VINTAGE SPORTS CAR DRIVERS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER February 2012

Transcription

1 VINTAGE SPORTS CAR DRIVERS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER February 2012 VSCDA P.O. Box Grand Rapids, MI Phone Fax Website: TABLE OF CONTENTS A Letter From the President VSCDA Annual Meeting GingerMan Spring Brake Driver s School & Races Blackhawk Vintage Classic XX Vintage Grand Prix Au Grattan XXVI ELVF XVII 2012 Race Schedule Letters of Appreciation Race Series: VVV, B-Sedans, Sprite-Midget Thrifty, Not Cheap by Marc Frost

2 A Message from Marv Primack, President, VSCDA Board of Directors I can write to you this year with much more confidence and optimism than last year. Thanks to a lot of support from our members in terms of entries at all our events, to our Event Chairmen who did everything they could to minimize our costs yet bring you great racing and enjoyable weekends, to our very generous sponsors, we had our most successful year financially in quite a while. We can now enter the 2012 Race Season with a solid financial base and look forward to bringing you the most fun and the best value for your racing dollar possible. Another 2011 highlight was the largest number of students in our Driver s School in many a year, and the majority of those students went on to race with us. In 2011 we instituted our online registration and, although we had the usual start-up glitches, both you and we persevered, and we expect this year to have a smooth and user-friendly system that will minimize your work to register. We are extremely fortunate to have Laura Hire back running the VSCDA office, and her experience and expertise will help greatly to make your race experience enjoyable. The entire Board of Directors from last year has been re-elected. The officers will remain the same as well. In addition, we are adding the Event Chairmen to our Board to help minimize any unexpected issues. VSCDA continues to be fortunate to have a group of volunteers willing to put in the time and effort to make your vintage experience memorable. As you may know, we no longer will be sanctioning the May and July races at Road America because RA has decided to do this in-house. This year we will focus on our Spring Brake Driver s School and Races, the 20 th Annual Blackhawk Classic, Grattan, and ELVF. The Grand Prix au Grattan in August has been selected to be the MG Vintage Racers focus event for 2012 and should be a terrific weekend. As always, the best way to hold down the cost of racing is for our members to come out and participate in as many of the events as possible. I look forward to seeing all of you in 2012 and, as we are a volunteer organization, I ask that anyone who would like to become more involved in the club notify a Board member of your interest. Best Wishes for Happy & Safe Racing in 2012!

3 2012 VSCDA Annual Meeting and Dinner The 2012 VSCDA Annual Meeting and Dinner were held on February 4 at the Doubletree Hotel in Oakbrook, IL. And, as you can always tell by the level of laughter and conversation, a great time was had by all. VSCDA thanks Kathy Newton for organizing the event, including the delicious food. The evening started with the Annual Meeting, which was chaired by Marv Primack, VSCDA President. Marv noted that 2011 was a significantly better year for the club, which ended the year in the black. He pointed to the increase in entries at all of our events in 2011, starting with our Driver s School in April. He also pointed to the club s decision to move up our eligibility cut off date to 1979 as playing a role in the increase. He thanked the 2011 Event Chairs for their leadership in making our events both fun and profitable. He thanked Kathy Newton and Betsy Sodergren for their hard work on our newsletter and website, which successfully widens the club s outreach to the vintage racing community. Marv extended a special thank you to Laura Hire for the superior service which she provides to the club and its members. In addition, he thanked Barb Nevoral, Driver s Committee, Dave Young, Chief of Tech, and Doug Bruce, Car Prep Steward, for their many hours of behind-the-scenes efforts on behalf of VSCDA. Barb Nevoral, VSCDA Secretary, announced the results of the Board election. All 2011 Board Members on the ballot were again elected to the 2012 Board of Directors. Next up was John Houlton, VSCDA Treasurer, who delivered his report on the financial status of the club. John confirmed that the club was in the black and in much better financial shape than it has been in recent years. He attributed this success to several actions in 2011: an increase in race entries; strong expense control by Event Chairs; an increase in memberships year over year; sponsorships; and fees from the two sanctioned Road America races. John also mentioned the outstanding leadership of Marv Primack in the club s 2011 success. He ended his report with the caution that there is still financial work to be done, but the club is definitely on the right track. Note: VSCDA plans to start posting its financial statements on the Members Only site on vscda.org. To access Members Only, you will be using the password that you established when renewing your membership. You also will be able to access the VSCDA Members Directory through Members Only with your password. We will notify you when Members Only is available VSCDA Awards The Art Bly Distinguished Service Award is the second oldest VSCDA award and recognizes outstanding service to the club. It is named for Art Bly, who was a charter member of the club and a dedicated VSCDA volunteer. Art was a contemporary of Hal Ulrich, with his race driving going back to 1930s. Art retired from professional driving in the 1950s, becoming a car owner and VSCDA volunteer. The 2011 Distinguished Service Award was presented to two brothers: Steve and Chris Bonk, both of whom have made major contributions to the club. They not only built positive awareness of the VSCDA brand/club but they also brought more racers to our events. Chris is the creative genius behind our advertising and event posters, giving our marketing materials a consistent but unique look. Steve is the creator of the Trans Am B-Sedan Race Series, which has brought an increasing number of those great old sedans to our events. Steve Bonk accepts the Art Bly Distinguished Service Award, which was awarded to Steve and his brother Chris.

