Time To Race - Chicagoland Sports Car Club

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The Downshift - Page MEETING OF MIDWESTERN COUNCIL BOARDS – April 14th, 2011 Regular Executive and Competition Board meeting, Sam’s Ristorante, Rockford IL. EXECUTIVE BOARD President Cassaro called to meeting to order at 8:08 . It was ascertained that a quorum was present. All officers were present and clubs were represented as follows: CSCC-Best, Wells; FT-S.Green, Wheeler; GLSCC-Schley, Kannard; LSCC-Jerominski, Karth; MSCC-Anderson, Krebs; NSSCC-Saccameno, Serra; SCSCC-Cromas, Lewis; SCCR-P.Green, Rehberg. M(Kannard) & 2(Wheeler) to approve the minutes of the March meeting as printed. Pass. TREASURER’S REPORT: All finances are up to date including the deposit for the ACCN event. There are 474 paid members reported. The Board is now bonded. Bank statements were distributed to Board members. M(Wheeler) & 2(S.Green) to accept the report as presented. Pass. OLD BUSINESS - ACCN Update: A race meeting occurred earlier this evening to work out details. Clubs are reminded that since it is a MC event, they are all asked to provide staffing. Clubs are asked to donate any old trophies and staff gifts so they can be recycled for the event. - GCR Update: It should be available at the Steward meeting on the 15th, and will be completed online in the next couple of weeks. - CSCC Event BFR Track Damage: Was referred to Finance Committee who has not met yet. - Former Treasurer Update: Legally things are moving along. - Previous School Registration Issues: One driver contacted Cassaro wishing to race but complaining that he had been discouraged and prevented from attending in recent years. It was found that his paperwork was never complete or on time. - Fidelity Bond: Board members have coverage now and bill has been paid. - Open Floor: The indoor school classroom session was last Sunday. There were 21 closed-wheel, 6 open-wheel, 21 HSAX and 4 track-timers registered for the school. NEW BUSINESS - 2011 Banquet: It’s in the early planning stage. - Waiver Importance: Karth presented a court case in Wisconsin where waivers were deemed enforceable. All waivers should be kept for 7 years. Cassaro will keep them in the MC office. A release should also be signed after an incident if possible. It’s a good idea to keep a waiver in each driver’s folder for those attached to that driver in order to make signatures easier to locate if needed. - 2011 Schedule Posters: Karth suggested having some made for members and clubs who could circulate them and put them in shops or parts stores, etc. MC is asked to share expenses for it. An 8 ½ x 11 poster with attractive artwork would work, and business card-size schedules would be a good idea also. Such items could be downloadable from the website. Karth will contact Garcia from NS for artwork. Salamun is working on putting in-car videos on YouTube. - Open Floor: Constant Contact charges $5/month to archive KLAXON issues. COMPETITION BOARD OLD BUSINESS - Autocross Committee: Recommended to place the 2008 Cadillac CTS/4 V6 AT - A, and the 2010 Roush 427R –Y SPA=2. Pass. - Race Staff: P.Green reported that the Staff Clinic by Gail Woelfle has 4 signed up so far. Goodie bags will be given out, so donations are requested for the bags. Logbooks are ready for the weekend. Staff are encouraged to update their info on the staff database, which can be done on the web page. - Steward Committee: Meeting is Apr. 15 at BFR at 8 PM. - Seat Belt Expiration Date Issue: Wheeler spoke against changing the rules, reasoning that if MC is a member of SFI and MC rules don’t match SFI specs, there could be litigation. It was pointed out that MC is an affiliate of SFI so that the MC can use their info in its rules. McCarter noted that SFI leaves it up to sanctioning bodies to decide on the drop dead date for belts. Cassaro investigated the SFI website, and their thrust is to provide info and references to sanctioning bodies who make their rules. M & 2 to change the seat belt life span rule to 5 years on belts. Pass, to be effective on the date of publication, which Cassaro is placing on the web site immediately. If there is an impact that could affect belt function, cars will be sent to impound to be checked. NEW BUSINESS - Tech Sheets: Busse has them printed out and gave them to clubs. M(P.Green) & 2(several) to adjourn at 9:23. Pass. Minutes taken and transcribed by S. Boldt.
