The World s First Corvette Club Celebrating our 61 st Anniversary Year

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1 The World s First Corvette Club Celebrating our 61 st Anniversary Year President - Bob Atwell February 2017 What a Difference a Year Makes Last year when I left Silver Spring heading south for the "Rolex 24" at Daytona there was 20" of snow on the ground. When the race ended in 2016 Corvette Racing had the closest finish in history of the 24 hour race, first and second bumper to door across the finish line. This year I would leave with clean roads, no snow and no traffic slow downs. Yeah! Down in Daytona the racing was good but, Corvette Racing had no such fine performance as in 2016 finishing 4 th and 9 th. The #3 car that finished 4 th in GTLM not far behind the #66 Ford GT, a Porsche and a Ferrari all on the same lap after 24 hours of racing. Not bad but not a win. I recommend going to the Rolex 24 to everyone who enjoys racing. This was my 3 rd year and I'll be back next year! 2016 found Stephen Catlin receiving the "Dick Thompson Award" for the second year in a row. Last Saturday at CCA's Annual Awards Dinner I was chosen to receive the prestigious "Dick Thompson Award". I could not be more proud. Now I know how Tom Brady feels after winning the Super Bowl! Other things that have changed, CCA's monthly meeting place. The Golden Bull Cafe has been good to us for over 3 years. I think their effort on February 4 th for the Annual Awards Dinner was just great. As life would have it they are closing in a few days. Lucky for CCA, Bill Sandusky had talked to The Greene Turtle in the Burtonsville shopping center. I talked to the manager Friday the 10 th and we will have our March Membership Meeting at "The Greene Turtle" at Rt 29 and 198 in Burtonsville, MD. They have a private room at no charge, can hold up to 36 and will set the tables in any configuration for us. I am hoping that this location will draw more of the membership to the meetings because it is more centrally located. They will be ready for us at any time. Happy Hour ends at 6:00 pm but starts up again at 10:00 pm till closing. The March meeting will start at 7:30 pm, as usual, on March 14 th. Come and find out how cold their beer is and how good their food is! I'm looking forward to it!! Dates to remember: Karting at Autobahn Indoor Speedway - Sunday, February 26 th see details in this issue of the Courier Shop Night at Sport - 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm - February 28 th

2 February 2017 Page 2 Membership Meeting at the Greene Turtle in Burtonsville, MD - March 14 th - 7:30 pm St Patrick s Day Party - March 18 th - Details in this issue of the Corvette Courier As always, I encourage the membership to come to these events and have a great time with fellow Corvette Club of America friends. I promise you will not regret joining us! Keep your drive Safe. Until next month, Bob Atwell - President, Corvette Club of America

3 February 2017 Page 3 Membership Director - Jean Wade CCA Membership Update MEMBER NEWS AND INFORMATION Welcome New Members: Sponsor: Rick & Arlene Maradie Grants Pass OR. 07 red C Friend Rick also belongs to Rouge Valley Corvettes in Oregon. He sold his 99 conv. Z06 and bought the 07. Membership is only $40 dollars and includes insurance coverage when attending our events. If adding your spouse $50. All 2017 membership cards have been mailed. If you did not receive yours, please contact me. Information below. CCA License Plates. rick@rdroe.com Orders must be paid in full. CCA events coming up don t miss out on all the fun Feb. 26 th Feb. 28 th Mar. 14 th Mar. 18 th Winter Karting event. Autobahn indoor speedway, Jessup Md. Details in this edition. RSVP to Pat Roney proney928@gmail.com Shop Night at Sport Chevrolet, 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm Member s Meeting at Greene Turtle in Burtonsville, MD - 7:30 pm St. Patrick s Day event. Killarney House Davidsonville Md. Saturday 1:30 Details flyer in this newsletter. RSVP by March 15 th to Jean Wade vettehon@aol.com Want to sponsor an event for the Club next year Please contact me so we can discuss your ideas. Jean Wade, Membership Director Tandem Dr. Damascus, Md vettehon@aol.com Red Coupe 1 Red Hot

