By Pat Griffith

In the first of three straight weekends of national level autocross, the WDCR/A.I. crew travelled to Jimmy Hoffa’s gravesite (AKA, The Meadowlands) in New Jersey for the TireRack Pro Solo. In a new lot that was paved over the site of the old Meadowlands Stadium, autocrossers hit the Dave Newman-designed courses as Pro Solo action hit the east coast for the first time.

The lot had fairly smooth asphalt but there were a couple of bumps in braking sections that challenged the drivers. While ideally Pro Solo should be identical mirrored courses, it’s not always the case — as it was here — with designs having to deal with obstacles like light poles. As a result, the turnaround on each course was markedly different, as were the offsets heading back toward the finish. The right-side course was just a bit quicker than the left.

John Vitamvas and Ian Baker line up Sunday morning.

In Street Touring Sport (STS), John Vitamvas in his Mazda RX-7 and Ian Baker in a Honda CRX had an epic battle. Ian took the lead after runs Saturday morning, but John took the top spot during the afternoon runs. Sunday morning as the first cars to hit the course and with the weather markedly different – mid-50 degrees and dark overcast skies – John struggled to get heat in the tires while Ian went on a charge. Ian was ripping off .5XX reaction times and kept dropping time, but John kept hitting cones and then DNF’ed his last run on the right course. Ian ended up with the fastest time on the right course, but John’s margin on the left course held up and gave him the win by just 0.016.

John Vitamvas (in blue shirt) is congratulated after holding off Ian Baker (in green) for the win in STS

However, John and Ian met in the second round of the Gumout Super Challenge where Ian got revenge and knocked John out. Ian advanced all the way to the final round before falling to the winner from H Stock, Matt Murray.

Cone issues continued for the RX-7 during regular competition as John’s co-driver, Greg Olsen, coned away about eight tenths of a second improvement. It wouldn’t have been enough to catch the front runners anyway, and Greg held on for third place and a trophy in STS.

The weekend also marked the return of Dean Sapp to national-level competition. He and Jeff Fields partnered in Jeff’s 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe in G Stock, and Dean, with eight Solo and Pro Solo National Championships combined on his trophy case, showed he hasn’t lost much. Jeff had the early lead after Saturday morning runs, but Dean took the lead back for good Saturday afternoon. Robert Robeson, driving Mark Liller’s 2005 Dodge Neon SRT-4, made a charge Sunday morning to take second place and the final trophy spot in the class. In fact, the top four in GS were all WDCR members with Dean, Robert, Mark and Jeff dominating the top of the time sheets.

In E Street Prepared (ESP), Sam Strano found himself in an unfamiliar position Sunday morning … in second place (gasp!) trailing another Sam. Karen Kraus offered the keys to her 2005 Subaru WRX to Sam Krauss (no relation — see, they spell their last names differently), and Sam, no stranger to other people’s AWD cars having finished second last year in ESP at the Solo National Championships in a borrowed Eagle Talon, held the lead from the drop of the lights on Saturday. (Our) Sam was trailing by about three tenths heading into Sunday, but he made up the deficit with his 2011 Mustang GT and then added another three tenths on that gap to take the win. (Our) Sam’s co-driver “Big” Mike Snyder took home the third and final trophy in ESP.

In Ladies Class 1 (L1), Learic Cramer also found herself in second place in her 2009 Nissan 370Z after the first day but managed to come back on Sunday to take the class win from Heather Everett. Her times would have given her third place in C Stock. WDCR’s Holly Schwedler put in some impressive times Sunday Morning in Lee Piccione’s Mustang to lift herself up into third place and take home a trophy, her first ever in Pro Solo.

Mike Snyder waits for the word to send Learic Cramer and Heather Everett to the line for the Ladies Challenge.

