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the pylon points to: Jay Balducci

by Mike Driscoll

ARIZONA REGION – Jay Balducci grew up in the small town of Walden, NY (about 60 miles north of New York City). The rural setting prompted Jay to go exploring on one bicycle or another. He was soon “modifying and repairing all the bicycles in the neighborhood.” He made the natural progression from bicycles to motorcycles and eventually to automobiles, although college put wheeled sports on hold for four years.

In 1988, during his last semester at college in western New York state, Jay was offered a follow-up on-site interview with a medical electronics company in Tempe. Crossing “the frozen tundra” to the Rochester airport to fly down for that interview took three times as long as normal, due to snow, sleet, and icy streets. When he arrived in Phoenix, it was 80 degrees F and sunny. Jay could only think “Where do I sign?”. He was offered the job and he did sign. Moved here in May 1988 and been loving it ever since.

Bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles. Duh!

Okay, then, some details: Jay rode BMX for years and then gravitated to dirt bikes. He raced motocross from the late 70’s through the mid 80’s, doing well in the northeast US districts. He had a factory-supported ride from Honda and wanted to pursue motocross as a profession, but a bad injury brought that dream to an end. He jumped into the mountain bike scene right after his move to Arizona, and still enjoys it immensely, riding in varied geographies throughout the West. He rode Jet-Ski’s for several years and thought about racing them, too. But the high danger factor and the advantages enjoyed by younger & shorter competitors (under 30 and under 6 feet) kept his toes out of those particular waters.

Jay came to autocrossing via the Arizona Toyota Supra group. He spent part of 2001 observing, catching rides, and scoping out different cars. He got hooked, of course. Bought a Subaru WRX and started autocrossing full-time in February of 2002.

He took first place in our Spring 2002 Novice 2 class, after which he graduated into Street Tire 2, where he finished fourth of 13 in Fall 2002. Jay called this “learning mode.” He went on to clean up in ST2: second in Spring 2003, third in Fall 2003, first in Spring 2004 and first again in Fall 2004.

This record somehow prompted Jay to go to school, namely, the cold & rainy December 2004 Drivers' School. After that, a planned move to STX was aborted when he drove a new Subaru WRX STi, because he bought one and went to Street Tire 1 instead. Does it surprize you that he won that class in Spring 2005? Jay generously acknowledges his debts to the Drivers' School instruction and to ongoing assistance from various competitors at regular events, but it's clear that the early bicycle & motorcycle stuff is paying off. Enough so that he has set his sights on the 2006 Nationals in Topeka.

Jay is an engineer. He works as a Technical Program Manager in the sales group at a semiconductor assembly and test company called StatsChipPAC. There, he works with customers to design and bring new microelectronics to volume production in factories around the world. Almost every cell phone and computer in the world has chips assembled and tested by StatsChipPAC. He says the chip industry is fast paced and very dynamic, just like autocrossing.

Jay is a helpful, friendly presence at our autocross events. At my request, he wrote an article for the March 2005 issue of the Pylon Press, describing the special event held that month. His enjoyment in doing that has led to his joining the staff as Associate Editor. He'll take over as Editor in January.

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The Steering Column

by Tage Evanson

ARIZONA REGION – It's been a few months since I've written something, so it came as no surprise when the editor sent me an email a couple weeks ago and then followed that up with a tap on the shoulder and his "reminder look" at the last event. Not wanting to be the guy who disappoints, here goes. If you regularly read the Forum, you'll be up to date on most the following summary of what's been going on the last few months!

The Summer Series: The Law Enforcement Training Area course at Central Arizona College is one of those hate-it-or-love-it places. For me as well as approximately 100 others, performance driving is better than no driving, even if it's on nearly the identical track three times in a row and in the blazing heat of summer, complete with a week's rain delay. I'm not sure if I'm just getting used to the Arizona heat or if it simply wasn't as hot this year. Regardless of the conditions, many dedicated individuals made it happen. There are currently no plans for the club to host a formal banquet for the Summer Series. Look for trophies to be handed out at future Fall Series events.