4 February 2017 Page 4 The Corvette Courier Editor Jon Thorn Corvette ramblings I have a bunch of reminders this month. It is still Winter and you certainly do not want to be mounting those summer tires yet. However we have a couple of long range items that you may want to consider and there are also a couple of near term events that CCA members plan to attend. You may want to save the dates, October 20-21, Last year a group from the CCA thoroughly enjoyed the Corvette Racing Weekend at the Simeone Museum in Philadelphia. The event continues in 2017; but, there have been some changes. This year it will be held in Hershey and Andy Pilgrim will be attending as well. Below is an event description for this year. Join NCM Board Member Wes Wong and Corvette Racing Program Manager Doug Fehan for the NCM's 1st Annual Corvette Racing Weekend being held at the Antique Automobile Club of America in Hershey, PA. Highlights include Andy Pilgrim reuniting with the C5.R that he co-drove with Dale Earnhardt at the 2001 Rolex 24 (courtesy of the Miller Collection), auction of Corvette Racing memorabilia, 2001 Rolex 24 presentation by Richard Prince (official Corvette Racing photographer), Doug and Tommy Milner recapping the 2017 race season and Le Mans, presentations by GM, Michelin and Mobil1, autograph sessions with Doug and Tommy. AACA Museum admission included. The event will be the weekend after Ocean City Corvette Weekend. Registration is not open yet; but, you might want to pencil this in on your calendar. If things work out, I will probably attend and it would be nice to have another large group from the CCA there too. Another long range item is the NCM Le Mans 24 Hour Viewing Party which will be held on June 17th and 18 th. If you are interested in attending this event, I suggest signing up for it fairly quickly. It now is in its third year and has been growing each year. The NCM limits the group to about 154 people I believe because this is the seating limit in the Corvette Theater at the NCM. I plan to turn it into a week long trip in my Corvette so if you want to cruise in a group you will have company. More information on the event (and registration as well) is located here: If you have any questions you can contact Bob Atwell or me. We have both attended this event before and will be doing it again in A near term event that you can attend this coming weekend is the Hospice Caring 3 rd Annual Concert for Caring. Jean Marie Wade will be attending and there is an event flyer on page 19 in this edition. Hospice Caring is located in Gaithersburg and is one of the charities that the club has a long history of supporting. The event itself will be held at the Elks Lodge in Rockville. Details are on the flyer. Another near term club event is our 8 th Annual Winter Karting Event that will again be held at Autobahn Indoor Speedway on February 26 th. There is a flyer in this edition on page 17. Proceeds from the event this year will support Hospice Caring. Please check the flyer for details and then contact Pat Roney to let him know that you want to attend. This is a fun event for us that has been growing each year. Our March Members Meeting will be held on Tuesday the 14 th but at a new location this time - we are making a change due to the expected closing of the Golden Bull. The March meeting will be at the

5 February 2017 Page 5 Greene Turtle in Burtonsville. Details are on page 32 in this edition. Also in March we will have a St. Patrick s Day luncheon at the Killarney House in Davidson. Details for this event are on page 20 in this edition. If you are able to attend, please be sure to contact Jean Marie Wade by March 15 th. We have met for St. Patrick s day at this restaurant in the past and everyone had a great time. Please join us if you can. Save the Wave! Jon Thorn, Corvette Courier Editor jthorn44@msn.com Winter should not be that much longer..

6 February 2017 Page 6 Competition Director - Stephen Catlin Corvette Competition Competition Report - February 2017 CCA Winter Banquet February 4, 2017 For those that did not attend you missed out on a nice evening with fellow CCA members and important club sponsors. You also missed out on a chance to take home some vendor or club swag through our various raffles, silent auctions and door prizes! One of the highlights of the night was our beloved CCA club president Bob Atwell receiving the club s prestigious Dick Thompson Award for Congratulations Bob! Nita and Tom presenting Bob with his award.

7 February 2017 Page 7 The Dick Thompson bowl and plaque (which will remain on display at Sport Chevrolet). Some memorable items that were sold by silent auction included our old CCA banner displayed at the NCM (won by Jon) and our old CCA Banner displayed at club picnics and autocrosses for the past several years (won by Noelle Metting to hang in Rich Taylor s new garage).

