Fubar, continued from page 6
and reflecting on the lack of fun I had on track, I think it might be my final appearance driving in this event. Anyone interested in comments on the Stewards at this year’s races can refer to a discussion on the Formula Ford Underground, but my problems with transponder, though embarassing, were minor compared to numerous screwed up black flags and the like. One can also refer to the CenDiv Website for proposed groupings in National racing, but nowhere does it recommend a mix of FM and FF. The Mazda chassis with its stout construction and side pods makes any spindly FF a sitting duck in a confrontation, so I take great pains to avoid them, which generally translates into forgetting about running anything close to a racing line at Road America. Starting a race with 80 cars in the same class is challenging fun, and I did that back in the 70s. Doing the same thing with over half the field sporting 70 more horsepower and more than willing to stick a nose next to your rear wheel entering turn 1, the Kink or coming out of Canada under the bridge is stupidity, and I’m slowly becoming less stupid. But the real problem here falls not with the race organizers, but with the SCCA trying to shoehorn 24 classes of cars into 8 groups. Such class mixing had fatal results a few years ago at the Sprints. A quick review of the numbers shows 7 classes (SRF, FC, FM, FF, GT1 & EP and FV in that order) providing 290 of the almost 460 cars entered, or almost two thirds of the total. It’s been said before and I’ll say it again, our club must control the number of classes at National events both for the drivers and for the casual racing fan trying to make some sense of what is happening on the track. If my class of car doesn’t make the cut, I’ll buy another one or stick to Regional racing.
Who's New in Membership
by Lois Bjelke
We have 1038 members, including six dual members. We gained 30 new members in May and 19 in June. July shows 55 members due to renew, 93 in August, and 51 members who have June dates have not yet renewed. Denver has dropped 42 people who were due to renew in May and have not yet done so.
Please be sure to keep us informed of changes in name and/or address.
Send changes to Lois Bjelke, 251 16th Ave. N.W., New Brighton, MN 55112-7173, 651-633-7096, testarossa@visi.com.
All other membership questions/concerns should be directed to John Parizek, 5646 Cedarwood Trail NE, Prior Lake, MN, 55372-1330, spinout@uswest.net. 952-496-1919,
Have a great month!
Tonneau On-Line August 2001
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Copyright 2001, Land O'Lakes Region Last revised: March 13, 2003
