By Alan Claffie

Autocross, the most accessible form of motorsports, returned to Waldorf, Maryland on Sunday with the first event hosted by Autocrossers Incorporated (AI) at Regency Furniture Stadium. While weather during the day was cool with misty rain throughout the morning, that didn’t stop seventy drivers from taking part on race day.

Autocross is a low-speed car control exercise held in empty parking lots, airport taxiways, or other large expanses of pavement or concrete. Each event features a unique course laid out with traffic cones with twists, turns, and slaloms designed to limit top speeds to 55-60 MPH. Drivers run the course one at a time, with their times tracked electronically. Knocking over a cone incurs a two-second penalty. Each driver’s best individual run time is his or her run of record and used to determine the event’s results.

AI, a chapter club of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), has been hosting autocross events in the Baltimore-Washington area for over 40 years. 2012 marks AI’s third year of making Regency Furniture Stadium its home. This year WDCR welcomes Radial Tire Company as the Official Tire of the D.C. Region.

Cars are classified by SCCA regulations, which takes into consideration the car itself as well as any modifications made. Classes range from Stock, for lightly modified vehicles, through Street Touring, Street Prepared, Prepared, and Modified. AI also has three additional classes: Novice, for drivers just getting into the sport; Pro, for the most experienced drivers; and Ladies.

Sunday’s event featured a course designed by multiple national championship-winning driver Sam Strano. Its highlight feature was a five-cone slalom that teased drivers with a high-speed entry but punished those who could not keep up with the transitions with cone penalties or “off course” calls. The challenge of the day was increased as light rain in the morning and a heavy overcast sky meant that drivers were testing their skills on a wet course, as autocross events are held rain or shine.

Close competition was the order of the day, with two classes seeing the winner taking the trophy by a tenth of a second or less. Super Street Prepared was the closest battle, with Howard Leikin driving his Lotus Exige to the class win over James Harris’ Corvette Z06 by just 0.092 seconds. C Stock was the next closest, with Les Banyas taking the win in his Mazdaspeed Miata by 0.108 seconds over Learic Cramer’s Nissan 370Z.

Other contested class winners included Rani Emad (BMW 3-Series) in Street Modified, Jerry Byrd (Subaru WRX STi) in Street Touring Ultra, Justin Neal (Honda CRX Si) in Super Street Modified, James Dunham (Mazda MX-5) in Street Touring Roadster, Yaroslav Burmaka (Toyota MR2) in Street Touring Sports, Chris Hebert (Nissan 350Z) in B Street Prepared, Danny Kao (Corvette Z06) in Super Stock, Shawn Roning (Subaru STi) in B Stock, Steve Mitchell (Mini Cooper S) in D Stock, and Nathaniel Spoltman (Subaru WRX) in Street Touring Extreme.

The Novice class featured ten drivers in machinery that ranged from a Honda S2000 to a Chrysler 300C. Using a scientifically-calculated PAX multiplier to eliminate the difference between different classes, the winner was Dmitry Maslov, driving a D Stock BMW 335i. Second place went to Phillip Chaney (Street Touring Roadster Honda S2000) and third place was William Olsen (F Prepared Toyota Celica).

The Pro class was made up of 20 drivers who also drove a wide variety of cars. Using the PAX multiplier to handicap Mazda Miatas against Corvettes and Mustangs, the winner was Sam Strano, who drove a C Stock Nissan 370Z. Kevin Henry (D Street Prepared BMW 325i) and Steve Kahre (B Stock Honda S2000) rounded out the top three.

Autocrossers Incorporated returns to Waldorf’s Regency Furniture Stadium on Saturday, June 16th, for a doubleheader day. Drivers will see competition in the morning, then take a break for lunch inside the stadium while the course is modified. Following lunch, they’ll get another set of runs on a different course. The morning and afternoon sessions will count as separate events for both individual awards and season-long championship points.

Online registration will open a month before the next event on http://www.dlbracing.com. Drivers looking for information about car classification can consult the SCCA Solo rule book, which is available to download at http://www.scca.com.

VIDEO COURTESY ALAN CLAFFIE:

Alan Claffie at Autocrossers Inc

VIDEOS COURTESY DANNY KAO:

Danny Kao

Sam Strano

Holly Schwedler

By James Newman, #35 KM WDCR SCCA

With the winter dust settled heavily on our shoulders, it was yet again that time to dust them off and invade the south for the SCCA Dixie National Tour.  Like a second Christmas, the start of the motorsports season is equally anticipated, folks tossing and turning the night before departing the DC Metro Area, eager to pull forward to the line and have the starter wave them on, as they rip off the initial runs of the 2012 season.

The last time we left the motley crew of DC natives and interlopers was the SCCA Nashville Road Tour, where we closed out the season in a fairly polarizing fashion.  It seemed as though folks either loved it or hated it and it left a very bittersweet ending to the 2011 season.  The events that would transpire at Dixie would make just about all of us forget any grumblings about the Road Tour experiment and just be happy that we’re back doing what we love.

Arriving late Friday evening, my traveling mates of Danny Kao, Justin Neal, John Crouse and I missed the practice sessions.  While rolling into the paddock and searching for a clear spot, we noticed that Sam Vassallo’s E Street Prepared Mustang was jacked up by the rear differential and being worked on by he and Brian Burdette.  We were told that they had a failure in the rear suspension during the practice sessions, this would later prove to be a bit of a theme for the weekend.

DAY 1

Saturday kicked off with Super Stock action, with a big anticipation on the Sam Strano vs Matthew Braun battle.  Last season Matthew came away victorious, but this season he would be in a C6 Z06 instead of the Lotus we’ve grown to know him in, thus leveling the playing field between Sam and himself on the “up and back” course that Dixie is limited to.  Sam Took the lead on day 1, while standing on his first run as he coned his following two.  Knocking on the door of the final trophy spot was Sam’s co-driver, Michael Snyder.

Heat two featured A Street Prepared and Kart Modified.  Courtney Cormier wasted no time, picking up right where he left off from his jacket winning season of 2011, chasing Mike “Junior” Johnson to within .2 for the lead in ASP.  KM brought about mechanical failure number 2 of the weekend for DC.

