Meeting 7-9:00pm-ish on April 3rd, 2025, with the monthly meeting happening at Laurel Auto Clinic, aka “Carl’s Shop” Laurel, MT. As always. Attendees tonight were Carl, Briant, Darrin, Jared, Lane, Micah, Matt, Chris and Kindra. Record low attendance tonight, so we shrunk the circle and it really helped. Carl had to put away unused chairs tonight, and that could be a problem next month. May is Officer Voting and the start of AutoX so be sure to come and help make your club a better club! Even if you think you’ll be late, just show up! No one cares and being late never has been an issue as latecomers are always welcome. And bring your dinner too. No one really cares, but we might try to bum a French fry from ya. Or a Costco Muffin as long as they aren’t the dusty ones that Lane says suck. He said Costco got rid of all the good stuff like the cheap shoes that are awesome. Next time he will buy 2 pairs since his size was all gone before he realized they were so awesome. Darrin likes to buy $10 shoes every month and have a fresh pair. He just throws them out after 30 days since $10 isn’t a lot. Micah says that when one wears a size 16, there is no such thing as $10 shoes. He is right. Briant wonders if they sit in the ocean like other pieces of crap no one wants. The housing market for crustaceans just got a little more saturated. Probably drives down the cost. What poor crab wants to live in Darrin’s smelly old shoe?
—-*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: $16,193.43. Lane went on a spending spree ($143.81) and purchased some new hardware for timing. Carl also spent some club money.
*BATTERIES, CABLES, ANTANNAS, oh my! – Batteries (9v), cables, mounting hardware. The old antenna was wrecked, and so he considered the issues we have had in times past at Bridger and Helena and sprung for not one, not two, but THREE new antennas to help fill the diverse needs of our club. One is smaller, yet satisfying and has a magnetized base. Perfect for regular events and the normal stuff. The next is a lot longer and girthier and has a couple
U-bolts for better mounting. This one is better for those events that take a little planning and can really go the distance. The third is MASSIVE and is saved for those special occasions when one really wants to put the hurt on. We call that one “The Slice”. It is not omni-directional like the previous ones and must be pointing in the proper direction for the best results. Lane also grabbed some larger screw-in antennas for the timing lights. These screw in and out for storage and can be swapped depending on the event location and placement of timing from trailer. Carl got us 6 new long-range radios. These use the same batteries and charging base as the old and are compatible with our current setup. These longer-range radios will be saved for the trailer and the furthest buckets. Carl says they are the best of the best of the best (without having a license for radios. Which I didn’t know was a thing). 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.
*Timing – Lane will make up some instruction sheets for timing in the event he is unable to attend a meeting. This will help ensure a smooth event with the new equipment.
*SANCTIONING – It’s open and ready to register. Sanctioning and MSR are up and ready for our first three events, including season opener, The Aviator Cup at Bridger Airstrip. Be sure to get registered and look for those emails from Haggerty/MSR. If you think you’ll be traveling or just want to play outside your usual area code (sorry Montana and Wyoming), you can always find events on their website. Our events are listed as well as Bozeman and others. Check it out, sign up and let’s get ready! Carl has updated the classing online to reflect 2025 rules, so if you see anything that looks too TOO TOO crazy, let him know.
*SANCTIONING (PT 2) – The SCCA has been asking for course design when the application for sanctioning is submitted. This has not been an issue in the past, but moving forward, we will need to have a better idea and plan for course design. This has forced our hand in making some decisions regarding members who can/will/should be in charge of course design. Past meetings we discussed having dedicated course designers, grunts, quality control, and various methods of track testing and decision making. Tonight, a lengthy discussion was had surrounding course designers and quality control. It was decided that there will be two (2) course designers at every event, with one (1) grunt to sling cones and be the split decision maker if the designers cannot agree on a feature or direction for the course. There will also be one (1) quality control person who will run the course and make any small changes in course design to help with flow and provide a fresh set of eyes. It was also discussed that the track designers should also be safety stewards since the design must be approved by a safety steward prior to the event. This suggestion will help smooth out event day for our club and lessen the number of people that need to be involved in track set up. Any questions can be directed to Carl.
*SCCA – There has been an increase in sanction fees and weekend memberships costs. AutoX has increased to 16.50 per driver per event and an additional $16.50 for non-members per event. We discussed increasing rates for AutoX to help cover the spread and voted this evening. Fees will increase the same amount as sanctioning costs have increased, which is $5 I believe. Look to MSR for new registration costs and be aware that different venues have different fees.
Chris also proposed (and we voted and passed) that the fastest new drivers of the day will receive a merch item to help promote the sport and the club. This idea will get more merch into the public and it gets our name out there to other potential new members. It was also suggested that the newbie get their pic taken with merch and probably their car to post on their social media and ours for promotion.
