2013 July.indd - Tarheel Chapter BMW Car Club of America

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CLUB RACING REPORTBY PAUL HOECKEMid-Season Doldrums - A RecapThis is one of those rare times we find ourselvesa bit short of events to write about. It’s notso much that no one was racing these past coupleof months; there’s been plenty of action – at BMWClub Racing, NASA and vintage events. But whenit comes to what our homegrown racing crowdhas been up to – our main purpose in doing thisreport – there’s been precious little to talk about.Okay, we can blame some of that on the factthat several events – notably last month’s Clubrace at VIR – were still in our future when we filedthis report. But mainly it has been the absence oflocal drivers from recent races, whether they wereClub Racing (CR) events or those staged by othersanctioning bodies. It may therefore seem an absolutewaste of space to list events where no localracers were present, but we’ll do it anyway, just toprove we’re not being lazy.On the CR front, there were two events sincethe April race at VIR that past history says couldhave attracted a few Tarheel drivers, but didn’t.The race at Mid-Ohio in May, hosted by theNorthern Ohio Chapter, saw some forty entries,including five from our region but none from ourchapter. And as far as we can determine, the thirtyor so entries in last month’s race at NJMP’s Thunderboltcourse didn’t include a single local hotshoe either. So, what gives? Our best guess is thatlast month’s race at VIR – the one we still owe youa report on – proved to be a more attractive venuethat those two more distant tracks.Local drivers did run in NASA events, thoughonly with the Southeast Region. The ‘SavannahSizzler’, at Roebling Road in April, saw a coupleof local hot shoes show up: Dave Herrington, whoran with a sizable bunch of Spec E30 drivers intwo sprint races and didn’t do so badly in both;and Jon ’the Jet’ Kozlow, who must have burnedsome serious rubber in the Time Trials that weekend,as he finished a close second in Class D onSaturday and posted the winning time Sunday.And a month later, Herrington and Kozlow alsocompeted in the ‘Pit Bull Brawl’ at CMP in mid-May, where Al ‘the Rev’ Taylor joined Herringtonin the Spec E30 group. The E30s were the largestclass at this event, which evidently turned thatcontest into quite a brawl (to borrow a term), asTaylor’s best finish was sixth place and Herringtonnever made it close to the front all weekend. Atleast you gotta give them credit for showing ourflag, as it were. On the other hand, our homegrownhot shoes were total no-shows at theMid-Atlantic Region’s ‘Spring Rumble’ at SummitPoint in April. The field included lots of BMWs inseveral classes, but nary a driver from our racingcrowd! (The Region drew a bye in May; and theirJune event, also at Summit Point, took place waypast our press time.)That being said, we expect this ‘drought’ onour part to be a temporary phenomenon. Afterall, one look at the schedules of the racing organizationswe cover suggests that our next reportmay have some good racing stories. Besides, SkipBryan, our roving vintage reporter, still owes us6 TARHEEL CHAPTER FOOTNOTES http://www.tarheelbmwcca.org
a story about the Jefferson 500 race the VDCAstaged jointly with the Vintage Racer Group (VRG)at Summit Point in mid-May. So, we suggest youstay tuned.Meanwhile, this being the midpoint of theracing season, it may be time to visit a topic thattends to move to the front burner this time ofyear; namely, the chase after CR championshippoints. But as we look at the record to date, wefind little to prognosticate about as far as localdrivers are concerned, and the reason isn’t theirlack of ability; it is participation, or rather the lackthereof.Anyone who has watched our homegrownracing crowd in action knows that we have abunch of excellent and highly competitive driversin our midst. If you want proof, consider thelineup at the VIR race in April, which saw at leasttwo Tarheel drivers compete in half the classes,including the three biggest ones at the event. Yet,as we have mentioned, our hot shoes have been,with a few exceptions, notable by their absenceat CR events, before or since the April race. And,with apologies to The Bard, that is where the rubis at. It boils down to what Woody Allen allegedlyonce said; to wit, that showing up is 99 percent oflife. In this case, you collect points by showing upat events. It’s that simple.As Steve Bassen said to us the other day, “forgoodness’ sakes, you get five points just for beingthere!” But, he added, it isn’t lack of enthusiasmor dedication to the sport that keeps our racersfrom showing up. When you race for love of thesport, not money, you have to strike a balance;there’s also daily life and work to consider. Wecouldn’t agree more. In fact, we think Bassen isan excellent example of what we’re talking about.We’re willing to bet that if he were to run in onlyhalf the CR events this season, he’d be a shoo-infor a national CM crown. But he prefers to strikethat balance we spoke of, and that’s something allof us ought to understand and respect.As things stand now, it looks like the only localcontender for a regional championship – if nota national one – may be Rich Abraham. As of theend of May, he had won I-Prepared in three races
Page 1 and 2: Photo by Holland HaleVolume XLI No.
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2013 July.indd - Tarheel Chapter BMW Car Club of America

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