During the off season, I had sent away my motor to get rebuilt by famed kart shop CKT, the build costing me more than $2000.  Running the same jet I ended the 2011 season with, the fuel level proved to not be enough and the piston stuck during Justin Neal’s final run, destroying the top end of the brand new motor.   Justin’s second run of the day was still good enough to leave him in the first trophy position with one more slot left for grabs.  Having just witnessed my brand new motor get destroyed, two dirty runs on my timesheet (leaving me last in class at that point) and bumming a ride in a kart I’d never driven before, things were not looking good, but I was able to hold it together and put down a run that just barely slotted me into the final trophy position.

Heats three and four would have several instances of DC region success.  Having driven the “Thunder –Chicken” (as coined by Mike Johnson) on a few occasions last year, Holly Schwedler jumped right up to the top of the time sheet with only Shelly Monfort .4 ahead of her.  With B Street Prepared structurally revised, Mike Lane was able to take advantage of the lack of Evolutions in class and close out the day in the first position.  Driving the aforementioned car, Josh Luster (rocking a beard that would make playoff beards jealous) took a break from STi’s to co-drive with John Willemin and found himself in first.

Heat 99.9, wait, no, 99.9 was the volume of Sam’s ESP Mustang on just about all of their runs, heat 5 I mean,  had the Stang back together and Burdette hunting down Rod McGeorge.  They were .3 from each other, with McGeorge taking the top spot when the day closed.

DAY 2

Last season, after a VERY failed attempt at fielding a D-Stock Mazdaspeed3, our own Mr. Kao purchased a C5 Z06 from one of our neighbors in Philly Region.  He had ups and downs with it last season, more so of the latter, but March 11^th, 2012 would mark a turning point where things just clicked into place for Danny.  Sitting in the bottom half of the timesheet, well out of the trophies, General Kao went on to drop over a second each of his runs, putting himself within .5 of names such as Strano, Braun, Conners and .130 out of the trophies regardless of his mediocre Day 1.  I did nine national level events with Danny last season, this run was easily the most inspired I’ve seen him do.

Two runs into KM on Day 2, I was sitting in 1^st place, already forgetting what transpired the day before.  My co-driver, Philly local Jeff Craven had other ideas and put together a run .6 faster than mine, taking top pax for Day 2 and first overall in KM.  Justin Neal was luckily able to get a co-drive with Trey Davis and ripped together a set of runs that would put him right behind Craven on the combined times.

They say that deaths come in “three’s,” well it seems that mechanical failures come in such also.  Courtney and Junior were the victims of the third failure when they had a wheel bearing go out, the likes of which left the time sheets with a massive oddity, neither of them finishing in the trophies.

Heat four had much of the same from the previous day.  Mike Lane cleared his class by 1.8 seconds and Josh Luster’s beard put .46 seconds on STU.

If you ask AC/DC, they’ll tell you that “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution.”  If you ask Dixie sound management, they’ll tell you that Sam’s Mustang is, as it unleashed 102 decibels from it’s V8.  Sound troubles aside, Burdette looked more comfortable in the car on Day 2, beating Rod on the day by .25 but falling overall by .045.  Brian had quite the flyer together on his final run, but lost it in the final seconds on the slalom.

“History repeats itself” is a common platitude, but on this occasion it held to be true.  The North invaded the South and came away victoriouss!

DC REGION MEMBERS AND THEIR FINISHING POSITIONS

Super Stock
1) Sam Strano (Winner of SS, 7^th overall in PAX)
8 Danny Kao (54^th overall in PAX)
12) Michael Snyder (84^th overall in PAX)

Super Stock Ladies
4) Holly Schwedler (169^th overall in PAX)

D Stock
3) Terry Baker (104^rd overall in PAX)

Street Touring R
16) Noel Leslie (127^th overall in PAX)
19) Andy Thomas (165^th overall in PAX)

Street Touring Ultra
1) Josh Luster (Winner of STU, 117^th overall in PAX)
3) John Willemin (161^st overall in PAX)

Super Street Prepared
5) Courtney Cormier (111^th overall in PAX)

B Street Prepared
1) Mike Lane (Winner of BSP, 63^rd overall in PAX)

E Street Prepared
1) Rod McGeorge (Winner of ESP, 66^th overall in PAX)
2) Brian Burdette (Trophy in ESP, 69^th overall in PAX)
4) Sam Vassallo (221^st overall in PAX)

Kart Modified
2) Justin Neal (Trophy in KM, 22^nd overall in PAX)
3) James Newman (Trophy in KM, 25^th overall in PAX)

MONSTER RUN VIDEO COURTESY DANNY KAO:

2012 Dixie Sunday – Danny Kao\’s Monster Run

Tristan Herbert will be piloting one of two 2012 HPA/RennGruppe Volkswagen Jetta GLIs in the 2012 Pirelli World Challenge. Herbert exploded onto the pro racing scene in St. Petersburg last year setting the pole and winning the race. His accomplishments continued throughout the season as he amassed five podium finishes and culminated with earning the 2011 Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Rookie of the Year. Grassroots Motorsports Magazine awarded his team’s independent privateer efforts with an Editor’s Choice Award as one of the Top 20 Achievements for 2011.

HPA Motorsports and RennGruppe have aligned with Volkswagen of America, Inc. contingency program which is the largest of any manufacturer in the series.  Volkswagen of America, Inc. has also signed on again as one of the main series sponsors.

“I’m really proud of this team and our success in last year’s World Challenge season”, reflects Herbert. “Although we had many challenges to overcome, the team was able to pull together for a great season. Building on a successful rookie year, I’m confident in our team’s ability to take home a championship this year.”

HPA Motorsports has signed on as a primary sponsor for the RennGruppe Volkswagen Jetta GLI effort.  “This is a tremendous opportunity for HPA and RennGruppe to develop these Volkswagen race cars.  This alignment comes right in the middle of our Volkswagen MK6 initiative and direct injection product development.  It is the perfect fit,” said Marcel Horn, owner of HPA Motorsports.

Since 1991, HPA Motorsports has led performance trends in the industry, raising the bar with every project. Consistent performance improvements are a given at HPA.  Their State of-the-art facility utilizes cutting edge technology provides research and product development that is un-paralleled in the industry.

RennGruppe played an invaluable role in the success of last years team effort. The team’s Principal Crew Chief, Cameron Conover, earned the “Crew of the Year”, exemplifying the Team’s outstanding track preparation and development of its #33 Volkswagen GTI.

