Houser in his Mini Cooper S. Galo took this round by 0.007 seconds – can you imagine, seven thousandths of a second! And these two are only seven points apart for the series.
While the open classes fit the more traditional SCCA class structure, the Arizona Region has created some local indexed classes. These local classes use PAX factors to normalize run times and offer drivers with diverse cars a chance to compete in the same class. Some of the top drivers in the region are attracted to these classes, so the competition can be intense.
Many of the fastest women in Arizona can be found in Ladies PAX class,
PAXL. Dawn Maxwell turned in some excellent raw times in her H Stock Mini Cooper, but failed to get a clean run. Mindi Cross drove hard in the A Street Prepared Elan, turning in the 20-th fastest run of the day overall. But her 43.766 just could not make up the PAX difference between H Stock and A Street Prepared.
PRO Class is for those who have enough trophies and measure the value of things in terms of how many race tires one can buy with cash winnings. This was an awesome class to watch, it being evident that every driver wanted new tires for the upcoming National Tour here in January. Dave Rock turned in the slowest PAX score of the class – a paltry 975. (If only those TO runs counted for something.) It was as much fun watching Dan Maloney drive as it was listening to him work as announcer. Mark Huffman (993 PAX) and Ted Lewis (990 PAX) put on a great show in the crowd-pleasing Lotus Elans; but it was Chuck Voboril who turned in the top time of the day, 37.752 seconds and 1000 PAX, in his F Modified Zink.
The
Sportsman class has been drawing some deep talent lately. There were several 900+ PAX performances. Steve Eymann, acting as if autocrossing were a form of racing, pulled down a 980 PAX score for the win here. (That from one of his full-course runs. Timing wouldn’t let his fastest run stand because it involved a creative shortcut.) Dave Young didn’t put a wheel wrong all day in the BMW M3, but then again, does he ever? He came in right behind Eymann with 973 PAX score and still leads the series. This class is fun because many of the drivers show up in different cars for each event and still earn series points. This round had several familiar drivers in borrowed cars. Steve Ryan was seen in a Mustang Cobra, Jim Rohn in a Lexus IS 300 and Brian Peters in a turbo Miata – all of them flogging the cars to better times than their owners. (That’s why they'll have to borrow other cars for the next event.)
In Street Tire classes (made up of groupings of the traditional SCCA classes), everyone must compete on tires with a treadwear rating of 140 or higher. These are some of the most popular classes offered by our region.
ST1 is geared toward the high-powered cars, which can be a handful to drive at the limit on real street tires. Lou Young is always fast in his RX7; this event was no exception. His 46.037 run resulted in an 889 PAX score to lead the class. Right on his heels were Clint Child in an Acura Integra Type R with an 869 PAX score and Jeff Williams in a BMW M Coupe with a 864 PAX score. The series leader, Kim Kemper, turned in a solid performance with an 854 PAX score, driving his Corvette.
The competitors
ST2 often put up better PAX scores than ST1, even though the class is aimed at the smaller, less powerful cars. ST2 is awash with tight competition. Here it was Ryan Yantzer who sailed to the win in his 240SX with a 929 PAX score on his 46.442 run. Only 3 PAX points behind was Jay Balducci in his WRX and followed closely by Dwight Smith in a Focus with a 922 PAX score. Chad Mizner leads the series by one point over Yantzer. This is going to be a hard earned trophy for the series winner! On the other hand, Robert Rose is cruising in
ST3 with no other series contenders, yet. Today Brian Kozan came by and gave him a good run in his Altima, but needs additional events in ST3 to qualify for series position.
In the spirit of Christopher Columbus, several novices were exploring the new world of autocross. Like the Street Tire classes, the Novice classes are grouped by car type. NV1 aligns with ST1, NV2 with matches up with ST2 and NV3 lines up with ST3.
The biggest class of the day was
NV1 with 27 competitors. The General Motors F bodies ruled, as Troy Messina guided his Trans Am to the win. Travis Berry was right behind him in a Camaro Z/28. There is a great series battle going on in
NV1 with seven returning drivers. S2000 driver Derek Slife, who took third, put himself 27 points ahead of Porsche pilot Phil Ponce and 33 points ahead of Corvette skipper Darrel Covert, for the series lead. Don’t rule out Ryan Sotak in the WRX, or Chris Schildgen in the Eclipse GSX either, from picking up a trophy at the next awards banquet. Perhaps most notable here is Jeremy Hoffman, who added over 100 PAX points to his score from the last event. He isn’t going to be left in port as the others set sail! At the rate these drivers are improving, no lead is a sure thing.
Where did
NV2 driver Jesse Silva come from, pulling off 907 PAX scores in his Honda Civic Si? Of course, Jason Miller in the VW Golf and Aric Trust in the Mini Cooper are knocking on the door at 889 and 879 respectively. Leon Schwebke got hooked at the summer event in Flagstaff and followed up with 862 PAX score in his Miata at this event. Silva shows a strong lead in the series, but with the best three out four format, no one is out of the hunt yet.
NV3 is home to the STS and STX classes, as well as some of the smaller Street Prepared cars. The STS and STX guys are taking full advantage of their favorable PAX factors, taking the top 15 out of 16 spots in class – only Marty Schaeffer in the D Street Prepared Mini Cooper S interrupted the sweep, with a 12th place finish. First place Matt Van Dusen made up some major series points behind the tiller of his Acura GSR with a nicely done 48.019 run (896 PAX score). Representing the 240SX drivers was Henry Iglesias in second, while current series points leader Jayme Martens finished third for the day in another Integra. Like the other novice classes, it is impossible to predict the final series results in NV3. These drivers are all improving quickly, sometimes between a day's runs, as they learn more and go faster.