In A Street Prepared (ASP), Courtney Cormier hit a lot of cones (11 in eight runs) on Saturday but also managed to put in some fast clean runs in the 2006 McGeorge Corvette Z06 and lead the class by more than a second. On Sunday, he continued to beat that beat up in New Jersey and extended his lead. After the Porsche GT3 of second-place driver Perry Aidelbaum broke on his first run Sunday, Courtney only had to worry about his co-driver, Mike “Junior” Johnson, who was down in third place. Mike took over with warm tires and improved enough to move up in the standing but not enough to catch Courtney.

Another guy who hits a lot of cones but didn’t this weekend was Josh Luster. Over 12 runs, he hit only one cone and had no red lights or DNFs and won Street Touring Ultra (STU) in his 2006 Subaru STi by more than a second. Unfortunately, he passed the cone curse on to his co-driver, Iman Capers, who only had one clean run on the left-side course and finished fourth. He had raw times that would have put him just behind Josh in second place.

Formula Junior saw the Garfield brothers taking the wins in each of their classes. Carson won by almost five seconds in FJB. Julian was the lone competitor in FJA and spent the weekend trying to cut perfect .500 lights on the tree.

Julian Garfield brings a kart cart to impound for F125.

In B Stock, Kenny Sorensen took home a trophy with his third-place finish driving Alan Pozner’s 2008 Porsche Boxster. Kenny was sitting in second place and improved on his final two runs but watched from impound as Lynne Rothney-Kozlak went from third to first place passing her husband, Paul, who had been leading the class.

Kenny Sorensen waits in grid to face Paul Kozlak on Sunday morning.

The weekend didn’t start off well for Brian Karwan. The transmission broke in his Street Modified FWD Honda Civic during practice starts on Friday, but, showing why Solo has great camaraderie, Jason Becker offered the keys to his Street Modified 2000 BMW M Coupe. What’s a FWD guy like Brian supposed to do hopping in a RWD high-horsepower beast? Um, beat the car owner, I guess. Brian kept the tail wagging and finished in second in SM with Jason behind him for the third and final trophy in the class.

In Formula 125 (F125), it was a battle between the WDCR and the boys from Michigan, East Coast versus Midwest in a throwdown of who had the baddest shifter karts. Unfortunately, the good guys couldn’t pull enough magic out of King Yang’s trailer to come out on top. Brian Garfield and Mike Kline finished third and fourth, respectively, but they couldn’t match the speed of “The Kid” Jeremiah McClintock and the godfather of F125, Alan Sheidler, who finished first and second.

Other finishers:

Super Stock
Jason Burns, Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, 5th place
Heather Burns, ditto, 12th place

C Stock
Scott Hoffman, Mazda RX-8, 6th place

F Stock
Jason Huepenbecker, Mustang Shelby GT-C, 4th place
Lee Piccione, ditto, 5th place

DSP
Kevin Henry, BMW 325is, 4th place

ESP
Me with one clean run on the right side, Grape Ape Camaro, 4th place
Karen Kraus, Subaru WRX, 6th place

SSM
Daniel Bragason, Toyota MR2, 5th
Timothy Walker, ditto, 7th

F125
Justin Neal, King Yang’s Magic Trailer Kart, 9th
Josh West, Buenconsejo Racing Team for Filipino Giants Kart, 10th
Danny Kao, King Yang’s Magic Trailer Kart, 11th
Edwin Luo, King Yang’s Magic Trailer Kart, 13th
Lisa Garfield, CTS CR125, 14th
Andrew Huo, CRG Road Rebel, 15th
James Newman, King Yang’s Magic Trailer Kart, 16th

Next week, several area autocrossers are making the trip to Lincoln, Neb., for the first time a Pro Solo and National Tour are going to be held the same weekend — four straight days of autocross! Friday and Saturday will be the Pro Solo, and Sunday and Memorial Day will be the National Tour.

The following weekend, June 4 and 5, the TireRack SCCA National Tour will make a stop a bit closer to home, Dover, Del, and Lee Piccione is designing the courses.

If you’re not going to be there, you can still follow the action online. Results for New Jersey and the the Atlanta National Tour were showing up in near realtime on Sololive, and live announcing will be streamed through UStream.

