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Clutch Chatter -- June 19991999 INDY GRAND PRIX ON THE WAY!The big event of our IRP racing season is on the way. The 1999 Indy Grand Prix National Race is coming July 10-11. In addition to about 250 of SCCA’s top competitors, we’ll also have the return of the Valvoline Pro Vees as part of the show. Of course, the ever popular Pig-In cookout and catered worker lunches are part of the deal again this year. And, our popsicle delivery girl is gearing up for the heat, too. This is always a fun event. Be sure to be there.If you need driver registration info, call Pete Hylton (317-892-4206). If you want to volunteer to work and need help figuring out how, call Pete and Cindy Hylton (317-892-4206). See you at the track! CALENDERJun 6--Indy Region Solo (See ad)Jun 12-13--Indy Region Overnight Rally (See ad page 4) Jun 14--Indy Region Board Meeting – Laughner’s at Southern Plaza, 6:00 PM. Jun 27--Indy Region Solo (See ad) Jul 6--Indy Region Solo (See ad) Jul 10-11--Indy Grand Prix National at IRP Jul 18--Indy Region Solo Jul 23--Activities Meeting – Speedrome Legends Race Jul 31-Aug 1--Indy Region Road Course & Oval Double Regional at IRP Aug 8--Indy Region Solo Aug 15--Indy Region Road Rally Aug 27--Activities Meeting – Whiteland Raceway Park Aug 29--Indy Region Solo Sep 19--Indy Region Solo Sep 24--Activities Meeting Sep 26--Indy Region Road Rally Oct 3--Indy Region Solo Oct 8-10--Vintage Race at IRP Oct 16--Activities Meeting – Stoneycreek Farms Nov 14--Indy Region Road Rally Nov 18--Activities Meeting – Brickyard at the Crossing, Valvoline Motor Oil Dec 4--Annual Banquet, Brickyard at the Crossing RENewsby Sam CritesThe Racing season is well underway with the completion of our third event at IRP. The Cincy Double Regional opened on Saturday with what has been our typical weather - rain. Sunday, however, was a beauty. I am working diligently on the next event, the Indy Grand Prix. We are still looking for some help, as noted in last months Clutch Chatter. We need a Treasurer to learn the ropes and replace Cindy next year. Terrance still needs an assistant for the Road Course/Oval Event. Dale Baker has graciously accepted the position of Paddock Chief and with the help of Myra and Harold Kulke will hopefully get our paddock under control. This would be an excellent area for newcomers to get a little exposure to the race track. I have, unfortunately, only made one solo and no rallys so far this year because of my work schedule, but I am looking forward to making a few of the events later on this summer. We have an excellent Solo Chairman, Dave Hart, and an excellent Rally Chairman, Dave DeBolt, but I’m sure they can always use more help. I plan to participate in the overnight Rally to Wright Field Air Force Museum on June 12-13. This promises to be a repeat of the Mammoth Cave Rally of two years ago. It was a great time and the Hyltons guarantee the instructions are easy to follow??!! COMPETITION NEWSby Jan CastelluccioRemember...Indy Region's Regional Racing Awards Rule #9 states "It shall be the responsibility of each driver to supply the points keeper with results throughout the season." I got all results from the April WOR Regional and May Cincy Regional at IRP, but don't assume that I will get results from any other regional event you run this year. Thanks and Good Luck with your racing in 1999!!! Indy Region Competition Chairman and Regional Racing Points Keeper, Jan Castelluccio 317-898-9273 (evenings). Regional Racing Point Standings As Of 05-19-99 Campbell, William J--33
BOARD MEETING HIGHLIGHTSMay 10, 1999by David De BoltBOARD MEETING MINUTES: The April Board Meeting minutes were approved with no revisions. TREASURER'S REPORT: The report presented by Cindy Hylton showed a current balance of $-1,900.96. This figure does not include final accounting for the three events already held this year at I.R.P. RALLY REPORT: Our third event, "TRAPSHOOT/SHOP" mastered by Candice and Frank Pope, saw fourteen rally teams compete. The rally was a TSD trap rally that covered Hamilton, Madison, and Henry counties. See elsewhere in "C.C." for results. Our next event will be on Saturday/Sunday, June 12/13th. "The Wright Stuff" will be our family overnight rally presented by the Hyltons. We will rally on Saturday to Dayton, Ohio, and visit the USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB on Sunday. See elsewhere in "C.C." for details. SOLO REPORT: Our next event will be held on the 16th of May at Columbus, IN., and will be co-sanctioned with the Columbus Sports Car Club. The following event will be on Sunday, June 6th at the 16th Street Speedway. The July 7th event at the Speedrome has been changed to July 6th. The August 8th event will also be held at the Speedrome. Both of these events are Australian Pursuit Races. See elsewhere in "C.C." for details concerning these events. MEMBERSHIP REPORT: Our membership currently stands at 663 members. ACTIVITIES REPORT: Our April activity was held at Patterson Drive Shaft Company on the 23rd. The meeting and tour were very interesting and informative. Our May activity will be held on the 20th at 6:30 p.m. at the 38th Street Lone Star Steakhouse. Mr. Dan Layton of Honda Motorsports will be the guest speaker. See elsewhere in "C.C." for details. RACE REPORT: Approximately fifty to sixty cars attended the April 17/18th Regional/Enduro at I.R.P. as the weather was not the best. 120 cars entered the double regional on the 8/9th of May at I.R.P. The event went reasonably well. Plans and preparations are underway for the Indy Grand Prix. The tent and the food have been secured. Sanctions, insurance, trophies, etc. are in process. OLD BUSINESS: The BoD discussed once again the status of our collection of F&C radios. It was reported that our entire collection of radios performed well at the Gingerman National Race. However, the BoD felt that it may behoove the region to replace the very old and low wattage radios with radios containing current technology. To that end, Harold Kulke volunteered to investigate current pricing and obtain bids for such a replacement. He will report to the BoD at the next board meeting. NEXT MEETING DATE: The next BoD Meeting was scheduled for Monday, June 14, 1999, at 6 p.m. at Laughner's Cafeteria on U.S. 31 South near Southern Plaza Shopping Center. RALLY REPORTby Roberta & Dave De BoltWe hope all of you are ready for Event #4, "The Wright Stuff", on Saturday and Sunday, the 12th and 13th of June. This event will be our long-awaited overnight rally excursion, planned with the family in mind. Saturday is for the rallyists with a stop for lunch and planned visits to varying points of interest. Saturday night and Sunday, which are optional, are for the family. On Saturday night, we will be staying in Dayton, Ohio (see list of recommended hotels – the Hyltons are staying at the Hampton Inn). On Sunday, you may visit the USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB to see the extensive collection of aircraft and missiles, and then afterwards return to Indianapolis. Our rallymasters will be Cindy and Aeron Hylton with Peter prechecking. The rally will have "easy instructions and simple scoring". Registration starts at 7:15 AM on Saturday near Sears at the east end of Castleton Square Mall. The rally starts at 8:00 AM. See ad for special cost and advance registration details. We encourage all of you to take advantage of this rally. We are sure that this will be a very good event. Bring your families and share in this great adventure. Not sure? Just talk to any of the rally people who went on our last overnighter to Mammoth Cave! See elsewhere in "C.C." for additional details. Note: Rumor has it that R.E. Sam Crites, who is one of our "Club Angels" along with his wife Elizabeth, may run in this event. If he does, he will run as the last car - in the "clean-up position" - as Sam and Elizabeth were miracle saviors on the Mammoth Cave Rally. ITEMS OF NOTE!1.--Congratulations! The Indianapolis Region and the Rally Program now have another Rally Safety Steward in our midst. Chuck Hanson recently completed the training and passed the test required for being a Rally Safety Steward and has received his license from Denver. Congratulations to you, Chuck, and thanks for your interest and support!2.--BMWCCA Rally--The local chapter of the BMW Car Club Of America is staging a TSD Touring Rally on Wednesday, the 21st. of July as part of their week long "National Octoberfest". They are in need of 2 to 4 checkpoint workers to help them with this rally. Work time will be approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hours long. They are hoping for an entry of 70 to 90 cars. The rally will end at the Putnam Park Road Course. So if you like BMW's, racing, and want to help a fellow local car club please contact us at 891-8596 or Mr. Mike Lingenfelter at 317-726-0077 or 464-3388. Thanks! 