Meeting 7-9:00pm-ish on March 6th, 2025, with the monthly meeting happening at Laurel Auto Clinic, aka “Carl’s Shop” Laurel, MT. As always. Attendees tonight were Carl, Matt, Jessica, Allison, Dean, Kaylie, Shannon Adams, Codi, Micah, Darrin, Lane, Luke, Dawn, Brad, Chris and Kindra. Shannon comes to us from the Southeast Seaboard. Welcome!! The meeting started *On time* tonight, and a few stragglers came in a little late. Never has been an issue, and late comers are always welcome. Come to a meeting even if it is a little late. And bring your dinner too. No one really cares, but we might try to bum a French fry from ya.
—-*Carl Jones (El Jefe), Matt Boggio (El Jefito), Lane (Treasurer) and Kindra Munda (Secretary) graced us with their presence this evening*—-
TREASURERS REPORT:
The club’s finances include: $16,550 and some change. The club still needs to pay CW for the use of YDS for this Rally season ($750), Cotters for Flint’s February event and Arrow for the upcoming Big Sky Speedway events. More financial news….
*Square – Square has increased their rates (booooo) from 2.6% of each transaction + $.10 a swipe to 2.6% of each transaction + $.15 a swipe. (Wow, might break the bank here folks…..) We see no reason to investigate other avenues for card acceptance at event locations at this time.
*MSR – Motor Sports Reg has increased their rates. It has traditionally been about 5.5% – 5.7% of each transaction scheduled through their website with an additional $2 taken off the top for their services. So small of an increase, again, the club sees no reason currently to investigate other avenues. Not to mention, MSR has great publicity with their emails. If you’re not signed up to receive them, I would recommend. Shows events in the area, and not just ours. It’s nice to play in someone else’s sandbox once in a while.
*SCCA – There has been an increase in sanction fees and weekend memberships costs. Rally is still $14, but AutoX has increased to 16.50 per driver per day, and 1st time drivers. We discussed possibly increasing rates for AutoX to help cover the spread to $35/per driver per day, and $45/per driver per day for Metra events (due to the Metra being incredibly proud of their asphalt). At this time, it will stay the same, and we will revisit this topic at the next Club meeting. Come and have some fun with us and give us your $.02 worth of opinion. You know you want to……
*LET’S GET READY TO RALLY!!! – We continue RallyX season 2024/2025. Februruarury event at Flint’s was a success, after being rescheduled. Wind and snow made drifts over the country road within minutes into and out of Flint’s on February 23. After 4 hours of plowing and blowing and blowing and plowing, fun was eventually had by all. Winds blew drifts into the road after some members arrived, and got drifted in. While late comers got drifted out. It was pretty intense and needless to say, the event was rescheduled to the following Sunday. March 2nd was the new date, and this turned out to be a great day for Rally. We had about 22 drivers, some new, but most were seasoned. The sun was out (mostly), the course was dry (mostly), and the wieners were hot (fo sho)! Thanks for cooking, Angie! It was brought up to have a closer look at adjusting the track as the event continues, making sure that ruts are avoided, and that making improvements as the day unfolds. This is the responsibility of all participants, drivers and bucket workers. These points will be raised at the next safety meeting. The last two RallyX events are out at Big Sky and usually bring quite a few spectators. So, clean up the passenger seat, or take it out…. (your choice) and get ready to finish off this great season we have had!
*Antennae/Timing/Radios – The trailer antennae is still causing issues. Go figure. We are exploring ideas to increase signal, make it more sturdy and mountable, as well as transportable. Matt brought up an idea about making a collapsable mounting rod for it and would collapse and fold up to sit on the tongue of the trailer. Darrin and Lane discussed ideas to make a permanent mount on the trailer roof for attachment. We will see what these geniuses come up with. I’m sure it will be fabulous and fully functional. Other discussions included the radios used at the buckets and in the timing trailer. Darrin brought up that they have decreased in efficiency as the years roll on (much like someone who is semi-retired). Especially at Bridger and Helena. Helena discussion included interference from the airport and overall spread of venue, while the Bridger airport dilemma is the sheer length of the venue, not specifically the girth. Makes listening impossible and responding non-existent. Lane is going to look at the timing board to see if any welds have cracked and will repair if needed. The little timing board on the trailer display was sporadic and pretty much non-existent at the March 2 event, kind of like the diet and exercise regimen you started on New Years.