4 The Joe Marchetti Vintage Spirit Award celebrates the spirit of vintage racing with safe and friendly wheel-to-wheel competition. It is named for Joe Marchetti, a long-time member of VSCDA. Joe founded the Chicago Historics, which is now called The Hawk with Brian Redman and is one of the biggest vintage races in the U.S. This year the award was presented to Mike Pranka, a new VSCDA member, who raced his Alfa GTV in every VSCDA race in Actually, Mike drove his Alfa to those races on the road from his driveway to the track and back! The John Bowlander Award for Outstanding Driver of the Year is VSCDA s oldest award. John was an excellent driver and our Chief Driving Instructor during the 1980s. He joined VSCDA just after it was organized and became a sought after mechanic and driving instructor. He raced a scruffy Porsche 911 that was very fast. John died of cancer in 1992 while still in his 30s. The 2011 John Bowlander Award was presented to Jeff Johnk. Jeff races an Austin Healey and hails from Lakeville, MN. Congratulations to all our winners. John Houlton (lt.) presents Driver of the Year Award to Jeff Johnk

5 Letter of Appreciation to VSCDA On February 6, 2012, I was sitting in my office when I received a call from John Houlton. John excitedly informed me that I had been awarded VSCDA s oldest award, Driver of the Year! I had to ask John twice what he had just said, and honestly you could have pushed me over with a feather! I was absolutely speechless (some would say for the first time in my life), and it took a minute (no, all day) to get my wits about me. You must understand that this is pretty heady for an Iowa farm kid who 45 years ago could hardly dare to dream of owning a sports car, let along put one on the track someday. But dream I did and would offer that dreams can come true. When I think of all the great drivers who have had the privilege of holding this award and then all the current drivers who deserve it, I just do not understand how I could possibly measure up, but I am truly full of gratitude and appreciation. Surely I must thank Dan Powell and Jeff Lumbard, who some 20 years ago invited me to crew for them at the ELVF; oh, by the way, they said I could bring my clapped-out TR6 to tour during lunch time. To say I was awestruck at the sights and sounds of all those beautiful race cars at my first ELVF is an understatement. At touring on Saturday I gingerly poked the nose of the TR6 onto the track. By the hour s end, I had the gas pedal pinned to the floorboard and was screaming at the top of my lungs in every corner. The poor TR6 lost every chrome wheel trim ring and smoke was pouring from the engine by the end of the run, but I had a smile as wide as the Mississippi and, of course, the vintage racing hook had been firmly set. Dan and Jeff had unleashed a monster as my wife Carol likes to say, It is entirely their fault! Next I must thank my wonderful Carol, who at some point in the last 20 years accepted the fact that if you cannot subdue the other passion in your man s life, you might just as well support it. And support my vintage racing Carol has in every way. (It may have helped that she had been the local drag strips trophy girl in her home town, and her dad was a terrific back yard mechanic.) How lucky I feel to have a wife who understands that vintage racing is something I just got to do. I am also blessed to have a daughter Jessica that shares my passion for vintage racing. I do, however, worry that I have ruined her as she is only interested in guys who can identify every make, model, and year of cars in Groups 2 and 8 (other cars in the remaining groups are considered bonus points). I cannot count the number of social functions she has given up over the years to follow her dad to the track. Road America is her second home, and I am sure Shirley and George will see Jessica for many years to come. Finally, but most importantly, I must thank every member of VSCDA for making it a club where professionalism, respect, integrity and camaraderie rule the day. It is a club whose members I can point to as role models for my daughter or any young person in my crew. I realize that the cars are the stars, but for me it is the warmth and friendship of the members. What a privilege to be friends with the finest people I have ever known. I will try to measure up. Thank you for such a wonderful award. Respectfully, Jeff Johnk

