PYLON PRESS (Dec 04)

ARIZONA REGION – Mark Huffman is another Arizona native. He was born in Tucson, but spent his growing-up years in Colorado, returning to Phoenix in 1982 to attend college. He loved the Phoenix weather so much that he decided against a return to Colorado.

Mark began racing when he was 15, before he even had a driver's license. He and a friend were in the habit of riding their bicycles out to a racetrack in Basalt, Colorado, to watch the action. One of those days, another friend offered Mark the chance to drive his 1972 Cutlass Olds racecar, and Mark was hooked.

While attending college here, he went to Don and Sharon Roberts Mini Sports store, as it was known then, to buy parts for his daily driver, a Triumph Spitfire. Don told him about an upcoming autocross event, so he went out and watched. Then he went out and ran his Spitfire at the next event. Tsk, tsk. That was 1983 and he's been autocrossing ever since.

Mark even bought a second Triumph Spitfire just for autocross competitions. He built it into a DSP car and raced it for 10 years. During that time he won several divisionals. (This was before the National Tour series was started.) He participated in his first Pro Solo in 1990, telling his wife Daisy that his focus was to win a Pro Solo event. After failing to win several such events, he decided that the Spitfire was not competitive, and began a search for a different ride.

Mark did his homework, finding out what cars had won what classes at previous events across the country. This research led him to the Lotus Elan. Through Hemmings Motor News he located one at an estate sale in Hawaii. It happened that man handling the estate was another SCCA racer, who thoroughly understood what Mark was looking for and could vouch for the car. So Mark bought it. It arrived about a month later. On Daisy's birthday.

He took second in his first National Tour with the Lotus (right behind Craig Naegler, then the ASP National Champion). Mark was ecstatic. He went on to win several National Tour events, and won his first Pro Solo Series Championship in 2000. His was the first Lotus Elan to win an ASP Pro Solo Series Championship. He was the ASP Solo II National Champion in 2000 and again in 2001, and is out to regain his title in 2005.

Mark was our club's registrar for many years in the early 1990's, and served as Director for two years. He kept the equipment truck at his house for many years too, which included set-up and tear-down responsibilities. He was the main impetus behind the summer night series held in 2001 and 2002.

After completing college with a degree as a drafting engineer, Mark went to work for Garrett Turbine Engines. But, after about six months, he decided that sitting at a desk for eight hours a day just wasn't for him. So he started working for a local union trucking company. It took ten years before he'd had enough of that. Prompted by an appraisal done on his own house, he looked into real estate appraisal, went to appraisal school, did an apprenticeship, and now owns his own residential real estate appraisal company: L & B Appraisal Group, named for his granddaughters Lainey and Brook.

4 December 2004, PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY – Saturday morning... 4:30 am... alarm clock going off. It's the big day; it is time for the annual Arizona Region Solo 2 driving school. This is the time of year when slow cars get faster and heads get bigger. Students get a real chance to learn the hard lesson with autocross: "It's not the car, it's the driver." The chance has come for the students to improve their PAX scores and earn some bragging rights for the season. For a few, this was their first time behind the wheel at a performance event, a time to learn some solid fundamentals. For some seasoned newbies, it was about learning new skills they could apply to improve their times. For me, it was a slightly different story. The school was a chance for me to find out my weakest points, to learn where I needed to discipline myself.

One hour and fourteen minutes later, the snooze button gets shut off for the last time. No more snoozing, it's time for business. I get ready and head off to PIR. Seeing as I'm not a NASCAR fan (a quick apology to those who thoroughly enjoy left turns), I have never been to PIR before. To my surprise, I see a giant piece of real estate that makes me remember the good old days at Arizona Motorsports Park. As I wipe the tear from my eye, I set out to get myself registered and my car ready for the driving school.

The school was broken up into three sections: (1) a classroom session, (2) a course dedicated to slaloms and transitions, and (3) a course dedicated to sweepers and flowing lines. Even though I have read books and articles on proper racing lines and such, the classroom session was still a tremendous help. The lessons covered were easy to follow and were repeatedly illustrated throughout the day. The class seemed geared towards the type of student who was ready to learn. The advice given during the classroom session seemed easy enough on paper, but later I found it to be slightly more difficult to implement. Watching the eager faces and the frantic note-taking hands made it obvious that run times would start dropping and smiles would keep widening.

To be honest, I had taken this school in December 2003. I had a great learning experience from it was well. However, in my haste to get better last year, it seemed like I was trying to get better too fast; as if I were trying to improve without completely understanding the driving concepts. While I had improved throughout the year, it was still difficult for me to assess my true driving ability. This year, I made a greater effort to absorb information, listening more intently, asking more questions, trying new things. I paid attention much more closely during the course walks.

