Official – Page 9 – Cincinnati Region SCCA

Solo Report

I was negligent and didn’t get a solo report out last month. A lot has happened over the last two months and a there is a lot yet to happen before the 2021 season wraps up. I could write a book, but will just try to hit the high points.

2021 TireRack SCCA Solo National Championships

First and foremost, we sent nineteen (19!) Cincy members to the SCCA National Championships and had our own Cincy paddock area!

If you haven’t ever gone, you should go and make a week of it so you can take in all aspects of it, the parties, paddock games/events, cookouts, banquets, restaurants with friends, meeting new friends, heck even the trip there an back, etc. Ask Mike Wolf, Ben Weaver, or Tact Takagi since they experienced it for their first time this year. (Okay, Ben was there 12 years ago as a toddler, but this was his first time as a competitor.) Congrats to all the trophy winners and everyone who represented Cincy Region, as this is some of the toughest competition you will find on some of the biggest grippy concrete courses, along with all the other fun! Here is how we fared out of the 1099 drivers:

Rob Clark	6T	SS	35 drivers, highest Corvette, 1st Nat’ls trophy
Robert Pendergest	19	SS	35 drivers
Kent Weaver	17	AS	41 drivers
Tim Sholar	18	AS	41 drivers
Ben Weaver	31	AS	41 drivers, first Nationals
Tact Takagi	17	CS	35 drivers, first Nationals
Langlee King	2T	CSL	5 drivers, led day 1
Myke Dziengel	11T	DS	43 drivers, 1st Nationals trophy
Jo Dziengel	2T	DSL	15 drivers, 3rd after day 1, 2nd Nationals trophy
Jack Burns	18	GS	32 drivers
Scott Bourne	22	HS	42 drivers
Keith Koegler	26	HS	42 drivers
Kia Gharib	32	HS	42 drivers
Tina Coil	3	HSL	3 drivers
Dave Montgomery	6T	XP	24 drivers
Christian Moist	6	DM	13 drivers
Mike Wolf	13	DM	13 drivers, first Nationals
Robert Armstrong	6T	CAMS	27 drivers
Krzysztof Zielinski	30	CAMC	44 drivers

SS 35 SSC 58 SSP 13 XP 24 FSAE 6
SSL 6 SSCL 16 ASP 16 XPL 2 KM 16
AS 41 SSR 12 BSP 12 CP 39
BS 40 CSP 7 CPL 5 CAMS 27
BSL 3 STU 37 CSPL 2 DP 11 CAMC 44
CS 35 STUL 5 DSP 16 EP 8 CAMT 15
CSL 5 STR 34 ESP 4 FP 16
DS 43 STRL 4 FSP 13
DSL 15 STX 46 FSPL 7 AM 11
ES 54 STXL 4 BM 7
ESL 7 STS 52 SSM 7 CM 11
FS 18 STSL 3 SM 18 DM 13
FSL 4 STH 22 SML 6 DML 4
GS 32 STHL 2 SMF 16 EM 12
GSL 1 SMFL 3 EML 3
HS 42 FM 22
HSL 3 FML 3

August Events

Novice 101 – Aug 21 – We held our second Novice 101 event of the year and just like the first, it was very successful. We had 20 instructors/helpers come out to help 41 students improve their driving skills as well as learning how to work course and other key positions to help improve their enjoyment. If you are a novice and interested in running one of our events, you are welcome to enter any event even if you haven’t taken a Novice 101 school, these are just to help you do better and have more fun. Remember, you are eligible to run as a novice for your first full year of autocross competition, but it is not mandatory, you can also run in one of our other classes.

Points Event #5 – Aug 22 – We had 176 entrants for this event, which was one of the hottest events of the year, if not for several years. I was told there were pyrometer readings in grid in the 130 F to 140 F range. Over the weekend, we went through over 30 cases of bottled water! Glad everyone stayed hydrated. Even with the extreme heat and over 170 entrants, we were able to give everyone six runs and still finish running before 4:00. The closest margin of victory went to Keith Koegler over the car owner, Jack Burns in Street Open, by 0.020 secs. Fastest Time of Day and Fastest on PAX both went to Rob Clark in his C8 Corvette with a 43.428 sec run.

