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March 2005Jay Balducci recaps the March 26th special event.
The April events were completed before this issue was posted. Mark Johnson, Lead Reporter Copyright 2005. Duplication allowed in whole or in part, provided full acknowledgment is given. |
ARIZONA REGION – Jeremy Galo was born in the Philippines in November 1980. His parents moved to Phoenix in 1987. He followed soon after (in 1988), once they were established. After finishing his bachelor's in mechanical engineering at ASU, Jeremy moved to Gilbert.
Jeremy admits to a lifelong fascination with cars. But he was "never really into the whole fixing-up-your-car thing" and "never really understood the fast-and-furious crowd." He bought a bone-stock Prelude in 2000, for example, and had no urge to do anything to it. But then a conversation with a classmate led to a ride in the classmate's Honda Civic, and Jeremy's satisfaction with a stock ride bit the dust.
A few modifications to the Prelude followed, as did an eventual stumble into autocross activity at Firebird in Fall 2002, then more modifications to the Prelude. Jeremy's satisfaction with a stock ride is now buried pretty deep. He picked up on the fast part of fast-and-furious, too, taking second place in Novice 3 that first season (Fall 2002), running his Prelude in STX class. He got into the furious part, as well, kicking himself for missing first place by just 2607 PAX points to Jason Pierce's 2600.
Since then, he has being competing in STX Open, occasionally against Josh Sortor, whom he credits for help and encouragement. Jeremy placed third of three in Spring 2003, second of four in Fall 2003 (to Sortor's first), third of five in Spring 2004, first of six in Fall 2004, and has a strong shot at repeating that STX win in the current series.
Hobbies other than autocrossing include golf and bowling. He's trying to recapture the golfing skills he had when he was on his high school team, and is continually improving his bowling average. He bowls in league on Mondays, plays flag football on Saturday mornings, indoor soccer on Saturday evenings, and goes to the gym on days in between. He's a year into his job as a Process Engineer at Heraeus (a small company in Chandler) and is working towards an MBA. All this activity means that he has less time to wallpaper our Forum than he had while he was a college student and part-time waiter. Jeremy sees this transition as progress, since full-time work pays better and there's now more room on the Forum "for posts that actually have content, clarity, and relevance."
A few months ago, Jeremy began helping out with Registration for our events and assisting with scoreboard and timing duties. In addition, he regularly helps out during run groups that are short on experienced workers and can often be found welcoming and encouraging the newer competitors. He hasn't yet competed beyond the regional level, but would like to do so eventually, perhaps as a co-driver of a more class-competitive car. He also has other forms of competition in sight. Road racing maybe. Or even motocross.
When asked to comment on the 10% mo’ ladies claim so prominently included in his Forum avatar, Jeremy said that it shouldn't be misinterpreted as cavalier or disrespectful. He continued with "I'm just a guy who likes a quiet night looking up at the stars, long walks on the beach, reading a book while it's raining outside ... ah, wait, this isn't going to make it into the profile is it?" Anyway, you can see him there in the photo, advertising his claim to 10% mo’ and flashing a socially acceptable hand signal to his competitors in STX Open.
Well, at least he's stopped papering the Forum with post-it notes.
26 March 2005, PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY –
The Arizona Region SCCA Solo 2 Group brought in its own March Madness, with a one-day winner-take-all autocross at Phoenix International Raceway. Some 113 N-C-A-A (nutty crazy about autocross) drivers drove with the kind of determination seen in the Final 4, under a picture perfect, mid-70’s, light breeze sky. The January and February rains had brought out March flowers and a lush green covering on the Estrella Mountains that backdrop the three lots at PIR.
Event co-chairs Brian Peters and Brad Owen ran this special one-day series, in which each driver's best 3 of 4 runs would be combined for winner-take-all comparisons. Getting three good runs was a must, because an automatic 120 seconds was assigned for DNF’s.
Clint Child came off the bench to design the course, and then teamed up with Dawn Maxwell and several assistants to lay it out.
The course started in the west lot: Chicago box leading into a straight with a slight kink and a speed-check left-hander through ‘Double-Double’ gates, then a sweeping left (which had to be pushed out for the afternoon groups due to the surface breaking up) followed by a 4-cone slalom that was really a 3-point-shot if you took it on the inside of the first cone. A right- and then a left-hander dubbed the ‘Give and Go’ set you up for the transition onto the south lot. It took good dribbling driving skills to keep the screams of street tires from changing into squalls as you worked around the back side of the south lot and through a sweeping 270-degree turn dubbed ‘Around the World.’
A tight right-hander slowed you down for passage onto the north lot, but fast-break acceleration allowed some to score big before an off-camber left appropriately called the ‘3-Point Sweeper.’ A flowing right-hander and a Final 4 slalom ended the course.
