June 2017 Newsletter

 

June 2017

Sports Car Club of America – Yellowstone Region 108  

 
Rob Davis came down from Malta with his C Prepared 1988 Ford Mustang to place third overall at the first Yellowstone Drag Strip event of the 2017 Season. 
 
Meeting Minutes

June 2017 Meeting 

The monthly membership meeting of the Yellowstone Region SCCA was called to order by Regional Executive Dean W. Johnson on Sunday, June 4, 2017, at 6:30 a.m., at the downtown Perkins restaurant.

Minutes of Previous Meeting: A motion was MS&P to accept without addition or correction the minutes of the May 2017 meeting as published in the May 2017 issue of Fast Times.   

Treasurer’s Report: There was no Treasurer’s Report.

Old Business: There was no old business. 

New Business/Announcements: A discussion was held regarding the previous event at Rimrock Truck Center. 

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:45 a.m. when breakfast arrived. 

Yellowstone Drag Strip I

By the Roving Regional Reporter

When the course was set on Saturday, a large car hauler and an RV were parked in the middle of the site. However, drag strip personnel assured us that the owners had been notified and that the units would be moved Saturday evening. The RV was moved, but unfortunately the hauler’s owner was sidetracked by a business emergency (robbery), so some last minute adjustments to the starting area were necessary. However, all in all, it seemed to work our just fine.

 

Rob Davis left Malta at 4:30 a.m. to be the first at the drag strip gate. Rob is a member of the Montana Region in Great Falls, but it was nice of him to bring is CP Foxbody Mustang to the event. Rob placed 3rd overall.

Fast time of the day went to David Greenfield in his always-fast Mitsubishi Evo. Nipping at David’s heels (0.632 seconds back) was Nels Jensen in his 1985 Toyota Corolla. 

Finishing 4th, 5th and 6th were James Reuss in a C5 Z06 Corvette, Steve Gruver in his C4 Corvette, and Kaitlin Staebler in a C5 Z06 Corvette.

Filling out the top 10 were Dan McCarthy (Superformance MKIII), Ayrton Kuzela (Nissan GT-R), Jeremy Vansant (Nissan Skyline GT-R), and Guy Cox (Nissan 370X).

Steve Gruver topped the Pax time results followed by David Greenfield, Ayrton Kuzela, and Rob Davis.

28 drivers took a total of 225 runs on the long, fast course. The fastest times were just over a minute, and the average run was about 75 seconds. 

 Tristan Harriet did a real fine job in his 1991 Mazda MX-5 for his first event ever. 
 
 
MyT13B’s Corner

From the Regional Executive

My prediction last month that entry fees would need to be increased in the near future proved to be prophetic. Faced with an increase in lot rental for MetraPark, the Region felt it had no other option but to tack a $10 surcharge onto entry fees for that event. Although the $40 (members) and $50 (non-members) entry fee is pretty much in line with other Regions, we will study the numbers after MetraPark to see if continuing the surcharge will be necessary. 

The Region extends a hearty welcome to new members Carl and Jennifer Jones (1993 Ford Mustang) and Dan McCarthy (2002 Superformance MKIII).

If you were wondering how we have been awarding trophies, here is the process. The timing software (AXWare Systems) generates a number of reports including “Final Results,” “PAX Time Results,” “Raw Time Results,” and “Summary.” At the bottom of the Final Results report is a table entitled “Top Times of Day.” The first two lines are “Raw time” and “Pax.” The lines that follow are for the main classifications: Street, Touring, Prepared, Modified, etc. The winners of Raw time and Pax are always also class winners. To spread the trophies around, the next fastest cars in the classes of the winners of Raw time and Pax are awarded a trophy.

D.W.J. 

 Bob Schultz debuted his beautiful (and fast) 2009 BMW 135i at YDS I. (Bob previously campaigned a Pontiac GTO that was also in F Street class.)
 
 
 
Race Notes

From the Competition Chair

The 2017 trophies have finally arrived. The trophy winners for the first two events are as follows:

RIMROCK TRUCK CENTER I

Raw Time SSP Bill Blaquiere
Pax BS Dane Smith
Street GS Landon Horst
Heritage Street HCS Arthur Thompson
Touring STX Jim Coons
Street Prepared ASP David Greenfield
Prepared XP  James Reuss Street
Modified SM Cody Potts
Junior Cart JA Jerod Staebler
Prepared Ladies XPL Kaitlin Reuss

YDS I

Raw Time ASP David Greenfield
Pax BS Steve Gruver
Street SS Ayrton Kuzera
Touring STS Jeremy Vansant
Street Prepared ASP James Reuss
Prepared XP Nels Jensen
Street Modified SM Dan McCarthy
Modified EM Dean Johnson

Trophies will be available at the timing trailer at MetraPark. If you can’t make the event, contact one of the officers of the Region and we will figure out a way to get it to you.

Bill

 New Region member Dan McCarthy had a nice showing (7th overall) at YDS I with his gorgeous 2002 Superformance MKIII.
 
 
 
The Finish Line

From the Webmaster

As was reported late last fall, 2017 will be my last year with the Region, As a consequence, a number of Region positions will be opening up and need to be filled. The good news is that there is plenty of time for training before the end of the year. Please contact me if you would like to assume any (or all) of the following functions:

  • Secretary/Treasurer of the Region
  • Webmaster
  • Newsletter Editor
  • Club Photographer
  • Timing Trailer Maintenance and Transport
  • Solo Safety Steward Instructor
  • Timing Hardware and Software

The fact that I performed these functions for many years is proof that anyone can do it! 

Unfortunately, a low oil level was not the cause of the “oil pressure sensor malfunction” code on the $300 Civic. However, a new $32 VTEC solenoid sourced from eBay solved the problem. The K24 now revs happily–and quickly–to its ECU-controlled redline. However, an earlier problem has returned–“VSS Malfunction.” The VSS (vehicle speed sensor) was replaced early in the rebuild process, so I am hoping that lack of power to the sensor (blown fuse?) is the culprit. A troubleshooting flowchart has been downloaded from the interweb and further diagnosing will take place this evening, 

J. 

Next Monthly Meeting

June 25, 2017 (At workers’ breakfast prior to June 25th event at MetraPark Carnival Lot)

Muzzleloader Cafe at 6:00 a.m., 4912 Laurel Road, Billings, MT.

 
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