September Events

Great Lakes Solo Series (GLSS) Event #9 – Cincy served as the site for the capstone events of the 2021 GLSS series. I’m proud to say once again we put on what most people felt were stellar events even with what felt like temperatures in the 100s (although officially only in the 80s.) We were able to give seven runs to the 95 drivers on Saturday, present trophies, and have over an hour of fun runs completed all by 4:00 pm. The closest battle was in XA where Brandon Mihal in his STi edged Scott Baker in his RX8 by 0.101 secs on his fifth run. Fastest Raw Time went to Neva Hoover in her KM Honda CRG Kart with a 40.818 sec run and top PAX went to Rob Clark in his C8 Corvette with a raw time of 40.859 secs

Great Lakes Solo Series (GLSS) Event #10/Cincy Points Event #6 – On Sunday, we were able to give the 168 drivers six runs, present trophies at 3:30, pack up, and be off-site by 4:36 after a very warm, yet successful weekend. Whereas both Saturday’s and Sunday’s courses were fun and fairly fast, Sunday’s was changed substantially from Saturday’s, and most liked the mix of Sunday’s better. The closest battle of this event and of the year goes to Jason Rector who edged out Adam Austin both in Fiesta STs by 0.002 secs and both improving by roughly 0.3 secs on their last runs! It was a fun battle to watch as the lead swapped between the two. Fastest Raw went to Christian Moist in his DM Birkin 7 with a time of 37.590 secs and fastest PAX went to Rob Clark in his C8 Corvette with a raw time of 37.817 secs.

The GLSS has asked us to host events again next year, which I am glad to report we intent to do. Lastly, I want to thank everyone for making this event so successful and helping raise $5000 for the American Stroke Association!

Upcoming Events

Points Event #7 – Oct 3 – Our next event is this coming Sunday. The points battles are in full swing as many of the class standings and trophies are hotly contested. Come out and fight to earn that trophy and just have fun!

Challenge Event – Oct 23 – We are planning to hold a Challenge event again this year even though timing errors killed the event last year. This event will be run similar to the CAM Challenge events where everyone will get 4 or more runs in the morning (# of runs tbd based on # of entrants) to determine who gets into the challenge brackets. Current plan is for the top eight (8) competitors per each of the four heats by PAX to get into the challenge! Of course all of this is subject to adjustments based on number of entrants. Should be a great time!

Points Event #8 – Oct 24 – Our last points event of 2021 will follow the Challenge Event. Time to finalize the trophy competitions!

Fall Fun Event – Nov 7 – Alas, the last event of the season. A chance to come out and play one last time before winter hibernation takes over.

If you are interested in helping organize and make the events even better, please contact me or one of the current solo committee members. We welcome the help and new perspectives to keep improving our program.

Kent Weaver
Cincy SCCA Solo Chair

RE-Port

What an incredible summer of events we have had so far this year with Solo, Rally and our annual Race & Track Event weekend at Mid-Ohio! Support with entries for all of our opportunities to have fun with cars in our region has been fantastic! A big shout out to our members that chair and organize these activities and their committees that make the events rock. Have you been enjoying these activities and thought “what makes these events tick?” or “can I get involved in making these events better?” and the resounding answer is “YES!” you can get involved and we are always actively looking for people to learn the “tricks of the trade”! Cincinnati Region has a long history of putting on great events and to continue our mission for the best quality events in the SCCA, WE NEED YOU! Please feel free to talk to one of our event chairs, committee members or myself anytime to set up a time to talk in more depth about our activities and how you can participate on another level!

September also takes the competition to the top of the national level with the Solo Nationals out in Lincoln, Nebraska (9/-10) and the National Championship Runoffs this year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (9/25-10/3). We have many Cincinnati members that have qualified and will be heading out to these events later this month! SAFE TRAVELS and GOOD LUCK to everyone going. If you can’t be there in person to watch, the next best thing is to watch online! Make sure to check out SCCA.COM for schedule updates and to view the events online.

Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend and we’ll see you soon!

Tony Brown

Cincinnati Region SCCA, R.E.

