Did you lose your eyeglasses?

SBR’s caterer contacted Rod Markowicz after our annual banquet last weekend.  During their clean up, they found a pair of eye glasses. Rod Markowicz will be picking these up before the next club meeting on February 7, at Mancino’s Restaurant in Mishawaka.

If you are missing a pair of glasses, please contact Rod, or see him at the club meeting to claim them.  Even if you didn’t lose your glasses come to the club meeting February 7  at 7PM, for a fun evening with your fellow racers, soloists, and rallyists.  See you there.

H.C. Colwell, SBR Treasurer

 

The 58th Annual SBR Banquet

The 58th South Bend Region, SCCA Annual Banquet is now history, and 67 members and guests met at the Riverside Terrace in Mishawaka for a Polish Festival meal and good fellowship. Well-earned certificates, trophies, and awards were handed out to recognize our leaders and hero drivers. As usual, Bill Loring provided a slide show with lots of pictures from the past as well as on-screen recognition of our most active members. We were entertained by Josh Lasko, the current GingerMan Raceway executive director as he revealed how he began his new life as a track manager. I was able to take a few photos and they can be viewed here.

Lloyd Loring

Urgent – Looking for SBR photos for the banquet!

Attention SBR Members: Did you take photos at any SBR events this year? I’m looking for photos of the following drivers:

83 Porsche 944 Red – ES 44 Ken Vander Vlist
10 Chevy Camaro LS Silver – STX 8 Steven Stanford
91 Mazda Miata Blue – CSP 28 Ben VanAntwerp
Formula Junior Kart Yellow – FJA 18 Jason Spitler

I’m also looking for any photos of road racer Phil Bowman. In competition, or otherwise. Please contact me right away if you have anything.

whloring at gmail dot com

email address broken up to try to prevent spam. Sorry.

Thanks for your help!

Solo Program Planning Meeting 1/21/12 at TIRE RACK

You are invited to our annual South Bend Region Solo Planning Meeting

Who: Anyone interested in the SBR Solo program and/or Chief positions

Where: The Tire Rack 1st floor conference room (behind the vending area front office)

When: Saturday, January 21st, 9:00 AM to Noon

What to bring: Ideas to improve our Solo program and contact information

Solo Chiefs/Specialties:

Assistant PA Announcer/Trainee
Assistant Solo Chair
Course Design Chief
Equipment Chief
Jr. Kart Steward
Novice Chief
PR/Flyers & Photos
Safety Steward
Site Registration
Tech Chief
Timing & Scoring Chief
Trophies Chief
Web Registration
Worker Chief

If you cannot attend but are interested in any Chief/Assistant positions, contact me prior to the meeting at: solo@sbrscca.org or call 574.277.6016

Nick Mawhorr,
SBR Solo Chair 2012

Annual Meeting Update

Now it can be revealed. Our guest speaker for the SBR Annual Meeting will be Josh Marko, general manager of GingerMan Raceway.
The invitation can be found here: Annual Banquet Invitation 2012. There is a 75-person limit on seating so send H.C. your reservation now. No need to wear your helmet or flameproof driver suit!

Final Activity Points Standings

I have posted the SBR Activity Points for 2011, including the December meeting, on our website for all to see. Check out your listing and if I have made any kind of error, tell me so I can correct it. You can see it here. Keep in mind it is a huge spreadsheet so you will have to expand it several hundred percent to actually read it.

Have great holidays and we’ll see you at the Annual  Banquet. Note that we can only accommodate 75 people at the banquet, so send in your reservation now.

Lloyd

Free Food At Meeting This Week!

Come join us on Tuesday, December 6th for our monthly SBR, SCCA meeting at Mancino’s. We’ll have free pizza, grinders, breadsticks and drinks available. Meeting starts at 7:00 pm.

Samuel Mancino’s Italian Eatery 4303 Lincoln Way East, Mishawaka, IN

You can find directions on our website at www.sbrscca.org

The December PitBoard is here!

Read all about it. All  the news that fits. Click here to see a PDF copy of the December PitBoard. Enjoy!

