ARIZONA REGION –
Don Roberts is Arizona born and raised.
During his school years – Osborn School (at Central & Osborn, now a
financial center), West High School (now Maricopa Tech), and Arizona State
College (now Arizona State University) – Camelback Road and everything
north of it were considered to be out in the boonies.
Don worked for Goodyear Aerospace (now Loral) from 1960 to 1972 as an
electronic engineer.
Having "got the sports car bug somewhere along the way," he began buying
Thunderbirds, TR-3’s, Corvettes, and eventually a Cobra.
He went into business for himself as RACEngineering, doing race
preparations for sports cars and high-performance modifications for street
squirrels.
He sold that business in 1975.
(It continues today as the Vehicle Performance Center.)
Don & Sharon were married in 1969.
In 1974, they started Mini-Sports Imported Auto Parts, and developed
it through a couple of location changes and an expansion to two stores and a
mail-order business before selling it all in 1985.
They bought a MAACO auto painting franchise in January 1987 and sold in August
the same year, glad to be out of the body shop business.
Don has a racing background more extensive than can be fully reported here.
He entered six SCCA national races in 1968, driving a 289 Cobra that he bought
in 1965.
He won all six of those races.
(His win of the 1968 SCCA road racing national championship was not repeated by
an Arizonan until just last year.)
He drove a Shelby GT-350 to a fourth place finish at Road Atlanta in 1970 and
third place in 1971.
He finished second there with the Cobra in 1972, and again in 1973.
He did similarly well with it in vintage races in 1980, 1981, 1982, and 1983.
That car – which Don bought new, sold, bought back, sold, bought back
again, and sold yet again – now resides in San Francisco when not being
used in vintage race events.
But one of his favorite trophies is from the Clifton (Arizona) Hillclimb; the
first-place-overall trophy was permanently awarded to him after his wins in
1967, 1968, and 1973, in three different cars (two 289 Cobra's and a Lola T-190
Formula 5000).
Although Don began autocrossing in 1963 with a Corvette, he turned to road
racing after buying the Cobra in 1965, after the Vette had been totalled in
a street accident involving a "stupid little old lady in a Corvair –
really!"
He began autocrossing seriously in 1988 with a 1972 MGB that he'd purchased
from Scott Meyers in 1976.
After adding fender flares, lowering it, and painting it black, Don drove this
eyecatcher to an SCCA Solo 2 national championship in 1990, which made him just
the fourth SCCA member to win championships in both road racing and Solo 2, and
the first do so in that order.
He was the first road racer to be inducted into the Arizona Motorsports Hall
of Fame.
(Bob Bondurant was the second.)
Sharon Roberts moved to Arizona in 1964 from Ottumwa, Iowa, "of Radar
O’Reilly fame" and "too damn cold," leaving a job in the patent department
of the Sheaffer Pen Company for a position here as a legal secretary in a
patent/trademark law firm.
In 1968, she sold her 1967 4-speed Camaro to buy a 1965 MGB, thus opening
the first chapter in the ongoing "Migba" story, which you should ask
Don & Sharon to tell you sometime when Scott & Glenda Meyers are
around to supply color commentary.
She began autocrossing the MGB that same year, at events sponsored by a variety
of groups: the Cactus Corvair-Corvette Club, the Copperstate Mustang Club, the
Four Cylinder Club of Arizona, the SCCA.
She found it "a ton of fun for a single girl."
Sharon says that Don is the best trophy she's ever won by autocrossing.
They'd met in 1968 at a hillclimb held in South Mountain Park, but it took
her several months of careful clothes selection and patience before he asked
her for a date.
Second best award?
Winning the Pro Solo Challenge in 1991, driving the MGB on the Bondurant
skid pad.
She and Don had co-chaired that event.
Sharon has competed in various SCCA and ASRA events in other cars they've
owned, including a bugeye Sprite.
She qualified second at the Eloy Grand Prix in 1986.
In 1989 she started last on grid in an ASRA Powder Puff race, and drove their
Shelby GT-350 to a first place finish.
