Meeting 7-9pm-ish on March 13th, 2024, with the monthly meeting always happening at Laurel Auto Clinic, aka “Carl’s Shop” Laurel, MT. The large turnout included Carl, Matt, Jared, Micah, Darrin, Luke, Briant, Lane, David, Estephan, Caleb, Chris and Kindra. That is one more than ever before, and Carl had to go dig up another chair. Literally. It was dirty, ancient, and kind of leaned to the side.
—-*Carl Jones (El Jefe), Matt (El Jefito), Lane Baumann (Treasurer), and Kindra Munda (Secretary) graced us with their presence this evening*—-
TREASURERS REPORT – Lane reports that the club’s finances include: $17,736.95, which does not include a $77 payment that needs sent out for Tech Stickers and an outstanding check to CW for $1250. (This is up from $750 due to more use of his property and plans are to take CW payment out of RDO sponsorship). Also not included is an outstanding payment from MSR, no payments deposited for Rally thus far, and a fair amount of cash to deposit. Word in the shop is that Rally is breaking even this year, and that the treasurer’s report prior to this season of Rally was in the 16-27k range.
Rally – As we wrap up another fun season of the emotional trauma we call Rally, our event March 10th at Big Sky Speedway was a hit. Lots of cars, lots of spectators, and lots of dust. It was a beautiful day too. Spring is right around the corner! There was even a certain Beetle making some lame Knock-Knock jokes. I guess they were more along the lines of Tap-Tap jokes, and they were pretty sad actually. Getting into the course was at the last minute, the gate code was not quite relayed to our guys for early set up. But they worked hard (or was it hardly working…) 😊 and did a fantastic job. It was a long and fast course!
There is nothing new for the next Rally, and Build Wars is in the works at YDS. Come join us at YDS for the last Rally of 2023-2024 season, April 14. This is the last event to clinch that 1st place title and hopefully it is another beautiful day. Sure to be fun, exciting, and high adrenaline to see who will take home the title of Rally Champ! Word of caution, be sure to keep all of your adrenaline in your custom embroidered Do-Rag or thong. This is the most logical place to store it. Lane can hook you up with those if you are interested.
Screen/Live Timing – The monitor/TV on the outside of the trailer was exceptionally awesome at BSS this past event. The screen was able to display the record of times (some faster, some slower….), the last 20-25 people in order of runs (Darrin was trying to jump the line in front of Matt), the last lap with cone penalties (some without penalties, some with many penalties). Chris bought and donated a TV mount for the screen, as this past weekend it was ratchet strapped to the wheel fender on the trailer. This TV mount might be able to allow the monitor to be at the nose of the trailer and in higher view for more people to see. If the TV mount doesn’t work, we will take it back and give it to Kindra’s mom. She needs one too but doesn’t know the wonderful benefits of a mounted TV just yet. She is old.
Axware – was having a complete meltdown at BSS and needed some fruit snax and a nap during the March Rally event. Apparently, there was an update, and some new uploads were done recently as is done every year. It seems to be a communication issue between the software and the hardware (Axware vs. FarmTec). I guess there is some sort of update that can be done without the uploads and Lane will work on rolling back (down grading) the software to fix this issue. Uploads include new PAX time measurements, and those can be entered manually just as easily and without the software throwing its fruit snax on the floor and then and demanding more fruit snax. Hopefully Lane can get Axware to cooperate before the next Rally. Upgrading the hardware was discussed, but Pronto is very expensive and costs hundreds every weekend, whereas Axware costs a couple hundred a year. At this time, we don’t have a rich benefactor in a top hat to give us this new system, or pay for it for us, so we will keep Axware as is and try to get it to settle down before the next event. The threat of time out are ongoing.
Blah Blah Blah…. Bridger runway light debt is still outstanding, blah blah blah. Many attempts…. *Yawn*. Something about the light and fixing it. Will attempt again. (Yes, copy and paste here). The discussion this evening was to bake a rather large pie of unknown flavor and cook the payment right into it so YR can be free from the weight of debt. Bridger is not quite final, but there is no stress here. Things fall into place relatively well. Matt and Carl will go to the Bridger City council meeting April 2 to finalize.
The AutoX schedule is done. Metra dates are solidified, Carl just needs a price from them. As for the Helena events, Matt is on it, and the rules and regulations will be the same as last year. We will pay after the event. Remember, if there isn’t a load of pre-registration for the co-op with Bozeman September 7-8, Loren won’t be able to use the full lot. Please make sure to come, even if it is the only event you drive out of town for. Loren is excited for us to make this event, and we all know how fun it is when Loren attends our events. YR will bring timing stuff just in case. Be sure to give Bozeman all the props for this event. They are gonna get smashed and they don’t even know it yet. Thank you, Matt, for doing your volun-told assigned duties. (I am leaving this in for repetition. I want everyone to come because I want to use the full lot. It sounds like it will be a blast!) Please make sure to set aside vacation time from work, schmooze up to the GF or BF, Wife or Hubby, get your chores done up early, order those racing parts and slap on a new-to-you set of rubber so we can get as many drivers out to this event as possible!!
