NEW ENGLAND REGION OF THE SPORTS CAR CLUB OF AMERICA

NER Rally-X ChampionshipEvent #OneEngravingAwardsGifts.com RallyCrossJanuary 26 & 27, 2008EngravingAwardsGifts.comSponsors RallyCrossSeason Opening Weekendby Chris BrentonPhoto: Scott BeliveauThe 2008 RallyCross season stepped off in finefashion with the largest RX event in NER history. Itwasn’t actually one event, but three over the courseof the weekend in late January at Stafford MotorSpeedway in Connecticut. Saturday and Sundayeach held an NER championship event, drawing78 and 81 entries respectively. The third event wasa National Challenge RallyCross which had 38entries and spanned both days.Saturday morning’s competition washeld on a technical 5/8 mile coursewith a combination of short andmedium radius turns linked together.The course was mostly on a snow andice covering over frozen dirt. As faras the weather, low 30’s with partialsun in the morning, fading to fullovercast in the afternoon. Had thesun remained strong throughout theday, conditions would have deteriorated badly.The afternoon runs on Saturday were markedlydifferent from the morning. The course was widerwith less outside cones, allowing for spectaculardrifts through corners spraying snow into thesky. The timing personnel were grateful for thePhoto: Alex Merkuryevdecreased number of cones. With three and fourcars on course at a time, the less cone calls thebetter. Tim Chevalier, Dave Harris, and AntonioSirabella were solid as a rock in the timing trailerall weekend.Stafford Motor Speedway is currently the largestsite the NER RX community has to race at. Notonly does it allow for the longest course, but thesprawling parking lots have enough room for ashort practice course as well. In the far corner,the practice course is set to allow racers to honetheir skills and become familiar with the courseconditions on snow and ice. With the hugenumber of entries that have turned out at Stafford,many racers take advantage of the practicecourse between runs, rather than sitting idling ingrid. The twisty course keeps the blood flowingto the hands and feet during the chilly event.A certain NER member that now resides inTopeka, Kansas pressed the NER RX board tohost a National Challenge event. It was hopedthat the National Challenge status would enticeracers from outside NER to come and match skillswith the locals. Also, it allowed the opportunityto compete for contingency money. Subaru,EngravingAwardsGifts.com National RallyCross ChallengeStafford Speedway, Stafford CT, January 26 & 27, 2008Name Car Total Diff Run #1 Run #2 Run #3 Run #4 Run #5 Run #6M2Chang Ho Kim Honda 567.929 0.000 92.767 90.497 87.379 98.723 2 97.895 96.668Kim Hapgood Honda 590.081 22.152 96.373 93.473 92.164 1 102.204 100.894 100.973 1Lodwyk William Acura 593.889 3.808 97.016 96.281 94.169 101.933 101.538 102.952Hal Denham VW 595.705 1.816 94.423 1 95.095 91.990 101.480 104.910 105.807Geoff Clark Saab 598.322 2.617 96.490 97.430 1 91.277 103.819 104.920 102.386Kevin Turner Subaru 605.227 6.905 94.474 1 106.506 94.648 97.894 1 104.866 102.839Tim Thomas Toyota 609.717 4.490 97.992 1 96.441 1 93.383 1 103.877 106.142 1 103.882Andrew McCusker VW 614.437 4.720 101.133 100.645 95.135 105.175 105.640 106.709James Turner Subaru 620.995 6.558 105.336 97.723 1 94.705 104.062 104.057 113.112Matthew Campbell Toyota 699.772 78.777 114.250 1 112.073 1 117.038 1 117.607 113.890 1 114.914 1M4Warren Elliot Audi 571.887 0.000 92.365 94.107 97.634 99.898 95.433 92.450Chris Regan Toyota 578.586 6.699 92.384 93.784 95.790 103.120 1 95.602 1 93.906Justin Baltrucki Audi 579.888 1.302 95.821 94.872 96.485 1 100.632 96.007 94.071Art Chabot Mitsubishi 580.015 0.127 91.464 93.918 96.484 1 103.604 98.439 94.106David Harris Mitsubishi 596.418 16.403 95.181 98.531 98.049 105.717 99.966 98.974Aaron Matthew Subaru 631.159 34.741 114.861 97.629 1 113.138 103.762 102.800 96.969Christian Ware Subaru 635.464 4.305 101.387 1 102.648 105.156 104.982 104.569 110.722 2PANikolay Nemchuk Subaru 579.389 0.000 90.725 92.462 90.632 99.939 03.476 102.155Antonio Sirabella Subaru 593.071 13.682 97.302 1 96.122 93.565 99.998 102.207 101.877Don Grant Subaru 618.779 25.708 100.029 1 96.399 1 93.021 114.523 105.413 105.394Geoff Guerrera Mitsubishi 622.758 3.979 100.911 100.797 97.096 107.670 107.562 1 106.722Joe Davis