In 2001 and 2002 she raced a Spec RX7 in SCCA and ASRA events.
Her highest finish with the RX7 was sixth place, which was satisfying since
the Spec RX7 classes are very competitive.
Don & Sharon Roberts helped lay much of the groundwork for the
Arizona Region Solo 2 Group that we enjoy today.
Don held various offices in our parent region during the late 1960's and
early 1970's.
He was Solo 2 director in 1989 and a board member in 1990.
In 1991, Don & Sharon formed the first Solo 2 Steering Committee, which
included them, Scott Meyers, Jim Witkowski, Jeff Goggin, and others.
For a while, most of the equipment needed for events was borrowed from a
group known as the Arizona Sports Timing Association, so autocrossing dates
were determined as much by ASTA's schedule as by anything else.
Equipment was slowly accumulated: timing lights, pylons, the truck.
It was Sharon who started the Pylon Press, in October 1990,
augmenting the results-only mailings done up till then.
Mark Shaw, who took over from Sharon for most of 1991, was succeeded as
editor by Marilyn Rohn for several years, then Scott Meyers, then Jim Rohn,
and then Scott Meyers again.
All told, they published the Pylon Press on paper for over a
decade before it went electronic in January 2002.
And it was Sharon who started our awards banquets, that is, those held for
Solo 2 participants specifically rather than for the entire SCCA Arizona
Region (which consists, after all, primarily of road racers).
The expenses of the first Solo 2 banquets were covered by raffles held at the
monthly autocross events and at the banquets themselves.
Sharon is still active in banquet activities.
Don & Sharon have recently come back to autocrossing, with a Honda S2000
that Sharon describes as a "kick-butt kind of car."
(A good home has been found for the MGB, with a friend in Sedona.)
They both describe themselves as semi-retired.
Sharon continues to work part time at a law office.
Her hobbies include non-fiction writing – she's been published in
Grassroots Motorsports and Kit Car, for example – organic
vegetable & fruit gardening, and chicken farming.
Bantams, a peacock, a peahen, a Rhode Island Red, and two full-size Aracaunas
– all kept for eggs only.
They can't be eaten, even when they chase the cats (or chase them back), since
most of them have names and most of those names are race car manufacturers and
drivers.
Don enjoys staying abreast of the road racing world.
He's crew chief, car preparation guru, and occasional co-driver for Jim Click
of Tucson, for vintage racing of a 1964 Shelby Cobra, a 1966 Ford GT-40, two
1966 Shelby GT-350's, (one of which Don owned in the 1970's), and a 1969 Boss
302 Trans-Am racer that was initially prepared by Carroll Shelby.
Don & Sharon both enjoy traveling, and especially enjoy touring on their
BMW K1200LT motorcycle.
3 April 2004, PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY and
10 April 2004, FIREBIRD INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY –
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. With the closure of Arizona Motorsports Park back in January, the Arizona Region SCCA Solo 2 Group set out on the road to find suitable autocross venues for 2004. The resulting upheaval has forced event organizers to scramble for new sites and drivers to make adjustments to their schedules. In March, the Signal Peak autocross at Central Arizona College in Casa Grande offered a unique perspective on what an event could be with a small, defined “road” course.
Three weeks later the SCCA was at Phoenix International Raceway on April 3, a vast site with elevation changes, variable traction surfaces and off camber corners. Heavy rains just before the event added to the “flowing” nature of the course – mud flows that is. Fortunately, PIR was able to get some heavy equipment to clear the pavement before the drivers showed up on Saturday and the course was adjusted accordingly. Just a week after that, on April 10, a beautiful spring day, the club returned to Firebird International Raceway, running on the bumpy yet grippy surface of familiar Skid Pad #4. Each site brings new challenges and novel course elements, all which benefit the local autocross community.
