Road & Tech: The Reno Scca Newsletter

The following messages were posted and am sending them on. They all help tell Pat's story. I couldn't say it better:GOD SPEED PAT HOUSELIt is with a heavy heart that I inform you, our SCCA community, that we have lost another fallen racer/volunteer. A stand out man with the kindness of hearts and generosity has passed away from a very rapid onset of pancreatic cancer. Pat Housel a Reno and SFR region member lost his brief battle with this deadly cancer. He has logged countless hours in the car and moreover volunteering for all of us that enjoy our racing weekends. if you were lucky enough to know Pat, then you knew that first; he loved to talk, and second he loved to HELP. RIP our friend.Loved Pat. I will miss his humor, and his cheesy jokes. I can’t believe he went so fast. RIP my friendI have never met Pat, only via messages. He doesn’t know me or Justin but he offered to help us get tires from Tire Rack NV so our friends can pick it up from him the next day just so we ca...read more

A party-like atmosphere permeated the grid today. Steve Mclaughlin designed a great, fun track that threw lots of challenging elements at everyone! From a free-for-all flying start, there was almost a 90 degree right hander as soon as you popped up on the concrete pad. A huge sweeper led to an angled, long slalom across the pad, right to a couple of eyebrows, then a hard right to a short straight interrupted by “Winky Dinks” or “Dinky Winky” cones and a right-hand sweeper to the finish Tunnel. 60 racers got five laps around Steve’s exciting course, partly because it was so fast and easy to read and remember. There were only eleven DNF’s all day!Cameron Drudge did not hold back on his first lap, his STI had good acceleration in the short straight, and he hit third gear in the finish chute! Confident into the course, he kept good speed through the sweeper on lap two, for a slight improvement, but on lap three, it looked like he blew it. On the contrary...read more

Novice is always a fun class, meeting new people and welcoming them into the sport is exciting for everyone! Rob Paulson did exactly what he was supposed to do. He worked his Audi TTS down lap after lap, to finish 1st with a last lap 30.9.In the 31 second battle for 2nd, James Moffatt’s Exige was the first to hit one. On run two, he came up the hill, the car got light, settled down, and spun big time while he waved to the peanut gallery! A 31.1 won James the 2nd spot. Brian Snow, in a beautiful 350z, was so smooth, it looked like it was standing still! Perfectly Controlled rear slips, ever so lightly around each corner, is what it took to bring home 4th with a 31.6.Another three guys were fighting over the 5th spot with a bunch of 32.’s. Sloan Plumbridge (Focus RS), after one DNF, turned two 32.2’s for 5th. Brandon Smith’s Miata MX5 also got lost on his first lap, but after all, he just got the car and it’s his first time here! An ever so close 32.3, put h...read more

A long, white winter separated us from our last autocross, and, as tradition dictates, the first course of the 2021 season, will be the same as the last "Butterfly Effect" course of 2020. Designer Ahren Renner’s idea is that racers can compare their first event’s times with their last event’s times to see how much they’ve improved over the season.Imagine, if you will, a butterfly with two wings and a body, but, instead of alighting gently into the course, the insect is shot from a cannon!!! The green flag dropped at the exit of the paddock and racers negotiated their way into the first slalom from west to east, uphill and past the Timing lights that were at the skidpad entrance. Once in, the first slalom cone had a pointer to mark which side you needed to be on to send you to the proper wing, but of course, you couldn’t see it until you crossed the start lights at Mach speeds!!! This caught many people out. From the first wing, back into the slalom you wen...read more

A Replay of The Butterfly Effect, Ahren Rennes reconfigured yesterday's track and we ran it backwards. Small changes can have large consequences, and everyone seemed to find more than a few cones! The last race of the season, Halloween spirit permeated the event. Strange things happened and ghosts showed up in the oddest places. The second slalom cone was haunted and many of us hit it!Lap after perfect lap, DSP’s Roxanne Fertitta leaves the cones right where Ahren placed them and makes it look easy. The little Mini she shares with husband Michael, looks so fast because she’s so smooth! A nice 30.9 tallied 3rd place points for her. Michael Fertitta also executed what looked like a perfect lap, scaring the competition. He drove over the lip of the apex cone in the small sweeper and tipped it, but no foul. Pushing hard, the Mini’s back end stepped out at the exit on his first lap but a second lap 29.3 took 2nd. Fast right away, Jason Lewis, driving a Honda Civic R that l...read more

Proposal to modify Reno Region, SCCA meetings Attendance at our monthly meetings is sporadic and it has become difficult to conduct the business of the Club, especially when there is no representation form one or more of our ‘programs’ at the meeting. This has resulted in calling ‘special’ meetings specifically for the purpose of planning and organizing individual program activities. These ‘special’ meetings are conducted on an as needed basis. Solo has held two of these planning meetings using a virtual meeting platform. I propose that we hold similar ‘special’ meetings for all Reno Region programs on an as needed basis. Our By-Laws as amended in 2013, Article III defines meeting requirements. I propose amendments to Article III, Section 2 and Section 6 as follows: Please submit your YES or NO vote on each proposal (Proposal 1 and Proposal 2) no later than March 23 by email to scca.reno.nv1@gmail.com for your vote to be counted. ARTICLE III - MEETING OF MEMBERS Section 1....read more