While it may seem elementary to some, I found throughout the day that the fastest line may not always be the most obvious one. I realized just how important it is to not waste distance in the pursuit of pure speed. The importance of being smooth also became clearer to me. I found throughout the day that being smooth and steady with the throttle, brakes, and steering would greatly reward the patient driver.

In the past, I had always tried to concentrate on the turn/section of the course I happened to be in; sometimes I might look ahead into the next turn/section. Brian Peters, my instructor, stressed the importance of looking far ahead. He explained how good driving will come naturally if the student can visualize the line as he approaches the next turn. Sure enough, it worked. Every time I looked ahead, I seemed to find myself in the right position. Every time I didn't, I found out that I was going too fast too late.

Having two different course set-ups was tremendously helpful. It is definitely much easier to concentrate on a few types of turns in a course rather than a variety of turn types. I felt that once I had mastered (or at least improved on) the different types of turns, I was able to string them together much more easily. Throughout the day I was able to finally understand what it meant to be a smoother and smarter driver. I think the most important thing I learned in this class was looking ahead and being able to develop my strategy as the course unfolds. It was then easier to compare the strategies between what I had actually done during the last run and what I planned to do.

Sunday. Game Day. The last event of the Fall Series. The pressure is on, and the adrenaline is pumping. It was time to put some of my new knowledge to good use. I felt great as I passed the timing lights for my final competition run. Smiles on my face. As the day ended I looked back at some of the students that attended the class with me. Lots of smiles there too. The camaraderie between students and instructors was obvious; the friendly competition was intense.

As I look back on the cold and rainy weekend at PIR, I have to say that I would definitely do it all over again. Do I think the class helped me?. Well, check Sunday's results results and see for yourself. Thanks Brian!

4 December 2004, PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY – On Saturday, December 4, the Arizona Region SCCA hosted its annual Drivers' School at Phoenix International Raceway. Event chair Dawn Maxwell prepared a handout for each of the 72 students. After the cars went through Tech, driving guru Tage Evanson conducted a classroom session on the finer points of autocrossing. He discussed how to read a course and the basic theories for minimizing run times, including practical advice for going fast. After the chalk talk, the students headed out on course walks with their instructors.

The school featured two courses, one focused on transitions, like slaloms and offsets, and the other centered on sustained corners such as increasing and decreasing radius sweepers. Many elements of nearly any autocross course fit into one of these two categories, and the separation helped students focus on learning particular skills associated with specific elements. By repeatedly running one type of course, the students developed their proficiency and explored various approaches for each section. While the slalom course was straightforward, the sweeper course was somewhat technical in nature and rewarded those who stayed on line, on time and on plan. The two-course format, which had not been tried in the past, seemed to offer additional seat time and other benefits. It would not have been possible without the help of the Arizona Border Region’s timing and PA systems. Big thanks to AZBR and Dave Rock for making that equipment available.

The students were arranged into one of three heats for each course. One third of the students were driving while another third was working the course. When not driving or working, students were encouraged to observe. Separate grids were set up in a central area, in such a way that all students could keep their cars in grid the entire day. This made worker changes a little smoother and helped the instructors in locating their students.

The instructors got in a few runs during the lunch break, passengers encouraged. Getting a ride with an advanced driver can be an eye-opening experience for the novice. Simply watching the cars negotiating the course cannot prepare you for the in-car experience. Plus, it gave the students a chance to ride with an assortment of instructors and experience different driving styles.

The morning sessions had been damp, allowing drivers to learn the limits of traction at lower speeds. The afternoon sessions were downright wet, with puddles and streams adding unexpected challenges to the courses. By the middle of the afternoon, many of the chalked cone boxes had washed away, so course workers improvised by placing the cones about where they should go. The net result was a course that varied slightly on each run – prompting students to always look ahead and figure out where the course was going.

Thanks to all the instructors, who volunteered their time for the love of the sport and the chance to pass along some hard-earned lessons: Steve Ashcraft, Ben Clement, Mindi Cross, Tom Dukerich, Tage Evanson, Deb Eymann, Steve Eymann, Kevin Gleaton, Jim Harnish, Tom Hill, Mark Johnson, Ted Lewis, Dawn Maxwell, Dave McCombs, Marc McCombs, Scott Meyers, Brian Peters, Larry Petrucci, Dave Rock, Jim Rohn, Steve Ryan, Don Sattler, Joel Schotz, Mark Shaw, Josh Sortor, Tom Tkacik, and Dave Young. Thanks as well to Brady Dorhmann, Brad Owen, Jodie Warren, and Dave Webb, all of whom helped keep the event functioning smoothly. And, of course, kudos to our Chief of Driver Instruction, Dawn Maxwell, for making it all happen.