Arizona State Championship: We will unfortunately not be hosting an Arizona State Championship (ASC) this year. The old ASC format made it convenient for competitors to be able to compete in the ASC without compromising their availability and attendance at their local event(s). Unfortunately, it also didn't give folks much motivation to enter, unless they felt they had a good shot at winning. The Steering Committee felt there might be a greater turnout if the format was changed into a single (one or two day) event. Those looking for a state championship would attend, as would those just looking to have fun or get some more seat time. Having the championship on a single day or weekend would also minimize conflicts for many, so end result would be a better turnout and more competition. The reason the club did not implement this idea is simply that there was no site or date available to do it in 2005. Once we see what dates are available in 2006 and beyond, the Steering Committee return to the ASC idea. Or to something similar, like a Neighboring State championship, a Divisional, or even a National Tour event.

Fee Increases: Yes, unfortunately it's true. After well over a decade of static fees, we were forced to increase ours slightly this season, to offset the increased site fees the club has been absorbing since we've been at PIR. We were hoping to make up the difference with larger numbers of competitors but, after analyzing the numbers from the first season at PIR, it's clear that somewhat larger numbers won't cover the increased costs. Moving to 100% pre-registration has been a hot topic of debate within the Steering Committee for about two years now, but we once again decided to continue to allow onsite registration. However, we want to encourage online pre-registration and strongly discourage onsite registration, so the new pricing structure reflects that.

New Trailer: Yep! It's finally here and it's brand spanking new! And, no, we didn't buy this trailer with the extra profit of recent price increases. Each and every year the club tucks away some money in anticipation of an unexpected cost or a large planned capital purchase. The new trailer is one of the items we've been saving and planning for. A lot of thought and work went into the design obtained from the manufacturer, after which Brad Owen and Kevin Venisnik did significant interior customization and execution of this major project. We will continue to make enhancements to the trailer to ease the setup and teardown processes, and deliver even more convenience to our events.

Permanent Car Numbers: This topic comes up every few months in the public forums as well as in Steering Committee discussion. It always comes down to us asking ourselves the question, "What problem are we trying to solve?". The biggest problem the club is experiencing is calling in penalties over the radios for the cars on course. This puts a lot of responsibility on the course workers to accurately distinguish the make and model of each car that goes blazing by their station, especially when two or more similar cars of the same color go by. Many believe the use of car numbers would solve this problem, but that has the potential to cause other logistical issues, so we're going to take baby steps at the idea. This season we will be looking to make the use of unique car numbers on a volunteer basis. We'll slowly build these unique car numbers into the timing & scoring database. We plan to monitor how well this works before deciding how to proceed further.

Helmet Ratings: Helmets certified as meeting SNELL 2005 requirements will be hitting the market very soon. If you are using a SNELL 1990 helmet, now is a good time to consider replacing it, even if it isn't getting a bit crusty by now, since SNELL 1990 helmets will not be legal for autocrossing use in 2006 or later. (If you are using a SNELL 1995 or SNELL 2000 certified helmet, you are in good shape for five more years.)

Double Header: The next autocross event is a double-header. The second and third fall-series events are on Saturday (yes, Saturday!) October 8 and Sunday, October 9, respectively, both at PIR. Both will be scored events in the championship series. This double-header was scheduled to make up for a lack of any Arizona Region events in November (when no sites were available).

Fall Series Banquet: Yes, you read that right! Planning for the Fall Series banquet is already underway. For those of you who have not been to one of our end of year banquets, they are premier events, not to be missed! The raffle prizes are abundant and ever more fabulous (did I mention we usually give away a set of TIRES?), and some of us even get dressed up (not too fancy though) and make it a "date" with someone (like Jeremy Galo did last year). We usually have a slide show of photos reflecting back on the year, and of course there are trophy presentations. We don't have a date nailed down yet, but we typically shoot for the middle of January. Watch the Forum for specifics.

Speaking of the Forum, remember when you're posting there – whether to recruit participation in your favorite competition class or to debate which country makes the best vehicles – that freedom to post implies a need to temper sarcasm and generally keep things light. Don't forget we're all friends on autocrossing day. See you at the track!

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Testing Skill and Patience
The 2005 Summer Series

by Jay Balducci

CENTAL ARIZONA COLLEGE (Signal Peak Campus, Coolidge) – The Arizona Region Solo 2 Group braved the summer heat on a quiet jewel of a course, the mini road course at CAC. It was the second summer series held there. Preregistration via the web, harmonious organization, and skilled execution allowed each of the events to start on time (modulo a postponement due to rain) and to run smoothly, with participants headed home by noon.