Herbert is looking forward to continued partnership with two other integral sponsors. Germanautoparts.com has signed on as the team’s primary parts provider. Germanautoparts.com is staffed by passionate professionals well-versed in both driving and parts making them a natural fit for the team.  Brimtek, Based out of Northern Virginia, is also continuing its support for the team.  Brimtek is a leading strategic support company for various Federal and Military branches.

Herbert has his sights set on the checkered flag at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. This doubleheader weekend kicks off the Pirelli World Challenge Championship series on March 23-25, 2012. This will be the launch of a remarkable season for Tristan Herbert and his team.

www.tristanherbert.com

www.hpamotorsport.com

www.renngruppe.com

www.germanautoparts.com

www.brimtek.com

Some of you may recall that the theme for our 2009 Washington, DC Region Awards Banquet was the Region’s 60^th birthday. This bothered me a little, as the late Dave Roethel (our second Historian) told me many years ago that our Region goes back to 1944 (not 1949). I could not verify this with SCCA National (who could only verify our existence as far back as 1949.) The oldest record in our own archives is an issue of the Straightpipe from 1951, but even that issue inferred we were a Region before 1951. That Straightpipe indicated it was “Volume 2,” and if typical journalistic conventions apply, the Straightpipe, one may assume, existed in 1950. Still, no proof-positive for our Region’s birth year.

Flash forward to January 2012. Our RE, Jack Burrows, visited me to drop off some items for the Region’s archives from previous Board member Steve White, but more apropos to this story, Jack also dropped off the “thumb drive” he purchased for the Region — a thumb drive that contained scanned pages from all of SCCA’s SportsCar issues from the first issue up to and including 1970. (If you want to purchase your own copy, contact www.sportscarscan.com — the archive costs $375.) Jack agreed with me that our Region ought to own such an archive, and he was generous enough to buy the archive at his expense and donate it to the Region. At last, I hoped, a chance to verify our genesis.

SCCA began in Boston and would remain in New England for well into the 1960s. Even in SCCA’s infancy the Board recognized that chapters or “Regions” would eventually parallel the club’s growth. Volume 1, Number 1, dated March 1944 listed only six members: Theodore F. Roberston, president; Chapin Walour, vice-president; Everett M. Dickson, secretary-treasurer; and four non-officers: John F. Duby; Arnold H. Enborg; George F. Schulz; and Robert E. Townsend. By the end of that first year membership would jump to 59.

The SCCA’s bylaws were restrictive as applied to membership: you had to actually own a sports car, for example. Obviously, that necessitated a definition for a sports car. Amusingly enough, that definition would change fairly quickly and often, but here’s how the club officially described a “sports car” in 1944:  “…Our definition… includes any quality car which was built primarily for sports motoring as opposed to mere transportation. In other words, any car which rates higher than average in construction and engineering, and which, preferably, has open body work. In view of the difficulty of formulating a closer definition, it will be the duty of the club officers to pass on the eligibility of any particular car. Incidentally, the club is primarily interested in the preservation of sports cars built subsequent to 1914, as older cars are not suitable for the events planned by the club, and are also amply cared for by other car clubs.”

With that definition in place, ARTICLE IV – DISMISSAL of the Bylaws notes that members could be dismissed from the club for, among other reasons, “Disposing of a sports car to a non-member without either first advertising the car in a Club publication or notifying the officers at least 10 days prior to the disposal of said car” and even “Breaking up a sports car or permitting the breaking up of a sports car without the approval of the Officers” and even “Having knowledge of the breaking up or possible breaking up of a sports car and failing to notify an Officer within a reasonable period of time.” In the club’s first year, one member did get the axe for violating that first ownership rule. Further, member candidates had to be sponsored by a member in good standing.

So what were they driving or owning? Here is a list of some of the 134 cars as owned by the 59 members at the end of the year: 21 Mercers; 15 Mercedes; 15 Stutz; 13 Packards; 9 Duesenbergs and 9 Rolls-Royces. At the end of 1944 that said something about the somewhat patrician makeup of SCCA membership.

I finally hit “pay-dirt” in that November-December issue of the Club magazine: “REGIONAL EXECUTIVE  Lt. (j.g.) S. Hempstone Oliver, USNR, has accepted the appointment of Regional Executive for the Washington, DC Region. He will represent the Club in that region, and will handle all Club affairs therein. Hemp needs no introduction, as he is one of the best known and most active of our members, having sponsored no less than twelve members into the Club.” This is the first mention of any Region in SCCA. Within a few months Hartford (CT) would get its own Region, followed by Philadelphia (PA).

In closing, the SCCA National publication SportsCar was originally called “Sportswagen” but few liked that name and it would be changed in the Club’s first year of existence to “Sports Car.” Additionally, Hempstone Oliver would become in the 1950s, the Curator of Transportation for the Smithsonian Institution and remained in that position when the Museum built the American History Museum on the Mall in Washington, DC.

— Steve Lloyd, Historian

Washington, DC Region, SCCA

From Brimtek Motorsports

WDCR member Tristan Herbert of Brimtek Motorsports continued to be a force to be reckoned with this season as evidenced by recent races in California. The Pirelli World Challenge rookie placed second in Round 9 and third in Round 10 at Infineon Raceway, Calif.  Herbert followed that double race weekend with an impressive second place showing during Round 11 at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca track.  In addition to leading the race at Laguna Seca for 13 total laps, Herbert earned the Invisible Glass “Clean Pass of the Race” award for his stellar pass on the No 66 K-Pax racing Volvo C30 of Robb Holland after the restart on Lap 7.

“It was tough losing the leading position at Laguna Seca, especially with only a few laps left in the race”, comments Herbert.  “But my team and I are still pleased with our second place finish and feel confident that we have what it takes to be a top competitor in the Touring Car series”.

Tristan was looking for a solid finish during the final Round 12 of the Pirelli World Challenge series at Road Atlanta this past weekend, but a fuel pump failure would move him back early in the race to finish eighth place. An impressive fourth place overall in the championship with one win, two seconds, two thirds and a fourth place, earned him the 2011 Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car Rookie of the Year award.

Tristan credits his grass-roots SCCA club racing background with the D.C. Region for his success as a rookie driver in the Pirelli World Challenge series.