With two events on consecutive Saturdays in April, a compare and contrast exercise was inevitable. It was interesting to see how each course designer painted on the canvas of the lot they were presented with. On the west side, PIR offered a course so long that many drivers only had a chance to walk it once. Which was too bad, because it was a demanding course requiring one's full attention. It had some tricky, even ill-defined, gates that were not as they appeared, throwing inattentive drivers off course. If over-driven, it was easy to miss a gate or cone, leading to more off course excursions – a Dickens of a course to be sure! On the other hand, novel course elements and a generous mix of sweepers, offsets and slaloms were offered up to the delight of many.
In contrast, on the east side, the intimate confines of FIR demanded a shorter, more technical course. It featured a Tax Day theme and true to its roots, threw the driver many curves, forcing one to think outside the lines, and even looping back on its self. Like any tax return, it was little rough, so those with an independent rear suspension (IRS) on their side may have faired better! The juxtaposition of these events on consecutive weekends was like a refreshing, gentle breeze through the Arizona autocrossing community in this unusual Spring 2004 Series. Most important, these second and third events of the series have produced a number of exciting points races.
Before looking the current
series standings
or individual
event results,
it is important to recall that one of
our current
supplemental rules
affects the treatment of single-car classes. In essence, this rule – which is designed to promote better competition and to encourage drivers in single-car classes to find ways to expand their classes with new faces – requires that single-car traditional SCCA classes be combined and PAX indexed. (The rule does not apply to the Arizona Region's indexed local classes.)
The outcome of
Super Stock is in the drivers’ hands. There are two eligible for series points, Jim Young and Dan Sniezek. If neither shows up in May, there will be no Super Stock trophy. If only one driver shows up in May, it falls under the “single-car class” clause and will be combined with other Indexed Stock cars. If both drivers participate in May, the class stands alone. Jim Young has a good shot to win either the Indexed Stock class or the outright Super Stock trophy.
C Stock has four eligible drivers, although this reporter has it on good authority that Mark Johnson will not qualify for the series. In the one of the tightest battles going, Tom Dukerich needs to make up ten points over current leader Tom Tkacik to claim the title.
D Stock may be captured by the “single-car class” clause if Mike Esker shows up in May. The Stock Indexed class consists of Kevin Venisnik,
E Stock, and Greg Schupfer,
H Stock, as both have already qualified for the series with three events each. It may also include Esker and possibly a Super Stock driver. How it shakes out will depend on who shows up. The Stock Indexed class will have at least one trophy, two if either Esker or a Super Stock driver makes the show in May. Although class leader Kevin Venisnik drives an E Stock Miata, his fate rests with the drivers in other stock classes. If only Young shows up in Super Stock and it is moved to the Stock Index class, then Young will likely take the Indexed trophy. If only Sniezek shows in Super Stock, it will still be moved but Venisnik is likely to take the Indexed class win. If both Young and Sniezek show up, Super Stock will stand-alone and Venisnik may claim the series. Of course, cones and spins guarantee that nothing is final until after the last run and any of these drivers could claim the victory.
G Stock, on the other hand, has been a heads up, in-class competition all season long. Dane Campbell is currently leading with 2000 points. While it is hard to compete with an overall top PAX leader in your class, the G Stock competitors are doing a formidable job. Campbell is in a unique position, in that he may be able to pull off a perfect season, kind of like bowling a 300 game or a pitching a no hitter, if he can claim top PAX in May. And with the class possibly going four deep, the race for the second trophy spot is intense. Kevin Gleaton leads Mark Shaw by only five points, primarily because Gleaton is able to drop his uncharacteristically low (cough 955 cough) third event while Shaw missed Event 2 and does not have that option. You know it is a tough class when all the drivers are averaging over 960 PAX per event.
Street Prepared is only slightly less convoluted than Stock. Basically, it all comes down to Ross Meyer showing up in May. If Meyers makes an appearance,
D Street Prepared will be combined with
F Street Prepared to create a Street Prepared Index class. Ben Clement, the only D Street Prepared competitor, will face off against Meyer. A Meyer/Clement show down would be exciting because these two were only three points apart in Event 2 (Meyer 916 to Clement 913) and one point apart in Event 3 (Meyer 944 to Clement 945). Unfortunately, Meyer missed Event 1 where Clement racked up an impressive 945 score. Meyer needs to make up 30 points to catch Clement to claim the Street Prepared Indexed Class trophy.