12 June 2005– Event chair Kevin Venisnik brought it all together for a fun-filled morning, except that those who arrived pre-sunrise were greeted by the whine of mosquitoes. It was a sold out event with 107 drivers. Each driver got three runs in which to test road course skills. Typical run times were in the 60-seconds-plus range. In an unofficial challenge, Brady Dohrmann running his Nissan 350Z in BS Open and Brian Peters driving it in Sportsman class, Brady edged ahead by just 3 PAX points. Every class had its leader in the end, of course, and several of those stood out, but top PAX was held by Josh Sorter in his STX-prepped Subaru WRX. Full results are available here.

17 July 2005– Event chair Dave Munsey presented a course with a few more slalom cones on the long back straight. The challenge du jour was in STU cars. Matt Francis loaned his stock 2005 Subaru WRX-STi to fellow Subaru driver Josh Sorter, while Shawn Laverty loaned his 2004 Mitsubishi Evolution to Brian Peters. So it was experienced AWD driver vs. local hot-shoe, each in his rally car of choice. Josh bested Brian’s efforts by the end of the morning. Driving with flair was demostrated by Ted Lewis in his ASP Lotus. Finding the limits of traction at the final turn, he finished a run by spinning his car and passing through the timing lights backwards. Top PAX was held by Steve Eymann in his SS 2003 Corvette. Dave Vasquez had a notable finish in his DS-Open BMW, taking eighth top PAX. Full results are available here.

21 August 2005– The third and final summer event was originally scheduled for August 14. The course was set, the drivers registered, and the first run group was in grid, but Mother Nature brought a downpour of monsoon rain before any cars were released. The weather stayed wet (a real problem for this site), so event chair Clint Child had to postpone things for a week. Clear & sunny skies prevailed on the 21st and summer autocrossing proceeded apace. There was a newly paved parking lot, much closer to the course, much more convenient for those without trailers. Fun runs were offered after the competition was over, and approximately 25 drivers tested their road-course-style autocross skills "just a few more times." Top PAX honors went to Dave Young in his SM-prepped BMW M3, with Richard Rippy taking the fastest time of the day in a new, seemingly highly-prepped 1996 Camaro. Full results are available here.

In summary, the Arizona Region put together a fun, safe, summer series, one sufficient to satisfy the craving for autocross, at least for those who could tolerate the heat. Notable series honors include Geren Smith in Street Mod Open, Scott Myers in Street Tire S, Dave McCombs in PRO, Dave Young in Sportsman, Justin Markiewicz in Street Tire 1, Mike Rogers in Street Tire 2, and Richard Mazur in Novice 1. Full results are available here.

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Unstable Conditions
The Nationals at Topeka

by Mark Johnson

16 September 2005, FORBES FIELD, Topeka, Kansas – Arizona Region drivers performed well under trying conditions at the SCCA Solo 2 Nationals in Topeka, Kansas. Changing track conditions due to weather, course configuration or poor lighting conditions left every driver with unforgettable stories. In many cases, championships came down to one run as the conditions changed. Those who were prepared (and well funded) were rewarded.

The surface at Forbes Field is notorious for its grippy but crumbling concrete. At one point in Heat 3 on Tuesday, the North Course surface degraded so much that the competition was stopped. Wet conditions made concrete repairs impossible and the course was changed, dramatically altering its character. For these reasons, a traditional comparison of PAX scores is pretty meaningless; in-class comparisons are more meaningful. But even these comparisons do not adequately account for the changes that occurred within given heats.

So, how did we as a region fair? Look for Joshua Sortor sporting a new wardrobe as he was crowned the 2005 STX champion, in addition winning the Pro Solo series in STX. Jason Isley finally picked up his first national championship jacket in B Stock. In all, the Arizona Region (and friends) picked up eight trophies – details here.

Congratulations go out to all who made the trek to Kansas for these national competitions. If you have not been there yet, you really owe it to yourself to attend at least once – the talent pool and variety of cars are remarkable. This year marked the swan song for Forbes Field. The 2006 Solo 2 Nationals are scheduled for Heartland Park Topeka Raceway, just down the road from Forbes Field and the SCCA Nationals offices.

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Nationals
A First-Timer's Experience

by Brady Dohrmann

16 September 2005, FORBES FIELD, Topeka, Kansas – Solo 2 Nationals 2005 have come and gone. Over 15 competitors from Arizona made the 1200 mile trip to Topeka to see how they stacked up against the nation's best. For someone who hadn't run a National event before, it was quite a learning experience.