“This year has been an incredible experience for me as a grassroots club racer,” he said. “I am living my ultimate dream every time I get that Number 33 Volkswagen GTI out on the track against so many world renowned racers. I also feel very fortunate that I have so many people, especially our team principal, Dave Tilton from Brimtek, that believe in my driving ability and my crew from RennGruppe Motorsports. My crew chief, Cameron Conover along with the rest of the team continues to demonstrate outstanding work ethic and unparalleled knowledge of Volkswagens.”

Cameron and Brimtek were also chosen as the 2011 Pirelli World Challenge Crew of the Year for Touring Car. 

The support of fellow club racers is something that Tristan values greatly. With the invaluable support of another touring car team, Gila Monster, who helped transport the car out to California from Virginia and the support of countless other club racers who helped facilitate the transport of the car back to RennGruppe Motorsports in North Carolina for final Road Atlanta preparations, Tristan’s season has shown the value of a grass-roots racing foundation.

Excitement continues to brew amongst the team as they are already in the process of developing their program for the 2012 season.

Mike Stanley driving the TR11 car at the Solo Nationals. Photo courtesy of gotcone.com

By Pat Griffith

Mike Stanley won the Solo Nationals FTD Trophy presented by Small Fortune Racing at his year’s TireRack Solo Nationals in Lincoln, Neb.  Stanley drove the University of Maryland car to the Formula SAE win and bested time from A Modified, B Modified and Formula 125 for the fastest overall time at the week-long even held Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.

Mike’s combined time over both courses was 107.883 while Gary Milligan, a three-time recipient of the award, logged a 108.795 driving a 2008 Vancouver Special to win A-Mod.

While this is Mike’s second year in a row winning FSAE, the car is actually a bit different than the one from last year.  Under FSAE rules, university’s have to build cars that are a “significantly new design” for national FSAE competition (not necessarily SCCA).

“There are some persisting features year to year, but this year’s car is a new car,” Mike said. “In keeping with good engineering principles, we’d like to keep what is good, fix what is bad, and improve on anything and everything we can.”

The FTD Trophy has been presented since 1998, but this was the first year a driver in an FSAE car has won it.  Mike’s time was also good enough for top PAX for the event, as compiled by Chicago Region’s Rick Ruth.

FSAE ran Tuesday-Wednesday (Aug. 30 and 31), the same days as A Modified, but Mike benefited from having dry courses both days while AM ran in an earlier heat after rain – albeit a drying course — on the East Course on Tuesday.  But the slalom-intensive West Course on Wednesday was ideal for the Terps Racing 2011 (TR11) car.

“This was where the car could shine,” Mike said.  “We love transitions and high-G corners. I typically like technical/element-heavy courses. Fortunately the car can make up a lot of time in these areas due to the high cornering forces. The car was extremely predictable, and horribly underpowered.”

The FSAE rules have opened up over the years to allow teams to more liberal use of aerodynamics, and the TR11 as well as other cars have begun morphing into more of a typical Nationals A-Mod grid.

“We made some specific requests of the FSAE rules committee prior to 2011 pertaining to locations of aerodynamic elements, which they accepted,” Mike said.  “This allowed us to make some subtle improvements to the wing package over the previous year.”

There’s a quote floating around from Bob Tunnell about autocrossers shouldn’t make any changes to their cars after July if they’re preparing for the Solo Nationals.  Well the Maryland car didn’t even have an engine until less than two weeks before heading to Lincoln.  Mike and two other team members bought an engine from 2001 Honda CBR F4i and tuning was done in the days leading up to the Solo Nationals.  The team has access to parking lots at certain hours where they were able to do some testing, and Mike and co-driver David Eng, who ended up in third place in FSAE, hit the practice course for some runs.  So bottom line, not a lot of seat time.

Mike said he didn’t have much input on the design of the TR11 car, so he owes a great deal of gratitude to the students who put time in on the car.  He couldn’t even fathom calculating the total number of man hours.

“The FSAE program is run a little like a business and lot like an educational course,” he said.  “Things are done and re-done, some things are done at 4 a.m., some are done minutes before a fina l… it’s a real challenge for those guys. Moving back and forth between class work and car work is really tough.

“The testing done at Maryland includes some static testing in the lab, and we have use of the parking lots at certain hours. We have a dyno, but it’s pretty pathetic. Much of our engine tuning is done out in the lots.”

The best of the rest

The FTD Trophy presented at the Friday banquet capped a solid showing for WDCR and Autocross, Inc., members.  Three drivers had to claw back from trailing after their first day of competition on Tuesday to come back to win championships, two of them doing it for the first time.

Lisa Garfield won her first national championship with her victory in Formula 125 Ladies.  She was trailing Suzanne Segal after the first day by 0.053 after the first day but came through with the fastest time in class on the second day to win by almost a second.

Courtney Cormier also came from behind to win his first national championship driving the McGeorge Toyota 2006 Chevy Corvette Z06 in A Street Prepared.  After the first day on the East Course, Courtney was back in third trailing overall leader and co-driver Mike Johnson by almost a second.  On his first run on the West Course on the second day, Courtney ripped off a 64.728, which would stand as fastest time in class.  Mike’s final run of 65.5 wasn’t enough, and he missed out on repeating as ASP champ by 0.056 seconds.

In Formula Junior A, Julian Garfield found himself in an unfamiliar position – second place after the first day of competition and trailing the Atlanta Region’s Jesse Sealey by more than a tenth of a second.  FJA drivers found themselves in wet conditions on the East Course on Tuesday.  The next day on the West Course saw no rain, and Julian took over the lead on his first run.  He and Jesse went faster on their second runs and faster again on their third runs, but Julian held on to win his second straight FJA championship and fourth overall.

While he only seems to autocross once or twice a year and not usually within the WDCR, Tim Aro is still a region member.  And he also overcame a deficit on the first day – another driver dealing with wet conditions – to win in C Street Prepared.  Behind the wheel of his brother Harry’s 1995 Mazda Miata, Tim splashed to third place and 0.7 out of the lead in the first heat on the West Course on Tuesday.  On a dry East Course on Wednesday, his 61.033 on his second run leap-frogged him to the lead, and that stood to give him the overall win by more than seven tenths.  It was his second Solo National Championship – he won CSP in 2004.