Several WDCR and Autocrossers, Inc., members marched to Atlanta over the weekend for the SCCA National Tour at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

In Super Stock, Sam Strano led the way driving Jason Burns’ 2010 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport.  Jason finished third in a class that was five trophies deep. 

Ian Baker and “Little” Mike Snyder were in the trophies in Street Touring Sport, driving to third and fourth, respectively in Ian’s (or is it Mike’s?) 1988 Honda CRX.

In Street Touring Unlimited, Karen Kraus came from sixth place after Saturday to finish in third place in a 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STi.

Other finishers included:

Danny Kao finished 10^th driving his General Kao/King Yang’s Magic Trailer/Big Chicken Corvette Z06 in Super Stock.

In SSL, Holly Schwedler was one spot out of the trophies in fourth place driving General Kao’s Corvette Z06.  Heather Burns was seventh.

In B Stock, Steve Kahre finished in fifth place, just 0.007 out of the last trophy spot driving his Honda S2000.

Scott Hoffman finished eighth in C Stock in his new-to-him 2004 Mazda RX-8.

Shawn Roberts finished fifth in G Stock in his Mazdaspeed Protégé.

Video of the course Saturday from Danny, and Sunday’s course from Karen:

Next up on the National event calendar is the Pro Solo May 21 to 22 at the New Meadowlands in New Jersey, which will see a lot more partcipants from the WDCR and A.I.

From SCCAProRacing.com

WDCR’s Tristan Herbert won yesterday’s Pirelli World Challenge Championship Touring Car race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.

Tristan held on to win by just over seven tenths of a second in his No. 33 Brimtek Motorsports Volkswagen GTI in just his first weekend in the series.

“This is the perfect example of why people get involved with local programs in SCCA,” Tristan said. “That’s where I started, with a driver’s school with the [Washington, D.C. Region] and worked my way up. This is exactly why you get into racing, and what you can do with it if you stick to it and work really hard. It’s awesome, it hasn’t even hit me yet.”

Starting third, Tristan and, another racer with roots in the WDCR, Chip Herr driving the No. 07 Grid 1 Motorsports Mazda RX-8, moved past polesitter Lawson Aschenbach at the standing start. Tristan moved past Chip on the third lap and onto the point, building a lead through the caution period.

World Challenge uses a wave around rule to prevent the Touring Car or GTS leaders from being earning a “free lap” on the rest of their class. Because of the on-track position of the overall leader during the caution, none of the Touring Cars were given the order to move past the pace car to the rear of the field.

Tristan and the Brimtek Motorsports team, however, misunderstood the command and he moved past the pace car and circulated to the rear of the field, essentially one full lap ahead of his Touring Car competitors.

Officials called him to pit lane after the green flag and held him until Chip, running second, passed the start finish line – putting Herbert on the track behind the silver Mazda.

Tristan recovered, moved past Chip on lap 22, and then held off a charging Aschenbach’s No. 71 Compass360 Honda Civic Si to the checkered flag.

“I was in first place and we had the full course caution,” Tristanexplained. “One of the officials had told our crew chief to wave us by, and just like yesterday we started to go by. I didn’t see anybody following, and the next thing I know I’m totally in the wrong spot. I know I’m in the wrong spot, I’m starting to panic, my crew is calming me down. They know the problem and they’re trying to stage me. I get pulled into the penalty box, and that was ok, they were trying to get me in the right spot. As they’re letting me go I see Chip Herr go by, and all of a sudden I have to get my head back in the game and get right back up there. I was able to get around Chip and make it happen. It was a tough one.”

Aschenbach finished second, followed by Patrick Seguin in the No. 80 Theberge Homes/capsparts.com Honda Civic Si. Chip finished 13th in class after a mechanical problem with five laps to go.

Devin Cates, another racer from the WDCR, earned the Sunoco Hard Charger Award for improving 12 positions overall on his way to a fourth place Touring Car finish in the No. 23 Cutaway Crations/Cates Engineering Volkswagen GTI.