6 Accidental Death of Bob Youngdahl VSCDA has received the very sad news that Minnesota racer, Bob Youngdahl, died on February 21. Bob was fatally injured in an accident while unloading in Sarasota, Florida, after running at Road Atlanta. Apparently, the cable from a winch to the tailgate on his trailer had come loose on the trip. When he unlatched the tailgate, it struck him, inflicting fatal injuries. Bob often ran VSCDA events in his 1964 Elva-Porsche and was a In Memory of Bob Youngdahl common sight moving around the paddock in his BRG Mini Moke. The members of VSCDA express their sincere condolences to Bob s family and friends. As racers, it is easy to feel that the main peril we face is on the track. We often forget that dealing with tow vehicles and trailers is also quite dangerous and can lead to accidents. Hopefully, Bob s tragic death will remind us all to take extra care when we work around our trucks and trailers.

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8 GingerMan Spring Brake Driver s School & Races May 3-6, 2012 Spring flowers at GingerMan? Really?...Maybe. Our GingerMan Race will be the first weekend in May this year at GingerMan Raceway in South Haven, MI., and it promises to be a great weekend to get that race car out on the track for its first 2012 run. And you will be enjoying the now 1,770 feet of GingerMan track, making the track now 2.21 miles in length. VSCDA Driver s School: The weekend starts with Driver s School on Thursday evening, May 3, with the required classroom session. The on-track school session takes place all day Friday, May 4, with lunch provided for students and instructors. When the Friday activities are complete, there will be a dinner (included for students) and Awards Ceremony. Cost of the school: $300* (if paid by Early Bird Deadline on April 18) We are adding a Sport Touring Group to the VSCDA Driver s School at GingerMan. The cars in this group must be street legal cars. This opportunity offers a low pressure introduction to vintage racing without the expense and commitment of purchasing a race car and all the necessary paraphernalia needed to go racing. This group will have a classroom and an on-track, high-performance driving experience, with an in-car instructor. Cost: $210* For more information on VSCDA s Driver s School, including a detailed Q&A, click here. Raceway Practice Session GingerMan Raceway Practice Session on Thursday evening, May 3 Cost: $75 (paid to GingerMan Raceway) Note: Evening practices are GingerMan Raceway functions and are not controlled or sanctioned by VSCDA. Weekend Races: A full schedule of practice, qualifying and races will be held on Saturday, May 5, and Sunday, May 6. Cost of the race weekend: $310* (if paid by the Early Bird Deadline on April 18); $355* for registrations made after April 18 *Asterisk Note: If an entrant is not a current VSCDA member, he/she will need to choose a temporary or a full membership and pay the appropriate membership fee, which will add to the cost of the entry. Touring: Touring Sessions are available at lunch break on Saturday and Sunday. Cost: $35 each or $50 for both days Dinner Tickets: One dinner ticket is included in each registration packet. Additional dinner tickets are $15 each Friday night and $17 each Saturday night. It is time to get busy on that GingerMan checklist. Have you renewed your VSCDA membership for 2012? Do you have a current medical on file in the VSCDA office? Is all your safety equipment on the car in good shape and secure? Don t forget: you will need to have a 2005 SA helmet (or newer) to race with VSCDA this year. For more information on the Driver s School contact Laura at vscda@vscda.org, and for more information on the race weekend contact Jeff Janus at jjcpj@aol.com.

