Rimrock Truck Center I, September 12, 2018

Another successful season for the YRSCCA! The region celebrated at The Windmill/Bar 51 in February to close out 2017 and present awards. Good food and good fun was had by all! We are all looking forward to another great season in our Yellowstone Region!

The Dick Hager Memorial – Spirit of the Sport 2017 – was awarded to J. Reuss. Unfortunately, J. could not join us due to his “obligation” to be in Las Vegas.

The 2017 Driver of the Year Award recipient was David Greenfield. David also couldn’t attend the dinner and his trophy will be given to him at his earliest convenience.

J. was also gifted with an award in appreciation for his service to the Yellowstone Region for the last 10 years.

Abarth Track Experience

Want to learn how to really drive a Fiat Abarth? Just buy one and use your VIN to register for the freeAbarth Track Experience at one of several professional race tracks around the country. It’ll be the high performance drive of your life!

The Region Webmaster/Secretary-Treasurer/Newsletter Editor took me to the exclusive Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL, west of Chicago, to celebrate our wedding anniversary in a Fiat. Our day-long Track Experience included driving both autocross and a road course, definitely an exhilarating experience for a novice. The Autobahn is performance car heaven with no speed limits where individual memberships can be purchased for a $35,000 initiation fee and annual dues of $4,000. Yellowstone Region could purchase a corporate membership (4 designated members) for an initiation fee of only $112,000 and annual dues of $16,000 a great club investment! Check out venue features atÂ http://autobahncc.com/

The upscale event began with a shuttle ride from the parking lot to the clubhouse and a spin around the ample breakfast buffet. We drivers need to keep up our strength! Orientation included a brief video about Karl Alberto Abarth (pronounced “Ah-Bart”), the Austrian genius who started his career designing and racing motorcycles. A friend of Ferry Porsche, Abarth turned to car design and in 1952 built the first Abarth 1500; eventually Abarth became the racing department of Fiat. And then we bought one.

Before buckling into one of the fleet of Abarths parked curb-side, each driver got a flash drive to video every event with two in-car cameras, one facing the road and one facing the driver; a computer also tracked the car’s position on the course and the lap/time/MPH/RPM in real-time. Of course, I’m sure we drove much faster than the telemetry indicated.

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We 52 drivers were assigned to either “Team Shake & Bake” or “Team Hollywood,” so our goal was to beat the other team in two timed autocross events. The first course gave each driver a chance to race the clock; fast time was turned in by Bobby, our S&B team leader, at just over 26 seconds. The second figure-8 course was a head-to-head competition that pitted two drivers against each other on mirrored courses; this was definitely more exciting and challenging because of a required full stop in the middle of the run. J won the face off competition among the Shake & Bakers.

Each event venue offered shade and snacks (again, for keeping up our strength!), welcome hospitality in the Midwest where August heat and humidity are usually oppressive though our weather was perfect. A gourmet lunch offered the chance to talk with other Abarth owners of all ages, shapes, and skill levels, and the cadre of professional drivers who coached us at each event.

During breaks from our road course work on the North Course, we watched local drivers in a various cars blast around the South Course. We also checked out the fleet of performance cars Autobahn members can rent. (J. was whining about taking out the Ferrari California pictured below, but I told him he could only drive yellow cars.)

Then it was our turn to hit the North Course, a 1.46 mile circuit with 9 turns (6 right + 3 left), marked with braking, turn, and apex cones. We put on helmets and jumped into an Abarth where a professional driver was already in the passenger seat, waiting to coach us through the course. We plugged in the flash drive and hit the track. It was AWESOME, and I could definitely give up my day job to just go FAST.

Each driver had seven turns to drive the 2 laps of the course before pulling into pit lane and waiting while others drove with ourcoach. Initially, we were limited to 3^rd gear; as we learned the track in successive drives, we could use all gears, as fast as we wanted to go. With each drive, our coach had less advice for me as I began to figure out what those cones really meant; I finally conceded that he might be right about how to get around the course, braking strategically and using the full 40 feet of track width.

The last event of the day was our ride-along with a professional driver at the wheel who showed us what an Abarth can do on the road course when it’s driven by someone who drives for a living. But just like at our local events, being a passenger is much less fun than being a driver so I would have given up that hot lap for lots more of my own.

Remarkably, with no racing modifications, the Abarth stood up to every driver’s skill, from those of us who had no experience to hard-core seasoned drivers. Want to elevate your heart rate and learn about driving a great car FAST? Drive the Abarth Track Experience!

Summit Meeting Between Yellowstone Region and Maui SCCA

Yellowstone Region Webmaster J. Reuss recently met with Maui SCCA Webmaster, Spiritual Leader, and Chief Menu Advisor, Scott Hughes, at La Perouse Bay in south Maui. (La Perouse has a rich history. It was at La Perouse that the first Westerners set foot on Maui. When French explorer Jean Francois de Galaup La Perouse landed there in 1786, scores of Hawaiians from the village came out from the village of Keone’o’io to greet him.)