WDCR members have again volunteered their cars to be on display in the region’s exhibit at the Washington Auto Show, which lasts until Sunday.  They are on the large (main) exhibit hall on the lower level.  Just follow the thumpity-thumpity music!

About 20 vehicles are on display representing Solo, Club Racing, RallyCross, Time Trials and Emergency Services.  Here is information about some of those vehicles:

Karen Kraus, 2006 Subaru Impreza WRX, Solo – E Street Prepared (ESP)
I mostly run National ProSolo and Tour events with it. In ESP, it mostly runs against Camaros and Mustangs, with the occasional Talon TSi/Eclipse GSX thrown in.  I won the 2008 ProSolo L1 Championship (in stock form), then I did the modifications for ESP, and took the 2009 National ESPL Championship.

Mike Snyder, Ford Mustang Shelby GT, Solo – F Stock (FS)
I purchased this car new in February of 2007, and the dash plaque authenticates this car as #450 in the Shelby GT registry. It was built to compete in SCCA Solo II and Pro Solo
competition in the F Stock Class. It competes against Camaros, Mustangs, and other Shelby GTs.

Modifications include AST Shocks, crash bolt kit, competition alignment, adjustable sway bar end links, lightweight Volk wheels and Hoosier race tires. Driven by Sam Strano at National level events, this Shelby GT always finishes in front or near the front of the pack. No other Shelby GT has won an F Stock SCCA National Championship or F Stock Pro Solo Championship title.

Eric Kriemelmeyer, Pontiac Solstice GXP with ZOK package, Solo – B Stock (BS)
The Solstice GXP competes in SCCA Stock Class B, against S2000 Club Racer, STi, C4 Corvette primarily.  It’s a 2.0L turbo four-cylinder engine provides excellent acceleration as well as above average fuel economy. With the addition of the factory ZOK suspension option, the car is lowered as well as having increased cornering ability above the base Solstice GXP. Using stock-size 18X8 wheels, the car can use enormous 295 width racing tires (stock is 245) providing a much larger contact patch for competition. Pontiac: They Built Excitement!

Alan Claffie, 1990 Mazda Miata, Solo – Street Touring S (STS)
Competes against the Honda CRX, Honda del sol, Mazda RX7 and Toyota MR2 in STS

SCCA’s Street Touring Solo category lets drivers compete in popular cars with popular modifications (aftermarket suspension, intake, exhaust, etc). Expensive and fragile racing tires aren’t allowed in this class, so it’s ideal for those who just want to show up and drive without having to bring a second set of wheels and tires to the event site.

Larry Spector , 1991 Toyota MR2 Turbo, PDX/Time Trials/Solo – Street Modified 2 (SM2)
The car is used primarily for PDX events, with occasional Solo competition as well. It’s been run at Summit Point, WV; Watkins Glen, NY; Virginia International Raceway and New Jersey Motorsports Park.

The MR2 Turbo is a mid-engined (engine behind the driver) rear wheel drive car.
It has two seats, and two trunks (one in front, and another in back) and was made in Japan and sold in the United States between 1991 and 1995.  This car has a turbocharged and intercooled 4 cylinder engine, with a 5 speed manual transmission, and as delivered, it had 200hp and a 0-60 of under six seconds, and a top speed of over 140 mph.

This car is now 20 years old, and is driven to and from the track. It’s also used for commuting in good weather!

Tristan Herbert, 2008 Volskwagen GTI, Pro Racing – World Challenge Touring
Competes nationally in World Challenge against Mazda RX-8, Honda civic si, Scion tc, Mazda 3, Acura tsx, Mazda speed 3 and Acura RSX racecars.  It’s modified with JRZ Three-Way Adjustable Suspension, Piper Motorsports Custom Exhaust, AIM Data System, 17X8 BBS RGR Wheels, Racetech Seat, (Gripper) Limited Slip Differential Transmission, Ground Control Camber Plates, Power Flex Suspension Bushings, Stop-Tech Big Brake Kit, BSH Motor and Trans Mounts and an APR chip.

