Triangle Chapter Report – July 2016

The Triangle Chapter of the NCR SCCA met at the El Rodeo Restaurant on July 6, 2016. There were 15 members in attendance and 2 non-member/guests for a total of 17. The 2 guests were Leigh Ann Hobgood and Olivia Piner, daughter of (“I finally made it to a Chapter Meeting Doug Piner”).

The evening started with food, drink, and video taken from Mark Senior’s Miata during the MARRS-SARRC weekend up at Summit Point including Steve Rose and Ricky Thompson flying through the field after sand bagging at the start.

In his usual lackadaisical manner, Mark called the meeting to order around 7:30 and introduced guests. Mark reported on the past month’s BOD and Competition Board meetings including:

• The Region manning a booth with cars at the upcoming IMSA event at VIR on August 26-28^th including the Board approving the purchase of a new canopy and funding for volunteers to get into the event
• Efforts to improve advertisements on the Region’s web site
• Plans for the upcoming Mid-Year SARRC meeting in Atlanta with NCR to be represented by Sam Fouse and Rex Deffenbaugh
• Efforts to put on a Region Picnic at VIR or elsewhere
• Ongoing marketing efforts
• Items from the previous Comp Board meeting which included efforts to address aggressive pre-qualifying gridding which should be addressed by additional language in future supplementary race rules
• Concerns about awarding trophies up to 3^rd place when there are only 3 cars and a 3^rd place driver not being allowed to stand on the podium for picture taking because he did not receive a trophy. There was general agreement among the Chapter members that the top 3 drivers should be allowed to stand on the podium whether they receive a trophy or not.
• The urgent need for someone to step up and organize this year’s Annual Awards Banquet as there is currently no venue reserved. A number of Triangle Chapter members supported returning to Wilmington since their events have been enjoyed the past few years
•  A very spirited discussion of alternatives to the 8/13 hour Enduro. It was noted options discussed ranged from killing this year’s event and losing our deposit, to trying different race lengths, to finding a different weekend to reduce the number of races during the fall. The consensus was to see if this year’s race can come close to breaking even and having a firm alternative ready if it’s another big financial loss.

Mark and Steve Rose then reported on their fun weekend of racing up at Summit Point and how well all the SEDiv drivers were welcomed by our Northern brethren. NCR drivers included Mark, Steve, Ricky Thompson, Dwight Cooke, and Mike Cooke. Unfortunately the Cooke’s weekend did not go smoothly as Dwight had to replace a rear end at the event and Mike blew up a motor in his RX7. Mark noted that unfortunately we did not bring home the SARRC/MARRS challenge cup as there were far too few of us southerners to put up much of a fight.

Roland Hill then gave a brief summary of the Autocross event at the Cherry Point Marine Base. As a spectator he felt that this event fell below the high standards typical of NCR autocross events but looked forward to better events in the future.

Mark listed all the upcoming track and autocross events for the next couple of months then opened the floor for Swap and Sell. Mark needs a hub for a mobile home axle and his son is selling a 90’s BMW 325i.

A motion to adjourn was made and seconded and approved unanimously. Then, as usual, folks stuck around for some time to talk some more about cars and people.

Mark Senior
Triangle Chapter Coordinator