9 Blackhawk Vintage Classic XX - June , 2012 Groundhog or not, spring will come to the Midwest as will summer. And early summer means...blackhawk Vintage Classic XX. That s right: it s the 20 th anniversary of VSCDA s Classic Race at Blackhawk Farms in South Beloit, IL. And do we have a great Father s Day Weekend planned for you and your families! We ll start the weekend with a full day of practice on Friday, or you can take advantage of our new BOX LUNCH SPECIAL. Sign up for a half day of practice on Friday afternoon, and we will throw in a box lunch and expedited check-in. What a deal! A full afternoon to test that hot vintage car of yours and a tasty lunch! Then you can finish the afternoon at Blackhawk s Annual Ice Cream Social in the new pavilion. In addition, we are proud to once again be supporting the Tebala Shriners as they raise money for their Transportation Fund. This fund helps seriously ill kids get to and from their various medical appointments. The weekend also will feature those fabulous Group 1 cars that love to journey out to Blackhawk Farms, and we ll be hosting races in all three of our 2012 Race Series: the VVVs, B-Sedans and Sprite/Midgets.

10 But wait there s more A WHOLE NEW LOOK TO THE BLACKHAWK RACE TRACK AND PAVILLION. Track improvements include: Construction of additional run off areas from Turn 6 driver s left to Turn 7. New FIA/FIM plate style curbing at the outsides of the turns at Turn 1 and Turn 7. The track surface at Turn 1 and Turn 7 has been completely removed and a new clean and level surface installed. There also has been a lot of brush and tree removal done between Turns 1 and 3 on driver s right to improve sight lines in this section. In addition to the track improvements, you ll see a completely new pavilion with a large fireplace on the first level and an enclosed second story, observation deck. See pictures of all these changes on Blackhawk s website at So mark your calendar, stay on schedule with the winter work on your race car, and then look forward to a great early summer classic the Blackhawk Vintage Classic XX. You know you want to! For more information, contact Ted Sodergren at bhfclassic2012-race@yahoo.com. GRATTAN 2012: A CELEBRATION OF THE MGB August 17-19, 2012 The Vintage Grand Prix Au Grattan at Grattan Raceway in Grattan, Michigan, is a favorite race weekend for VSCDA racers. Grattan is a challenging track with its elevation changes and complex curves, smoothed considerably since being repaved last year. Its paddock area becomes three days of great camaraderie around BBQ grills and vintage race cars. This year, the MG Vintage Racers (mgvr.org) will hold their 2012 Focus Event at Grattan Raceway in conjunction with our Vintage Grand Prix Au Grattan XXVI and John Twist s famous MG Summer Party. We will be celebrating the 50 th anniversary of the MGB! With installments of the Sprite/Midget Race Series, the Trans Am B Series, the Formula VVV series, a Group 1 (pre war) presence, and a small bore Enduro, you have a varied and exciting event. Add an extra day of practice on Thursday and this becomes a must do weekend of the summer! Expect to see more cars racing with us at our Grattan event, featuring unique MGs of all varieties from all over the country and Canada. MG Focus events draw very rare cars and their racers have a reputation for clean racing and having fun! In addition to the MGVR group racing with us in our regular groups, we are planning a special all MG race in which every vintage of MG will run. It will make for an amazing show! John Twist s Summer Party is a 28-year tradition, bringing many MG car clubs together for a late summer gathering in Grand Rapids. The event attracts hundreds of street cars and offers rallies, a full afternoon concourse with multiple categories, and a highlight the informal car show and beer fest in the parking lot at the host hotel after the Saturday night banquet. Our VSCDA and MGVR members are invited to the car shows, and our MG Summer Party partners will be invited to Grattan Raceway on Sunday to see us race, do a few parade laps, and wander through the paddock.

