Meeting today, October 15th, 2025 at Carl’s shop, Laurel Auto Clinic. Laurel, MT. Attendees tonight include Carl, Jordan, Micah, Briant, Luke, Dave, Jared, Lane, Chris, Kindra and Matt. The usuals. Dave had to dig through Carl’s ginormous tool box, found a 1/4″ drive extension that was almost 5′ long and big ol’ sockets for something. I think there was a broken ratchet too, it had a removable driver. Lane and Jared were gonna use it as a koozie for their Crystal Light. Carl wasn’t worried tho because Dave is good at putting things back where he finds them. Darrin was MIA again, Briant had to go and retrieve the trophy from last year’s banquet, Luke brought his in like a good boy. If you are going to attend the Year End Banquet, look to Facebook for the address. Oh wait. You’re reading this?!? Here are the deets:
End of year Banquet October 24th at 6pm
HDR Beartooth Room
2909 Millennium Circle
Billings, MT 59102
****It is a BYOB (Bring Your Own Beverage) situation, please no alcoholic drinks. We are a car club, it is important we portray ourselves as such. Drinking and driving isn’t cool, man.
We will have ‘O Reilly’ cool bucket to raffle so take those dollars out of your Planet Lockwood stash and bring them with ya for the fun
Also, it is a Pot Luck. Please bring a side to share, Matt has the macaroni salad on lock (yuk) so we don’t need any of that, thank you. BIIIGGGG thank you to Lockwood IGA for supplying us with burgers, dogs and buns for this night of frivolity. We are trying to get a sign up sheet going for the event, but just like planning weather 6 months in advance, you might end up with a crappy spread. Just bring something! Gonna be lots of fun and ALL club members are invited!****
*Treasurers Report:
Lane reports we have $20,846.60. Pronto charges have been paid, $675. Cotters has been paid for the Metra event $170. Lane still has “some hundreds of dollars” in petty cash as well. If you’re reading this and are a numbers nerd, you will see that the total has dropped a bit this month. That is because the Metra event was a BIG LOSER and didn’t pay out at all. No surprise since it was basically raining the entire time.
*Metra – Still no response from our begging about next year. Fingers crossed.
*4 wheeler – Carl has donated some time and parts to get the raggedy old cone chaser up and running a little bit better. Some carb work, voted tonight for some new tires. Lane will get those going for us and get them put on for our first RallyX event. Matt says he wants the knobbiest tires. hmmm. We will keep the old tires for summer, so we’re not blowing through a set every year or so. Thanks Carl!
*Trailer – If you were wondering about the trailer fender on Sunday at the Metra, The interstate traffic was awful and a Jeep (go figure) slammed on their brakes in front of Carl going home in the rain that Saturday evening. The trailer slid sideways a bit and the passenger fender has been recontoured. Carl is working on procuring a replacement and will get it installed.
*Safety Meeting – The new updated child riders guidelines have been solidified, our safety meeting papers have been updated. There is no longer a height requirement for riders. ONLY MINIMUM AGE REQUIREMENTS. Riders MUST HAVE online consent filled out and approved by SCCA headquarters PRIOR to the day of the event. Underage riders MUST BE 12 YEARS AND OLDER. A reminder to potential riders and parents: The online form is through the SCCA website and takes a little over a week for approval. Please plan accordingly.
*QR code – It was brought to our attention that the QR code is hard to read/scan if its wet. Chris suggested to get one for the trailer door that is laminated to keep it easier to use for spectators and drivers. It was also brought up that the free QR code generated code expire over time. Who knew?
*Helmets – The new helmet regulations have come out, we have 10 total helmets, all Snell2015 or newer. Ours are good until 2030. Remember to check yours, make sure to have that model year be BEFORE 2015. If yours is a 2010, time to start shopping, they’re only good through 2026. Chris asked if there was a group buy in with the SCCA to get a better price on a new helmet. Carl said he would look into it, but that the helmet might have LOANER on it. It would be important to differentiate yours from the clubs unless you spraypainted it, or put a sticker on it or something. More to come.
*Rally CleanUp – Clean up day was a success, various areas were more than broke in by Dean, who used not one tank of gas in his car but had to go into town for more fuel half way through the day. Jordan used the GPS to guesstimate where the course was, smart. The course is ready to go for our inaugural Night Rally!!