3.--Our 1999 rally schedule is as follows: EVENT--DATE--RALLYMASTER#4--June 12/13--Cindy & Aeron Hylton--Rally Saturday/Sunday Wright Field Air Force Museum#5--August 15--Ken Osiecki #6--September 26--Dale Baker #7--November 14--Chuck & Julie Hanson "TRAPSHOOT SHOP" RALLY RESULTSA very nice spring day greeted the fourteen rally teams who participated in this event. The sun was bright, the skies blue, the wind was light, and the temperatures were mild; well, some of them, at least, for a while. No, the weather or the climatological conditions did not change! It was the temperature of some of the rallyists that changed, and the trend for most was warmer.As the name of the rally implied, Candice and Frank Pope, our rallymasters for this event, created a TSD rally that incorporated a number of "old fashioned" traps in it. Indeed, there were a number of "TRAP"s to "SHOOT" in this rally; unfortunately, we believe that there were more rallyists shot down then there were traps! In other words, the rallymasters and the traps won. Frank had said that he wanted to write a rally that was "similar to those that the club used to run". We believe he did. We also used to think that we liked the "good old days", too. It was a tough rally by our experiences, but in looking back on it, it was a very educational rally also. We learned a lot, and, hopefully, we can put this information to good use on the next TSD type rally. The rally itself covered approximately 100 miles of roads in Hamilton, Henry, and Madison counties. Most of these roads were new to us, and therefore provided a nice change of scenery and some interesting driving. The rally ended at the Daleville Shopping Mall at the intersection of I-69 and Indiana 67. This provided some of the entrants an opportunity to "SHOP", which was the other part of the rally title, while waiting for the results. Thanks go to Candice and Frank for the time spent in creating this good TSD trap rally with which they used to challenge us. Thanks also go to J.M. Grady and his family for helping Candice and Frank run this rally. The results for this event follow. NOTE: An asterisk denotes trophy winner. Pos./Class--Driver/Navigator--Points 1/1C T--Dan & Ann Cook--975
Back By Popular Demand -- Another Family Overnight Road RallyJune 12-13The Wright Stuff Featuring:
Registration Info Rally Entry: $15 per car for members, $20 per car for non-members
Start Location:--Castleton Square Mall by Sears Registration:--7:15 AM to 7:45 AM
For more info call: Pete & Cindy Hylton at 317-892-4206 REVISED List of Recommended Hotels:
NOTE: There will be food & drink breaks during the day! ACTIVITIES CENTRALby Myra KulkeThe April Activities meeting was held at Patterson Driveshaft on April 23, 1999. We met at their new facility where the new owner, Ron Beaman, showed all of us the new techniques in making driveshafts. We had a great time, and this was another learning experience for all of us. The May Activities meeting was May 20, 1999 at the Lone Star Steak House. Dan Layton from Honda Motorsports had a video tape for us to watch which showed all the new things that are going on with Honda Racing Engines. We had a question and answer time that was real informative about "CART". Of course the Lone Star Steak house had wonderful food, and Dan gave away Honda Hats and T-Shirts for our drawing. There will not be a June Activities meeting because everyone is so busy with racing or vacations. Our next event will be at the Speedrome on July 23, 1999 to watch one of our own competitors, Bill Coughlin, race his Legend Car. This is one of our fun activities, and I will give you more information next month. IN SYMPATHYFormer member Lyn Ferree died in Indianapolis on May 5. Lyn served many years in Driver Information at the base of the IRP tower. Her husband, Rod, was a racer before he passed away, and her son, Mike, also served the club as a pit/grid worker. Indy Region sends condolences to the Ferree family.SOLO REPORTby Dave & Cathy HartWe had a great turnout (81 Entrants) at Columbus on May 16, with an excellent, challenging course designed by Richard Atkins. As always, thanks to the Columbus Region