Still a supplemental class but fiercely competitive, Street Modified F (SMF) saw Brian Karwan win for the second year in a row.  He stood on a 66.9 on his first run on the first day on the cone-intensive West Course to lead switching over to the more open East Course for Wednesday competition.  Brian ended up winning by more than seven tenths but said he was sweating it out watching Dave Hardy and Jim Reyenga co-driving Dave’s 1989 Honda Civic and getting faster and faster on the second day.  Dave actually pulled within two tenths on his final run, but Brian came through just after him with a 63.4 to seal the win.

Other WDCR/A.I. members taking home hardware:

• Sam Strano, 2^nd place, Super Stock, 2010 Chevy Corvette Grand Sport
• David Eng, 3^rd place, FSAE, 2011 TR11 downforce car
• Brian Garfield, 3^rd place, AM, 2011 TR11 downforce car
• Lee Piccione, 4^th place, F Stock, 2008 Ford Mustang Shelby GT-C
• Ian Baker, 4^th place, Street Touring Sport, 1989 Honda CRX Si
• Ryan Lower, 5^th place, F125, 2008 CRG Road Rebel
• Kenny Sorensen, 6^th place, B Stock, 2008 Porsche Boxster
• Jason Burns, 6^th place, SS, 2010 Chevy Corvette Grand Sport
• Josh Luster, 6^th place, Street Touring Ultra, 2006 Subaru WRX STi
• “Little” Mike Snyder, 6^th place, SMF, 1989 Honda CRX Si
• Norm Beaver, 7^th place, D Modified, 1979 Caterham 7
• Justin Neal, 7^th place, F125, 2008 Shockwave
• Karen Kraus, 7^th place, E Street Prepared, 2006 Subaru WRX
• Terry Baker, 9^th place, D Stock, 2011 Ford Mustang
• Shane Chinnon Rhoden, 10^th place, Street Touring Ultra, 2006 Subaru Cone Hitting Machine (20 cones hit and only one clean run all week … but still trophied!)

See final results.  Also, gotcone.com has more pictures of Mike Stanley and just about everyone here.

By Steve Lloyd
WDCR Historian

Some of you who’ve been in our merry band of Washington, DC Region SCCA members may recall that our racing activities began not under the aegis of the Washington DC Region, SCCA, but a small group of enthusiasts from the Washington DC area who became infamous for winning just about everywhere they raced in the early 1950s.

Ace Rosner, Dr. Dick Thompson, Bob McKinsey, Bill Kinchloe, Tex Hopkins and several others won with such frequency that Dr. M. R. J. Wylie said of them that they were “egregious pot-hunters” and they supposedly were most ungentlemanly in their winning ways.

About this time a British film starring Alec Guinness was popular. The film told the charming exploits of a small group of down-on-their-luck men who quietly stole many thousands of pounds in gold from a British bank. The film was called “The Lavender Hill Mob” and soon became the adopted name of these enthusiasts who were “stealing” trophies from their competitors on a fairly regular basis.

An important part of this story is in knowing that the members of the Lavender Hill Mob (the racers, not the bank robbers) were some of the earliest members of the Washington DC Region, SCCA. But not all members of the DC Region were Mob members. The Mob was even more restrictive in its membership qualifications than SCCA was at that time. (SCCA used to require, for example, two members in good standing to sponsor a membership candidate. And there were others ways potential new members were vetted!)

As many of you know. The MG-TC almost single-handedly began the sports car craze in the USA after World War II. MGs were the sports car that many of the Lavender Hill Mob cut their racing teeth on. Most of the Lavender Hill Mob were also members of the MG Car Club.

In the Washington DC area we did not have a road racing course and except for the first two SCCA President’s Cup Nationals (the first at Andrews Air Force Base and the second at Hagerstown Municipal Airport) we didn’t have a “street” circuit like Watkins Glen. Our racers did race their cars locally, however. The MG Car Club staged races on the 1/3 mile dirt oval at Marlboro Motor Raceway at least as early as 1953.

Although he would be known later for his many wins in factory-supported Corvettes, Dr. Dick Thompson was a member of the MGCC, the DC Region SCCA and a founding member of the Lavender Hill Mob. He learned to race on that oval at Marlboro. To this day, Dick (who would later be an SCCA National Championin Corvettes; our own Region’s RE; and Chairman of the DC Region, SCCA Competition Board in our Region) claims that the car control he needed with the Corvette was learned in his MG racing on Marlboro’s dirt oval.

The Lavender Hill Mob pined for its own road course, and in late 1954 convinced Marlboro owner Eugene Chaney to pave not only the oval, but to extend a course to and from the oval to make a genuine road racing circuit. To sweeten the pot, each Lavender Hill Mob member pledged $50 each to help with the paving. Interestingly, the contract the Mob drew up with Chaney indicated that the Mob would represent the track’s interest when negotiating with the Washington DC Region, SCCA — a policy that remained in effect until the mid-1960s.

On a weekend in May of 1955, with frequent thundershowers, the Washington DC Region, SCCA and the Mob staged the first Washington DC Region SCCA road races on the newly-paved .7-mile Marlboro course. The Region continued to race there until the end of the 1969 racing season, the same year Summit Point would stage its first sports car races.

Just before the 1957 season at Marlboro, Chaney saw the immense popularity of sports car racing and filled the full 28-acre site with another mile of road course to extend Marlboro to 1.7 miles with eleven turns. It would easily have fit within the perimeter of the current Summit Point main course.

One of the reasons Chaney expanded was because SCCA National told Chaney and the Region that a .7-mile course was not suitable for SCCA National competition. Once the course stretched to 1.7 miles, the Region was able to host its own first National race in 1957. (That’s not a contradiction from what was stated above. The first two President’s Cup Nationals were organized by SCCA National and manned locally by our Region.)
But that 1957 SCCA National was not the first National sports car race to be staged at Marlboro.

Despite the rather modest, but nonetheless challenging, .7-mile Marlboro course, in October 1955, the MG Car Club staged its first ever National race at Marlboro, two years before the DC Region would stage its first National. Appropriately, this MG National made national news with a lengthy article by second-place main event driver David Ash, in Sports Cars Illustrated.

The weekend’s main event was won by the late Duncan Black (of Black & Decker fame) from Parkton, Md., driving his Lester-MG. Black would later be an SCCA National Champion in years to come in two classes, EP with an A.C. Bristol and CP in his Daimler SP250. Third was Dr. Dick Thompson.