8 February 2017 Page 8 The big raffle winner of the night was Nita Armstrong as one of her raffle tickets was drawn for the $1000 tire prize generously offered again by Paul at Radial Tire Company! Thank you Paul for your continued support of our club and congratulations to Nita (and you too Tommy). Other great door prizes and raffle items were donated by various club sponsors and supporting vendors. Special thanks go out to Sport Chevrolet for all they do for our club and Lincoln College for generously hosting our autocrosses at their facility in Columbia, MD...and for both donating door prizes at this event. Additional thanks go out to the National Corvette Museum (NCM) for their continued support as a club vendor, Summit Point Raceway for providing a Friday at the Track (FATT) HPDE certificate to auction off, and to Adams Polishes (which provided enough gift certificates for all in attendance). Now no one has an excuse for a dirty car! Be sure to thank our club s various sponsors and vendors by buying their products and using their services!!

9 February 2017 Page 9 Upcoming events Karting 2017 It s official. Our annual karting event will be on February 26 th at Autobahn Speedway in Jessup, Maryland. See the flyer in this newsletter for additional details. Our point of contact again is Pat Roney, who can be reached at PRoney928@gmail.com! Feel free to ask him why he pays homage to an old Porsche model (928) instead of a Corvette in his address. LOL Some of the karters from last year s event held at Autobahn Speedway in Jessup MD Autocross Season As reported last month, this year we are looking to make some changes to our procedures and events now that we are out of the NCCC. Our first event on April 23 rd is going to be a test and tune event open to autocrossers new and old (age and experience). As also noted last month, we will be shaking down our timing system during this event so timing and scoring will be operational but unofficial. Registration will be opening soon online. A few little formalities need to be resolved 1 st. Note that this year we will be implementing new car classifications (see below) that move away from the NCCC-centric Corvette classing to a simplified system that better fits our club s events and objectives. Of note, we are throwing out complicated rules on tire allowances, engine, suspension and body mods, etc. This should streamline tech inspection and registration. Complicated rulebooks are no longer needed!

10 February 2017 Page 10 CLASS C3 C4 C6 C7 CZ OF OR OA INCLUDED CARS All C1-C3 Corvette models All C4 Corvette models All C5-C6 base Corvette models All C7 base models All C5-C7 Grand Sport, Z06 and ZR1 models All non-corvette FWD cars All non-corvette RWD cars All non-corvette AWD cars The open class has been split into three classes to better suit our growing non-corvette participant base (sometimes 1 / 2 the field). And the simplified Corvette class structure should hopefully help Corvette participants as well by consolidating classes so there can be more competition. Dick Thompson Award Points 2017 Finally, a new points system will be in place for the Dick Thompson Award for Although details are still being finalized, this year s points will expand beyond autocross participation and delve into other forms of the competitive side of Corvette ownership. This will include high performance driving and instruction, as well as racing. Sorry but competitive Corvette waxing still doesn t earn points! Stay tuned for more details and get ready to participate in some HPDE events or instruction as well as autocross if you want to gun for the award in 2017! Until next month... Stephen Catlin CCA Competition Director Catlin3@verizon.net

11 February 2017 Page 11 HIGH PERFORMANCE DRIVING EVENTS by Pat Roney The Corvette Club of America has just the thing to break up the winter doldrums. Come join us for our 8th annual Karting event February 26th. The proceeds from this event will go to Hospice Caring. See the flyer at the end of my report. The Karting event is meant to kick off the tracking season, and that it will as we will be at Virginia International Raceway with Chin Motorsports the following weekend followed shortly thereafter with a trip to the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park the beginning of April and Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama a week later. There are a couple of other events in March and April that will be firmed up soon. WINTER PROJECT Installing a transmission cooler Art Spong checked out my car in June and recommended I add a transmission cooler. With the help of my buddies Gary N and Bob C we got the transmission cooler mounted and now are waiting on more parts to hook up the lines. Gary was kind enough to offer his garage for the project. Notice Leona, Gary s racecar next to the lift. I love the flames coming from under his car. Here we have the Derale Performance transmission cooler mounted and plumbed, but not hooked to the transmission yet.