RoadRally Report

The August Awesome Adventure was held on August 14. A good time was had by all, and everyone made it back to Shooters in Liberty Township in one piece. There was a three-way tie for first with only one missed question, among which was a first-time rally team – apparently, we need to make the questions tougher. If not for a misinterpretation of a series of questions, there would have been a two-way tie with only two missed questions. Visit the cincyscca.com website for complete results.
Registration is open for the fifth road rally of the season, Saturday, mid-morning September 11. The last rally of the season is October 30. The starting/ending location is Susanna’s Guest House in New Richmond, Ohio. First car out will be around 10:30. I’m not going to five away too much information yet, but you will be exploring in Ohio and Kentucky. Ever been across the Ohio River on a ferry? You will be if you join us. You don’t have to be a member to participate in this kid friendly event. Registration is strongly encouraged at cincyscca.motorsportreg.com.

Gordon Benson
Christy Graham
roadrally@cincyscca.com or
CincySCCARally@yahoo.com
513-658-4677

Race Report

Were you at Mid-Ohio with us from July 30 through August 1? If not, you missed a good time. Great weather, lots of entries, competitive races, yummy food – we had it all. There is a place for every car enthusiast at our race weekend. Gear up to be a part of it next year. Schedules aren’t set until very late fall, but we’ll let you know when we get confirmation.

Don’t forget the runoffs are quickly approaching. The week of September 25-30 will bring practice and qualifying sessions. Races will be on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 1-3. The event is being held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. There are currently 926 entries in 26 classes. Check the SCCA.COM website for details. Support and follow your region drivers.

Meanwhile, there are still two race weekends left in the 2021 season – September 4-5 and October 16-17. You can get involved by volunteering in one of the many specialties needed to support the racers. If you are interested, let us know and I will personally connect you with the specialty chief who will provide mentorship and give you an experience you won’t soon forget. And hey, did you know you can get a reduction in your membership dues by volunteering? I just renewed and saved $45!

Join us.

Area 4 Director Update for September, 2021

I headed out to Kansas City, MO for the first, face to face meeting of the Club Racing Board (CRB) and the Board of Directors (BoD). After months of “meeting” my fellow BoD and CRB members via Zoom conference video connections, it was nice to actually meet them in Kansas City, MO at the end of July. I also managed to frequent a couple of my favorite BBQ joints while I was there.

The CRB was first on 7/30. This was an all day meeting was designed to be more strategic and focus on the long-term goals of the CRB. We discussed data acquisition strategies, class structure, CRB and ad hoc committee membership and Majors run groups among other things. It was universally agreed that this was a very successful meeting and something to build upon. Again, so much more is accomplished in person than across a video feed.

The next day was the BoD meeting. This was also an all day meeting and it was designed to allow us to get updates from the various Boards and SCCA staff. We heard from Bob Davis (Solo Events Board Chair), Jeff Dahnert (Finance and Administration Director), Heyward Wagner (Director of Rally & Solo), Kristen Poole (Marketing Director), Eric Prill (Vice President of Road Racing) and Peter Keane (CRB Chair) among others. I made a short presentation about the EVAC and its goals. Once again, a very productive meeting. We are scheduled to meet face to face again in early December.

I had a really nice time meeting new folks and seeing old friends. I drove my EV out there (round trip of 1550 miles for $23.09) and caught up on my backlog of podcasts. Man, there’s a lot of corn between here and there.

Video Conference Meetings:

CRB (8/3): After having met just a few days earlier, the CRB got back to the task of wading through letters sent to the CRB for review. The results can be seen here.
Electrified Vehicle Advisory Committee (EVAC)(8/11): We reviewed some documents the committee is working on (super secret stuff). We prepared for the release of these documents over the course of the next few months and making significant announcements about EVs in the SCCA.
CRB (8/17): A sub group of us met to discuss the rules process.
Rally Cross Board (RXB) (8/24): The group is working hard to prepare for their National Championships. They’ll be held at the Ross County Fairgrounds near Chillicothe, OH on 10/15-10/17. I am looking forward to being there and watching the action. I encourage all of you to do so as well.
BoD (8/30): I will report about this next month.

SCCA Events:

WMR Major @ Grattan Raceway (8/21, 8/22): I attended this event as an F&C worker and thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, it was pretty hot and humid (hey, its August in Michigan) but a very large car count by our standards (160 ish) made for some exciting action on track. WMR also had its usual GREAT Saturday evening, all attendee dinner catered by Q-It-Up…a fabulous meal.

