Horsepower in Horseheads or Fishtailing in Fisherville

Looks like the weather curse has been lifted, at least for the Glen Region, as Sunday, September 26 marked the third consecutive event where the weather was not only good, but damn good. 24 drivers took the opportunity to make a Glen Region return to the Arnot Mall to avenge or relive their May 16 runs under partly cloudy skies, gentle breezes, and perfect temperatures. Granted, 24 participants may seem a little on the light side for a solo event, attendance wise, but a short look back in the record books tells us that late September and very early October events are among our more lightly attended events, so all was as expected.

The course design committee, absent Casey, attempted to recreate the May 16 course at Arnot Mall, excessive cone killings and all, but intentionally or otherwise it appeared tightened up a bit as they laid out the counter clockwise course with a shape somewhere between a figure 8 and kidney or maybe it was a double kidney-shaped layout. Whatever it was and how much it might have resembled the original layout it certainly replicated the severe cone destruction experienced in May. Just ask Nile Heermans, the event’s A#1 Kone Killer of them all, who normally knocks down one cone every 10 runs, instead of the 10 cones per run he managed in the afternoon. Yup, that layout was just a tad bit tighter than at the May event, all right.

The largest classes of the day were G-Stock and B-Stock with four entrants each. Nick Brewster (’01 Honda S2000) had no trouble dominating B-Stock and in the process managed Fastest Time of the Day (FTD) and the PAX trophy. He was nice enough to point out to Eric and Skip that they needed a bar if they were to be competitive. Eric and Skip politely pointed out that that’s where they were headed immediately following the event, but maybe Nick had something else in mind, ‘cause they didn’t notice much improvement afterwards. Phil Cornell (’95 BMW M3), on the other hand, decided he’d just go home and petition the SEB to move S2000s out of B-Stock, bars and all. As for G-Stock it was a real battle royal as Barry Butterfield (’03 BMW Mini Cooper S) just managed to edge out Nile Heermans (’90 Nissan 240SX) by a scant 1/10 of a second. Now that’s close. It was also close between third place Andrew Remillard (‘99 VW Passat) and fourth place Janelle Butterfield (’03 BMW Mini Cooper S).

Right behind G- and B-Stock in terms of size were D Street Prepared and Street Touring S with three drivers apiece. In “D Street IROC,” the only ride was an ’87 BMW 325is. Once again we were treated to some great driving, but in the end Ken Pierce managed to get by both Greg and John Pierce despite heroic efforts on their part. John apparently forgot that the Kone Killer Award is a thing of the past. It’s too bad, too, as John kicked as many cones out of their respective boxes as used to be sufficient to win the seasonal award back years ago. In Street Touring S the battle was just as heated. Tom Deneka (’98 Honda Prelude) kept the lead for almost the entire event, but a grand push on Matt Lockhart’s part (’04 Toyota Matrix XRS) put him ahead at the event’s conclusion by less than 4/10 of a second.

The only other multi-driver class at Arnot Mall was E-Stock where Rich Chernosky (’88 Toyota MR2) continued his winning ways getting by Jeff Hering (’90 Mazda Miata) early and holding onto his lead throughout the remainder of the day. A word of caution, Rich, the noted philosopher Satchel Paige once said “Don’t look back, someone may be gaining.” Well, Jeff is a newcomer to the solo family and I’ve noticed that he consistently demonstrates a 6-7 second range of improvement in the latter runs at events. Improvement like that suggests a lot of learning going on. Here’s a prediction that Jeff will eventually be giving Tedd and you a run you’ll never forget.

Among the remaining drivers, one important bit of news concerns the appearance of a “new” formula vee. Sam Danna returned to soloing after many years absence to treat us all to a look at a blast from the past (If only John Florence could have been there to make it a duo). Speaking of blasts from the past, Cameron Bullock (‘80 Chevrolet Camaro) returned to a Glen Region event for the first time in quite awhile. It was great seeing him back on track where he belongs. Finally in the news department, Aaron Boltman announced that after deciding he wasn’t killing enough cones with his Camaro and that he was in need of a lot more torque, he bought a 2004 Corvette Z06. Now we all know that the Z06 is a hot ride on any circuit, but especially in solo racing where it needs no introduction or explanation. Let’s just say that we’ll all be looking forward to an exciting 2005 season and in the meantime, I’ll be calculating the best wheel alignment for running on an all rubber track. All of the remaining drivers, their cars, and their times can be seen on the Glen Region web site at: http://www.glen-scca.org/solo/2004/results20040926.asp.

On behalf of the Glen Region, I want to thank the good folks at Arnot Mall for the second loan of their parking lot in one season. You were so nice to us, I bought a grill accessory from Sears. I also want to thank the Glen Region Solo II chair, Becky Tinker, along with Barry Butterfield, the event chair, for all the work they did to pull off this event and to give a special recognition to the course design committee and to our Van Committee of One: Eric Navestad. Oh, and Ed, thanks for the coffee! Our next event is Sunday, October 10 at the Wings of Eagles (The museum formerly known as The War Plane). Ken Pierce will be in charge so it promises to be a good event. In the meantime, may all your apexes be good apexes. See you at a Solo!