*AutoX 2025 – There is a lot gonna happen this season and we have solidified some great dates for the schedule Summer 2025. So, put those engines back together, get those tires ordered and make sure to have good brakes and wheel bearings! Remember, bungee cords are NOT proper battery tie downs. Carl will keep trying to fill August and September with a home event for all you ‘adrenaline junkies’ out there, but if it doesn’t happen, remember Helena RMESTC has events put up by other clubs. More to come with the schedule. Dan is working hard to get our posters finished. Brandon made the cover pic, (congrats) and when the proof is ready, Carl, Matt and Briant will proofread it before printing. We thought maybe Briant should sign off on it, with his signature, just to be sure he approves. New changes include the new (and bigger) logo, larger QR code…. We will need folks to help get these put up around town and in business windows, so come to the next meeting and grab your stack!
-> Cody, WY – No answer from either the Fairgrounds OR Fremont Motors. Sounds sus that they don’t want our money, no cap. But if they ring up and flip, that would be so tough frfr, bet.
-> Lewistown Speedway – Also no answer from anyone about anything. Ghosted again. But we’re used to it at this point.
-> Helena – Events were listed, as well as the regions associated with those dates. We will have limited Helena events listed on our schedule, but if you want more, look to MSR for those. They have a great schedule lined up this year and events in August if you need that monthly hit of adrenaline. Remember that the grass CANNOT have stakes driven in (sprinkler repairs suck and cost money) and that it is an alcohol-free zone.
-> ACF – We are hoping to have Archie Cochrane allow us to use their lot for Tech Day again May 3rd. We are also hoping they will sponsor us for the early Metra weekend in June. Lane will keep working on this to make it happen for us. Thanks, Lane!
-> Bridger and Season Opener “The Aviator Cup” –The Bridger Counsel meeting (when they talk about the use of the airport by our club) is on April 8, at 7pm. Carl and Matt will be there, to help promote the club. Anyone is welcome to attend, just don’t be smelly. Feel free to wear your YR108 gear to help promote our really cool but not really exclusive club. Fairly certain it will be a go this year as it has been in the past. It was mentioned that we will not only need to avoid the white strips (slick) but also some areas where the rubber snakes are coming up. It was mentioned that we could just do a mirror of last season. So that means that Carl will go off the track on the west side this year.
-> YDS – CW is ok with us using cold patch this next summer. He is uncertain if it will work but is willing to let us try. We decided to have 4 bags on hand at the first YDS event. We discussed the trailer legs of the “Draggie” big rigs tearing up our patches, and it was mentioned that they complain about the cold patch doing something to their tires (probably just using it as an excuse as to why they lost or some crap). We will see this summer how it goes. Hopefully it is a welcomed addition, as YDS is our most affordable venue.
-> The Shrine – Brad will look into getting a hold of the new-ish owners of The Shrine to see if we can utilize their asphalt for upcoming seasons. It used to be a regular venue but has not been in rotation lately.
-> Early season racing – It was brought up that sometimes, early season racing can be as unpredictable as a Montana Winter. If you happen to come to an event unprepared, we have lots of cool merch you can get to help cover that bald ass heads or those flat chesticles. Look for the Trailer or ask any club member for great hoodies, beanies and shirts with the NEW logo!