Although billed as school primarily for novices, the event attracted students with a range of experience. For some, it was their first autocross experience ever. Others had been competitive in the past, but been away from the scene for many years, while some signed up hoping to improve on one or two specific aspects of their game. Nearly everyone took something home that improved his or her driving. Many went on to compete in the December competition event at PIR the next day. Although the weather and nature of the course made it difficult to do a direct comparison of PAX scores, many students were clearly going faster than they ever had before.

The Arizona Region usually offers a Drivers' School in December and it always fills up quickly. If you missed this one, or got beat out by someone who didn’t, be sure to look for it next year!

5 December 2004, PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY – It was wet and wild at Phoenix International Raceway for the December event. Not only was this the last event of our Fall 2004 series, but it also marked the final round of the year long 2004 Arizona State Championship series. And event chair Dawn Maxwell had arranged a toy drive and raffle. The event results are summarized here, the Fall 2004 series results can be found here, and the Arizona State Championship standings here. More on the toy drive and raffle, below.

The weather conditions were trying for everyone, all day long. At dawn, a thick fog lifted to reveal a rain soaked skid pad. While the rain came and went, the surface remained wet all day. Some heats were wetter than others, and when it finally stopped raining, the course developed a slurry-like goo at the edge of the driving line that proved to be quite slimy if one ventured onto it. The sun never really made an appearance, keeping the temperatures in the high 40’s and low 50’s throughout the day.

Some 160 drivers braved the drizzly, damp day to take on the demanding course, which was set up on newly paved parking areas at PIR. In fact, it spanned three separate and distinct parking areas, twice crossing the old PIR road-racing course. The parking areas are on a slight incline, so the added dimension of on- and off-camber turns added to the overall challenge of the course. Because of the slope and large area, it was nearly impossible to see whole course from one vantage point, providing some unique challenges for the workers.

The weather, topography, and unfamiliar skid pad set the mood for event, which felt more like a stage rally than an autocross. The grid doubled as the Parc Exposé and the course workers fitted out in safety vests looked like rally marshals. Coupled with the wet weather, the freshly sealed asphalt made for low grip conditions and some occasional water crossings. As cars negotiated the drainage steams, water would splash high above the vehicle, reminiscent of PRO Rally water crossings.

While the course was generally easy to read, it was long enough that most drivers could not memorize the whole thing in detail, despite the availability of the usual basic course map. For drivers, this length aspect meant extended periods of intense concentration. Those drivers used to holding their breath for a whole run were gasping for air at the finish. For the organizers, it meant shuttling workers to their stations and requiring disciplined radio protocol for calling in penalties.

Some drivers had difficulty finding the course early on. The women of the PAX Ladies class volunteered as navigators for those drivers looking for some help. While no in-car camera footage is available, we can only assume the conversation went something like this as the women guided their drivers through the course: Start, plus 20, right, offset left, 2, offset right. Hairpin left, 1, plus 40 with two-cone slalom, stay right on entry. Tight right, 2, plus 15, left minus 10, left plus 50 with three-cone optional slalom. Right, plus 60 with decreasing five-cone slalom, plus 30, stay left on entry. Fast right, crest, minus 20, big left, slippy, plus 100 with six-cone slalom, stay right on entry. Left, minus 15, tight right, 1, plus 5 minor offsets, crest. Medium left, 2, plus 80 with optional five-cone slalom, slippy at end. Finish. Or maybe not. Maybe they just pointed and said go that way, turn there, ….

Jim Harnish didn’t need a navigator to find the fast way around. He put on rain tires and drove his FSP Honda Civic to top time of day and top PAX on an 80.304 second run, blowing away any previous times up to that point.