*Posters – RallyX posters are on their way, they should be finished this week. Dan will be retiring, so it is uncertain where we will get our posters from. Maybe we could lock in someone to donate their time and skills to the club for posters in the future. Put those thinking caps on and help us get this figured out. Posters are one of the ways we advertise our events and schedule, and show off our cool cars.
*Visibility – Lane will see what we can do about visibility vests/reflective apparel for the bucket workers to make sure they’re able to be seen. Not sure what they’ll look like. Maybe a glo-belt? Maybe a glo-strappy number? We will see what he comes up with and they’ll be available for those who choose.
*NIGHT RALLY – Like the snow and cold. Like Daylight Savings. Like an eventual caffeine crash, RallyX is coming. Tech and setup is at 12pm at YDS. Drivers meeting will be at 2pm on Saturday (November 8) so each group will have a session in the dusk and in the dark. Track will go hot at 3pm. “Lunch” will be sometime between sessions so bring your heated lunchbox/tiny crock pot. A little vague here because it is the first one. The weekend will continue with fun on Sunday, November 9 with RallyX as usual in the daylight hours. Drivers meeting Sunday at 10am. A little later than usual, but it will because the fun will be going into the late night hours of 9-10pm (This is a guess). The club has also rented a light plant from Midway, Jared will pick it up and place it in the pits for everyone to use. It is highly advised to BRING YOUR OWN LIGHT SOURCE (Remember ‘Safety 1st’). So come out and play with us! Come early. Hang out. Catch up. Just get out here! Google says the sunset will be at 4:50pm that day. This inaugural event will prove to be loads of fun and excitement!
*Timing lights – One had water in it (imagine that). Lane thinks he can acid bath it and get it to work again, but we decied during the meeting to get another for back-up/just in case. Lane will get that bought. I just realized the tresurer will be spending quite a bit of money this month. but its what we do. Make it. Save it. Use it. Jordan is devising a 3D printed cover that will sit over the lights in some manner to protect them from water intrusion in the future. We will give it a test run and see how it goes. Gotta be better than the ziploc baggies. Thanks Jordan!
*Safety Stewards – RallyX Safety Stewards include Bryant, Matt and Dean. We definitely need more. If you’re cool enough, look into it. Pretty much the same as AutoX, with the learning materials online and shadowing requirements for certification. If you think you got what it takes, get a hold of Briant. He’s the man.
*S4!t Street – WE NEED IDEAS!! Like dressing up? Like wearing makeup? Ever wondered in your helmet will fit your head if you’re wearing a wig? Enjoy thrift shopping at Good Will? Some say eating things has been played out. Dave, Luke, Jared and Lane think double drivers would be fun. How would that look? Sitting on each others laps? Leaning over to steer? Sitting behind the driver? We need some input. We talked about a coin operated start. Perhaps an old dryer coin slot that takes like 8 quarters. The driver would have to pick up the coins form the ground and slide them in before getting in their car. Maybe an interlock device with a super special shape that the driver would have to blow into to start the car. If paired with the best idea that had EVERYONE laughing so hard, we could call the verification person “The Insertion Inspector”. Jordan could, in theory, print us a 3D model, or some of the guys think they could cast their own. Hip Shifting is a pretty popular idea, ya know.
**IMPORTANT DATES**
Nov 8-9 – NIGHT RALLY at YDS (Yellowstone Drag Strip)
Dec 7 – YDS
Jan 11 – YDS
Feb 8 – Bridger (Flints)
March 1 – Bridger (Flints)
March 22 – Big Sky
April 12 – Big Sky
Someone mentioned Ice Racing in Minnesota. Carl looked into it, and on the SCCA sanctioning page, under SOLO classification, there IS a choice of course described as “frozen lake”. Discussion was centered around Cooney Dam. Chris mentioned arm floaties as a safety gear requirement. Someone else questioned what the requirements were for traction. Skates? Studded tires? I like fun and excitement, but I’m out on this one. No thank you. As we plan this winter for new and exciting shenanigans, remember. It’s not gay, it’s a club thing.ee