September and October have me going to a Solo at Grattan Raceway on Labor Day (9/6), the Runoffs (9/24 to 10/3) and the RallyX National Championships (10/15 to 10/17).

Please forgive me but I’ll probably be too busy at the Runoffs to publish an October update. In addition to crewing for several friends in our six driver, six car, seven entry compound at Indy, I’m also working for the data acquisition crew, I’m a reserve pace/safety car driver and I’ll be giving away trophies for three classes in the Winner’s Circle. November’s update will be EPIC!

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you may have about any facet of the GLDiv. I want you to make the most of your membership and I will help out in any way possible to make that happen.

Dayle Frame

Solo Report

The Silly Season
Welcome to the silly season! July and August (and really September) are the crazy busy months for autocross and our Cincy members in the Midwest and Cincy Region is certainly a part of that. Since my report a month ago, we have held a Starting Line event, our fourth Points Event, and both a Phase 1 and Phase 2 Evolution Performance Driving School in July. In August we will have our second Novice 101 School and our fifth Points Event. All of these are worked around a busy schedule for many of us with the Bristol Summer Nationals (ProSolo and Champ Tour on July 1-4), the Toledo ProSolo on July 23-25, the Oscoda ProSolo Jul 29-Aug 1, Peru CAM Challenge Aug 6-8, Great Lakes Div Solo Series (GLSS) Events Jul 17-18 in Fort Wayne, GLSS @ Grissom ARB on Aug 14-15, Goodguys in Columbus Jul7 9-11, Motorstate Challenge Jul 15-17, UMI Autocross Challenge Jul 24-25, DriveAutoX @ Grissom Jul 31-Aug 1, etc… Whew, tough to keep track of it all unless you put it in your calendar. Thankfully, we have a link to the “Area Motorsports Schedule” on our 2021 Solo Schedule/Results page www.cincyscca.com.

Starting Line School, July 10
We had sixteen (16) students at our SCCA Starting Line school on July 10. The instructors did a phenomenal job instructing the new members on everything about autocross, improving the entrants driving skills, and introducing them to everything SCCA has to offer. Everyone I spoke with during and after the event were very happy with the results. Highly recommend looking up other Starting Line events across the country and signing up if you are new to autocross or wait until next year when we host another one.

Points Event #4, Jul 11
The weather forecast once again was horrible and unfortunately it delivered for the 145 of us who braved it and showed up anyway. To say the first and part of the second heat runs were wet would be an understatement. During course walks, we had to modify the course to avoid the lake which formed in the middle of the course where the drains just couldn’t keep up with the storms leading to water easily 6-8” deep. Thankfully, the other lakes were in paddock or grid instead of on course. Even better, the drains did catch up and we didn’t have the lake issue during runs. I have to give kudos to my team and the entrants, thanks to everyone’s effort, we were able to give six (6) runs, award trophies, and offer an hour plus of fun runs in the dry and still be done by 5:00! The closest battles were in C Street, Pro, and CAM S. In C Street, Shari McCoy put down a runner on her fifth run to take the win over Tyler Fullington in his S2000 by the closest battle of the day, a 0.034 sec win. In CAM S, Marshall Reinert held off Jamie Elliott by a mere 0.036 secs for the win. Not to be outdone, in Pro Class, Nathan Roberts on the strength of his last run was able to edge out Rob Clark by 0.040 secs for the win. Nathan Popp pulled off the trifecta winning CAM T, having Top Raw Time of the Day, and Top PAX Time of the Day. Congrats to all!

Evolution Performance Driving School, Jul 17-18
We had originally planned our Phase 1 and Phase 2 schools in early May, but those ended up being COVID casualties. Thankfully, we were able to find a place to squeeze them in the schedule for July 17 and 18. We had 18 students for the Phase 1 school on Saturday and 17 for the Phase 2 school on Sunday. If you have never taken one of these schools, I highly recommend them! Even if you have, they are fantastic refreshers to take again to help you break bad habits or realize where/why you aren’t driving the car to its full limits. Even with the wet conditions early on Sat for the Phase 1 school, it was still a great help. Again here, everyone was ecstatic with the instruction they received from Robert Carpenter, Brian Burdette, and Bryan Schafer!