Checkered Flag: Steve Brouwer

I’m saddened to announce the passing of long-time autocrosser and friend of South Bend Region, Steve Brouwer. Steve had battled with cancer for a number of years. His brother Lee said that he passed away peacefully around 3am Sunday morning.

Funeral arrangements are underway with the following details available – visitation at Zaagman Memorial Chapel (2800 Burton Street SE, Grand Rapids) will be Tuesday evening from 5:00-8:00 p.m. with the funeral service set for 11:00 a.m. Wednesday at Plymouth Heights Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids. I will post any other information as it becomes available.

Steve’s family is in our thoughts.

William Loring

SBR 2012 Banquet

Save the Date! Now that the sports cars are in storage and the race seasons are complete… it is time to celebrate our accomplishments.

What: South Bend Region, SCCA-Annual Banquet
When: January 21, 2012
Where: Riverside Terrace, Mishawaka, IN

More details to follow.

Speedway Motors 2011 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships Music Video

Zach from Speedway Motors once again does not disappoint. Here is his very fine 2011 Nationals video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6yNej…

 

I make appearances at 0:33 (the bug on the lens is a camera on my car), 1:17 (bumper-cam footage from my car on the west course) and at 3:45 (after finishing my last run and sealing my championship on Friday). I have another tiny cameo, but if you blink, you’ll miss it.

Speedway Motors is headquartered in Lincoln NE, where the Nationals are held.

William Loring

 

The Checkered Flag for Jim Bell

James O. “Jim” Bell

March 4, 1931 – Oct. 6, 2011

NILES – James O. Bell, 80, passed away Thursday. He was born in Berwyn, IL. He was a US Air Force veteran and retired from National Standard Company in 1992. Survivors include son, Jeff Bell of Stevensville, MI; daughter, Beverly Walenga of Linthicum, MD; sister, Judith Langston of Huntsville, Ontario, Canada; 3 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. He was preceded by his wife, Eleanor V. (Paranto) Bell, and both parents. No services will be held. Cremation has taken place. Arrangements by Hoven Funeral Home.

The Above Published in the South Bend Tribune on October 9, 2011

Jim Bell first joined the South Bend Region in November of 1956 and was a member for about 55 years. He was very active for many years, running and staging the local gymkhanas, rallies, and social events, and active in our race efforts as well.

He was an early editor of PitBoard and helped to form and guide the club in many ways. Jim was an excellent mechanic and could build just about anything in his garage in Niles. He was an early Formula V driver and worked with many other members to improve their cars and race efforts.

Jim was also involved in powerboat racing in the area as well as sports cars, and he was always ready to give a hand when needed. He and his wife Ellie were a vital part of the club in the 50′s, 60′s and 70s.. Eventually health issues limited his participation but he never lost interest in the club and its people.

JIm will be missed and we mourn his passing, but we are grateful for the opportunity to have known him.

Lloyd Loring

 

SBR Stages a Road Rally

A total of 18 cars set out on the first South Bend Region, SCCA road rally in many, many years. Staged by Duane Belisle and Dennis Jennings, it was deemed a total success as all cars got to the finish. They explored the Wine Country of SW Michigan but didn’t stop to sample or stomp the grapes this time. The finish was at Beef O’ Brady in Goshen where every car with an SBR member won a gift card for entering. For lots of pictures, go here.

 

October Membership Meeting

Breaking News-SBR Member, Dave Winter from South Bend Clutch will give a short presentation on clutch basics at the meeting Tuesday.

Reminder-South Bend Region has their monthly membership meeting at Mancino’s in Mishawaka on Tuesday, October 4th at 7:00 pm. We will discuss Solo, Race, Street Survival, Rally and take nominations for Regional Executive and Board positions.

Good food and free pop(soda).