In the Open classes, Jim Young lead Super Stock on his way to the series championship, dropping his 906 PAX score from this round. At 863 PAX points, hard charging Darrell Covert was only one PAX point away Kim Kemper, who had 864. Kemper claimed the second spot in the series. A Stock winner, Steve Ryan, was the only one qualified for the series, so he bumped to the Combined Stock Class, where he placed second. In B Stock, Brady Dohrmann turned in a nice 854 PAX score in his 350Z to lead a pair of S2000s driven by Kevin Gleaton and Mike Selland. Dorhmann finished ahead of Selland in the series. Ryan Pitterly came out for this event in his MR2 Spyder to claim the win, but no one qualified for the series in C Stock. Brian Peters showed in D Stock, driving a borrowed Infiniti G35 and smoked the field with a 998 PAX on street tires. Tom Tkacik spent his autocross capital for the weekend by helping with the Drivers' School on Saturday, but still captured the series win, ahead of second place George Capito. Richard Harris put in a fine performance in his MR2, laying down a 928 PAX on his way to the top spot in E Stock. Although Lee Imler did not show up in December, he took the series championship. The Arizona State Championship brought some fresh blood to F Stock, with Don Hyland claiming the victory in December. Evan Brom was the driver qualified for the series in F Stock, so he bumped to the Combined Stock class for the series. Likewise, Mark Shaw scared all the other competitors away from G Stock – Larry Dues went so far as to move out of state – to claim the win and the Combined Stock series championship.

A pair of Z06 drivers faced off in A Street Prepared, with Joe Mortiz staying ahead of Bob Francis to the claim the win. With no one else qualifying for the series, Moritz bumped to the Combined Street Prepared class for the series where he claimed the title. Ryan Johnson brought his S2000 home for the win in B Street Prepared, but no one qualified for the series. Ben Clement put his flashy new wheels to good use on his way to the win in D Street Prepared with a 904 PAX score. He may have been looking over his shoulder, because Doug Rowse, fresh off the Drivers' School, pulled down a 900 PAX score. Clement was the sole DSP driver to qualify for the series and bumped to the Combined Street Prepared class. E Street Prepared series champ Brian Weikert called in sick, leaving the door open for Larry Petrucci to snatch the prize away. However, wide tires and wet weather conspired against Petrucci, leaving him to take the uncontested ESP title for the day. One time ESP competitor Richard Rippy chose to run in Sportsman for December.

It was not the day for the Prepared cars, but two drivers ventured out. Keith Lensch brought his Corvette up from Tucson to claim the B Prepared victory. Brian Jackson drove his RX7 to an F Prepared win. Jackson also claimed the Prepared Category series win.

If it was sloppy for the Prepared cars, image what the Modified drivers were up against, with most in open cars. C Modified may have had it the worst, running in very wet conditions with open wheels. Gene Sanders borrowed Alan Wagstaffe’s Van Diemen for the Phoenix round of the ASC, but could not catch Wagstaffe all day. Wagstaffe sealed the win in December and claimed the series title. The D Modified guys were not quite as muddy with the benefit of fenders as Don Sattler drove the Miata to victory over David Lahey, claiming the series title on the way. The battling Fieros from Tucson made their way to PIR, with Greg Duncan claiming the win over Tom Hill in E Modified.

In Street Modified, Geren Smith drove his Subaru to victory, beating Steve Steele and Frank Miller in pony cars. While some may claim the horsepower is no good without traction, Smith was fast all season, claiming the series win with Steele in the second trophy spot. Street Modified 2 saw the return of Victor Malchesky in his fast CRX in December, but no one qualified for series points.

Street Tire S is always a battle. Richard Vela drove to an impressive win over Kris Castner, with Matthew Clower right behind. Castner claimed the series though, just 16 points in front of Vela for the season. Jeremy Galo was positively flying in his Prelude on his way to the win and series championship in Sreet Tire Extreme with his 961 PAX score. Ryan Sotak made up a lot of ground with 934 PAX and second place, just ahead of Kevin Cote at 932. However, Sotak’s points were not enough catch Dan Martin, who claimed second place in the series while Sotak claimed the third trophy spot.

The local indexed Arizona Region classes provided lots of competition as well. Rob Rockefeller drove his S2000 to the lead Novice 1 with an 877 PAX score. David Moy in his red RX8 was only two PAX points back at 875. Right there with Moy was Justin Markiewicz in WRX at 874 and George Marstanovic in his 240SX at 872. With 26 drivers in class, there is always good competition. Jason Kennedy, RX7, came in ahead of Richard Mazur, M3, 840 to 835. Jason Alger piloted his Corvette to an 829, tied with series champ Olin Tweed in a Civic Si and only one point ahead of Tim Cornum in a Mach 1. Kennedy was second in the series.

Novice 2 was a smaller class, but the competition was just as intense. Jason Smith drove his 240SX to an 886 win ahead of Ryan Locke, also in a 240SX with an 871 PAX score. Right on his heels was Dan Gabrys in a Spec V at 870. Trennis Stanley put the Quattro to good use to finish ahead of Rick Oldahi. Nick Maxfield trailed Oldahi, both in Miatas. Doug Rowse claimed the NV2 series champioinship with Locke in second place.