Subaru 623.503 0.745 101.406 1 100.569 95.188 103.062 110.052 1 107.226 1Barett Zimmerman Subaru 626.025 2.522 100.853 101.721 95.882 104.082 113.268 2 106.219Stephanie Jaz Subaru 631.747 5.722 103.707 102.528 102.435 108.127 108.262 106.688Stephen Clare Subaru 633.273 1.526 105.333 102.813 97.200 114.075 108.581 105.271PFJim Frankel Acura 617.108 0.000 100.052 100.488 96.544 1 103.772 2 105.417 104.835SAMatthew Gleiner Subaru 585.320 0.000 96.071 97.673 97.900 101.530 97.296 94.850Roger Borlase Subaru 594.392 9.072 95.252 1 95.048 98.007 104.857 100.059 99.169Philip Mueller Subaru 602.667 8.275 98.793 99.646 101.635 106.901 99.461 96.231Matt Kennedy Subaru 605.400 2.733 103.904 97.311 100.170 104.666 1 100.286 97.063Scott Beliveau Toyota 606.390 0.990 96.826 1 97.494 101.520 105.593 102.120 1 98.837Mike Woodruff, Sr Subaru 3298.863 2692.473 999.999 999.999 999.999 102.206 98.252 96.408 1Mike Woodruff, Jr Subaru 3300.128 1.265 999.999 999.999 999.999 103.119 98.757 96.255 1SFHenry Boudreau Nissan 647.167 0.000 105.204 106.150 2 96.419 1 108.022 1 110.593 1 110.779Andy Longe Nissan 649.747 2.580 108.386 2 102.944 99.016 1 110.288 112.422 110.691Robin Wilkins VW 659.317 9.570 106.794 104.834 103.665 115.616 116.551 111.857Thomas Mak Mazda 665.918 6.601 111.531 108.899 1 100.945 118.109 1 111.594 110.840Paige Williams Nissan 669.710 3.792 107.473 1 105.369 1 102.288 112.856 121.014 110.710 3Volkswagen, Team Dynamics, and Hankook tires all pay rewards for using their productsand finishing at the top of the class. With a site that would hold large numbers, and beresilient enough to withstand two days of racing, NER accepted the opportunity to holding aNational Challenge.In discussing the Challenge, time off from work, and travel expenses were considered. Wedecided to try something that would be a savings in both categories for those with limitedresources. The Challenge would consist of Saturday afternoon runs and Sunday morningruns. This would allow someone traveling to the race to drive in on Saturday morning, raceSaturday afternoon and Sunday morning, and drive home Sunday afternoon, saving time offfrom work and extra nights in a hotel. Of course, that didn’t mean that you couldn’t race allday, both days, and many did just that; 38 entered the National Challenge in 6 classes.After the awards late Saturday afternoon, someone made the comment, “Are we gonna runthe same course tomorrow? It’s like what we ran the past couple years.” Always eager toplease, the course layout team put the start in the downhill corner of the lot, near the practicecontinued on page 13Scrutineer’s Report—continued from page 7where it indicates that the drivers’restraint systems need to have thefollowing labels: SFI spec. 16.1 or16.5, or FIA spec. 8853/98.Also note that Fire systems are alsonoted of changes so review them too.This is for your safety as well as ofthose who are assisting you!Now I would like to take a momentfor a more personal issue:It seems that some drivers don’tunderstand the position of the Chief ofScrutineer and the proper method toresolve disagreements. As the Chief, Iam mandated by the GCR to perform3 things…Observe, Measure, andAdvise. It is that simple, well almost.Within the NER club, especially intech, it has been our desire to getevery entrant out on the track, but onlyif the driver and the vehicle is safe!It is one thing to go racing in awell prepared / safe vehicle. Butyet another thing to go out in anunprepared / unsafe vehicle, wherethe unprepared vehicle can, (andusually does), puts the driver andthose around them a personal risk!There is a remedy in the GCR if anentrant / Driver does not agree withme, and that is to protest. Trust me, Iwill not be offended…I will even assistyou on the proper course of action. Itis all in the GCR-8.3 on page 66 ofthe 2008 GCR.And just another note…you are thebest source of information about yourspecific car and class. So becomepart of the solution by become acontributing member, not just a driver.There is always a specialty that canuse your expertise…Scrutineering,Flagging and Communications,Timing and Scoring, Registration,Stewarding, Race Chairperson.Become the solution, be a volunteer:Let’s all prepare to be safe, let’s actsafe, and “let’s be safe”See you at the track!10 PIT TALK PIT TALK February/March 2008 11