Category: Road Racing

Registration is currently open and filling up fast for our Race/PDX (track day) at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 4-6 2017. So don’t miss out on our most fun weekend of the year.
Register at: MotorsportsReg.com
This will be the 11th edition of the IT/ SPEC*tacular format that was developed by Todd Cholmondeley many years ago. This year we have decided to dedicate this race weekend to Todd in his memory. Todd was our Race Chairman and close friend to many in the racing community and a true inspiration to everyone he came into contact with. We hope to honor him and his family by continuing his legacy of great racing and a family like atmosphere at the track. We miss you Todd!
Event Location
The Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, 7721 Steam Corners Road, Lexington, OH 44904
August 4, 2017- Friday PERFORMANCE DRIVING EXPERIENCE (PDX)
The Cincinnati Region SCCA is Happy to again offer an SCCA sanctioned track day in conjunction with the Todd Cholmondeley IT/Spec*tacular weekend. The event is an opportunity for those without any competition license to experience driving the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in their own vehicle. Classroom sessions will give you the fundamentals, which will be augmented with on-track sessions for more detail instruction. Experience instructors will ride along and give you real-time instruction and feedback. The PDX is $230 for SCCA members and will include an Event T Shirt. Stay for the weekend and help with the races and get a $50 rebate from us.

August 5-6 2017- Saturday, Sunday – Todd Cholmondeley IT/Spec*tacular Club Race
This is the 11th year for this Double Regional and we have a lot of excitement for you. Saturday starts with a 20-minute qualifying session for each of the seven groups. We operate on a “no schedule” schedule starting at 8:00AM and rotate through each group with a short clean-up period between each session. Listen to the PA announcements for your group. Starting positions for the Saturday Qualifying session will based on entry time & date. Saturday afternoon races (Race 1): Grid positions shall be determined by best lap time posted by each participant in the 20-minute qualifying sessions on Saturday morning. The qualifying will be followed with our first race of the weekend for each group. Race 1 will be a 14 lap race with Grid positions determined by the morning qualifying times.

Join us for a celebration in the worker campground Saturday night with live music and our famous/ infamous Jello Treats. Then stick around for all the excitement of our Sunday Race Groups.

Sunday’s Races will continue with the same format as Saturday and crown a weekend trophy winner.

We will also be having our ALS Silent Auction all weekend in garage #1 where you can bid on racing related items.
We hope that your racing team/family can join us for this wonderful weekend.

Bill Niemeyer is looking for qualified instructors for our PDX at Mid Ohio on Friday August 4th. Please contact Bill at nemeyer65@hotmail.com if you are available to assist. By instructing you can drive your car in the Instructor Group for only $50, instructors not driving pay nothing! Goal is to have enough instructors that each has only one student. Big FUN, more track time and you are helping to assure the future of our programs.

The first rally of the year is in the books. It was a very brisk and breezy morning on the 22nd, but the torrential rains that had been forecast never materialized and it turned out to be a very pleasant day for the nine teams to drive the hills and twists of Clermont County. Our rally masters, EB Lunken and Dick Krehbiel, put together a great course with a good mix of roads, allowing for the occasional stop to search for an answer, ample opportunities for restroom facilities, and “brisk” paced country roads. They did their usual creative job of sprinkling in questions that made you first scratch your head and frown, then say “aha!” Of course, there was the inevitable controversy – is that a rooster or a hen, an eagle or an owl? There were multiple places to buy farm fresh eggs, but as anyone who ran the early rallies will understand, NO egg signs were included anywhere in the instructions.

–Photo courtesy of Jeff Loewe Photography

Everyone completed the course with no complaints of getting lost; we do try to not confuse you….too much. We welcomed newcomers Gary & Brigitte Spicer and Matt & Harry Evans, who had very respectible scores for beginners at 2 and 7 ½ points, respectively. Returning from last year were Terry & Denise Challenger who finished in first position with zero deductions. Congratulations to them! Finishing second were Gordon & Teresa Benson with ½ point deduction. Gordon & Teresa put together our October rally last year and we look forward to their rally this year as well. Scott & Reghan Bitzer (and their passengers) and Brad Phelps & Gary Reckelhoff tied for third with 1 ½ points. Rounding out the field were the Spicers, Mike McKay and yours truly, the Evans team, Brian Walker & Dakota Roeder, and Tim Silver & Sue Malcome. Tim was also awarded the Rally Masters’ Choice Award for the most unusual car. I must say, Mike was at a significant disadvantage having me as his driver. In the interest of fairness, since I had safety checked the course and knew most of the answers to the questions, he was solely responsible for interpreting the route instructions and finding all the answers. But we had a very enjoyable drive.

The next rally is June 17th – Rabbit Hash Revisited. The Rally Master for this event is Lee Grimes, who doesn’t even have to get out of bed to lay out a route on the Boone County roads he is so familiar with. And it will be another winner-no double about it. Now that the general store is rebuilt we will pass by it again this year – the opposite direction. If you didn’t join us for this event last year, you missed a good drive and fun after-party. Put it on your calendar for this year. Visit the rally section of the website for a full schedule and additional information. Registration will be opening soon for Rabbit Hash on MotorsportReg (search rally). There are still opportunities to take on the Rally Master role for this year. Drop a line to cincysccarally@yahoo.com if you’re interested.

Come join us at Mid Ohio Sports Course on Friday August 4th for our 10th Annual Performance Driving Experience (PDX). You can drive your daily driver, sports car, racer, on one of the best racetracks in the country!

For the cost of $230, you will get at least 4 – 20 minutes sessions. Novice, Intermediate, advanced, and instructor groups available.

Your instructor will show you the line of the track, braking points, and passing zones. Free camping, Event T-shirt, and the BEST FUN you will ever have.

This is a great opportunity to see what you and your car can do on a real racetrack.

Registration will open on May 18th at MotorsportsReg.com or you can print a Tech and Entry Form on our PDX Page and mail them in.
You can save $50 off the cost of your entry if you help work our Todd Cholmondeley IT Spec-tacular Race Weekend on August 5th, 6th 2017.

By Jerry Cabe

The 2016 edition of the Cincinnati IT/SPEC*tacular was held at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 5-7. Friday was a combined Performance Driving Experience (PDX) and daytime Test-n-Tune. Forty-six new and experienced drivers took to the course to hone their driving skills during the PDX. Another fifty Club Racers participated in the Test-n-Tune sessions to get themselves and/or their car ready for the weekend’s races. Friday evening, a Meet-n-Greet was held to allow all drivers, crew, stewards, and volunteer workers to gather for snacks and drinks along with bench racing. Memorial toasts were conducted for our recently lost Cincinnati Region members.

Saturday and Sunday’s races were conducted with 189 entries. Good weather and good racing, combined with an experienced Stewards crew allowed the races to be conducted smoothly and mostly on schedule. Saturday evening we hosted a volunteer worker/official dinner in the LEC campground. Competition on the track was tight and several new track records were set over the weekend.

All comments received from participants were very positive. This is largely a result of our dedicated volunteer workers and specialty chiefs!

As I pass the Race Chairmanship position onto Brian Walker for the 2017 season, I’d like to give everyone involved over the four years of my stewardship my sincere thanks for supporting the Cincinnati Region’s Club Racing Program. We can be proud of the races we have hosted!