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the pylon points to: Brad Owen

by Mike Driscoll

ARIZONA REGION – Brad Owen was born and raised in Arizona. He claims he wasn't cool enough as a kid to be into cars.

That has changed. When a long commute to work required him to drive a lot more than he'd been used to, Brad figured he might as well find ways to enjoy getting from point A to point B. Shortly after "learning the difference between a disk brake and a water pump," he was finding even longer ways home from work. A favorite route included a loop out to Saguaro Lake.

But he was sufficiently thoughtful "to realize that driving the back roads at ever increasing speeds was going to lead to an unhappy ending" and sufficiently mature to take corrective action. After some looking around, he came across autocrossing. He showed up at AMP for the September 2003 event, "got my ass handed to me, at an ungodly hour on a Sunday morning!"

But he had fun, and decided to continue. In other words, he was hooked. He's been moving around the class and category structure, trophying four times, including a trophy in NV2 his first season and a first place in ST2 last spring. He competed in STS2 this summer and is currently running in GS Open. He thanks a few friends for making it possible for him to compete at a couple of National Tour events "and once again have my ass handed to me." But at least he's working at it! He's going to keep working at it, so take a look in his direction now and then.

Brad admits to having a latent puritanical work ethic. It's much to our club's benefit that the latency was in remission at the time we needed a new equipment assistant. He puts in very long days at our events. You can get there early in December to see for yourself. If not that, you can stay late to help pack up, and appreciate his pleasant calm demeanor as you ask questions like "Huh, Brad? Should the red-orange pylons go in the truck along with the orange pylons?"

So Brad "wasn't cool enough" as a kid to be into cars. But he was smart enough to be into computers, an interest that has developed into a career. Many of the projects and products he's worked on have been superceded already; such is the nature of the computer world. He now manages various projects and products at GoDaddy. His biggest responsibility is their e-mail system – on the good side, trying to dump spam before it reaches client mailboxes.

Aside from autocrossing, Brad's playtime is largely computer-based. His home office is lit up by "enough Blinkenlights to keep the neighbors awake at night." When he records a TV show for later viewing, no cassette tape or commerical PDR is involved. Just "enough computing power and drive space to make any geek envious."

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Purchasing the New Equipment Trailer

by Brian Peters

ARIZONA REGION – There are some things in this world that withstand the test of time: the Great Pyramids, the Grand Canyon, the common household cockroach … all have shown their endurance against the worst elements Mother Nature can muster. You can add the club's 1987 Toyota one-ton pickup to that list. That lowly, faded, and – admit it – somewhat pathetic looking equipment truck probably doesn’t get much notice from our entrants, but it has earned deep respect from those involved with equipment duties. That truck is the most neglected vehicle at our events, yet it always started without any complaint after being left in the blazing summer sun for months on end. If I had to enter the Paris-Dakar rally, I’d somehow figure a way to … okay, maybe not, but it really has served us well.

But, as great as the Toyota has been, our needs had truly begun to outgrow it. For those that haven’t experienced the joys of packing hundreds of cones with utmost accuracy into the back of a 5’ tall box truck, just so everything will fit, all during 110 degree weather … well, you’re quite fortunate. Space was so tight that loading the truck had really become a one or two person job, with only the same number knowing the secrets to the 3-dimensional puzzle the process had become.

It was clear that we needed more storage space, but the solution was a topic of some debate. In fact, it took a couple years of “So, about that equipment truck …” before a plan began to emerge. After one or two further Steering Committee discussions early last year, the financial outlay was approved and active investigation began. Many people suggested we just look into a larger version of the Toyota: a self-contained self-propelled reliable storage box. So, last fall, some of us went and looked at larger used U-Haul-type rental trucks. We quickly discovered some unattractive details. For one, the trucks that were affordable and large enough were also rather old. We’d been very fortunate with the reliability of the Toyota, but the confidence simply wasn’t there for these domestic versions, despite signs on the windows stating things like “New Transmission!”

Most importantly, however, we wanted to give back to club members and offer more at our events. More class, more pride, better working conditions, and the ability to expand. Given what we wanted to offer, it simply wasn’t logical to buy a 10-year-old box truck and spend a large sum of money on it adding windows and timing/scoring tables. A trailer became the favored alternative. The cost of car-haulers was reasonable, and we had the option of having one built to our specifications. We could have windows placed where we preferred and we’d have more than enough space to add permanent timing/scoring tables, with permanent storage for the PA system and amp, while still accommodating the rest of the equipment with ease.