Many other Washington DC Region, SCCA drivers raced that weekend, among them Steve Spitler (who would, a few years later, tragically, be the first of two sports car drivers to lose their lives at Marlboro when he rolled his D-Jaguar); Spitler’s mother, (!) Rebecca Spitler; Dick Nash; Pinky Windridge; Foxy Carter; Frank Baptista (later known for many race wins in various Elva sports-racers); Art Tweedale, a Lola sports-racing stalwart and frequent winner, and “Cappy” Cappiello. Cappy would have a turn named after him — apparently because he lost it so often in what would become “Cappy’s Corner” — after Marlboro’s course was extended to its final 1.7 mile configuration.

The entry fee for the MG Car Club National was a whopping $10, with a $5 late registration fee. A “Victory Dinner” at Andrews Air Force base would close the weekend at $2 per person, but participants were advised: “gentlemen will wear coats.”

Take a few moments to view the photos with this article as well as the “supplemental regs” and other memorabilia like the tech inspection form included here.

Author’s note: Many, many thanks to Michael Eaton who shared this information and photos with us. Michael is the proud owner of a very historic MGA TwinCam. I am also indebted to Stan Smilow, who appears driving the “Motto MG” (the white car number 103) for his photos of that 1955 National.

Throughout its existence, the heart of Marlboro was a 1/3 mile oval. Here, the MGCC is gridding the cars on the “unused” portion of the oval. Once the race started, this portion of the oval was not used.

Here is the start of the main event. On the outside is Duncan Black in his Lester-MG #4. He is flanked on the inside by Stan Smilow in his Motto-MG #103. Notice the covered grandstands in the background.

Here, Stan Smilow has come off the oval and entered the road course proper. This led to tight Esses and ultimately a hairpin turn. The entire course was only .7 mile! “Motto” refers to the Italian coachbuilder, Motto. Motto bodied this MG and also styled early Ferrari roadsters.

These are the supplementary regulations for the MG National. The rules were fairly simple, and the entry fees are certainly worth noting!

This is a good diagram of the DC Region’s “home track” in 1955. In this configuration it was less than a mile long, but would ultimately have another mile added to it in 1957 — and all within 28 acres! The course is still there, although quite overgrown, across U.S. 301 from the old Upper Marlboro horse racing track in Prince George’s county.

Very basic, this is the 1955 tech inspection sheet for Stan Smilow’s Motto-MG. The car raced as an “F-Modified” car that weekend, since the rebodied MG was hardly a regular “production” MG.

No fancy credentials here, just a basic luggage tag served as the official Pit Pass for the weekend.

The 2011 MARRS Labor Day Double Race presented by Sheetz

Sheetz will sponsor the MARRS Labor Day Double race weekend Sept. 3 to 5 at Summit Point Raceway.

 “The MARRS series and specifically Summit Point draws racers and volunteers from all across the Sheetz footprint,” said Fred McConnell, Sheetz director of brand development. “Those customers are buying fuel, food and beverage, so we wanted to support something that they are passionate about in hopes of continuing to make a connection between them and the Sheetz brand.”

The convenience store chain has several locations throughout the mid-Atlantic area, including the popular Charles Town, W.V., location for racers, workers and spectators travel to and from Summit Point.  Sheetz also has a long-standing sponsorship with Meathead Racing.

“The D.C. Region is recognized across the country as the premiere region in the SCCA, so we are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with the Region in a way that allows us the chance to reach a core group of our customers,” McConnell, who is also a racer who will take to the track in an F-Production Mazda Miata during the weekend.

Sheetz will offer free food and coffee coupons to drivers and volunteers at registration during the weekend.  Also, through the long standing relationship with MEATHEAD Racing, if a competitor places a Sheetz sticker on their car, or a volunteer displays the Sheetz Racing Patch they are entered for a chance to win Sheetz Z cards.

In addition, Sheetz team members will be available to provide information and prizes regarding the MySheetz loyalty card that has been recently introduced.

Sheetz, Inc. is one of America’s fastest growing family-owned and operated convenience store chains, with $5 billion in revenue for 2011 and more than 14,000 employees. The company operates 400 locations throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina. Sheetz provides an award-winning menu of MTO® subs, sandwiches and salads, ordered through unique touch-screen order point terminals. All Sheetz stores are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. For more information, visit www.sheetz.com.

By Pat Griffith

The second round of the National Street Tire Challenge hit Washington, D.C., July 16 with 117 coming out to FedEx Field to hit the asphalt with squealing tires rated at 140 treadwear or higher, and event management was provided by the WDCR Solo Committee.

The NSTC began three years ago in the Milwaukee Region as an alternative for people who wanted to compete on non-R-compound tires but not in a Street Touring classes.  This year, with sponsorship from Bridgestone, the NSTC expanded to four events.  The first one for 2011 was held at Mineral Wells, Texas.  The final two will take place Aug. 6 in Atlanta, Ga., and Sept. 17 and 18 back in the homeland of Milwaukee, Wisc.

There were five classes, four being indexed using the PAX for SCCA classes:

1. Street Touring Shootout: All the Street Touring classes.
2. Rear Wheel Drive: All non-Street Touring classes for RWD cars.
3. Front Wheel Drive: Like RWD but for cars powering the wrong wheels.
4. All Wheel Drive: Non-ST classes for AWD cars.
5. Muscle Car: Heads-up non-indexed class for 1992 and older rear wheel drive, eight cylinder naturally aspirated or six cylinder force induction cars.

Competitors got six overall runs on the Greg Olsen-designed course – three in the morning then three in the afternoon following a lunch break.  A competitor’s best time, whether in morning or afternoon, was used for the final results.

“The six runs split morning to afternoon were fun,” said Stuart Fain, who brought out his Porsche GT3 on a set of Bridgestone RE-11s and had John Vitamvas co-drive with him.  “It allowed for screw ups and time to make corrections.”

Quite a few of the usual suspects came out in their Street Touring cars, whether it was ST, STS, STR, STX or STU.  Some cars even saw double duty competing in one of the non-ST indexed classes. Josh Luster and Shane Chinnon-Rhoden tried to maximize their prize potential – Josh drove his Subaru WRX STi in the ST Shootout on the STU index while Shane tried to win the AWD class driving the same car on the BSP index.  However, Shane missed out on winning a set of Bridgestone tires given to the fastest non-Street Touring car on PAX.  Lance Keeley of the Milwaukee Region got that prize driving his G-Stock Hyundai Genesis Coupe to an indexed time 0.048 faster than Shane.

