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November 2004
The annual drivers' school is on Saturday,
December 4; Mark Johnson, Lead Reporter Adam Stern, Reporter Copyright 2004. Duplication allowed in whole or in part, provided full acknowledgment is given. |
ARIZONA REGION – Jessica Jackson is truly an Arizona native. Fifth generation on her mother's side! Even her father's side has been in Arizona for nearly a century.
Still, Jessica doesn't like the sun, since "I either burn super easy or turn into a giant freckle!" But she'd rather live here and put up with Phoenix summers than live in an area that has tornados, hurricanes, blizzards, earthquakes, or some other sort of extreme weather.
Jessica has always liked cars, and really got into them once she'd bought the Smurfette, aka Smurfy, aka her blue, short, attitudinal 2000 Honda Civic. She began by going to the famous Friday Night Drags at Firebird, and the Imports Only nights as well. She says it was actually fun "for only about 5 minutes," since the Civic didn't drag all that well and she grew tired of explaining that, no, it wasn't her boyfriend's car and, yes, one can drive wearing heeled boots.
She began autocrossing in the fall of 2002. A friend had invited her to observe the September event, and she returned to compete that October, November, and December. She did well, placing first among three in Novice Ladies. She ran alone in Street Tire Ladies during Spring 2003 and, after running in PAX Ladies for the Fall 2003 and Spring 2004 series, she's now back in STL, with several others.
Jessica is currently in charge of our club's Goodie Store.
She says she hasn't had a chance to do much with it yet, but has successfully
dwindled the stock down, so she is on the lookout for some new items.
She's also been successful at bringing some new people to autocrossing, one
of them being her boyfriend, Derek Slife.
Jessica is a student at ASU: double major in biology and chemistry, with a minor in microbiology, all groundwork for a planned doctorate in pharmacology. She's also a loan officer at Desert Schools Credit Union, which she finds rewarding if not very exciting. There's precious little time left over for hobbies other than autocrossing Derek's 2004 Honda S2000. But she does like to golf, play poker, shop, cross-stitch, cook, and spend time with Derek and their "super awesome" kitty, Jack. Not too surprising that an independent inquisitive autocrosser would like cats.
The course, composed and arranged by Mark Shaw, was still being set up as most folks took their first walk. It evolved from a cacophony of cones to a well-structured composition with a variety of tempos, tones and dynamics. Shaw provided a traditional course map, but could just as well of written the score in musical notation. It opened with a bang (subito), as the drag race start lead to a sharp left and into a loop (allegro). The sharp left led to minor straight and a tight right. The right-hander opened to main straight. On the first lap, another right turn about a third of the way down the straight fed back into the loop, (da capo). On the second lap, it was the same melody but the time signature changed, reaching a crescendo at the far end. A wide-open, scary fast right turn, (prestissimo) led to another long straight. However, much of this straight was spent slowing down (ritardando) for tight right at the end (largo). The tight right, dubbed Dazed and Confused by Dave Young, led to a buttonhook or corkscrew type feature that essentially doubled back next to itself. The final measure was an open box to the finish. The box was easy to get into, but hard to get out of; best done by accelerating into it, braking through it, turning and accelerating to the lights (fermata).
A good course overall.
But, somehow, no one other than the chalker executed the tight mid-course slalom.
By FIR standards this was long course, with most times well over 50 seconds, and it required full attention all the way through. Each soloist had at least three chances to offer his or her interpretation of the sonata. The fast drivers really seemed to respect the slow sections and stayed tight, waiting for the straights to play loud (forte). Others pushed the corners hard, especially the Dazed and Confused corner and at the finish. They paid by pushing out wide, knocking over cones and generating lots of tire squeal (sforzando). This piece seemed to reward discipline over raucousness.
The PRO class ran in the second heat, while it was still wet, but it did not slow them down very much. Ted Lewis set the benchmark on his first run with a PAX score of 45.472 in his ASP Lotus Elan. Jim Harnish, in his FSP Honda Civic, immediately raised the stakes with a 44.221. Not to be outdone, Dave Rock takes the stage next and puts down a 43.035 run in his STS Celica. Steve Ashcraft lays down a 46.135 run. After first runs, the street tire Celica led the FSP Honda by over a second, but the street prepared guys just needed a run to get some heat into their tires. Lewis come out with a 44.052, not enough. Harnish brings home a 43.0137, just two thousandths out. Rock slows down, leaving the door open. Ashcraft drops near a second a half to 44.702. After second runs, Rock barely leads Harnish, with Lewis and Ashcraft back over a second. On the third runs, Lewis lays down a smoking 42.256, but will it stand? Harnish says “no” and puts down a 41.680. Rock gets into the 42’s, but does not get past Lewis. Ashcraft, improving every run, brings home a 43.256. Harnish takes the win in PRO, followed by Lewis, Rock and Ashcraft.