11 You will meet many MG street car owners, and they will get to meet you! Many of us came to vintage racing from the car club ranks, and this is a chance to invite others to join our fun. Make sure to highlight August on your 2012 calendars. With the annual Danish Festival and Hot Air Balloon gathering (It was a beautiful launching of the balloons at dusk on Friday evening last year) in nearby Greenville that same weekend, you re going to want to bring the whole family! For more information, contact Scott Fohrman at scott@fohrman.org. ELKHART LAKE VINTAGE FESTIVAL XXVII September 6 9, 2012 This year will be the twenty-seventh year for our ELVF race at Road America. Last year s entry list spanned the United States, Canada, Mexico and Australia. Cars from Massachusetts to Washington and California to Florida--23 states in all--made ELVF their must-do event. The 2012 ELVF will feature the cars of the USRRC series. This will include the open sports racers and the GT production sports cars. The GT cars ran the series from 1963 to The open sports race cars ran until It then became the beloved CanAm series. All eligible cars will be welcomed. We will have the return of four special race series. The Cup races will be back again for The Kimberly, Sheldon and Elkhart Lake Cup races are based on the original Cup races held from on the roads around Elkhart Lake. These races have become very popular. Your grid position is based solely on times, not your class. This system gives drivers the opportunity to race against cars they normally do not; it also guarantees close racing. ELVF will host the final race in the Road America Challenge series. This three-race series is for Group 6 cars. All three races are held at Road America, the perfect track for these cars. The Formula VVVs will be back with their extremely close competition. There also will be a special 2.5 Liter TransAm race. This series has become increasingly popular in the last two years. Registration begins Thursday. Friday is a practice day, with each group getting two sessions. That should give you ample seat time to get reacquainted with the longest and fastest road course in North America. The traditional one-hour Enduro will be held late Friday. This longstanding race always has a full grid of diverse cars. The Friday night Welcome to the ELVF party is a favorite tradition. You can also enjoy the featured marquee race car/streetcar concourse in conjunction with the chili dinner. Saturday we have qualifying sessions and a sprint race. Sunday morning the group races begin. Mixed in throughout the day will be the Cup races and the feature race. There is also lunchtime touring available to spectators and race cars on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday, if your schedule permits, you may want to participate in the original street course reenactment. This will be a police-escorted tour for race and street cars of the original public road race courses. The featured marquee cars will lead the tour behind the police escort! The tour is open to the public. These roads are listed as a National Historic Monument. Along with Watkins Glen, these are the only two sets of roads to be listed as such. We have been doing the re-enactment tour for twenty-one years, and it can attract over one hundred cars. The cars finish the tour and are parked on part of the original street course in the heart of the Village of Elkhart Lake. This event is a weekend highlight for the participants and the spectators. Our Saturday evening banquet will be held at The Osthoff Resort, which borders the original road course and overlooks Elkhart Lake. Gather on the Green, held on the grounds of the Osthoff, is a classic car display. For the past three years everyone has enjoyed the music provided by Swingtime band, while enjoying a cocktail and some conversation surrounded by this unique display. The show begins in the late afternoon and ends when the banquet starts. The car display is by Invitation Only for a select group of cars. If you would like to display one of your cars, please contact the ELVF Event Chairs. We believe ELVF will provide you with more track time than you can find anywhere else, and, in keeping with the goals of VSCDA, it will provide you with the opportunity to race with others who strongly believe in vintage racing. Again this year, we will be presenting Vintage Spirit Awards to recognize the drivers who embody the true vintage spirit. The Vintage Spirit Award is a special trophy which will be presented to one driver in each race group at Gather on the Green. Looking for more information about 2012 ELVF? Please contact Deb or Mike Korneli, ELVF Event Chairs, at dkorneli54@charter.net.