Shane driving Josh Luster's STU WRX STi ASAP PDQ in BSP YMMV.

Other people simply brought out their normal autocross cars on their normal street tires.  Learic Cramer tried her hand in the RWD class in her C-Stock Nissan 370Z on Continental ExtremeContact DWs because she wanted “to challenge myself against most of the local CS competitors who generally run on street tires.”  She also liked what she saw on the prize list, and also didn’t mind driving to FedEx Field and not having to touch a lug nut.

Kevin Henry figured since he had to be at the event as a Solo Committee member he might as well drive his DSP E30 BMW on his rain tires – Toyo R1Rs.

“I was going to be there anyway, and any seat time doesn’t hurt,” he said.

For Danny Kao, this event marked a return to street tires – he drove in STU for a few years, last competing in the class in 2008 in Mike Neary’s his Mitsubishi Evo Lancer.  But since then, he’s driven shifter karts and then Stock cars on R-compounds.

“[Street tires are] cheaper, but once you taste the speed and grip it’s hard to go back to a street tire unless I am sick of sending money to Hoosier,” he said.

Danny actually has an ST Honda Civic Si – “The Money Maker” – and he drove it with John Nicolaysen but in the FWD class on the SMF index.  A.J. Aviles drove it with Mike Kline in the ST Shootout in its proper class.

Another person making the switch from a high-horsepower RWD car on R-compounds to a low-horsepower FWD car on street tires was Brian Burdette.  He brought out his H-Stock Volkswagen Golf TDI on 225/45/17 Continental ContiProContacts.

“I am adamantly against the ‘street tires in stock’ concept for numerous reasons, but I thought I should give it a chance,” he said. “Especially since the venue was so close to where I live.”

Brian actually drove the V-Dub earlier in the year at the WDCR practice event, so he was somewhat familiar with how the car would handle on street tires.  He had moved into the lead of the FWD class at one point in the afternoon, but Tony “Effing” Savini, who had un-retired the Mini Cooper S he drove to the G-Stock Solo and Pro Solo National Championships in 2009, bested Brian on his final run by 0.101.

Usually going from a Honda Civic to an S2000, means picking up a lot of horsepower, but not so for Brian Karwan.  Instead of driving his SMF Civic, he co-drove with Greg Martell in an STR-prepped S2000 on Dunlops.

“The econobox on R rubber is faster, but rear-wheel drive on street tires equals 10 times the fun,” he said.  “I now understand why STR has become such a popular class.”

He can’t remember the last time he autocrossed on street tires, but after the NSTC, he’s considering adding another car to the stable.

“I am seriously looking for a street tire car right now for the days I feel lazy,” Brian said.  “Changing tires or loading up a trailer seems like a lot of work now.”

For me, I drove in the Muscle Car class in my ESP Camaro.  I have some old Sumitomo street tires that have been in my shed for three years, but before the weekend, I tried to think of who I knew with a Camaro or Corvette who might have decent street tires on wheels that I could bolt up to my car.  Karen has Kumho ASXs on both her Camaros, which aren’t too good on an autocross course.  Well, unless there’s snow on the ground.   I sent a message to Danny asking him what he had for street tires for his Corvette Z06, and he had Toyo T1Rs — 295s in the rear and 265s in front.  And he said he would bring them to the event for me to use!

Holly Schwedler and Learic Cramer wondering if I drove it up from the Bahamas.

The T1Rs are just a step below Toyo R1Rs and have a treadwear rating of 280.  It took me a few runs to get used to them and find a sweet spot for air pressures.  Also, people have said the R1Rs don’t like heat, and most drivers who use them in the ST classes spray them down with water liberally in between runs.  I figured the T1Rs would need the extra attention, too, and their performance did seem to be a bit better after I started drowning them with water.

It was funny that I showed up to the event trailering the Camaro on Hoosier A6s – two of them new with the stickers still on them.  Then switched to street tires, then switched back to A6s to load the car up on the trailer for the ride home.  Probably not in the spirit of the event, though.  Mike Fineburg and Aaron Shoe also did the same thing with Mike’s BSP Mitsubishi Evo.

See final results.

Also, check out General Kao’s pictures: part 1 and part 2.

Autocrossers were taken aback by this striking likeness of Lee Piccione just inside The Monster Mile gate. (Photo by Perry Aidelbaum)

By Pat Griffith

The Road to Lincoln made a stop in Dover, Del., for the TireRack SCCA National Tour over the weekend at “The Monster Mile” — Dover International Speedway. This is the first time an SCCA national event has been held at the speedway’s lot, and it proved to be a fantastic venue for a National Tour stop.

The lot is roughly the size of the one used for a few years for the Solo National Championships at Heartland Park Topeka and is a bit bigger than the E lot at FedEx Field. The Heartland Park pad contained two courses running simultaneously. Now imagine that much area being used for one single course — that’s what it was like over the weekend as Lee Piccione was called on to design the courses for both days. Saturday’s course featured a huge sweeping left-hander that tested the brave heading into the finish. Both courses had a long six-cone slalom running almost the entire north-south length of the course. Despite a few bumpy sections, the asphalt provided excellent grip … well as long as you weren’t in the first heat where you were basically sweeping the optimal line of sand and pebbles.

The weather held up both days, although there were light showers overnight between Saturday and Sunday. But the course was dry before first heat began, so weather was not a factor. The forecast called for a chance of thunderstorms starting around noon Sunday, but they never materialized.

How did the WDCR and Autocrossers Inc., members fare? Eight class wins and an additional 11 trophies.

In F Stock, the course designer took the win, leading after Saturday then coming behind with a 64.8 on his final run Sunday in his Kao Yellow 2008 Ford Mustang Shelby Shelby GT. Terry Baker took the third and final trophy spot with his 2008 Shelby.

Brian Karwan’s 1994 Honda Civic broke during practice starts at the New Jersey Pro Solo, but he came back to Dover and unleashed his wrath on Street Modified FWD. Last year’s SMF national champion (or whatever the proper term is for the supplemental class champ) had a best of a 62.7 the first day while nobody else in class was even in the 64s. Brian cruised on Sunday to take the overall win by 3.5 seconds. “Little” Mike Snyder took the last trophy position in The Plaid CRX.