for allowing us to co-sanction this event with them. We missed a few of our "regulars" due to the ProSolo at Grissom, but we also gained a few new folks at the event (the ones I talked to said they had a great time). A late start only allowed for four runs, so everyone had to make each run count. The event results are elsewhere in this issue (remember that Indy Region doesn’t use the 2 second tire handicap for our points scoring). There are ads elsewhere in this issue for our next 3 events. Please make note of the items on the schedule below that are marked with "U" (Update), particularly the date change from July 7 to July 6 (Tuesday) for the first of 2 Speedrome events. I encourage everyone to take advantage of the unique format (translate "fun") for the Australian Pursuits at the Speedrome. We hope to see everyone soon. 1999 INDY REGION SOLO II SCHEDULE("U" = Update)Date(s)--Event/SiteJun 6--16th Street Speedway
Indianapolis Region SCCA Solo II Points Event #2 -- May 16, 1999Columbus Municipal Airport - CoSanctioned w/CSCCTime--Class--Name--Vehicle 73.328--SS--Mark Thomas--BMW
16th STREET AUTOCROSS ADVENTUREIndianapolis Region Solo II Points Event #3Sunday, June 6 16th Street Speedway Parking Lot
Rain or Shine -- No Karts Registration & Tech:--9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
$15.00 Members--$18.00 Non-Members Contact: Dave or Cathy Hart at (317) 849-2495
FAST FORT FUNIndianapolis Region Solo II Points Event #4Sunday, June 27 Fort Benjamin Harrison
Rain or Shine -- No Karts Registration & Tech:--9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
$15.00 Members--$18.00 Non-Members Contact: Dave or Cathy Hart at (317) 849-2495
SPEEDROME SOLO SPECTACULARIndianapolis Region Solo II Points Event #5Tuesday, July 6 Australian Pursuit
If you haven’t tried this specialty format, you owe it to yourself to try it out. Indianapolis Speedrome
No Karts Gates Open:--5:00 PM
$15.00 Members--$18.00 Non-Members Contact: Dave or Cathy Hart at (317) 849-2495
ON THE ROAD AGAINwith Aeron HyltonMommy, Uncle Bob Burns, Andy Welden and Terrence Garrett had all signed up to be stewards at the National Race at Gingerman at the end of April so Daddy went up to campaign for Director, and I went along to play. Sue Young and Julie Hanson were there in Timing, the Kulke klan was on radio duty, and Jay Quinn and Jeanie Spellman were doing tech. Among our racers, the Edwards family Formula 500 team had the top 3 qualifying spots and hoped for a 1-2-3 sweep with their pretty little cars. Unfortunately, Tom broke and their third teammate crashed, so only Fred made it to the flag. But he won! Renee Edwards enjoyed her school last month and is going to run her first race at Grattan in May. Greg Buttrey has made a successful return after quite a few years away. He was leading FV when a lapped car put him off. Greg did a cool job of racing his way back to second. Ralph Porter was pleased at being the second Neon in SSC, but unhappy at the two Hondas that ran away with the race. I think he’s not happy with Uncle Bob and his friends on the Comp Board. (What is a comp board anyway – Uncle Bob talks about it all the time – can you get splinters off it like you can a wood board?) Larry LeFebvre was 11th SSC in the team car. Ralph Johnson was 7th in Formula Ford, and Mylon Stockton was the final Indy driver with 9th in Formula Mazda. Steve Phillips and Paul Gilbert went all the way to Douglas, Michigan, to run "A Grand Adventure" Divisional Tour rally and got 2nd in the limited class. Cincinnati Region came back to IRP in early May with a double Regional race that lots of my race friends came out to drive in. We had lots of guys in the open wheel race. Terrence Garrett was the king of Formula Vee bad luck, having a flat tire on Saturday that handed the win to Joe Claudy. Then on Sunday, Terrence thought he won a drag race to the line only to find out after his victory lap that the folks in the tower called him second by just an itsy bit. That gave the Sunday win to Jerry Schoop who was third on Saturday. Craig Leeke was second and sixth and James Hart was eighth both days. John Reisert was ninth on Saturday only, Mike Bearden was a DNF. Ralph Johnson was fifth and sixth in formula Ford while Eric Kassig didn’t get to race either day. In the noisy car race Gary Parker won GT1 on Saturday when Ricke Katko broke. But