Novice 3 saw Thomas Winchester take the win and the series in Infiniti G20T with a 931 PAX. Travis Gianelli drove his Jetta to second place with a 926 PAX score, just ahead of series runner up Nelson Willingham in a Prelude VTEC. Jed Strahn stayed ahead of Nick Grabau and Jeremey Renshaw to claim fourth spot. Gianelli needed the extra points to claim the final trophy spot, just ahead of Dave Reuss.

Novice Ladies series champ Vanessa Dashiell defended her title as Elizabeth Young drove the wheels off her Camaro SS in her first ever event. Dashiell has shown tremendous improvement throughout the series, getting nearly the same PAX score in the messy December event as she did in her first event in October.

There was a tie in PAX Ladies as Dawn Maxwell and Mindi Cross both scored 899. Teresa Clement drove her Neon to an 854 PAX score and series champ Deb Eymann drove her Corvette to an 830 PAX score. Maxwell was the runner up in the series. Jim Harnish did not qualify for the series, but set the pace for the PRO class with 1000 PAX run in the FSP Civic. David Webb has broken through to a new plateau in his driving, attested by his blazingly fast 995 PAX score in the Avon-tired HS Focus. Josh Sortor put his WRX in third with a 982 PAX score. Dave Rock is still working the STS index for a 948 PAX, just ahead of series champion Ted Lewis with an uncharacteristic 919 PAX.

Ron Huber put the smack down on Sportsman, his 979 PAX score put him way ahead of series champ Mark Johnson. Matt Francis drove his WRX to a 946 PAX score. The conditions were difficult for wide cars, as evidenced by Tage Evanson and Steve Eymann’s scores. The wider Corvettes were penalized heavily by the muck at the edge of the course if they strayed off-line. Steve Eymann claimed second place in the series, only one point behind Johnson, 2939 to 2938. Huber claimed third for the series.

Clint Child has been going fast all along, but his win in Street Tire 1 drove home the point for many folks. His 947 PAX score bested Jim Rohn’s 943 in a borrowed Lincoln. The once invincible Dave Young fell to third with a 932 as conditions took their toll. The infamous battle of the ESP rally cars versus pony cars played out next as Greg Rubenstein drove his ESP WRX STi to fourth, only two points ahead of Roger Brendecke in his ESP Camaro SS. James Frink and Chris Noyes tied for sixth place with pair of 872, BS S2000 versus FS Lincoln LS. Todd Houser drove his SM MINI Cooper S to an 867 PAX score. Young prevailed in the series. Second place was dead heat, even after the factional PAX tie-breaker and fourth event tie-breaker were invoked. Clint Child and Greg Rubenstein share second place while Frink finished fourth. Rohn and Noyes, sharing the hot rod Lincoln, picked up the final trophy spots.

Dolf Strom may have noticed the slippery conditions in his awesome Audi S4 wagon, but it didn’t slow him down any. He drove to an excellent 963 PAX score to lead Street Tire 2, just ahead of Shawn Laverty in his BMW 330Ci at 951. The Chad Mizner/Jay Balducci rivalry burned hot again as both tied with 950 PAX scores, G35 versus WRX. Strom may have won the battle, but Balducci won the series, with Mizner in second. Strom picked up the third trophy spot, just ahead of Brad Owen in fourth. Scott Meyers rounded out the final trophy spot, only four points ahead of Ryan Yantzer.

David Branson drove his CSP Miata to victory in Street Tire 3, claiming the series along the way. Both contenders for the Street Tires Ladies series showed up in December. Sarah Peters drove her GTI to the win ahead of Glenda Meyers for both the event and series win in Street Tire Ladies.

Yes, yes, but what about the toys and the raffle? Well, the club's participation in the United Stated Marine Corps Toys for Tots drive proved to be very successful. Anyone who contributed a toy received a raffle ticket. Three free entries to Arizona Region Solo 2 events were raffled off in the morning and three more in the afternoon. The response was overwhelming: USMC Lance Corporal Eric Johnson filled the trunk of his car, the whole back seat area, and nearly all of the front passenger seat area with donated toys. He nearly had to make two trips to deliver all the toys we provided. He arrived before lunch to help with the morning raffle, and stayed the rest of the day to help with the afternoon raffle as the truck was being packed up. (He passed the time by personally thanking people from the passenger seat of many cars.) Kevin Cote, Mike Selland and Ryan Johnson won the morning raffle and Ray Coombes, Bev Sattler and Brad Owen had the winning tickets in the afternoon. But the biggest winners were the kids who will receive the toys.