About a fifth of the drivers were in the Novice classes, with the remainder split pretty evenly between the traditional SCCA open classes and the Arizona Region's other indexed classes. Ted Lewis, back in his ASP Lotus Elan, held the fastest combined three runs, with 198.398 seconds (including a 65.497 run) that indexed to 168.638. Gene Sanders, piloting the CM 1982 Van Diemen Formula Ford of Alan Wagstaffe, was only 0.011 seconds behind.
But it was David Webb who took the N-C-A-A 1000 PAX title, driving his screaming yellow HS Ford Focus with ‘nothing but net’ expertise.
Although this was a total-of-3-runs event, drivers' fastest single run times have been
posted,
along with the combined
results.
Brian Peters, coming off his March win at the San Diego national tour, led the group in this regard, with raw time of 64.946 seconds in his CSP Miata.
The spirit of the sport can be seen by the large number of drivers in the novice classes. Novice 1 had Justin Markiewicz blaze all of the novice groups in his ESP Subaru WRX STi, with an indexed time of 181.543 (915 PAX). Gary James in his SS Lotus Elise was just 9.809 seconds behind at 868 PAX. Eric Ware put his ‘too easy to drift’ FS Pontiac GTO in third with a PAX score of 847. Dwayne Tomko took fourth in his 1982 BS Vette with 842 and edged out Steve Johnson's 836 in his SS Vette. Two separate SM WRX’s, piloted by Joel Flint (825) and James Borquez (808), rounded out those in NV1 who scored more than 800 PAX points.
Atypically, only one driver suited up for Novice 2 – Robert Thario drove his DS Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V to a 638 PAX score.
Novice 3. had five participants. Brett Powers in a STS Mazda Protégé led the pack with an indexed time of 187.368 seconds, yielding an 887 PAX. Steven Roberts in his STS BMW 325E drove to an 850 PAX score that was good for second place. Russell Nealis kept the wind in his face for third, with a CSP Toyota MR2 Spyder PAX’ing 797. Danny Hesketh and David Hart rounded out the class, in fourth and fifth respectively. Novice Ladies showed good competition with another five participants. Driving a STS Honda Civic, Vanessa Dashiell lead the pack with a indexed time of 202.221 seconds, yielding a 822 PAX. Trying to keep the power of the FS Pontiac GTO connected to the course was Cherrie Windfeldt, at 807 PAX.
Heather Malchesky in a SM2 Honda CRX Si was only slightly over one second behind, with an 801 PAX. Melissa Rex-Flint brought home fourth place in an AWD Subaru Impreza RS with a 712 PAX. Samantha Tomko rounded out the class in a BS Corvette with a 660 PAX.
The street tire classes are screeching with competition. In Street Tire S, Clint Child switched to Civic Si for the day.
Rumor has it that he kept his usual ride in the locker room to protect others from scouting the used car market for reasonably priced Civic Wagovans.
A combined indexed time of 173.483 seconds, yielding a 958 PAX, gave Clint first in STS. A heated battle ensued for second, with Richard Vela in his 240SX earning the crown at 916 PAX. Travis Gianelli in a Volkswagen Jetta edged out Jason Smith in a 240SX by 0.018 seconds to take third to Jason's fourth, both earning 915 PAX.
In STS2, The Grand Canyon State’s Kevin Venisik narrowly beat out The Land of Enchantment’s Wiggy Greacen, both running '93 Miatas. Only 0.75 seconds raw separated the two, with Kevin’s 938 PAX leading ex-Phoenician Wiggy’s 934.
Street Tire X this month was heralded by Jeremy Galo in his 10% mo’ Prelude. His new Falkens hooked up to allow a 171.972 indexed time for a 966 PAX. A heated pursuit of Infiniti's, led by Kevin Cote in his G35 Coupe and Chad Mizner in his luxury 4-door G35, brought up second and third with 963 and 960 PAX points respectively. Matt Francis in his WRX took fourth with 952 PAX, just edging the 951 PAX of Olin Tweed, who drove the Wagovan (silently pulled up from reserves by Clint Child).
The open classes brought out notable competition, with A Stock almost exclusively a Honda S2000 class. Mike Selland slam-dunked the class in his S2000, with an indexed time of 171.158 and 971 PAX. Jeff Williams brought home second in his M-Roadster (923 PAX), with John Sawyer and Kevin Gleaton in another two S2000’s rounding out the class.
Using the fast break concept was Mark Johnson in C Stock, blazing a 167.239 indexed time and a 994 PAX in his on-fire red Miata.
Doug Rowse took D Stock to a win, along with Lee Imler in E stock. Joe Moritz in a Corvette bested the wheel spinning Viper of Ryan Sotak in A Stock Prepared.
Two drivers ran 1980’s RX-7’s in C Stock Prepared, with Gene Irwin having at least one clean run (which was instrumental when a DNF was scored at 120 seconds). The Battle in the Beastie continued tightly, with Don Sattler leading David Lahey 953 to 945 PAX.