*Safety Stewards – WE NEED SOME MORE!! (Seriously. Plans this summer involve having a couple more Safety Stewards so sign up!) RallyX needs some (time is almost up for this season and requires a minimum number of events shadowing to become certified) and AutoX needs some too (Events start early, so it’s a great time to get going on the super simple process before the summer starts). If you’re interested, email SCCA Region Services first, then they will open the Portal of Awesomeness for you to enter and become certified. This is a ‘go at your own pace’ set up, and they will guide you through, as a Safety Steward may have once done for you on your first run in AutoX. After you request courses on becoming the very valuable and completely necessary Safety Steward, the Link of Safety will present itself to you. Please direct any questions to Briant.
EMAIL: regionservices@scca.com
*******Shout out to Dean and Luke for taking their time and pursuing their Safety Steward certification for YR108.
Thanks for helping keep us safe and making the courses fun!!*******
*$pon$or$hip – Thoughts on a sponsorship structure for the club. We discussed tiers, banners, shoutouts at safety meetings, logos on helmets and vinyl on the trailer, and plaques to showcase those who support us, with logo size possibly being a direct representation of how large the donation was. Sponsorship levels include:
Economy – $250-500
Daily Driver – $500-1500
Sports Car – $1500-3000
Performance – $3000 and up
The new, updated draft Lane presented tonight looked very nice. He has increased the description of the club and included average costs to help describe how our club uses the donations we receive. Make sure to mention the club to places you think might be interested in giving us some money. Talk to Lane or Carl if you have some ideas or to get the necessary fliers for tax reasons. Who doesn’t like free money…… $$$$
*Business Cards – THEY ARE HERE!!!! AND THEY ARE SOOOO GOOD LOOKIN’!! Come to the April meeting to get your stack to pass out. There’s not many left…. The idea here is to give out info if you come across someone who is interested. Maybe the guy with the Mustang at the gas station, or the kid at the car wash polishing that turd of a Honda with the suspension mods. Any cool car you think would be fun to invite. And not just for AutoX, but for RallyX too. It’s not too late to invite drivers to RallyX. Get out there and be approachable. Talk to strangers. That guy in the Post Office parking lot. Maybe not the dudes at the dispo that look like hooligans tho. Not those guys. But def ask that one ugly chick with the ginormous tires. Get the word out!
*Trailer Clean Out – That will be decided after the end of RallyX season but before Tech Day. More to come and a great time to be had by all. Many hands make light work so be sure to come out and have a blast with us (and I mean a fun time as well as the power washer).
*Starter School – The first Metra and hopefully the ACF sponsored event will be a great time to explore the possibilities of a Starter School (of sorts) for new drivers, interested people who don’t wanna commit to a full day of racing, or those who just wanna start slow (no pun intended) and just get their toes a little wet with AutoX. It was discussed to have the Starter School at one end of the Metra lot, with 2-3 simple features for folks to come and give it a go. For this, it was discussed we WILL need at least 4 Safety Stewards for the June Event at the Metra. We will still need to hash out parking, how to keep people separated, if we will run it one day or both days, along with actual track design and who will actually be there for this event. It was discussed also if someone wanted to do the Starter School in the am, and then the actual AutoX in the pm, we would need 2 safety meetings possibly. More to come about this exciting opportunity.
*Hooptie Day – The YDS event on June 8 event is a Saturday (not June 9th, 2024 like Matt was trying to make us believe. And the 8th being a Friday was another clue he was still a year behind) and will be the day to get your Hooptie out and come take a run with it. We discussed the Glizzy Gran Prix and maybe changing it up with ice cream. Possibly Choco-Tacos. I would prefer fudge-cicles myself.
** IMPORTANT DATES**
March 16 – RallyX Big Sky Speedway
April 13 – RallyX Big Sky Speedway
May 3 – Tech Day
Meeting adjourned promptly at 9pm. It was a cold and windy night, and I left pretty much right away because I have two jobs to support my car addiction. I basically work so my cars can have a better life. Grrtie, Steve and Suga. It’s a good thing.