The biggest question for a person who has never been to Nationals is, "What's it all about?" Well, winning of course, but there's more to it than that. A first-timer realizes instantly that there is plenty to be gained from a National event, even if winning is a long shot.

The level of competition is intense. There's nothing like parking on grid with 30-50 others in your class, all cars prepped to the limits and piloted by the nation's top drivers. Everyone at nationals is awesome! Watching events locally is fun, but watching a Nationals run group is a blast! Cars on two wheels. Drivers tossing cars around and doing things you didn't even imagine possible. All with excellent announcing that makes the action really exciting, and 1st through 25th places separated by two seconds.

Possibly the biggest thing I brought away from Nationals is a list of questions about my autocrossing future. Do I want to take it to the next level? Can I afford to? What class should I shoot for? Don't get me wrong, the level of competition in Arizona is amazing. But seeing the best of the best battle it out really puts into perspective what your goals should be. I've never thought about having a detailed game plan for my autocrossing, until leaving the Nationals event, where everything started to make sense.

Overall, it was a good experience. I think everyone brought something good back home with them: a trophy, some good laughs, memories of some exciting laps, or a better perspective on how they should approach autocrossing in the future.

Congratulations to everyone from Arizona who made the trip and drove hard all week!

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Only 100 Degrees?  Must Be Fall in Phoenix!
The Fall Series, Event 1 of 4

by Mark Johnson

18 September 2005, PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY – One hundred and fifty drivers accumulated points during the September 18 season premier, beginning a four-event series that concludes in December. While not unseasonably hot, the temperatures were pushing 100^o F in the afternoon under a mostly sunny sky - an obvious reminder of why autocross is a winter sport in Arizona. The event was billed as a fundraiser for the Red Cross and hurricane Katrina relief efforts; the Arizona Region Solo 2 Group raised nearly $500 in donations.

Amazing as ever, Tage Evanson recorded the fastest time of the day (FTD) with a 68.085-second trip through the cones in a borrowed CM Van Diemen Formula Ford. Even more amazing is that this time includes a full two-second penalty for hitting a cone on his best run; his raw time was 66.085. No one else was anywhere close. Dawn Maxwell drove her MINI Cooper S to the top indexed time and corresponding 1000 PAX score.

Event Chair Geren Smith was Johnny-on-the-Spot all day long, dealing with minor issues before they became major ones. The event was well-organized and stayed on schedule all day. The course presented some logistic issues because it covered a lot of area and required many worker stations. In addition, not all of the Specialty Chiefs were on hand (because of the Solo 2 Nationals). But the event was smooth. So smooth, in fact, that fun runs were offered at the end of day, after the more formal and pre-arranged Time Only runs. Many drivers recorded up to ten runs over the course of the day.

The composition of the classes can be a harbinger of where the season-long battles will occur. Roughly 35 percent of the drivers chose a traditional SCCA Open class. The Open classes offer heads-up competition with all the drivers running in the same heat. The most popular Open classes at this event were in the Street Tire and Steet Mod categories. The remaining drivers chose one of the many local Arizona Region indexed classes. Of the indexed classes, the Novice and Street Tire categories were the most popular, each drawing nearly 26 percent of the drivers. The indexed classes use PAX handicap factors based on vehicle characteristics to normalize the times. They provide the opportunity for competition among drivers in dissimilar types of cars, adding a twist to the competition.

The long course featured an enjoyable variety of elements that offered a good balance between momentum and power. A clutch saving 90-degree left hand corner prior to the start lights led immediately to a tight falling away 90-degree right-hander that was the beginning of three-cone slalom. The slalom opened up to a momentary straight chute before diving into a fast medium-radius right. The right turn continued through an offset and then into an even faster left-hander. Speed continued to build through a left offset gate onto the fastest portion of the course, just before a deceptive left-hand sweeper came up quickly. The sweeper could be driven as two medium-sized left turns with a short chute in between or as one big fast corner with a fast exit. Either way, it was followed by a slow, tight right 180-degree boxed turn that powered out to a long straight. The next left led to an optional five-cone slalom, so the character of the turn was determined largely by which side of the slalom was chosen. The big slalom ran diagonally downhill to a pinched left turn heading back up hill. A contrived five-cone box, four corners and one smack in the middle, marked the uphill run. An extended right-hand turn, similar in character to the previous left before the five spot, led back down the hill through a three-cone slalom and into a fast decreasing-radius left back up the hill. A final acute right turn sent the drivers through the finish lights while still generating big cornering force.