Although she didn’t win
NVL at this event, young Lindsey Maxfield surely showed some perseverance and determination. She and her dad, Dave, packed up her Neon ready to head off to AMP, but the car wouldn’t start. This would have taken the wind out of the sails for many, but not Lindsey. Instead of giving up, she “borrowed” her brother’s Honda CRX and barely made it in time to register, tech and find her grid spot. She bravely headed out on course – no map or navigator – in a car she had never driven on a course she had never walked. As a novice, Maxfied demonstrated remarkable in-car reconnaissance skills by staying mostly on course with just dead reckoning, something few old salts could pull off. She finally managed a clean run, after some guidance. Maxfield’s efforts kept her in the series trophy race and offered an inspiring reminder to other competitors to always do their best, no matter what. Sheri Marlin claimed the NVL victory in her Miata with Kendra Albers pushing her classic Corvette to second. Marlin leads the tight series race by two points over Lorena Porter, and Maxfield is only 29 points out of the lead.
Although it got warm in the afternoon, eventually reaching 98 degrees, the event went smoothly. The organizers ran a tight ship. The crew had the course ready and open for walking by 7:15 AM. Registration and Tech were open at 7:30 AM. The Driver’s Meeting started at 8:30 AM and the first car was out by 9 AM. At the end of the day, all hands remaining helped with clean up and the equipment truck was loaded shortly before 4 PM. Thanks to everyone who hauled on the bow lines!
As for Christopher Columbus, he likely would have made a good autocrosser. Like us, he dealt with all sorts of weather. We can assume he was competitive and willing to take chances to put down a faster route or line. Drifting was second nature to him and he was noted for his route-finding skills. The pucker factor involved in approaching a corner too fast pales in comparison to the idea of sailing off into the unknown, so he probably possessed a level of fortitude we can all aspire to. And like many of us, he recorded some epic course deviations now and then, although it is still not clear how he ended up in the middle of Ohio. Can you imagine explaning that one to the safety stewards?
27 April 2003, TUCSON and
3 August 2003, SIERRA VISTA –
I know what you're thinking: what exactly is the ASC?
Where did it come from?
Well, last year a number of dedicated autocrossers said they wanted a state
championship series.
Mark Shaw took it as personal quest, with the ultimate result that one event
each in Tucson (April 27), Sierra Vista (August 3), and Phoenix were identified
as comprising the
Arizona Championship Series.
The final and deciding of these three events will be held at AMP on Sunday,
November 9.
Each of these three Championship events has been run – or, in the case
of the Phoenix leg, will be run – as part of the hosting region's usual
local activity, with the runs of Championship competitors interlaced among
the runs of local competitors.
(In fact, for some drivers the same runs are used for both Championship and
local competition.)
The separate scoring for the ASC is kept
here.
Final standings will be determined by total time across the three events, each
of which must be entered to maintain eligibility.
Raw times are used for all classes except PAXL (PAX Ladies), STA (Street Tire
Arizona), and STA-L (Street Tire Arizona - Ladies), which use PAX times.
Here are the results so far. In the
single car classes, it looks like
SS will be won by Steve Eymann, as he is the only entrant to attend the first two events in that class. Way to go Steve! Same for winners Jim Barks/
DS, Richard Harris/
ES, Mark Shaw/
HS, Glenda Meyers/
STA-L, Greg Duncan/
AP, and Newton Johnson/
BSP. There's more to be said about the
muliple car classes, as follows.
The
FS crown will be determined at the Phoenix event with Don Hyland leading Jack Drummond by about 2.4 seconds. The
GS race has three qualified entrants to date, and Dane Campbell leads Chris Bunch by 4.2 seconds and third place Larry Bunch by another 1.6 seconds.
PAXL is headed by Dawn Maxwell, ahead of Mindi Cross by about nine seconds. Sheryl Zavion trails by another 1.2 seconds. Lou Young leads Chad Mizner by only 6 tenths of a second in the
STA, with Mike Whitehouse only another tenth back in third place. Others of us are farther behind.
The
STS guys are having a good battle, with Dave Rock hanging on by the slimmest of margins (one tenth) over Mark Eddy. And Jon Eddy is only another 1.19 seconds behind that.
STX shows about a two second gap between leader Mark Goerner and Joshua Sortor and similar gap to Todd Houser. Dave Young in
SM has a good four-second margin over second place Steve Steele, while
SM2 has Paul Hammersley's Vette besting Harry Berzes' turbo Miata by five seconds.
Guess who's leading
ESP? Did you say National Champ Dave Schotz? Well, you would be right, to the tune of 5.5 seconds. Richard Rippy's no slouch in second place, mind you, Dave is just that good.
CM has a close contest with Ken Edney leading Alan Wagstaffe by only one tenth. DM is not as close, as Joe Curry leads Dave Lahey by 2.4 seconds. And finally, Tom Hill is ahead of Bill Schroeder in
EM by 2.4 seconds.
Well, there you have it, forty-one hardy souls who have traveled far and wide to participate so far, and still must attend the November event in Phoenix to complete the inaugural
Arizona State Championship series. We hope to have more competitors next year, for the 2004 ASC.
