“Just Singing in the Rain” or “Arking” it at the ARC
Some days it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed and Sunday, October 19th was my day. Whose idea was it to hold that eighth Glen Region Solo II event?!? We could have survived with just seven events, but, no, someone just had to push it to the limit and stage just one more event for the 2003 season. Okay, I’ll admit that the ARC in Watkins Glen is a great bunch of folks. They did everything to insure that our final event would go as scheduled and we wouldn’t be having to move parked cars at the last minute. And they also allowed us the use of a second parking lot for the pit area. Even the neighbors and the local police were behind us all the way. I should have been suspicious. No good deed goes unpunished or so they say, but I blindly plunged ahead. I wasn’t even concerned when the breakfast we had at a local diner wasn’t up to par (How much skill does it take to reheat frozen hash browns for crying out loud?!), so I naively wound my way down Decatur Street, took my turn onto 12th and pulled into the pit area on my really cool R-1s. That was the last good part of the day, if you don’t count the post-game show at The Bleachers, that is. But I’m getting way off topic here. There’s a race to discuss and you sure don’t want to hear about my problems, but then you’re not writing this article, so you’re going to hear about them anyway...
20 drivers, a season low, showed up for our final event on a rainy October Sunday. Among the 20 were several newbies to the Glen Region or at least newbies to the Glen Region’s 2003 season. What they discovered was a very short, tight figure-8 requiring a lot of driver skill. No speed, but a lot of driver skill. Decent treaded tires and a lot of driver skill. Menard® tires on an Audi S4 and a lot of driver skill. Needless to say I didn’t bring Menards® and the skill part is definitely debatable, but at least I had a heater and a top unlike a certain Caterham driver who shall remain nameless (and who is probably still suffering severe chills as I type this article). Even the intrepid Casey Creamer made a last minute run for Burdett to switch from his Techno Cart to his ‘65 Mini Cooper S. What I wouldn’t have given for a set of Aquatreads® (and a lot of driver skill). Anyway, after an exciting day of experiencing what it must be like to be an ice racer, most of us ended up with seven runs and a soggy conclusion to the Glen Region 2003 season.
The largest classes, containing three drivers each, were G-Stock, Street Touring X, and Street Touring S. In G-Stock, it was a father and son contest with Chip Massey coming from behind in the last run to overtake Jacob Massey, both driving the same ‘91 Nissan Sentra SE-R. Over in Street Touring X it was the usual battle of the Pierces in a shared ‘87 BMW 325is. This time, however, it was anything but typical as John Pierce was determined that since he owned the car, he should win the competition and win he did. He not only outgunned brother Ken and nephew Greg, in that order, but won the PAX index for the event while doing it. Meanwhile in Street Touring S it was Mike Smith (‘00 Subaru Impreza) who grabbed an early lead and never let go as he out drove fellow classmates, David Snyder (‘00 Subaru Impreza RS) and Dan Tobbe (‘00 Honda Civic).
Other multidriver class contests included C-Prepared where Mike Eames (‘01 Ford Mustang) beat Larry Rhode (‘94 Ford Mustang) in a battle of the ‘chargers. Both drivers showed a lot of control on what was definitely not a course for the “torque monsters” they brought. Finally, in the remaining multidriver class, Eric Navestad (‘00 Honda S2000) showed me (‘01 Honda S2000) where the pylons were and took an easy first place win in B-Stock. Although in a class by himself, it needs to be mentioned that Casey Creamer managed to snare his third FTD (Fastest Time of the Day) this season. This time it was in his Techno Cart which looked strangely like a Mini Cooper S to me. Must have been the rain. The rest of the drivers and their times can be found at the Glen Region website: http://www.glen-scca.org/solo/2003/results20031019.asp.
The Glen Region thanks ARC for the use of their parking lot and their support of our solo addiction. We could not have done it without you folks. Also, a big thanks goes out to Becky Tinker, who chaired her first Solo event and did an outstanding job, and to Mike Taves and Lin Hurd, neither of whom ran but both of whom made the drive just to serve as safety steward (Mike) and in timing (Lin).
All that’s left of the 2003 season now is the upcoming Awards Banquet on December 6th. I hope that all of you will be able to attend this annual gala and mingle with folks from the other Glen Region specialties. Come see who won what award and to discuss plans for the 2004 season. Rob Craig, the Glen Region Activities Director, promises great food and cold beer (He’s just going to make you pay for it). Until then, we’ll keep the timing lights on for you.