The Downshift - Page Melissa Hitzke - Behind The Balaclava By Melissa Hitzke I had been thinking about driver’s school since last year, when I bought the Miata. It had been autocrossed by a previous owner, so it came equipped with a hard dog roll bar, front sway bars and an ACT clutch. However, the car still needed some general maintenance and new tires, which were first on the list. Before winter hit, we tackled all the fluids and upgraded the brakes. Over the winter, the goal was to get all the safety equipment a bit at a time. First came an Ultrashield seat from Advanced Autosports, along with tow hooks. Next, the gloves, helmet, shoes, belts, and arm restraints. Before you knew it, April was here and everything was ready to go. I attended the classroom session the week prior, which is not required for autocross but recommended. It was definitely helpful to know what to expect during the day of the drivers school. Friday arrived and it was off to Blackhawk Farms to get registered and go thru tech. The process was pretty easy, and having read thru the tech sheet before, I knew what to expect. The Miata passed and as I pulled out of the tech barn, it was pouring. Glad to not be camping this weekend, I was happy to have somewhere warm to stay and a garage for the Miata only a few minutes from the track. I tried to get a good night’s sleep, but was too excited. I woke up to a lovely day of light rain and hoped that would be the extent of the weather for the day. But it got heavier on my way to Blackhawk, so it looked like I would be running top down in the rain for most of the day. I parked and covered the Miata before I headed off for the 8:00 a.m. drivers meeting. All students and instructors were paired up and we gathered under the bridge for a morning review of rules and flags. First off were “station wagon runs”, in which we ended up taking the Miata out on track for the first time just to learn the course and the corners. After that, we began the first of three 4-lap practice sessions. Cones were out to learn turn in point, apex and turn out points. My instructor, Tom, was really helpful in teaching braking and shifting points in regards to the racing line. The track was wet as we started and began to dry out a little as the morning sessions progressed. After each session, we got out and went back to the bridge and had a group session with our instructors. In these group sessions you are only know by your car number and color, in my case I was 25 blue. It was mostly to discuss the track conditions and to proceed with caution. The stewards were there to warn that if you do go off track, you aren’t going to be able to stop on wet grass. If there was ever a day to learn car control, this was it. After running back and forth from practice sessions in the car to meetings at the bridge, it was time to break for lunch. You relax a bit, the adrenaline subsides and you realize just how tired and hungry you are. I grabbed some lunch and was able to take my Dad out in the car for the touring sessions. I think he was a little worried at the speed, but I was taking it pretty easy. After lunch, it was time to start our afternoon practice sessions. I was feeling comfortable in the car and relaxed as corners 2 through 6 were flowing pretty well. This is when it began to snow and things got a bit messy. I was coming out of 5 and carrying too much speed into 6. I went to downshift into 3rd and as soon as I let out the clutch I could feel the rear wheels lock up and we were spinning. It was only a 180 and I managed to keep it on track. To be safe, I pulled into the grass until the corner workers motioned a break that I could re enter the track. Once you spin the first time, you know what to expect and how to handle it safely. I utilized my instructor for the rest of the practice sessions in order to get corner 7 right and to resist my urge to turn in early at corner one. We had a chance at the end of the day to get in one timed run. No pressure our instructors said, but if you go off track during the timed runs you will mess up the timing for anyone behind you. Well at least it had stopped snowing! The timed run was my best of the day and I ended up midpack overall. I had to slow up on the straight as the bridge was waving caution, so I lost speed there. A driver had gone off in corner 1 at the end of his hot lap, so you have to be aware at all times and pay attention to the flags. Overall, it was a day of learning, especially what the car can and can’t do in those conditions. You don’t realize until you step out of the car how exhausted you are, and on that day how cold it was. It was a great experience that will keep me coming back to the track for autocross events. In fact, I have already signed up for the 1st one over Memorial Day weekend. I can’t wait and see you at the track!
Page 1 and 2: The Downshift The Off icial Publica
Page 3: Driver School July 9, 2011 The Midw
Page 7 and 8: The Sanfilippo Collection - Engines
Page 9 and 10: The Downshift - Page The Continent
Page 11 and 12: The Downshift - Page 11 MC Presiden

Time To Race - Chicagoland Sports Car Club

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