Bob Crawford, 1982 Dodge Colt, Club Racing – Improved Touring C (ITC)
Races at Summit Point, Watkins Glen and other tracks.  Races in Improved Touring “C”

Jack Burrows, 1984 Mazda RX7, Club Racing – Spec RX-7 (SRX7)
The Spec RX7 is based on and races against first-generation (1981-85) Mazda RX7s.  Tightly limited drive train preparation but competition suspension – shocks, struts, springs, sway bars etc. – open exhaust, spec tires, and gutted interior.  Safety equipment includes roll cage, five-point driver harness, on-board fire suppression system, fuel cell, and electrical system kill switch. Minimum race weight (including driver) is 2,530 lbs.

It has been driven to four victories at Watkins Glen International

Matt Hayes, 2010 Womer EV-3, Club Racing – FormulaVee (FV)
The car competes in the WDCR region MARRS series with other FVs primarily at Summit Point.  The class often has 15 cars entered and the low-power, high-grip cars make for close and exciting racing with a lot of drafting.

The car was designed and produced by Womer Race Cars located inside the DC beltway.  It uses primarily vintage Volkswagen parts in a custom frame and body, as stipulated by the class rules.  The car has a top speed of about 120mph and is capable of about 2Gs of lateral acceleration.  While the car only has about 60hp, the weight of 1025lbs, which includes the driver, make for a exciting machine.

Shawn Roberts, 1988 Mazda RX-7, RallyCross – Modified Two-Wheel Drive (M2)
This is the class for the most modified 2 wheel drive cars in RallyX.  Locally the competition is mostly older Sentra’s and a Ford Focus.

Ben Lambioette, FFR Type 65 Coupe, Solo/Time Trials — X Prepared (XP)
The “Bottom Dollar” Coupe is built on a Factory Five Racing Type 65 Coupe chassis and body. It is not a “donor” kit car.  All mechanical components are new and were carefully selected to suit the uses for which the car was built.  Considerable additional work was done to the chassis and body.

It is powered by a 347 ci small block Ford V-8 built on a new Ford Racing Boss block.  Top end, recently rebuilt by Maryland Performance, sports Canfield 195 cc CNC heads, Race Tec flattop pistons, cut to match the offset of the valves, Manley H-beam rods, and Jesel “mohawk beam” shaft rockers.  It has a custom solid roller cam by Jay Allen at Camshaft Innovations.  Fuel is delivered by mechanical pump to Pro Systems Holley 4-barrel double pumper with no choke, feeding an Edelbrock RPM Airgap dual plane intake manifold.  It has a 22 gallon Fuel Safe fuel cell.  Built to rev to 7,000 rpm+, it pulled 485 peak hp and 480 peak torque at the rear wheels on a chassis dyno last year.  

It runs an Astro Performance “built” (heavy duty alloy gearset) T-5 5-speed transmission, mated to a dual disk Spec Super Twin clutch and lightweight aluminium flywheel.  Damping is by double adjustable Koni’s at all four corners and Eibach springs.  Rear is IRS, built on a 1997 T-Bird, with oversized heavy duty half shafts, and a Torsen T-2 helical gear type limited slip diff.   Brakes are six piston Willwoods up front and four pot Willwoods in the rear.  Front-rear brake bias is adjustable via dial on the lower console.  Steering is via a Fast Freddie’s Fabrication electro-hydraulic power steering set up.  Cog and tooth accessory drive and self-exciting alternator are from Jones Racing.

The car weighs 2515 pounds without driver, and a half a tank of gas.  It is not a show car or concourse replica, but was built to compete in a variety of motorsports.  A frequent competitor in Solo, in XP class, it runs autocrosses (cone-dodging) nearly every weekend with SCCA WDCR, Capital Driving Club, and at Cumberland and other airport long-circuit events.  It also saw action in last year’s SCCA Divisionals and a Pro Solo event at FedEx Field.   It is also used on road racing tracks for Time Trials and Club Trials (where four cars are released on the track, laps are timed, and the fastest lap wins) , and non-competitive track days.  We will probably do at least one hillclimb (closed public road circuit, usually up a mountain, with runs timed) with it in 2011.