Ricke lasted on Sunday to win with Gary second. Alan Knell got a third and a fourth in his new Super Production Baby Grand car. Robert Sirico won T2 in his pretty Bimmer both days. Hugh Kluesner won G Production Saturday, but didn’t start on Sunday. Les Moore is still learning this racing stuff, but got a third and a fourth in SSC. Julie Hanson is still getting used to the Wabbit (Speedwell) she bought from Uncle Bob Burns, and she got fifth ITC both days. Dave Thomas broke his ITB GTI on Saturday, but with some parts out of Daddy’s attic he came back for a strong second on Sunday. Ken Stiver had one of the best weekends of his career taking both wins in Formula Continental. But, he really had to work for it. He had qualified first on Saturday, but had clutch trouble coming to the grid and had to start from the rear. He worked his way to the front of the FC cars and trailed only the Formula Mazda winner, Mylon Stockton. Sunday he qualified second, but won easily. Ken will be spending the rest of May helping Jeret Schroeder’s Indy Car Team at the Indy 500. Jerry Weida was second and fourth in FC. Brian Schuman won Club Formula Continental Saturday while Doug Boles won it Sunday with Brian third. Ken Johnson was second CFC both days. Don Baker had his pretty D Sports Racer out both days. He had problems Saturday, but won Sunday. Warren White and Fred Hassselbrinck both had trouble and neither got a finish either day. In the big IT race Bob Hunt was our highest ITS finisher with a pair of fifths. Scott Jeffers was third ITA Saturday only. Dave Barnard had hard luck in his old ITA car and never saw the checkered flag. Daddy qualified really bad in Spec Racer both days. But Mommy made him stand in the corner of the trailer, and he raced lots better. He got a second and a fourth. Don Munday kept chasing Daddy a lot and was sixth and fifth. Darold Rude was fifth and ninth. Rod Scharf’s car was too light on Saturday and got moved to last. But on Sunday he was second. Lloyd Jennings is still racing his Pinto and got a pair of E Production wins while Mommy was third both days grumbling about the engine Daddy built her and all the trouble it keeps having. Bill Campbell was first on Saturday and second on Sunday in FP. DIRECTOR’S REPORTMay Meeting, 1999by Chuck Shapiro, Area 4 DirectorBecause of the extended agenda, the May BOD meeting ran from May 5 through May 9. The highlights of the meeting are as follows:
SEX and sports carsFrom Motoracing and Economy Car News, April 17-24, 1959.Sports car buffs were wondering last week just how sexually inadequate and inferior they are compared to the Joe Blow who drives a Detroit elephant. This was the aftermath of a report before the Western Safety Congress by Dr. Jerome M. Kummer, psychiatrist from UCLA Medical Center. Feelings of sexual inadequacy find expression in erratic driving habits, Dr. Kummer said, adding: "Evidence of the use of automobiles as buffers for feelings of sexual inferiority is easily observed in our teenage boys and their preoccupation with their ‘hot rods,’ just as it is to be observed in their older brothers...and fathers...with their more sophisticated versions, now disguised with the more proper-sounding name, ‘sports cars.’" Dr. Kummer declared: "Innumerable factors go into making up a person’s attitudes and behavior behind the wheel–-the culture in which he lives, his emotional background, together with the current life situations...all combine into creating the way a driver will function at any given time." "Poor drivers are usually found to be immature, unstable, nonconformist, and anti-social. Difficulty in dealing with aggressive feelings is often noted, and poor drivers often use their cars as means of evading intense feelings of sexual inadequacy." What do people think of you in relation to your car? This is what Dr.
Kummer said: "The automobile has become one of the more prominent socio-economical
symbols of status and prestige. The manufacturers and their advertising
agencies have gone to extremes to enhance whatever natural tendencies that
may have existed along these lines, and appear to have thoroughly succeeded
in their aim to convince the average American that an older car, one that
is smaller, less powerful or less expensive will cause those around him
to think less of him.
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