12 A Thank You Letter from the Children s Tumor Foundation, which, thanks to Eric Coppock, was the group we supported at our 2011 Grattan Race Weekend: December 21, 2011 Dear Mr. Primack: Thank you for your gift of $996 to the Children s Tumor Foundation through our Racing4Research program. Your generosity is helping us make significant progress in our search for treatments and a cure for neurofibromatosis (NF). With the support of donors like you, much has been accomplished in the last five years. We are pleased with our progress, but we will not be satisfied until we achieve our goal of safe and effective treatments for all the complications of NF. The Racing4Research program aims to Fuel the Cure for NF by driving 24 hours and over 600 laps at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. With your support, the cure for NF will be reached one research study, one clinic, and one lap at a time. Thank you for joining us in our shared commitment toward the ultimate finish line. With best wishes, George Orfanakos, President, Children s Tumor Foundation Three Great Race Series on the 2012 VSCDA Race Schedule 2012 VVV Race Series The 2012 Race Season promises to be a memorable year for the 13 th Annual VVV Race Series, sponsored by our friends at TEAM. And, to add to the excitement, we are adding two new events to the series, bringing the grand total to six. In 2012, the VVV Race Series will appear at: GingerMan May 4-6 Blackhawk June Beaver Run July Waterford July Grattan Aug ELVF Sept. 7-9 Awards for the complete series will be based on the total of points earned from a participant s best four events. A five-point bonus will be earned for attending all six events. Series awards will be given for 1 st through 10 th place.

13 Series awards will be given for first through tenth place. The VVV Committee is made up of four volunteers: Mike and Marge Kitzmiller and Frank and Kathy Newton. For more information, contact Kathy at She will be glad to answer any additional questions you might have about the 2012 VVV Series. Jerry Baker, Bob Shedd, Mike & Marge Kitzmiller and Mary Savage (lt. to rt.) enjoy the evening. Dan Hayes happily accepts his award. Mike Kitzmiller presents Frank Newton with his trophy. The Formula V drivers and guests celebrated the 2011 Race Season and awarded trophies to the winners at a cocktail party held before the VSCDA Annual Meeting on February 4 th. Series winners were presented with cups engraved with their name and finishing order. All attendees received a participation award. We also had the reoccurring prize drawing. The evening, prizes and awards were sponsored by Team Industrial, Rod Bolhous and Frank Newton. First Place: Garrett VanCamp Second Place: Ricky delrosario Third Place: Frank Newton

14 Fourth Place: Jerry Baker Fifth Place: Mike Kitzmiller Sixth Place: Don Carone Seventh Place: Three-way tie Debbie Maier, Rod Bolhous & Ted Sodergren Eighth Place: Chuck Buysee Ninth Place: Three-way tie Phil Zamlynski, Hector MacDonald, Chris Aragonte Tenth Place: Dan Hayes ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 2012 TRANS AM B-SEDAN RACE SERIES By Steve Bonk We have another tremendous season planned for the Trans Am B-Sedan Group in How can I possibly out do last year? Very Simple, I have added another race event, and John Morton, Horst Kwech and Tony Adamowicz will be joining us this year. Plus, we are looking to add more C Sedan cars to the group. Stay tuned for details. Because I turned the coverage of the B-Sedans at 2011 ELVF into a two-part article (look for Part 2 in the March Newsletter), I wanted to take this opportunity to announce that DON EICHELBERG was our Trans Am B-Sedan Champion in He will receive a personalized trophy and letter from John Morton. Congratulations Don! In 2012, the Trans Am B Sedan Race Series will consist of four events: Blackhawk June Waterford Hills July Grattan Aug ELVF Sept. 7-9 Awards for the complete series will be based on the total of points earned from a participant's best three events out of four. Participation Points One point will be awarded for each lap completed in each qualifying heat, Sprint Race, and Final race, up to a maximum of 8 points per on-track session. Note: Loss of Points--A driver will not receive points for any session in which they are involved in an 'on track incident' resulting in "disciplinary action," as determined by the VSCDA Driver s Committee. Final Race Finishing points First 8 Second 7 Third 6 Fourth 5 Fifth 4 Sixth 3