12 February 2017 Page 12 Looking closely here you can see how we routed the cooling hoses back to the radiator. The following picture shows the hole cut into the plastic support with the hoses routed through them. A better picture showing the hoses with protective sleeve, passing through the hole that was drilled in the plastic brace. Hopefully there will be more to come next month showing how we duct the hot air out and the hookup to the transmission cooling lines and radiator. Also, the low impact foam will need to be modified and reinstalled. Thanks to Bear at Summit Racing who did a great job advising me with the parts I needed for this project.

13 February 2017 Page 13 INSTRUCTOR SYMPOSIUM HOSTED BY NVCC S DAVE DUBOIS JAN 28 TH Dave DuBois, Northern Virginia Corvette Club s Chief Instructor, put on his 2 nd annual Instructors Symposium and it was a huge success. Many of you know Dave as the lead of the Tire Rack Street Survival Teen Driving School that we put on a couple of times a year. There was a lot of talent in the room to draw on. Below is just a partial list of some of the talent. Dave DuBois, NVCC Chief Instructor and Empire State Ferrari Club Co-Chief Instructor Mhyar Alzayat, SCCA Chief Instructor, Washington D.C. Region Greg Haas, BSR (Summit Point FATT) Chief Instructor Michael Witte, aka Goldie, Audi Club Potomac Chesapeake Co-Chief Instructor Carl Iseli, Empire State Ferrari Club Chief Instructor retired Rafael Garces, Program Coordinator BMWCCA/Tire Rack Street Survival Roc Linkov, retired National Corvette Museum Events Manager and NCM MSP originator. Cassidy Nolen, well known and respected HPDE Exotic car instructor Bob Couse and I represented CCA for the over 30 participants. After the welcoming and introduction by Dave DuBois, I started off the presentations with the Pre Track Interview giving pointers on how to relax your student and get an idea of what level of preparation they have done with their car and themselves. Here Cassidy Nolen, NVCC, is giving us some instruction on assessing the Risks, Skills and Goals of the student with Dave DuBois looking on from his very comfortable chair. Cassidy is one of the best presenters that I have had the pleasure of watching. He is a professional teacher and has been the Northern Virginia Department of Education s Teacher of the Year. I was lucky to present before Cassidy as he is a tough act to follow.

14 February 2017 Page 14 Dave is introducing Stephen Katz, owner of Jacob J Katz & Co, which offers the On Track Insurance for us on track. Stephen flew down from New York for this event. Greg Haas, BSR Chief Instructor, related to us some of his vast knowledge working with students on track. Unfortunately, I didn t get a picture of Greg. He is really photogenic. Carl Iseli, retired Chief Instructor for the Empire State Ferrari Club, gave us some insight to the student with a new to them race car.

15 February 2017 Page 15 Matthew Yip from OG Racing gave a presentation on the Hybrid Head/Neck Safety Systems that many instructors use in cars with only 3 point seat belts. Roc Linkov, retired Events Manager for the National Corvette Museum, flew in from Florida to relate some experiences that will help with students on track. Many of us volunteered our experiences also as this is very helpful to all instructors.

16 February 2017 Page 16 Rafael Garces from Tire Rack Street Survival made a presentation on their Teen Driving School and how it teaches new drivers many techniques to help stay safe on the road. A partial shot of our classroom. I recommend all that are thinking of instructing HPDE s attend this next year as it is a great training event. Congratulations to Kelly R for the winning bid on the FRIDAY AT THE TRACK (FATT) gift certificate at our CCA awards banquet February 4 th. I am looking forward to spending some quality time with Kelly on track. Please remember to keep it to the speed limit and stay alert on the street as, in my opinion, it is much more dangerous at the speed limit on the street than on the track at speed. If you would like to hear more about the tracking experience, please feel free to ask myself, or any one of our tracking group about how easy it is to give it a shot. Tracking Schedule March 4&5 March 11&12 March 25&26 March 25&26 April 1&2 April 8&9 Chin Motorsports at VIR SCCA PDX and Club Trials at Summit Point Circuit Audi Club Drivers School at Summit Point Circuit Hooked on Driving at NJMP Thunderbolt Circuit Chin Motorsports at NCM MSP. Chin Motorsports at Barber Motorsports Park.