The only real drawback was a trailer’s lack of mobility. We had been lucky with our more stable event sites, which allowed us to leave the equipment truck onsite over the course of a series. So we banked on this being true in the future. (When we need to change venues, we'll rely on someone in the club to move the trailer.) The Toyota is capable of moving it short distances, for example, when positioning it within a site. But, long term, the club plans to replace the Toyota with a heavy duty pickup. Such a pickup, with the addition of a camper shell, could become the permanent home for cones and would also expedite cone dispersion for setup and teardown.

So, after checking prices with different vendors, we went with Deer Valley Trailers and, this past spring, ordered an 8.5’ x 18’ Interstate Dual Axle Box Trailer. The equipment guys had given their input on what features the trailer should have. (All of those were ordered except AC, plasma television, and wet bar.)

Four months later the trailer was delivered from the factory. It was huge and beautiful, with pre-wired outlets, exterior junction box, full-length awnings on both sides, two large front concessions-style windows, and an oversized side access door. But inside it was still just a big box; big blank bare wood walls, no tables, no shelves.

But never fear. Kevin Venisnik and Brad Owen have dealt with that.

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Modifying the New Equipment Trailer

by Kevin Venisnik

ARIZONA REGION – Before the new equipment trailer could be put into use, the interior needed to be modified to our club's specific needs. The first step of the modification process was a party – a trailer planning party! – attended by Brian Peters, Geren Smith, Clint Child, Brad Owen, Tom Dukerich, myself, and of course the trailer (which had been delivered by Tage Evanson). Various design concepts and their impact on the different worker positions were discussed. Once a general plan was in place, it was time for construction to begin.

The trailer was received with an unfinished interior. Both the floor and the walls were unfinished wood, with the floors being a thicker and higher quality plywood than the walls. So the first step was to paint the interior. This entailed washing the surface with Behr wood brightener, followed by a coat of primer, then at least 2 top coats. The walls were finished in white, while gray (with antiskid material added) was used on the floors. For longer life, we used Behr porch and deck paint.

After the floor and walls were painted, work began on the L-shaped countertop, which was to be positioned at the trailer's two large concession-type windows. The frame for the countertop was built out of two-by-fours tied together with screws and joist hangers. Then the frame was secured to the trailer floor, again using joist hangers and screws. Onto this frame went the miter-cut Formica countertop, secured with construction adhesive.

With the countertop done, we turned to shelving. It had been decided to have eight feet of shelving on the same wall as the side-leg of the counter. This would provide more shelving space than was available in the old Toyota, while leaving a wide, clear path through the trailer body and leaving one wall free for other storage needs (now and in the future). First, the framework for the shelving was constructed. Two-by-fours, joist hangers, and screws again. In addition, one-by-twos were secured to the wall – or, more accurately, to the metal framing inside the wall – to provide support for the shelves all along their backs and also to tie the shelves into the trailer's structure. (While securing these one-by-twos with self-tapping metal screws, we realized that one of the shelves would block one of the trailer's electrical outlets. Oops! Luckily, it was a quick job to move the outlet up about half a foot, so that it would clear the shelf.)

The shelf framework was also tied to the trailer floor via joist hangers and screws. Once the framework was in place, we added shelf surfaces made from 3/4-inch plywood. We put one-by-fours at the front edges of the shelves, to prevent items from sliding off. (The shelf framework itself provided blocks at the ends of the shelves.) For the bottom shelf (which is actually part of the trailer floor), we made slide-blocks out of one-by-twos.

At this point, we came up with a method of securing equipment to the open wall opposite the shelves. Since the interior walls were surfaced with a relatively thin plywood, we couldn't freely place eye screws as equipment anchors. So we again attached one-by-twos with self-tapping metal screws. Three boards were placed, at varying heights, again to provide flexibility for present and future needs.

By this time, heavy construction inside the trailer was pretty much complete. So it was time to paint the shelves and the countertop framing and to touch up the floor and walls where needed. We again used primer and Behr porch and deck paint.

We decided that our a spiffy new trailer required some new scoreboards, large enough to accomodate future growth. So, two larger dry-erase boards were sourced and grid lines were laid out on them with permanent markers. For hanging the boards, one on each side of the trailer, we secured eye hooks to the outside of the trailer. To store the scoreboards, two sets of eye hooks were installed on the front of the shelves.

Storing the scoreboards by hanging them in front of the shelves works, but we hope it's a temporary solution. We'd rather have a sleeve to store them in. As that idea suggests, the new equipment trailer – as nice as it is – will be subject to ongoing modification.

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