15 Seventh 2 All Others 1 Remember racers, a consistent, reliable car has a better chance of winning than just a fast car who knows better than I do. But I plan to finish all races this year! For more information on the Trans Am B-Sedan Race Series, go to New in 2012: Sprite Midget Race Series By Stan Mason In 2011, VSCDA racers in Austin Healey Sprites and MG Midgets saw their numbers grow. GingerMan had nine Sprites on the track, twice as many than the previous year. Blackhawk Farms, which always has a strong presence for Spridgets, had 13 entries, tying their 2006 event, Grattan had nine Spridgets, beating its average, and ELVF eight entries. VSCDA has one of the strongest sustained Vintage Sprite Midget Racing Groups in the Midwest, and we would like to continue on that path by initiating a new VSCDA Race Series in In creating the series, our goal is to improve racing in Group 2, with the goal of having more racers attending key events to promote more fun wheel-to-wheel racing within our Spridget Classes. We also want to continue the great camaraderie we all enjoy after each race session and at our group cookouts. These social gatherings not only allow us to get to know the competitors and their crews but also to offer them support. Observing the past 10 years of VSCDA Sprite & Midget Racing has shown that Lake Michigan seems to divide some of us. The majority of racers on the west side of Lake Michigan race at Blackhawk Farms and Road America. The East Siders usually race at GingerMan and Grattan. The new 2012 Sprite Midget Race Series combines these regions and focuses on tracks that are the most challenging for our nimble race cars. The 2012 Sprite & Midget Race Series will include May 4-6 at GingerMan, June at Blackhawk Farms, and August at Grattan, which will be the final race of the series and feature our Awards Ceremony. The points awarded are gleaned from some of the VSCDA Vintage Vee s rules, with one point for each lap completed during Qualifying, Sprint Race and Feature Race (not to exceed 8 points per session). These Race Series Points are for fun and reward durability. Points will be accumulated for the best 2 out of 3 races. This allows a competitor to have a throw-away race weekend, where mechanical issues may have occurred or a conflict in date made it impossible to attend that event. This is our first attempt at putting this series together; we know that we will learn and improve with feedback from participants through the year. We also are fortunate that the MG Vintage Racers 2012 Focus Event will be held on August at Grattan, which will allow us to meet with those not familiar with our VSCDA Family. In addition, we will be encouraging Sprite and Midget Street Cars to join us at the track to observe all the racing, with Car Coral Locations TBD. For additional information on the VSCDA Sprite & Midget Race Series, contact Stan Mason at stanbmason@aol.com.

16 Cheap? I Prefer Being Called Thrifty! By Marc Frost Recently, my long time racing friend and 2.5 Series maestro Steve Bonk called and left me a quirky voic Marc, the club is looking for an article for the newsletter on how to get into vintage racing on a budget. I thought you would be perfect because I don t know anyone who does racing on the cheap better than you. Personally, I prefer the term thrifty as opposed to cheap, as cheap implies taking shortcuts. When it comes to race car prep, there are no shortcuts. But can one work within a budget and have some fun with the best vintage racing club in the USA? I have done so, for 15 years. First, let s be realistic. Can you be a front runner on a limited budget? Unlikely. But can you field a safe and reliable car that can offer you a good on-track learning experience and allow you to have some good races in the process? In my opinion, YES! By working within some reasonable financial restraints, you can enjoy this hobby for a long time, rather than have it break the family budget and force you to give up racing too soon. My wife is a CPA. Why is that important? One, no purchases go unnoticed financially, especially big ones like race cars. Still, if you rationalize it carefully with your spouse, you can get it done. Honey, I said one night as she read the paper, I was thinking about having an affair, doing illicit drugs, or buying a race car any thoughts? Looking up briefly from the newspaper, she coolly replied, Obviously, the race car would make the most, if any, sense. But you will have to be on a budget. Yes!!! What, a budget?!? Talk about killing the thrill. But her point was a good one. What did I have in disposable income to buy a car? What were my anticipated costs in maintenance, travel, entry fees, etc? Were my initial estimates 100% spot-on? No, but it forced me to keep track of things and be thrifty. So here are some hints on how to get the most bang for the buck: 1. Buy What You Can Tow Once upon a time I wanted to race a 1953 Hudson Hornet. Do you know what it would take to haul a monster like that to the track? Certainly not what I have in my driveway. Most modern SUVs can handle a small production or sports car on an open trailer. An enclosed trailer is cool, but weighs and costs more, is a more difficult tow, and is harder on your tow vehicle. Start with a simple open ft. trailer. There are lots on Craigslist for a reasonable price. Make sure it has decent tires and the lights work. Plan on repacking or replacing the wheel bearings. It is simple and cheap and will save you some unexpected headaches down the road. Get four decent, heavy-duty tie downs. It is a budget killer to have your new toy fall off the trailer! 2. Buy An Existing Race Car; Don t Build One From Scratch There are a number of good reasons. The most important from this article s perspective is that it is cheaper when someone else has already done the labor. Also, the cost of a complete race car is always a fraction of the sum of the cost of all its individual components. When I built my first car from scratch, I would wistfully look at cars for sale and ready to race that cost half of what I had invested in my partially-completed project. Lots of ads will say race ready, but they often