*LAST RALLY for 2025!!! – As we wrap up RallyX for the season, we can look back and see that there were a lot of great accomplishments this season! We secured a new venue, we had to reschedule an event due to so much damn snow, we had an overall increase in attendance, and we learned some new things, like how to debead a tire with a floor jack and a strap!! Look for cool pics from Les and start planning your Poster entry. RallyX will have a stand-alone poster this next season to further promote RallyX. Plans include the winner being top and center with the RallyX schedule big and bold in the middle, and the second-place pic winner being the background pic. The format will be similar with the focus on RallyX. The hope is that people will see a new poster every 6 months rather than the same poster every 12 months and not go blind to it. Be sure to catch the last RallyX event of the season out at Big Sky Speedway on April 13. Bring some snacks and a soda because it’s gonna be great! I’m sure we will have the girthy antenna up for everyone to see. At the least, we will have our new average-yet-reliable one up. Last event we finished the day with hand timing. Next event will have a great new set up. Come out and see!
*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 batteries secured and make sure to have a proper distributor! 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….. and we have had success! Keep reading….
*The Shrine – Brad got a hold of the new-ish owners of The Shrine, and it looks like we are getting another venue! The owners are ok with us using their asphalt and Carl is getting a date secured for August. Three weekends were proposed and voting by our small (yet faithful) group of auto enthusiasts chose August 9-10. This tentative date should be on the posters. The price will be right, $400/weekend, and we will be in charge of cleaning up the lot prior to event day.
We will need some sweepers and some blowers, so come help if you can, or forfeit your right to crab about the small pebbles and sticks that you use as an excuse for your poor performance.
*ACF – Lane has secured Archie Cochrane Ford for not only Tech Day, but also for a Metra sponsorship! More to come as we come into the AutoX season, and the next meeting will have some great news for us. Lane also spent several lunch hours trying to secure more sponsorships from other auto dealerships. Lithia was a bust. Menholt said no way. Bob Smith? Laughable. Lane sat ungreeted in the showroom for most of his lunch hour, with only one person coming up to him to tell him there were snacks in some corner. Thank you for sacrificing your time in the name of science! Matt did get sponsorship from Bridger Auto Parts. Good Job! Their logo and info will be available for display according to their sponsorship level soon.
*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.
*Safety Stewards – WE NEED SOME MORE!! (Seriously. Plans this summer involve having a couple more Safety Stewards so sign up!) 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
*Captain Classifier – It was brought up that with new season is new changes to the rules, and it was suggested that we have a singular individual who makes sure all drivers have proper classing. The rules in the SCCA rule book are solid, and since we are a Bonafide region in the SCCA we must be proper when classifying our whips. Briant was voted to be the guy. He has an eye for rules, pretty much has the 2025 rule book memorized already and doesn’t care too
much for bending those rules (just ask him about his thought on the Glizzy Gran Prix). It was also suggested that the chosen individual be Briant because he is already in charge of social media and has already been fielding the online questions. Carl and Matt have had questions about classing, and they will now pass on those questions to Briant. Having one person will reduce confusion and create balance in the Force. This is the way, padawan.
*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 (and only on Sunday for $35), 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, along with the actual Starter School design and who will 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 Sunday and will be the day to get your Hooptie out and come take a run with it. One could be champion and secure The Chalice of Excrement. We discussed the Glizzy Gran Prix and maybe changing it up with Drumsticks, ice cream sandwiches, Otter Pops, Hot Pockets, Pizza Rolls, a pizza slice, possibly Push-Pops. A Lemans Start was discussed and generally approved. Most likely food of the year will be ice cream sandwiches with an alternative for Jess, unless she wants to build her own glute-free ice cream sandwich at her bakery, Rae Rae’s.
Remember, Hooptie rules are as follows:
- Tread wear must be a minimum of 300 on all four tires.
- Must not have suspension modification or be generally perceived as a “racecar”
- Perceived value must be less than $2000.
*Officers – We will be nominating and voting for Officers at the May meeting, which will be at the very beginning of the month. We will be having this meeting right before Tech Day to finalize some topics concerning Tech Day and Bridger. So if you think you wanna be an Officer, come put your name in the hat. If you think you wanna have a say in something, come to a meeting and say it. If you think the club does just fine, come to a meeting and say so. If you wanna bring us some snacks, come to a meeting and bring’em. Just get your butt out here and help make YOUR club better! And show up early because there are only so many “good chairs”
** IMPORTANT DATES**
April 13 – Season finisher for RallyX Big Sky Speedway May 3 – Tech Day
May 17-18 – Bridger – Aviator Cup
May 17-18 – Helena (Great Falls region)
May 31-June 1 – Helena (Bozeman region) June 7-8 – Acton Cross/Hooptie Day
June 21-22 – ACF and the Metra Meltdown
*Amazon shirts – It was brought up again about using Amazon On-Demand Merch to make our shirts, or some specialty merch. It was discussed that for the price they’re asking and the cut they are taking off the top for their services, we could just buy a pop-up tent in the jungle and hire small children to make them. We discussed paying them in peppercorns which they could then take to market and sell. Therefore, they are basically choosing how much money they are making and they then control their own destiny. Meeting adjourned close to 10:30 tonight. Kindra was the first to leave because she has been cranky and grumpy.