The car was built by Fred Kelley of Fast Freddie’s Fabrication.  Body and paint by Chris’ Customs. Custom dash, wiring, tire trailer hitch and other details by Larry Casey of Casey Design.  It was completed in June 2009, and just completed its first full season of competition.  It is street legal, and driven to and from events, towing a small trailer on which race tires and tools are hauled.

Other displays include:

Chris Windsor, Triumph and Morgan, Historic
Gene,  427 Cobra, Time Trials — XP
Steve Huemmer, Rescue 1 
Mike Collins, Mazda Miata, Club Racing — Spec Miata (SM) and Showroom Spec Miata (SSM)
Bill Mercurio, Club Racing — Spec Racer Ford (SRF)
Justin Huffman, Club Racing — Formula Enterprises (FE)
Steve Hyatt, 1991 Golf GTI, RallyCross — PF

Ian Baas and WDCR's Ryan Ellis celebrate on the podium after winning ST in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge 200 at Daytona International Speedway.

WDCR’s Ryan Ellis and veteran Ian Baas won the Grand Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge 200 at Daytona International Speedway this past weekend, in a spectacular season debut for APR Motorsports and Volkswagen.

Ryan, a former WDCR Spec Miata racer and resident of Ashburn was making his full-time debut with the Grand Am series, alongside APR veteran and former Rolex 24 Hour winner Ian Baas. The pair piloted a brand new VW DriverGear GTI, (completed by APR Motorsports just hours before the event), in Grand Am’s popular Continential Tire Street Tuner, (ST) division.

“This seems unreal, standing here with Ian in Victory Lane at Daytona,” Ryan said. “I have to thank everyone at APR Motorsports for the tremendous effort they made to get us both here. What a great way to start the season.”

Ryan, 21 years old, was also the fastest Street Tuner qualifier, setting a new Daytona track record time of 2:06.818 (101.058 mph) in the number 171 APR/VW Driver Gear Volkswagen GTI. Ryan received some assistance on his fastest record-breaking lap.

“As always at Daytona, we had to work the draft as well as possible,” said Ryan, who led 45 ST cars to the start.

Ryan Ellis leads the ST field at Daytona.

With a full Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge racing season ahead of them, Ryan and Ian head off next to Miami for the Homestead Grand Am weekend on March 4-5. SPEED TV will be airing this past weekend’s Continental Tire series race this coming Saturday Feb. 8 at 3 p.m.

Currently a junior at George Mason University, (GMU), Ryan is a member of the Kappa Sigma Business fraternity. He serves as resident Pro Racing Instructor at Allsports Grand Prix in Sterling, Virginia, and is a host on CBS/WJFK’s weekly “In the Pits” radio talk show. Outside of racing, Ryan is an avid hockey player and has played professionally with the Potomac Mavericks of the PIHA and for the GMU college hockey team.

VW DriverGear is the accessories division of Volkswagen of America. VWDriverGear represents the lifestyle of the VW driver and provides a wide range of accessories ranging from clothing to wheels for your favorite Volkswagen or your favorite Volkswagen d river. To get gear for your driver or your VW please visit http://www.drivergear.vw.com and use promo code “VWGTIAD” for a special offer to Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge fans!

APR LLC is an automotive engineering firm operating a 36,000 sq. ft. performance campus in Opelika, Ala. APR was founded in 1997 with a corporate philosophy of Integrity, Excellence and Innovation. APR’s Sole Mission is to provide the highest quality and most highly engineered aftermarket performance products available for Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen vehicles.

For more pictures from the weekend, see APR’s photostream on Flickr.

The annual WDCR awards banquet was held Saturday at the Washington Convention Center, and the following Club Racing award and class winners were recognized.