17 are not. Look for a car that has actually been on the track recently, say within the last 6-24 months. Odds are, that car will require less cash to get it track ready. 3. Be Patient; Troll The Internet Race cars tend to be slow sellers, even ones that are a bargain. Look at the ad posting date. I got a deal on my most recent car because it had been listed for almost a year. Use nationwide search engines for Craigslist with keywords like SCCA. Looking for a specific type of car? Google that car with race, or SCCA, and For Sale. Check out Marketplace on our own vscda.org. Other good sites are the forums for Improved Touring, Production, and GT cars. Now that VSCDA has opened up to 1989 and earlier cars, a lot of cars that are no longer competitive can be purchased at a fraction of their build price. Don t be afraid to inquire about a car that was listed 6-12 months ago. Ask what is their bottom-line, no-haggle price -- it may be well below what they were asking 6 months earlier. This is why you need to get a trailer and tie downs first. You are in a position of strength to deal if you can honestly say you can pick the car up the following weekend. Still, be nice. Having sold a couple race cars in the past, I know what it means to take a financial bath on something I labored long and hard on. I think the seller of my current car cut me a good deal because I was excited about what he had done to the car over the years and I obviously wanted to preserve the history of the car. 4. Learn To Wrench Personally, I think this is one of the most fun parts of racing. Get a shop manual for your new toy. Join multiple forums for the type of car you bought. What could be a nightmarish ordeal on repairing something on your car can be a piece of cake for someone in that forum who knows all the secret tips of how to get it done right. When you first get your car, put it up on four jack stands, pull off all four wheels, and put a wrench on every single fastener you can see. Often, little things may be cracked or damaged, and you can find them now, not at the track. Racing is less expensive when you fix things at your leisure in your driveway with parts you found at bargain-basement prices on ebay, not when you are at the track and your race weekend is shot over a $10 part. Got a buddy who can wrench? Have him help you out in the garage or at the track. It is hard to beat free labor, although you could buy him a six pack as payment! 5. Sell Your Junk With my most recent purchase came an overflowing pickup truck load of spares. Within one month, I had sold enough extras that I had almost paid for the cost of my new purchase. Did I really need 6 sets of tail lights? Or what about all those NOS trim parts in the original packages? I created space in my garage and cash in my race account while my fellow enthusiasts were thrilled to get parts they needed. Ebay, Craigslist, and enthusiast s forums are all good venues to add some revenue to your hobby. The VSCDA Board of Directors has created an excellent opportunity to get into vintage racing by creating the GT70 category that allows 1989 and earlier cars to join in the fun. I think this presents a great opportunity for a new racer to get on the track and be thrifty as well. Hope to see you at one of the VSCDA s races in 2012! Thanks to Marc for this great article. If you would like to submit an article for the VSCDA Newsletter, please it to Kathy Newton, the Newsletter Editor, at kbnewton@comcast.net. Feel free to send pictures in jpg or tif format to accompany the article. If you have information for, or comments about, the VSCDA website (vscda.org), contact Betsy Sodergren at bsodergren@sbcglobal.net. TO REVIEW OUR CURRENT CLASSIFIED ADS, CLICK HERE.