A Weekend at Mid Ohio

A Weekend at Mid Ohio
September 17-18, 2011
Jeff Luckritz
#76 Spec Miata

The Ohio Valley Region hosted a restricted regional for Improved Touring Cars and Spec Miata’s as part of a Grand Am Series weekend. Since I haven’t been to Mid Ohio since the Runoffs were there and we were scheduled to get about 2.5 hours of track time for only $250, I decided to haul my ’99 Spec Miata(SM) over and have a fun weekend.

My dedicated crew consisted of my Dad, H.C. Colwell and Paul McBride. We arrived plenty early which allowed us time to be spectators for the Grand Am DP and GT cars along with the Continental Challenge Cars. While the DO cars were impressive(same ones that run 24 hrs of Daytona), the real fun was watching the 71 Continental Challenge cars. The racing was close and it was incredible to see BMW M3′s, Camaro’s and Mustangs all duke it out on the challenging road course.

As for my race weekend, it was laid back, yet challenging. The first 30 minute session was practice and the second session was a 30 minute qualifying for the firs race on Sunday. After qualifying, I was 11th on the Spec Miata grid and made a plan to move up to the top 5. The first race went to plan as I moved up 6 spots and ended up 4th in SM and this would determine my starting position for race two.

For race two, Paul and H.C. Helped me swap tires. After checking fluid levels and tire pressures, we were ready for race two. Unfortunately, the rumors I heard about medium tread depth(2/32″) being slow were true. The car was all over the place and I was a sitting duck for the SM cars on the grid. I lost 9 spots and ended up 13th on the SM grid for the final race of the day.

We ate lunch, bolted on the well worn tires from Race 1 and checked the alignment. As soon as the green flag fell, I could tell that the tires made a huge improvement in handling. While I wasn’t passing 2 cars a lap, I definitely was more competitive and managed to pick up 4 spots and finish a respectable 9th in SM out of 24 cars.

I’ll probably run the ’99 SM in the last Solo on October 9th, but my 2011 race season is over. Time to think about improving the car over the winter for the 2012 season.

Jeff Luckritz

The September PitBoard yours to see

The current PitBoard will be in the mail shortly. But you can read it now by clicking here: Sept 2011 PitBoard. Enjoy.

Don’t miss your Last Chance for Glory!

Make sure you come to our final event of the season, October 9th at Tire Rack! This is your last chance to earn points for the 2011 season.

There’s a real battle for the Tire Rack Index this year, with the top eight drivers all over 400 points. The race will be really tight… Steve Bollinger, William Loring, John Koster, Ross Bollinger, Rich Hammond and more are all in position for one of the closest finishes in recent memory.

Don’t miss out!

Results will be posted at sbrscca.org soon.

Register online here: Register

Make Your Move!

This Sunday is the SBR Solo Points Event #6 at the Tire Rack! We have a fun new feature for this event to make a day of solo even more fun and laid back…. Subs so Fast You Freak!

Jimmy John’s is coming to the event and taking orders at registration. So you can have one less thing to pack, or worry about trying to run out quick during the lunch break.

They will set up near registration and take orders. If this goes well we will work out future discounts for members and their involvement in more events with the club.

So pack the car, bring an appetite and we will see you on Sunday! And if you haven’t registered… do it online to save time at registration on Sunday morning!

Register: Online

Get Ready to Ramble!

Save this date: October 2, 2011.

Our first rally in decades.

And a $10 entry earns you a $25 gift certificate! Profitable fun indeed!

Details here: Oct 2011 rally

 

Videos of my 2011 Nationals runs

I’ve uploaded video of my first run on the west course, and my third run on the east course. Each of these were my fastest for the day.

Thanks to Zach at www.speedwaymotors.com for recording these. He’s a video production guy for Speedway Motors, who are based in Lincoln, NE. He’ll be putting together a compilation video which should appear on Speedway’s youtube channel.

West Course: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZbfJ-2GotE

East Course: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L34-SgOI0P0

Speedway Motors: http://www.youtube.com/user/SpeedwayMotorsInc

Zach’s 2010 Nationals video: http://www.youtube.com/user/Speedway…87/pTCvudqDqkc
(look for a Celica cameo!)

William Loring
G-Stock #63, 2000 Toyota Celica GT