Dick Lord Trophy (driver who accumulates the highest number of MARRS points regardless of class): Rowdy Brian Price

Tom Shaffer Memorial Award (Production driver with the most MARRS Championship points, inclusive of all the Production classes): Ken Nesbit, F Production

John M. Barnett Memorial Award (most improved Formula Vee or Formula Car driver): Nick Ashley, Formula Vee

Dune Buggies of Maryland Rookie of the Year Award: Lee York

Frank B. Pohanka Jr. Award (performance by a WDCR member in an owner-driven and owner-prepared Production or Sedan car): Ken Nesbit, F Production

Paul A. Norair Award (WDCR driver who has shown the greatest improvement during the year in either Regional or National racing): Tom Martin

Volunteer of the Year: Joelle Pence

MARRS Series Awards

Spec Miata: Ken Zalner
American Sedan: Pamela Richardson
Club Ford: Joe Marcinski
Improved Touring S: Albert Gervais
Improved Touring Enduro: David Rankin
Formula Vee: Doug Hannum
Grand Touring A: Paul Arey
H Production: Michael Macqueen
Spec Racer Ford: Eric Kurzhals
E Production: Kathy Leidich
Grand Touring 1: James McAleese Jr
F Production: Ken Nesbitt
Improved Touring A: Rowdy Brian Price.
Improved Touring B: Tom Martin.
Spec RX7: Dave Ade.
Showroom Spec: Scott Brunk.

Individuals who would have been the MARRS Champion if their classes had enough participation throughout the year:

DSR – Dennis Hanratty
Formula Enterprises: Keith McDonald
Grand Touring Pinto: Bruce Shelton
Improved Touring C: Tony Christian
Super Production Over 2.5 Liters: Robert Hasychak
Super Production Under 2.5 Liters: Phillip Ackley
Touring 3: Alan Himes

The hearty group of Jim and Mike Golden along with Steve Hyatt headed to Stafford Springs, Conn., over the weekend for the Eastern States RallyCross Challenge Championship. This is one of the largest rallycross events with about a 100 entrants coming from all over the east coast.  There were entries from as far away as Florida.

The New England Region (NER) hosted the event and provided lunch both days, which gave competitors a nice break from the cold and a time to socialize. With over 30 inches of snow on Jan. 11, the NER members worked hard to provide two great courses, which resembled a bobsled run but kept the drivers on their toes. The schedule was designed for those who traveled in as the challenge was run in between two NER regional events.
 
“It really had some of everything from recycled asphalt to gravel to snow to large sheets of ice,” Steve said. “We showed up on Saturday morning to temperatures of minus-six degrees and lots and lots of snow.”

The morning runs started off rough with tons of the 4wd cars getting stuck in snow banks and needing to get pulled out by trucks. This continued though out the event so working times were very long and runs were limited, but once you got out there in your car it was totally worth it.

There were two regional runs in the morning/early afternoon then two national runs for those competing and two more regional runs for those who weren’t, in the afternoon/night. The event was running really long because of all the cars getting stuck so the 4wd guys got to run a night rallycross for their last runs. It was heard from some of them that it was a lot of fun and very different from running in the day.

The second day saw the national event finish up with two more runs in the morning, then for the final run in the afternoon, the course was changed to use up all the parts that were not used previously and no drive though was given.

“This was probably the most fun run of the event and probably the worst times,” Steve said. “With the limited grip and no idea what was coming around the corner you really had to be on your toes and be prepared to use the handbrake a lot for sharp turns from nowhere.

In the end, over 100 competitors showed up for the event so there was lots of competition, but because this event had snow and ice, studs were legal; therefore those without studs were at a severe disadvantage.

The event was not kind to Steve VW Golf in Prepared Front Wheel as he ended up setting fifth after having a fuel pump fail Sunday.

Mike had his own problem running in Stock All Wheel with his Subaru Impreza 2.5RS after hitting a snow bank, he had a very slow run and ended up finishing fifth.
Jim finished second in Stock Front wheel in a Honda Civic DX, which gave him Honda contingencies.