All the drivers in
E Street Prepared have had outstanding performances this season. The competition has been top notch and so has the sportsmanship. In addition to being a group of dedicated gear heads, these guys are a class act. Going into the final event, Richard Rippy leads Larry Petrucci by 42 points. However, Petrucci has been on steep development curve as he converts his white Camaro to ESP specs. Brian Weikert has some wrenching ahead of him to get the Mustang Cobra moving after Event 3, and that wrenching is reportedly happening in Rippy’s garage.
Only one car has qualified for any Prepared class series points – the pretty blue
E Prepared Datsun 510. Fortunately, it is a two-driver car with both Richard Lowell and Brent Rederick driving the wheels off of it. They each seem to be getting the most out of the car, as the two are fairly equally matched going into the final event. Rederick has claimed two victories by less than 10 points so far, leaving the series wide open for whoever drives the best in May.
Ken Edney in a
B Modified Zink Z10, Alan Wagstaffe in a
C Modified Van Diemen, and Joe Curry in a
D Modified Spitfire were captured by the single-car class clause. Edney and Wagstaffe have faced off many times in C Modified, before Edney warmed over the Zink motor, and it was always close.
Now Edney brings the benefit of more power but the burden of a tougher PAX factor to a Modified Indexed class.
However, both of the open wheel guys are chasing the fenders and doors of Curry’s Spitfire. The Modified Index class championship may come down to an attendance race. Every driver needs to make at least one run in May to be eligible. That is more difficult in a Mod car than one might think at first glance! If all three show up, the trophies will go two deep.
E Modified escaped the Index class by having two drivers, Don Sattler and David Lahey. Team owner Lahey was scrambling to provide cars for his team drivers at the last event (how many different cars ran under the E Mod banner?), but they all got a chance to make some runs. In addition to his team owner responsibilities, Lahey has really blossomed as a driver this season; he is leading perennial favorite Sattler into the last event, 1831 to 1814. With only one trophy on the line, it will come down to who makes the fewest mistakes in May.
Street Modified is an eclectic class. The rules permit some major modifications, allowing the drivers to build in some serious speed to their rides. Steve Steele, driving a 1965 Mustang, is putting the hurt on Geren Smith in a WRX and Frank ”Neon” Miller. If Miller shows up in May, the class will go two trophies deep.
Street Touring S is another class with a variety of fast cars. So far, only two drivers have enough events to qualify for the series and class leader Ron Huber isn’t one of them. He needs to hit the May event to defend his 30-point lead over Richard Vela in a 240SX. Bud Caldwell is on the bubble, having already qualified for the series, but trailing Vela by 30 points.
Street Touring Extreme is one of the most hotly contested races in the Spring Series, but the whole points race could be in jeopardy. So far, only one driver, Craig Meyer, has qualified for the series although five are currently eligible. If all the eligible drivers show up, two trophies will be awarded. But get this, the top three competitors are separated by only three points! Two trophies, three drivers, three point spread – this is a must watch class in May. Brady Dohrmann, in a 240SX leads with 1872 points with Jeremy Galo and his Prelude Type SH at 1870 points and Craig Meyer, driving a Mustang GT, at 1869 points.
In
Ladies PAX, Dawn Maxwell is running away with first place – so much so that she could be leading the PRO class (hint hint) with 1975 points. Mindi Cross and Deb Eymann are chasing with 1887 and 1855 points respectively. On the trophy bubble is Glenda Meyers at 1815 points.
PRO class has four eligible drivers and anyone of them could claim the top spot. Based on his consistent mid-980’s performances all season long, David Rock is the current leader at 1970 points. The next three drivers, Ted Lewis, Dan Maloney and Dave McCombs, cannot be ruled out. Every one of these drivers is capable of Top PAX of the Day and potentially sealing the series victory.
