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Cliff’s Ramblings by Cliff Blackshear By the time you read this, the May Memorial Weekend Club Race will have concluded. It’s mid May and we Mav’s are hosting a Club Race on Memorial day weekend. I absolutely love this event. I’ve worked in tech inspection for many events in a row and just love the experience. It’s fun to be an observer. Plus, it is at Eagles Canyon where David and Linda Cook are the track owners and just a delight to be around. We are so lucky to have them in the area. If ya ever get the chance to have a libation with them and discuss all things automotive, you will be highly entertained as they are an amazing couple. I already envision how things will unfold for the race. Friday, in tech, we will weigh a huge number of cars and the PCA Scrutineer will be there to check logbooks as well as help new, first time racers get their logbooks in order. This will go into the evening till maybe 7:00 PM. First time race cars will be looked over very carefully. Are the belts properly wrapped and pinned? Is the battery tied down correctly? Is the cage correct and safe as well as legal? Does the shut off system work correctly? Many, many things to consider. For me, I want the driver to be safe. I leave it to the scrutineer to decide if it is correct for the class entered in. It’s so fun to meet the drivers, see their cool cars and just send them on their way ready for friendly (most of the time), combat. Workers for grid, hot pits, flag stations will meet each morning around 7 AM. Then be on station around 7:50 AM. Checking in on radios to control just before 8:00 am. “Cars on course” at 8:00 sharp. 99.99% of this will be orchestrated by volunteers from our club. I marvel at every ones ability to tie everything together. Multiple people always stand out in my “Club Race World.” I’ll name some here quickly and know I’m leaving many out (please forgive me). Bob Benson, always seems to be in hot pits and on top of everything. His wealth of experience is amazing in this realm. Jan Mayo, will be working grid. She seems to dance among the cars lining them up with perfect precision, and that always present smile. Lisa Steele, will appear to be in about 20 places at one time. If you need something she can make it happen. Christy Payne, can find anyone you need to talk to and always knows who is assigned to what task. Christy is always available for anything needed. Plus the ever present Wendy Shoffit, who also seems to be in about 20 places at once as well. PCA Race Weekend Well guys it is the women and a few token guys that make this gig go. Joel Nannis, Michael Wingfield, Keith Olcha, etc. are crucial in this endeavour and there’s too many more to mention. I know I sit and marvel at everyone’s hard work and prowess at this event every year. Yet it is the girls that run this gig..... How funny is that? Once test and tune is done on Friday, business gets serious on Saturday. DE (solo only) is perfectly intermixed with all the race activity and that is so cool. Practice sessions will begin, then sprints. Practice starts are always entertaining to watch, will take place. So many classes of cars will be on course. For me too many classes and rules to spend time figuring out. I’ll just strive to make sure they are safe if they come into tech inspection. But, it’s the cars, drivers and all those workers that make the whole event so fun to simply watch from the technician perspective. Cup cars, Boxster’s, 993’s, 964’s, Carrera’s, SC’s, mechanical injected and those with carburetors, early lightweight 911’s, 968’s, 944’s, 914’s some of the cars turbocharged. This is fun stuff. Sunday will roll around and we will see how things sort out. By then we will have had a great party Saturday night, much will have been discussed about track conditions, who is quick and who might be sandbagging. Who broke and where that situation is. Another cool thing is that everyone helps everyone. If one participant needs a part or a special tool and someone else has it? No problem. People jump right in and help each other make grid. Not only help with a part or tool, but jump in and lend a hand in any way needed. That is so awesome. I want to dedicate some time here to the flag and safety people. The folks in our region that work the individual corners, grid, hot-pits etc. at all the different race tracks are amazing to me. I’ve worked as a corner worker for CVAR on a couple occasions as a novice workers, trying not to make a mistake. That experience has given me a chance to realize just how good these people are. A huge number of them have worked thousands of events. Events ranging from Formula 1, ALMS, NASCAR, SCCA, 2 wheeled events etc. When on station at a corner, it is best to have someone looking upstream and someone looking downstream. Plus someone for communication with race control. That is what I understand to be a minimum number needed for each corner station. Each person has to be so observant. They have a racers life in their hands in so many ways. If an incident continued on pg 21 <strong>June</strong> 19