The action in Street Mod was all about chasing down the class favorite, Brady Dohrmann, in his uber 240SX. Dohrmann ran a raw time of 73.000 but hit a cone. Ron Mercer came close in his Camaro SS with a 76.157, but it took Geren Smith in an STi to bump Dohrmann from the lead with a clean 74.100. After first runs, it was Smith, Dohrmann and Mercer in the trophy spots with Joel Flint knocking on the door in his WRX. Second runs saw Dohrmann pull out the stops for an awesome 70.000 clean run. No one could come close, with Smith pulling in a 73.096 run and Mercer a 74.419 time. Inspired by Dohrmann, Jeremy Renshaw moved from a first run time 79.587 to a second run time of 77.910, leaving Flint, who had slowed by a tenth, way behind. Travis Barnes moved into the 79s and began to challenge Flint. Wade Orsini shaved over 10 seconds off his first run, but still trailed the field after second runs. By third runs, Dorhmann backed up his 70-second time with a 70.220, although technically not an improvement, still way more than enough for first place and ultimately a 978 PAX. Smith found the 72s with a 72.342 run to pick up second place and 946 PAX. Ron Mercer slowed a few tenths with a 74.796. Flint got on the ball with a 77.759 to bump Renshaw down to fifth. Barnes improved slightly and Orsini shaved another 4.5 seconds from his time.

While it had fewer drivers than Street Mod, Street Mod 2 featured a good battle with a twist. SM2 was scheduled to run in Heat F, along with SM. However, for some reason, Daniel Short ended up running early – real early – he was the first car out for the day in Heat A in his MR2. Many times, the first car out is at a slight disadvantage because the course is dirty and there is no rubber on the line. That may have been true in this case as Short’s first run resulted in a DNF. He came back with a fast 77.322 on his second run and followed up with a 78.131 plus a cone for his third. So, the other SM2 drivers had a good idea of what they needed to do. First out was Victor Malchesky in a CRX. He put the smack down with a 74.799 time. Brant Bauman drove his Miata to a 78.815 plus a cone. Brian Jackson followed up with a 78.456 raw time, but recorded a DNF along the way in his RX4. After these runs, it was Malchesky leading, Short comfortably in second and Bauman and Jackson struggling with penalties. There were no changes after second runs as Malchesky extended his lead with a 72.427 run, Bauman slowed to hit a cone and Jackson DNFed again. Malchesky was on a terror, again extending his lead with a smoking fast 70.680 on his third run. Bauman cleaned it up to record a 78.894 followed by Jackson with a clean 78.926. So close in fact, that Bauman and Jackson tied in PAX points.

Street Tire S was a large class with 10 drivers and wide variety of cars. Course penalties plagued the class after first runs and it looked like they might factor in the standings. After first runs Andrey Sharkov was the only one in the 84s followed by Parker Pierce and Scott Jones in the 85s. Everyone else either DNFed or failed to record a time for some reason. There were fast raw times, like Richard Vela’s 84.079 time, but the DNF penalties made them meaningless. Penalties played a role on second runs as well. Time dropped considerably, with Thomas Winchester putting down a 79.330 in his G20T and Richard Vela piloting his 240SX to a 79.904 run. Travis Gianelli cleaned up and recorded a run in the 82’s, vaulting to third place. Others ran quicker raw times as well, but DNFed away any improvements. After second runs, it was Winchester and Vela in the 79s followed by Gianelli in the 82s, Sharkov in the 84s and Pierce and Jones in the 85s. Winchester slowed on his third run, leaving the door open for Vela. However, Vela failed to capitalize, slowing down as well. After two DNFs, Champa Phetsomphou seized the opportunity with a clean 81.717 pulling him up third place. Gianelli improved a couple of tenths to an 82.185, but dropped to fourth. After two DNFs (with smoking raw times), Dave Reuss got his Cavalier around cleanly to record an 82.550, good for a top five finish. Gil Harari had a rough start with DNF on first runs, a big time on second runs but put it all together on the third for an 83.067. Scott Jones could not capture the magic of the second run sans the DNF, but still knocked off two seconds from his first run, passing Sharkov and Pierce in the process. After finding the speed on his third run and distancing his previous time, Steven Roberts hit a cone on the way and took a full two-second penalty. His raw 84 second run turned into an 86 – just like Tage.