17 February 2017 Page 17 THE CORVETTE CLUB OF AMERICA INVITES YOU TO THE 8 th ANNUAL WINTER KARTING EVENT TO GET READY FOR RACING SEASON 2/26/ am at Autobahn Indoor Speedway, Jessup, Maryland. The Corvette Club of America would like to invite all race enthusiasts to a Karting event at Autobahn Indoor Speedway in Jessup, Maryland on Sunday, February 26 th starting at 10am. This is an event we started several years ago and is being brought back again this year by popular demand. Spouses are welcome and youngsters that are 48 tall and 8 years old are also welcome to participate in the Junior event this year. We are planning on having both a race group and Arrive and Drive sessions. There are a limited amount of spots available so please sign up as soon as possible. Please respond to proney928@gmail.com to let me know if you are interested and which event you are interested in from the following list: ARRIVE AND DRIVE 14 lap session on the track. Minimum 56 tall and 13 years old. RACE 14 lap qualifier and 14 lap race. Fastest 10 racers go on to a final 14 lap race. JUNIORS RACE Must be at least 48 tall and 8 to 12 years old. Autobahn Indoor Speedway 8521 Preston Court Jessup, MD Ph Thanks for your interest, Pat Roney Proney928@gmail.com (this is a new address)

18 February 2017 Page 18 NCM Ambassador - Terry Popkin National Corvette Museum Report Terry Popkin, NCM Ambassador, tjpopkin@mac.com,

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20 February 2017 Page 20 Corvette Club of America St. Patrick s Day Lunch Event Where: Killarney House 584 West Central Ave. Davidsonville, Md killarneyhousepub.com When: March 18 th Saturday Time: 1:30 pm RSVP: before March 15 th Jean Wade, or Vettehon@aol.com In case of snow Mar. 25 th The Killarney House, in Davidsonville Maryland, features Irish food using fresh, local ingredients and made from family recipes. In addition to our family friendly restaurant, the Killarney also has a pub side. Where you can always get a perfectly poured pint of Guinness or other fine draft from our quality selection. For directions, it s best to go to their web and get directions or Google it since everyone is coming from directions. Driving time from Gaithersburg is 1 hour. We will have separate checks and to expedite the meal for a large group the following menu choices will be available. See the next page.

21 February 2017 Page 21 Corvette Club of America Irish Lunch March 18 th Snow date March 25 th Entrée Choice of: Shepherd s Pie Ground sirloin, onions, peas and carrots baked in rich Casserole and topped with mashed potatoes Fish & Chips Using Alaskan Pollock this white fish is dipped in our homemade Beer batter and deep-fried to a golden brown, Served with tartar sauce and Irish chips The Irish Rueben Our first cut of corned beef sautéed with braised cabbage, topped with Swiss cheese and an Irish Whiskey Mustard dressing, served on rye bread with Irish Chips Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad Grilled tender strips of chicken breast atop of our Irish Caesar salad composed of chopped romaine lettuce, grated parmesan and asiago cheeses and whole grain croutons, tossed in an Irish mustard Caesar dressing Traditional Lamb Stew The original recipe using tender cubes of Lamb stewed with Celery, carrots, and mashed potatoes Cottage Pie Tender breast of chicken cooked in a casserole with mushroom, celery, onion, and carrot, topped with mashed potatoes and roasted to a golden brown Dessert choice of: Bailey s & White Chocolate Mousse or Traditional Bread Pudding All of our group menus include the service of our homemade Irish breads, Iced tea, coffee, and sodas. $18.99 Per Person Plus sales tax. Prices subject to change

22 February 2017 Page 22 Washington Auto Show January 26 th through February 4 th Several CCA members attended the Washington Auto Show this year and they provided us with a large selection of photographs. Even better than that, CCA member Dana had her car featured at the show! It was located in a lobby area just outside the main exhibit hall. Thanks to Cal and Van for the photos and to Sport Chevrolet for the tickets to the show that we raffled off at Shop Night. Here are a few pictures of Dana s car and cars on display in the exhibit hall.