Heat D brought out Dawn Maxwell in an HS MINI Cooper, Teresa Clement in her GS Neon and Sharon Roberts in her BS S2000 – all contenders for the lead. Maxwell came close on her first run with a 42.322, but not good enough to take the lead. Clement was pushing too hard around the buttonhook and wiping out three cones, plus a cone at the finish. Likewise, Roberts tagged a cone on her first run. On her second run, Maxwell dropped her PAX time to 41.781, enough to take the lead. Clement cleaned up but nearly spun at the finish, getting into the 44s. Roberts hit another cone. On their final runs, Maxwell was obviously pushing hard, too hard, and she slowed. Clement made a tidy run and dropped her PAX to 43.918. Roberts managed a clean run as well, getting to a 43.077. Jodie Warren had her work cut out for her in Heat F. She cut seconds off each successive run, enough to get to a 44.508. After the curtain call, it was Maxwell, 0.353 seconds in front of Eymann. Roberts was less than a second in front of Clement, followed by Ashcraft and McConnell.
There were 14 drivers in Street Tire 2, running in all the heats. Ryan Yantzer was up first in his 240SX, setting the benchmark at 44.796 in the wet. Jason Miller, Will Esker, Scott Meyers and Kersbergen were next. All of these drivers have the potential to catch Yantzer, with Meyers in a new-to-him Toyota GTS with an HS PAX factor. Miller had to stand on his first run because he hit pylons on the rest, setting a 45.796 PAX. Esker and Meyers both had fast clean third runs, with Meyers prevailing at a 44.438 to Esker’s 45.368. Kersbergen was in the 46’s on his first two runs and dropped an amazing 1.2 seconds off his PAX score on his third run, good for a 44.882. As the skidpad continued to dry, Frank Bertola, Brian Jackson and Mike Driscoll took the stage. Bertola pushed his MINI Cooper S harder each run harder, especially at the finish. By his third run, he hit cones after the finish and had to stand on his second run, a 44.820. Brian Jackson brought out a Mazda RX4, declaring it to run in CS (maybe HS is more correct), and 52.957 score. Driscoll put the Audi TT Quattro to good use, noticeably pushing hard on his final run to a 45.374. Going into Heat D, it was Meyers, Yantzer, Bertola, Kersbergen, Esker, Driscoll, Miller and Jackson. Dolf Strom and Brad Owen battled it out in Heat D. Strom had an awesome launch from his Audi S4 wagon and Owen nearly carried the inside rear around the whole course in his Nissan Sentra. Three wheels might be faster than four, as Owen brought home a 43.282 and Strom a 43.710, taking over the first two spots. After lunch was the show down, Chad Mizner and Jay Balducci in Heat E. Mizner went first and immediately claimed first place with a 43.234. Balducci hit a cone on the back straight, but showed good speed. Mizner did not let up, getting into the 42’s. Balducci was right on the threshold at 43.001.
Mizner shaved a couple of thousandth on his third run, getting to a 42.978. Balducci cut even more time, putting down the eventual class winning time of 42.756, Mizner claiming second. Mark Locher and Dave Maxfield had their work cut out for them by the time Heat F came around, both scoring in the 46s. All in all, Street Tire 2 showed good speed in trying conditions.
Street Tire Xtreme has had a lot of great competition all season long. This event was no different. Although the variety of cars may suggest otherwise, it is an Open class and all the drivers compete under the same conditions. Matt Francis was the first to debut in his silver WRX with a 55.864. Joel Priddy was next in a silver Sentra, with a run he’d rather forget. T. G. Watkins brought out the rip snorting green Camaro with a 56.896. He wiggled a cone after the finish, but it stayed in the box. Ryan Sotak launched his blue WRX with symmetric wheel spin to a 55.322, to take the lead up to that point. Charles Allen tried next in his red convertible Mustang with a 63.760. Dan Martin showed good speed with a 55.362, enough for second place in his silver Spec V. Aric Trust brought the black MINI Cooper S to the line at 55.740, good for third so far. Until Jeremey Galo showed up in his Prelude, putting the smack down on his first run with a 54.618, moving everyone back a spot to make room at the top. Second runs saw Francis speed up to a 55.153, passing everyone but Galo. Priddy got his act together and put a 56.667 in the books. Watkins said I can do that, and recorded a 56.677 with a risky slide after the finish lights. Sotak smoked a 54.413 raw time, but hit a cone in the process – good for bragging rights, but no help on the scoreboard. Charles Allen improved to a 60.012. Martin was not going to be outdone; he passed everyone with a clean 54.301 run. Trust backed up his first run with a nearly identical 55.742. Galo pushed hard, getting a 54.127 with a slide near the finish, retaking the lead. Clearly, it was going to take a 53 second run to win STX. Francis coned his final run. Priddy got a 55.923, good for sixth place in this crowd. Watkins tried a tidy approach and finish and slowed down. Sotak again showed major speed with a 54.181, but hit a cone. He had to stand on his first run, even though he was putting down time near the leaders. Charles Allen improved again to a 59.718. Dan Martin saw the writing on the wall and got a 53.600 with a great drive to claim the lead again. Trust improved to a 55.165. It came down to Galo. He had taken the lead on the first two runs and had been driving well all day. He managed a 53.827 on his third run, enough for second place behind Martin. Francis, Trust, Sotak and Priddy were all in the 55s with Watkins and Allen trailing.
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(Posted 19 November 2004; photo replaced 21 Nov 04.) |