Ron Huber was attracted to the heads-up competition of the Open classes and jumped from Sportsman to Street Touring X Open with his Impreza RS. It was a risky move on his part as the STX class has traditionally been very competitive. It paid of for Huber, but just barely. He finished 0.001 seconds ahead of Chad Mizner’s G35 sedan. Huber’s 75.301 and Mizner’s 75.302 were both scored as 954 PAX points. Dan Martin pulled out a 76.226 to grab third place in his Sentra Spec V, just ahead of Jeremy Galo in his Prelude Type SH at 76.840. Craig Meyer needed every bit his Mustang’s horsepower to stay ahead of Kris Castner and his hot rod Impreza RS, Meyer finishing with a 79.577 and Castner at 79.849. Jason Smith rounded out the field in his in 240SX with a competitive 81.544. STX promises to be a barnburner this season.

Other notable Open class performances in September were Kim Kemper in Super Stock, recording a 72.437 time good for a 950 PAX score. Kevin Gleaton was riding his Nationals high to a 73.818 second run in his S2000, which translates, to a 943 PAX score. Tom Tkacik has a head start on E Stock for the season with his fast 955 PAX run. Brad Owen bolted on some stickies to his G Stock Sentra and put down a fast 963 PAX score. Ben Clement and Clint Child, both on non-optimum tires, battled in D Street Prepared. The Clement Integra GSR prevailed over the Integra Type R of Child, 73.345 to 73.723, good for 950+ PAX scores for both drivers. Kevin Venisnik was holding down the fort in Street Touring S2 with a nice 928 PAX, while over in Street Touring U Richard Mazur racked up a 930 PAX score.

In the local indexed class, the competition is just as tight, albeit sometimes harder to follow. In PAX Ladies, Sarah Peters drove her CSP Miata to a win with an 894 PAX score over Teresa Clement. Dawn Maxwell made a splash when she jumped to PRO, pulling down the top 1000 PAX while beating up on the boys. Mark Johnson edged ahead of Brian Peters to take the Sportsman victory. Pedaling hard was Jeff Shultz who put in a notable drive in his MINI Cooper S with a 964 PAX score for third place in Sportsman.

STi, Evo, STi, Evo – so it goes in Street Tire 1. James Frink put his WRX STi in top spot with a 936 PAX score. Chasing Frink were Shawn Laverty in an Evo VIII with a 925 PAX and Justin Markiewicz in another WRX STi at 922 PAX. Aytinc Akad was next in Evo VIII. Somehow, Olin Tweed bhatched his way into rally car mix in his Civic, followed by a couple more STi’s of Patrick Fisher and Richard Duran. Richard Mares proved that his winning NV2 in the spring was no fluke, as he beat up on Street Tire 2. He drove his GS BMW 318Ti to the win over George Capito in a DS Sentra Spec V, 920 to 915 PAX scores respectively. Kendra Albers is on track to take home the Street Tire Ladies trophy, running unopposed but going fast nonetheless.

Mike Golden had a good day, driving his classic hotrod MR2 to the win in Novice 1 with a tough SM2 factor. Likewise, Henry Iglesias, Eric Boyko and Paul Lemke are making a name for themselves early on in the series with top finishes. Either Geoff Olohan had some good coaching from his father Kelly and/or he is a natural driver. His 937 PAX score put him way out front in Novice 2 and earned him and his GS Volkswagen Gti some big respect. Chasing Olohan were Justin Schmehl and Jonathan Rosenfield. Novice 3 is now all street tire PAX factors, and Josh Mason took good advantage of his with his STS Integra GSR. His 883 score earned him first, just two points in front of Eric Splinter in a STS Mazda 3 at 881. Eli Concepcion and Ryan Hayles drove hard to next spots. Unfortunately, Alicia Winborn could not find a break all day on course finishing with three DNF, but she was a great starter! Even so, she leads the Novice Ladies class in the trophy chase so far.

As has become the custom, the Arizona Region put on another first class event. In addition to a first class site, a fun course, great workers and drivers was the pimpy new equipment trailer. Look for more details and background stories on the trailer in an upcoming Pylon Press issue.

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