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24 February 2017 Page 24 CCA Annual Awards Dinner February 4 th, 2017 Bob and Stephen mentioned the Awards Dinner in their articles this month. Here is a collection of photos from that fun evening that we had. First, here are two photo credits for our primary photographers for the event. The one on the right shall remain anonymous.

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30 February 2017 Page 30 Here is a little bit of CCA history. It is a flyer for the very first Awards Dinner held on January 10, 1959 and a photo from the event. Fifty eight years later the club is still holding the event. Members are still having a wonderful evening of friendship, celebrating the club and the Corvette, in the middle of Winter. It is refreshing to know that, as much as things have changed for the club over the years, some things have not changed at all.

31 February 2017 Page 31 The Corvette Courier The Corvette Club of America is proud to be exclusively associated with Sport Chevrolet. Be a Sport fan too!! 3101 Automobile Blvd Silver Spring, Md Our contact at Sport Chevrolet for a new or used car is Lee Shirley, or him at lshirley@sportautomotive.com. Be sure to let Lee know that you are a CCA member. The Corvette Club of America was founded by John Ralph and Charles Eyre who organized the first club meeting on July 17, 1956 at a Chevrolet dealership in Arlington, Virginia. By the end of 1957 the club changed its name from the Capital Corvette Club to the Corvette Club of America, since it was the intent of the members to make the club a national organization. Before the end of the following year the club had over one hundred members. In 1959, the Corvette Club of America held an organizational meeting of Corvette clubs at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The result was the formation of the National Council of Corvette Clubs which today has about 19,000 members and is the largest non-profit association of Corvette Clubs in the United States. For a variety of reasons, the CCA did not join the NCCC until July of 1966 and was awarded club #1 for its efforts in establishing the organization. In July 2016, the CCA notified the NCCC that it would terminate its 50 year membership at the end of the year. There were a number of factors but the CCA felt that focusing our limited resources on the National Corvette Museum would provide more benefit for the Corvette Community as a whole. The Corvette Club of America is a very active club today with a strong mix of competitive, social, and charitable activities. President Bob Atwell (240) Vice President Kelly Ryan (240) Secretary Paul Vale (301) Treasurer Nita Armstrong (443) Membership Director Jean-Marie Wade (301) NCM Ambassador Terry Popkin (301) Competition Director Steve Catlin (703) Parliamentarian Jon Thorn (301) Vendor & Club Relations Van Vander Haar (410) Webmaster April Hussey Member-at-Large Jim Parisi (410) Non-Board Member Positions Through the years the CCA has seen many fine members come and go; however, one thing remains unchanged. The membership is composed of individuals both male and female, young and old, that share a common interest, America s Sports Car - The Corvette! Courier Editor Jon Thorn (301) The Corvette Courier is published monthly by the Corvette Club of America, Inc. P.O. Box 3355, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20885

32 February 2017 Page 32 Business & Membership Meeting Location: The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille Old Columbia Pike Burtonsville, MD (301) Second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 PM Next meeting: March 14 th CCA Monthly Meeting Locations (Note: With the closing of the Golden Bull we are looking for another meeting location. The Greene Turtle is one we will try but it may not be permanent. Stay tuned!) Shop Night Location: Sport Chevrolet 3101 Automobile Blvd. Silver Spring, Maryland Fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 PM** (** Shop Night is the THIRD Tuesday in November and December due to Holidays) Next Shop Night: February 28 th

33 February 2017 Page 33 Simply the Best Tony Avedisian, Owner 7500 Rickenbacker Drive Gaithersburg, MD Since 1976, Radial Tire Company has provided the Washington D.C. area with quality tires and the finest service. We have earned a reputation as the premier specialist in hard-to-find performance tire and wheel applications. We stock tires from all of the top manufacturers for whatever you drive, from small economy cars to SUVs and trucks. Our mission is to assist you in getting the most out of your tires and car Brookville Rd Silver Spring, MD Contact CCA Tag Leader Richard Roe rick@rdroe.com