J. was unable to attend Maui SCCA’s February event at Maui Raceway Park this year, but Scott was kind enough to provide a tour of south Maui to J., the “Team Owner,” the Newsletter Editor, and her roommate (and former Region member), Jerod Staebler. Scott has lived in Kihei for many years and had many insights to offer about south Maui and its beautiful features and activities.

Scott noted that participation at Maui SCCA events over the past 3-5 years has averaged about 10-12 drivers per event. The rough pavement at Maui Raceway Park (a former military airfield) is the source of 99% of the Region’s issues. Many participants do not return after one or two events because of the fractured and abrasive paving which can be tough on tires and cars. There have also been plans in the works to build a prison on the site, which could lead to a better venue. However, the powers that be continue to have difficulty finding $275M to build the new facility.

Region Featured on “Angela’s Adventures” on KTVQ

“Angela’s Adventures” is a segment that airs every other Sunday on Q2 at 5:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. The focus of each story is on an outdoor activity. The goal behind each story is to motivate Montanans and Wyomingites to get out and enjoy their surroundings. Angela (and her cameraman) visited the Region’s Father’s day event at GM Petroleum on June 19th and were given a quick introduction into the sport of autocross/solo. Like all other first-timers, Angela walked the course and took her first runs under the capable tutelage of an experienced driver–in this case–Regional Executive Chris Brewer. In quick order, Angela was looking for more speed out of Brewer’s Mini. Angela also rode with Scott Cranston in his GT3 and R.J. Matthews in his STI. (However, the real highlight was shoehorning Angela’s cameraman–and camera–into the back seat of Brewer’s car!) Click here to see and hear more about her visit.

Angela’s Adventures: Autocross Solo Racing

BILLINGS – From April through September drivers of the Yellowstone Region Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) rev up their engines and put their race cars to the test.”I think a lot of people are in it for the same reasons and I think it’s mostly the adrenaline rush,” explains autocross racer, RJ Matthews. “It’s an exciting sport, it gets the blood pumping.”

Fellow racer, Caitlin Reuss, agrees. “I just love the adrenaline rush,” Reuss says. “You come out here and compete, I compete with my brothers. My favorite part is when I beat my brothers.”

SCCA is the largest automotive motorsports organization in the world and has been around for more than 60 years.

Chris Brewer has been racing for several years and loves the speed factor.

“My favorite thing is going around a corner and the car is sliding and you get the G-forces on you,” Brewer says. “It just puts a smile on my face.”

After those enthusiastic reviews, I’m eager to get behind the wheel. But first, like all beginners, I have to walk the course… before I hit the gas.

With white lines of chalk as your boundaries and cones to guide you in the right direction, the course takes an average of 40 seconds to complete – low 30s if you’re fast.

Hitting a cone tacks on two seconds to your overall time.

The first car I drove was Brewer’s mini cooper. I got the biggest thrill while slaloming. Slaloming is when you weave though the cones.

In addition to the mini cooper, the passenger seat of Matthew’s Subaru STI was also calling my name.

“It has lots of traction and it’s turbo charged,” Matthews explains. “It’s perfect for a venue like this.”

After that, I rode shotgun in a GT3 Porsche.

“It’s rated top speed on on a race track is 195 mph,” explains driver, Scott Cranston.

If you have the need for speed, autocross racing is a good and legal option.

“I like the fact that I can do that and there’s no blue lights flashing in the rear view mirror,” Brewer points out.

It keeps you out of trouble with the law and it also improves your everyday driving skills.

“I know how to control a car better when I’m spinning out or fishtailing on the icy roads,” Reuss says. “I can control the car better and I learned that here.”

So, if you’re looking for a high speed adventure that’s bound to give you a thrill, Autocross racing is it.

Region Members Dominate H Stock at the Maui SCCA Opener

The marquee matchup at Maui SCCA’s opening event on February 27th featured Karl Rohlfing in his beautiful Factory 5 Cobra and the Region’s Newsletter Editor in a “borrowed” Hyundai Accent. You will want to read the full story in the April Fast Times. The Newsletter Editor and her father dominated the H Stock class at the event. To see results and photos from the event, click on http://mauiscca.net

Region Members Make Good Showing at Top Gun

Six Region members ventured northwest to participate that the TOP GUN 2010 in Helena. Among 74 timed entries, Dean Johnson placed 2nd in C Stock, Mike Moore 2nd in D Stock, R.J. Matthews 1st in B Street Prepared, Randy Roberts 1st in G Prepared, Jolene Roberts 1st in G Prepared Ladies, and Dave Marble 4th in Street Modified. R.J. took top time of day in Street Prepared and Jolene was top time of day in Prepared Ladies. Way to go guys–and gals!