Speaking of Top PAX potential, the
Sportsman points race is mighty close. With 11 eligible drivers and all of them likely to attend in May, the trophies should go five deep. WRX ace Josh Sortor, leads with 1982 points over Steve Eymann’s second place 1975 points. Two points behind Eymann is Tage Evanson at 1973 points then Brian Peters with 1969 points. Only 13 points separate the top four drivers. Hanging with big dogs on his first try on R tires is Chad Mizner, rounding out the top five with 1937 points. Ready to step in should any one of the leaders stumble are Scott Meyers at 1872 points and Mike Kmetz at 1864 points.
Street Tire 1 class got a big surprise this season when Dave Young couldn’t procure suitably sized sticky tires for his BMW M3. As it turns, he doesn’t really need them, managing 1879 points so far on his street tires. He has traded wins with James Frink in a Subaru WRX STi, who isn’t letting street tires slow him down either. Frink trails Young by seven points. Both of these drivers need the May event to qualify for the series. With over 20 drivers eligible in ST1, six trophies are likely. Chris Noyes has been having a fantastic season, driving his Lincoln LS to 1844 points, just ahead of Kim Kemper’s Corvette at 1836 points and Derek Slife’s S2000 at 1830 points. Going into the final round, Jim Rohn sits in last trophy spot with 1814, but Roger Brendecke is just nine points away at 1805 points. Dayron Vargas and his M3 are within range of the final trophy spot as well with 1796 points.
Street Tire 2 sees Jay Balducci in firm command with 1894 points. The race for second is close; Will Esker is at 1828 points, Mike Rogers is at 1820 points and Frank Bertola is at 1817 points. With ten drivers eligible, this class is likely to go five trophies deep. Bill Kersbergen and Scott Jones may fight it out for the last trophy spot, although Mike Driscoll’s 932 PAX at Event 3 should not be dismissed easily.
Street Tire 3 is gathering momentum as drivers of small, street prepared cars on street tires are finding it a good place to play. Four drivers are eligible going into May, but each of them only has two events. This could come down to an attendance race. Expect to see Clint Child and Brian Kozan in the top spots. Rumor has it that Robert Rose may have retired the Miata STO in favor of something with a roll cage in it, so he may not qualify for the series. Since only the Open Classes, not local indexed classes, are susceptible to the “single-car class” rule, Kat Kemper has a good chance to claim
Street Tire Ladies if she shows up in May.
No single driver, other than Robert Warnicke, has qualified for the
Novice 1 series points by competing in three events yet. Nine other drivers are eligible if they show up in May.
Jason Kennedy and Mike Selland have a royal battle going. They are fighting for the Novice 1 trophy with only three points separating them.
Greg Rubenstein, in a WRX STi, is sitting in third spot with 1762 while Frank “Camaro SS” Miller has claimed 1746 points so far.
If all the eligible drivers show up, the trophies could go five deep. Chris Black and Craig Borger, both in Trans Ams, are battling for the final trophy spot. John Sawyer, in an S2000, is also with range.
Novice 2 has five drivers eligible for season points. George Capito has turned in some great performances at the last two events, a 951 and 958. If he makes an appearance with his Sentra Spec V at the May event, he will likely claim the NV2 trophy. Craig Corbin has a good handle on second place with 1821 points in his CRX.
Novice 3 is a tight race. With three drivers eligible for series points, Dan Martin leads the pack at 1786. Davis Kofron has upped the ante with a “new” race prepped Volkswagen Rabbit and pulled down a 912 PAX score at Event 3, bringing his total to 1773.
The
Novice Ladies class is not as disparate as the results may seem. Teresa Clement has put down some smoking PAX scores for 2587 points total by doing everything right in first events. But for some cones on her fast runs, Ashleigh Mason would be in the hunt as she is getting putting down good raw times and developing first-rate skills.
With so many points races in the balance, the May event promises to be a pivotal one. With great expectations for all, May event chair Kevin Gleaton is adding a revolutionary twist by holding a Time Only Car Swap competition. Drivers are encouraged to find a partner, swap cars for all their Time Only runs and add their best PAX times for prizes and bragging rights. Come out and play!