WDCR members ended up taking four of the top five spots in the street tire classes. While the Atlanta Region may be known for being the top dogs in plain ol’ Street Touring, but WDCR may have a more talented overall group across the Street Touring categories.

Mike Stanley and Ian Baker get Greg Olsen ready for a run on Sunday.

After the dust settled Saturday, Ian Baker held a lead in Street Touring Sport by 1.7 seconds in Little Mike Snyder’s 1988 Honda CRX Si. Despite feeling a bit under the weather on Sunday and hitting nine (!) cones on his first run, he ended up lengthening that lead to win by almost three seconds. Greg Olsen held on for the third and final trophy in the class driving John Vitamvas’ RX-7.

Greg Olsen channels John Vitamvas before a run on Sunday.

Another street tire class saw two competitors who normally don’t drive on even R-compounds, let alone a tin top vehicle — Mike Kline and Edwin Liu. The two, who normally kill bugs dead in shifter karts in Formula 125, teamed up to drive a 1991 Honda Civic Si in Street Touring Xtreme. Mike at least may not be invited back to the class because he took the win, although it wasn’t easy for him. After leading Saturday, he coned his first run Sunday then was marked as DNF on his second run for driving around a gate after the finish. He put it all together with a clean run on his final run to take the win. Edwin unfortunately wasn’t as lucky. Two DNFs and a dirty run bounced him to third place and out of the trophies.

Street Touring Unlimited saw another familiar story — the car owner having cone problems while the tire warmer stayed clean to earn the win. Shane Chinonn-Rhoden, despite his fits of laughter spiking sound readings taken on site, finished with the win there in Josh Luster’s 2006 Subaru WRX STi. Josh coned every run Saturday, including tagging seven (!) on his final run, and looked to be out of trophy contention. But he managed to turn in three clean runs Sunday for the second and final trophy in the class.

The newest street tire class, Street Touring R (AKA, The Pirate Class — Ess Tee Arrrrrrrrrrr!), has quickly grown a substantial following since its inception last year. In Dover, there were 10 competitors, and WDCR’s Christopher Lin came out on top. He wheeled his 2002 Toyota MR2 Spyder for the victory after a building healthy lead on Saturday. He only had the fourth-fastest time in class on Sunday, but it was enough to hold off a charging James Dunham, who moved from third to second in his 2006 Mazda MX-5.

Courtney Cormier continued his dominance from the New Jersey Pro by winning A Street Prepared in a 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06. With regular (I almost typed “normal”) co-driver Mike “Junior” Johnson wreaking havoc in Super Street Modified, Courtney finished on top of the ASP timesheet by more than two seconds overall.

One of Mike

In E Street Prepared, WDCR members swept all three trophy positions. Sam Strano led the way in his 2011 Ford Mustang GT, Brian Burdette followed in his 1995 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, and “Big” Mike Snyder filled out the bottom step of the podium warming the tires for Sam.

Jason Burns lead Super Stock for all of about 20 seconds over the weekend, albeit taking that lead after his final run on Sunday when he came through with a 61.2 in his 2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport. At that point, Jason was the only SS driver to turn a clean time in the 61s, but Brian Connors, who had lined up right behind for his final run, came through with a 61.1 to reclaim the lead and the overall class win. Jason held on to second place.

In G Stock, Shawn Roberts was the only driver in an R-compound class — Stock, Street Prepared and Street Modified — who took home a trophy driving on tires other than the purple crack. After finishing up Saturday in fourth place and one spot out of the trophies, he took his Kumho-shod Mazdaspeed Protege into the third and final trophy spot in the class.

Mark Liller, Ron Shurie and Jeff Fields brought their G Stock cars from the D.C. Region to play at Dover.

WDCR’s Formula 125 contingent wasn’t as large here as at the New Jersey Pro with several members MIA or driving in other classes. Ryan Lower did finish third and in the trophies in his 1999 CRG Kalifornia kart.

A.J. Aviles took home a trophy in Street Touring driving a Civic, but not the black coupe he is normally seen in. This time, he drove a little bit more competitive car, a 1991 Honda Civic Si, and finished fourth.

Holly Schwedler and Lee Piccione soothe General Kao

Other finishers

SS
Danny Kao, 2002 Corvette Z06, ninth
Heather Burns, 2010 Corvette Grand Sport, 10th

SSL
Holly Schwedler, 2002 Corvette Z06, second

BS
Kenny Sorensen, 2008 Porsche Boxster, fifth
Steve Kahre, 2006 Honda S2000, 10th

CS
Scott Hoffman, 2004 Mazda RX8, fourth
Karen Kraus, 2004 Mazda RX8, fifth
Les Banyas, 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata, sixth

FS
Jason Huepenbecker, 2008 Ford Mustang Shelby GT, fourth

GS
Ron Shurie, 2002 Toyota Celica GT, fourth
Jeff Fields, 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe, fifth
Mark Liller, 2005 Dodge Neon SRT4, seventh
Katie Orgler, 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt SS, ninth

STS
Mike Stanley, 1990 Mazda RX-7, fourth

STR
Anthony Martell, 2004 Honda S2000, seventh
Greg Martell, 2004 Honda S2000, 10th

STU
Eric Eskandari, 2007 Subaru WRX STi, fifth
Jennifer Eskandari, 2007 Subaru WRX STi, sixth

ASP
Stuart Fain, 2007 Porsche GT3, fifth

DSP
Doug Keiler, 1999 BMW 323i, fourth

ESP
Me, 1982 Cone My Fastest Runs Camaro Z28, fourth
Adam George, 1998 Ford Mustang Cobra, seventh

SSM
Jason Becker, 2000 BMW M Coupe, fourth

DM
Frank Weichold, 2000 Caterham, fifth

EM
Joseph Legasse, 1976 MGB Roadster, third
William Legasse, 1976 MGB Roadster, fourth
Bernard Cooley, 1965 Fiat 600, fifth
GeneCooley, 1965 Fiat 600, sixth

F125
Justin Neal, King Yangs Magic Trailer kart, fifth
Josh West, Buenconsejo Racing Team for Filipino Giants kart, sixth
James Newman, King Yangs Magic Trailer kart, eighth

Josh West finds out the offsets heading into Sunday finish can

For more photos, check out Perry Aidelbaum’s (AKA autox4u.com) flickr gallery as well as Steven Seguis (AKA Steguis Photography).