Gene Sanders and Alan Wagstaff piloted Alan’s 1982 Van Diemen Formula Ford, with Gene sinking a 922 PAX in C Mod. An away team joined the home crowd in a shared 240Z in E Mod, as Brian Berlemann and Debbie Donaldson enjoyed the local Arizona scene, PAX’ing 818 and 700 respectively.
In Street Mod, the Esker’s drove a '91 Civic with Mike besting Will, both leaving Geren Smith to retune his Subaru STi for future autocrosses.
There are other street tire classes with heated competition. They can be heard as easily as the NCAA crowds when a game-tying shot heads for the basket as the final buzzer sounds. Street Tire 1 has been opened up since Dave Young found sticky race tires and departed ST1 for Sportsman. Thirteen competitors screeched their way around the course.
A pair of Subaru STi’s led the pack, with Jay Balducci’s ESP-indexed 174.427 seconds and 953 PAX besting James Frink’s SM 180.553 and 920. Gunning for the Subarus was a pair of BSP Nissan 350Z’s. Lou Young won the tight race for third with a 914 PAX; hot on his heels was Bryan Wofford’s 912 PAX.
Rounding out the 900+ PAX runs was Roger Brendecke in his ESP Camaro's 911. He was just 0.151 seconds behind after his top three runs, and less than a second behind him was STi pilot Greg Rubenstein with a 906 PAX.
Street Tire 2 had seven different cars and drivers. It is being dominated by the smooth lay up and jump shot man known as Brad Owen. His three pointers yielded his Nissan Sentra a 952 PAX from an indexed time of 174.552 seconds, only 0.125 seconds behind the higher-power ST1 leader. That’s smooooth. Christopher Lachlan has been becoming one with the beauty of the all wheel drive of his DS Subaru WRX. Christopher’s 937 PAX and 177.444 indexed time were just 0.068 seconds ahead of Jim Rohn’s 936 PAX in his retro new-age 2005 Mustang. Klayton Albers and Bill Kersbergen rounded out the 900+ PAX scores in this class with 909 and 900, respectively. Street Tire 3 saw John Fleming leading with a 900 PAX in his CSP Toyota MR2 Spyder.
The March Madness extends to the ladies in the highly competitive PAX Ladies class. They drive for lay ups, swish free throws, and make fast breaks artfully, and can out-drive and out-PAX many men. Dawn Maxwell was able to stretch her neck to see around those cones (like she does in her Mini Cooper) even in her CS Miata; she won the class with an indexed time of 174.148 seconds, PAXing 954. Deb Eymann PAXed 919 in the Eymann's SS Z06, yellow like some of the rain-nourished wildflowers.
Keeping racing green in the money was Mindi Cross, fresh-air motoring the ASP Lotus Elan and PAXing 910. Sharon Roberts rev’d up with an 889 PAX in an AS Honda S2000, with Sara Peters applying her husband’s Zen like driving skills for an 886 PAX in their CSP Miata. Teresa Clement, Lindsay Maxfield, Jenni Burris and Glenda Meyers rounded out the group.
The PRO class is like returning again and aginn to the Final 4. Setting a 1000 PAX was David Webb, driving the yellow HS Focus for an indexed time of 166.176 seconds. This is David’s first 1000 PAX – congratulations! Bringing up second was Ted Lewis, back in his ASP Lotus Elan, just 2.462 seconds back and PAXing 985 while scoring the fastest non-indexed time of day. Dave McCombs rounded out the class with 980 PAX in a SS Z06.
The Sportsman class is rife with talent, as if some promoter raided the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 teams all at once. A new leader was crowned since last month: Brian Peters, fresh from his ‘finally, no mishaps’ win at the national tour in San Diego earlier in the month. With an indexed time of 166.944 seconds, Brian and his CSP Miata led the class with a 995 PAX. Tage Evanson jumped up and put the power down in a SS ZO6, to finish a mere 0.551 seconds behind Brian with a PAX of 992. Only four PAX points behind Tage was a hard charging Ron Huber, on real street tires in a STS Subaru Impreza RS. Steve Eymann in his SS Z06 PAX'd 978, out of an indexed time of 169.852. Less than three seconds separated the these four. In fifth place was the DSP Integra of Ben Clement. His 953 PAX and indexed time of 174.343 seconds were just under 0.8 seconds ahead of the hard charging SM M3 of Dave Young, as Dave PAX’d 949. Thomas Winchester, using his Infiniti G20 to show that a touring car can be right in the money, PAXed 944. Steve Steele, Brian Weikert and Richard Rippy rounded out the 900+ PAX club in Sportsman class.
March Madness 2005 – autocross style. It was a high-stakes one-day event with David Webb emerging as the N-C-A-A title winner. The event progressed smoothly – thanks to the co-chairs, the specialty teams, and the other willing workers – and ended as the sun was setting.
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(Photos in the March Madness article were taken at other events.) (Posted 12 April 2005.) |