Brimtek/GermanAutoParts.com World Challenge Touring Car to be driven by WDCR's Tristan Herbert in 2011.

WDCR’s Tristan Herbert, the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Road Racing Series ITB champion, will run the 2011 season in the SCCA’s World Challenge Championships and Sports Car Wars.  Tristan will race with a team consisting of Virginia-based Brimtek Motorsports and German Auto Parts.com in their sole Volkswagen GTI in the Touring Car class.

In a press release, Dave Tilton, said, “Brimtek is committed to the entire season and all of the races on the calendar. Our team is composed of a very competitive and talented battery of individuals.  We have worked unremittingly over these past few years to advance from club racers to a credible professional organization.  Now we are ready to pit our proficiency, competitiveness and commitment against the best World Challenge has to offer.”

Tristan, a native of Reston, has gone from snowboarding (as member of the Budweiser Ariel Assault Team from 1998 to 2000) to racing motorcycles then cars.  He began his track career in 1999 on two wheels and moved to cars in 2008. 

In the past three years of SCCA club racing, Tristan has amassed 18 win and  two track records in addition to the 2009 MARRS ITB championship.

“I am a very competitive and focused guy, and I like to win,” he said.  “The opportunity to drive professionally is of course incredible, but the most important aspect for me is the competitive DNA that embodies the Brimtek team.  They are ‘a play for keeps, never quit organization’ and that suits me perfectly.  I feel confident that our commitment to each other and our race craft will catch a few of the existing World Challenge teams off guard this season.”

The GTI, with a Stop Tech brake package and Pirelli tires, has been undergoing extensive testing this winter at Summit Point Motorsports Park. The team has also made a series of suspension modifications and upgrades as well. 

“Testing during the winter months on a cold track is not ideal, but we are nevertheless learning a great deal and adapting to different track conditions,” said Ray Kopp, Brimtek’s technical director.  “We will continuously add to our knowledge base as testing proceeds throughout the winter months and into the spring.” 

The first race event of the season will be The Streets of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Fla., March 25 to 27.

The team office and shop is located in Ashburn, which is in close proximity to Dulles International Airport.  The team occupies 3,000 square feet of space supporting fabrication, assembly and preparation of the Brimtek’s World Challenge GTI.  Trackside support will be provided by the team’s 40-foot, three-car transporter.

Brimtek, Inc., is a provider of technical products and solutions to the United States government with a primary focus on military, law enforcement, and homeland security applications.

Tickets are on sale for the annual WDCR banquet Jan. 29 at the Washington Convention Center through DLB Racing.  Cost is $50 for adults, $30 for children ages 3 to 12, and children under 3 are free.  Ticket sales end Jan. 23.

People don’t have to purchase tickets for the auto show, which is being held at the convention center, unless they plan on touring the show floor.

Awards — Club Racing and Solo – will be presented from 3 to 5 p.m. followed by an hors d’oeuvres reception at 5:30 p.m. Winners who would like to just pick up their award may do so without purchasing a banquet ticket if they will not be attending the banquet – just be sure to check with your race chair to confirm the time of your program’s award ceremony.

A buffet dinner will begin at 6:30, and Region awards will begin at 7:30 during dessert. A cash bar will be available throughout.  

There will be plenty of open seating, but arrangements can be made in advance for groups of four or eight only. If you would like to reserve a table for a party of four or eight, please send the details (names of each person to sit together) to Eric Kriemelmeyer.

A discounted group rate has been made available for attendees at four nearby hotels. 

For parking, directions and other information, see the convention center Web site.

Autocrossers, Inc., will have six events at Blue Crabs Stadium in Waldorf, Md., in 2011.  Additionally, the club will host the Evolution Performance Driving School for a weekend in April.

April 16 to 17 Evo Schools
April 23 (Saturday)
May 14 (Saturday, lunch in stadium, eight-run format)
July 10
Sept. 18
Oct. 9 (Saturday, lunch in stadium, eight-run format)
Oct. 23

School information will be released shortly.