Upcoming Events
Registration is open for our second Novice 101 School and our Points Event #5 on Aug 21 and 22. Remember, registrations will fill quickly.

Support for one of our members
Lastly, I want to take a moment to offer a sincere thank you to everyone for their prayers and support given to Danny Popp and his family. This really should have been the first thing, because the solo family and friends are far, FAR more important than the competition aspect of any of the events which we get to enjoy. For any of you who may not have heard by now, Danny Popp suffered a stroke on Jun 29^th. Stacy and Nathan responded quickly and got him to the hospital within 30 minutes of symptoms. Thankfully the doctors have said there is no permanent damage, but clearly there is a battle ahead for him and his family as he goes through the long process of recovery. Along that line, Danny reports “Get a little better EVERY day!!” I have silver or blue “10” stickers available at no cost if you would like to show your support. If you’d like to donate, there is a GoFundMe page set up at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/danny-popps-medical-expenses

Area 4 Director Update for August, 2021

Boy oh boy was July busy….and it’s not even done yet. I write this just before heading off to Kansas City for my first face to face meetings with the Club Racing Board (CRB) and the Board of Directors (BoD). This will be the third consecutive weekend that I’ve been away from home. The good news is I have a very understanding wife…..I’m sure I’ll find out what the bad news is once I buy it for her.

Video Conference Meetings:

CRB (7/6): Once again, mid-season, pre-Runoffs CRB meetings can be very mundane. This one was no exception. In addition to the regular agenda, we had time to discuss agenda items for the meeting in Kansas City on 7/30.
Electrified Vehicle Advisory Committee (EVAC)(7/14): Our meeting had to be cancelled for a variety of minor reasons.
BoD (7/26): Our regular Zoom meeting was cancelled as we will be meeting in person on 7/31. I’ll report about that meeting next month.
Rally Cross Board (RXB) (7/27): Due to some staff changes in Topeka, RXB is now under different management. The group discussed these changes and went over preparations for the National Championships, rules changes for 2022, etc.

SCCA Events:

GingerMan Raceway (7/16 to 7/18): Friday was a Track Night in America (TNiA) event and the rest of the weekend was filled with a Time Trials National Tour event. While I’d attended a couple of the TNiA events before, this one was the first where I was there just to watch and see how the event was put on. On the other hand, I had never attended a Time Trials event and was really looking forward to seeing how that was operated. The good news for a guy trying to learn how these events work is that Jon Krolewicz and John Hunter (Time Trials Managers) were both at the track for this one. They were very helpful and took time to walk me through their system. They clearly know what they’re doing as the event went off without a hitch and everyone who attended had a great weekend. This program fills a slot on the racing continuum between Solo and Club Racing. If you like to tinker with your car and go fast on a race track but not in a “wheel to wheel” format, this is the program for you.
Pro Solo @ Toledo Airport (7/23 to 7/25): Once again, I was faced with attending a type of event that I had never been to before. While I had participated in several Solos over the years, this was a different type of critter. They use two, mirror image courses and drag strip style start lights (Christmas tree). Drivers run twice on both courses during each of three heats. The best times from each side during the 12 runs determines the winners in each class.

Way back in March, I reached out to Charina Jones (Northwest Ohio Region RE) and asked about attending so I could observe the process. She pointed me towards Scott Dobler. He and his team operate out of Topeka. They schlep the trailers from place to place to support the events. I arrived Friday afternoon at about 2p, checked in and met with them as they explained the event details. The event went off pretty well with only a couple of minor hitches. Scott’s team and the locals from NWOR could not have been more gracious hosts. They answered all of my questions and were very helpful. Scott even asked me to hand out the trophies on Sunday. I will investigate entering one of these next summer. It looks like too much fun to pass up.

Just as July was very busy with lots of trips, August will be a bit more relaxing. I only have one trip planned and that’s to Grattan Raceway to support my local club (Western Michigan Region) and work our Major Club Racing event. After that, September and October have me going to a Solo at Grattan Raceway on Labor Day (9/6), the Runoffs (9/24 to 10/3) and the RallyX National Championships (10/15 to 10/17).

Dayle Frame