Trailer cleanup. Can’t have fun without doing some crap jobs. The trailer will need to be cleaned and the cones polished for this summer. We want those bright and shiny cones blinding our competition early so they know first thing that they’re gonna get clapped this year. We agreed that the trailer cleanup day will be after the last Rally April 14, (last day for Rally camouflage) but before Tech Day (May 4th). Date is set on April 28 and will happen at Lane’s house. Yes, there will be more cone cookies….. Maybe this time these cone cookies will be *shiny and NOT black or dirrrrty*
Merch. Discussion was held about the number and colors and style of remaining merchandise held by YR 108. It was put to vote and decided that 50 ball caps in each color blue and driftwood will be ordered, 50 beanies in the color and style of the seller’s choice. We are leaving fate (Dynamic Designs) to decide this important decision, so it doesn’t matter even if they’re ugly, we expect every member to buy one. No exceptions.
Shirts and sweatshirts will be ordered in the amounts of 66 sweatshirts, 100 t-shirts and will include the new logo with the majority of sizes being L and XL. No one wanted white, years past they were used for rags after they failed to sell. It was voted and decided to have a nice darker grey and a brighter blue that is nice and attractive. (Baby blue and B5 Blue were NOT chosen as they are awful colors.)
Archie Cochrane – Lane was able to reach Jason and discussion was had about the sponsorship. Jason approved Tech Day at the dealership, in the Front Lot, no less! Also, he wants to do a radio ad and pay for entry fees and a Metra Event. It was decided that 6k would cover one day at the Metra, porta pots, and 100 registrations for one day. When Micah has the new logo finalized, we will send it to Jason for advertising. We will put our new logo on the shirts that Jason will make, and we are hoping for some cheaper t-shirts this year, as the last ones were hella-sweaty and thicccccc, Matt reports. It was discussed and planned that we would have Jason sponsor the August 3 event, radio ads, limited registrations, and trophies for a set number of overall umbrella classes. Talks included capping the free registrations at 100, as concern was expressed about not giving away so many free registrations that we overrun our ability to conduct a safe event, while still allowing as many as possible to ‘drive up’ the interest in SCCA. August was chosen because there was still time for those that are new to get another event or two under the belts of new drivers before the end of AutoX season. This could allow them to continue finding interest in SCCA before the snow flies. Some rules about the radio ad include: NO “RACING, COMPETING” words, no minors, (18+ and this will be strictly enforced), and must pass tech inspection Also discussed was how to allow MSR to get the registrations to be free, without them taking $2 out of a no charged registration. It was discussed that we could charge $5, and then MSR could take their $2, and the drivers would get their $5 back at the end of the day so we could do Buck Runs. More to come with this developing awesomeness. Any ideas should be brought to the meetings…. (hint, hint)
RDO – We will have a sponsorship from RDO again, and we will continue putting their logo on the clothing merch as it is ordered to help support and recognize this steadfast and repeating donor.
Safety Stewards – Briant is waiting for volunteers for safety stewards. He has the coursework together. If you are interested in helping out with this, let him know. The registration is online, and interested persons must log in to their SCCA account to initiate the process. Steps are so simple, even a race car driver can do it!
1. Ask Divisional for permission to become a Safety Steward (Easy!)
2. Fill out the online application (So simple!)
3. Shadow 2 events (Rally Safety Steward is not the same as AutoX Safety Steward, it is a different form and NOT interchangeable) (have fun AND learn?!? WOW!!)
4. Finally, there is application verification (Make sure you did the right steps in the right order and learned all the right things. Also easy!!)
Remember, without our Safety Stewards, we couldn’t have the fun times we do. Please consider signing up for this important position! As always, a big thank you to all our Safety Stewards for everything you do to keep us up and running safely!
**IMPORTANT DATES**
April 14 – Last Rally at YDS ☹
April 21 – Fix the dirt out at the Rally course, and if the 21 is a crappy weather day, will do the 28th.
April 28 – Trailer cleanout at Lane’s house (message him for address)
May 4 – Tech Day at Archie Cochrane’s front Lot
May 18-19 – Bridger Season Opener 😊
As always, monthly club meetings are fun and exciting. Many ideas, fun discussions, and fun people. Discussion post-adjourning involved the upcoming Hooptie and what the challenge this year might be. Many ideas were presented, but I believe a winning idea involves, well, I guess you just should have been there.