Triangle Chapter Report – June 2014

The June Triangle Chapter meeting was much better attended than the May meeting, since there wasn’t a huge race weekend brewing at VIR. But, our members have been busy. Before the meeting, and for some time afterward, Member-at-Large Sam Fouse was telling Brock Nicholson, James Echells, and me about his recent visit to the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, where they recently had a WWII fly-in, with dozens of old war birds on display both on the ground and in the air. Besides old cars, there’s nothing like old aircraft to get our guys enthused. Then Chuck Hines showed up with video of his last two races in his ITS RX-7. We saw in-car footage of the SARRC/MARRS double at VIR and the last race at CMP in Kershaw, South Carolina. Thanks, Chuck!

The news from the last NCR Board meeting was sparse. Financially we are still waiting for the dust to settle from the SARRC/MARRS event, but the good news is that after the Majors event in April, we were about $15K on the plus side going into the May event. Membership is up, hovering close to 800, and it hasn’t been that high in almost 5 years. We have the second Annual Region picnic coming up at High Rock Park in Gibsonville on August 9^th, so save that date. Treasurer Steve Keadle wants other members to bring out there hot rods and high-performance street cars to show off. He plans on being there with his ’70 Torino Cobra Jet. Members can expect more details on the picnic as the date approaches, but basically it’s free. The Region will provide hot dogs, hamburgers, and chicken on the grill, plus soft drinks. Members should bring chips, desserts and sides to share. Be there or be square!

Mark Senior, our liaison with VIR and other clubs, gave us a sneak preview of what he and our Solo guys have been working on. They are putting together a joint event with Tarheel Sports Car Club at VIR the weekend after Labor Day, September 6-7. Details are still being worked out, but the idea is a motorsports festival where participants can sample a smorgasbord of activities, including the high-speed lapping of a PDX, low- speed track touring, an autocross, a rallycross, and even go-karts. More news as this plan unfolds. Thanks Mark!

In another area of Autosport, RE Rex Deffenbaugh gave us an informal rally report. He and fellow member Randy Deaton had just come back from running the Susquehanna Trails pro-rally event up in Pennsylvania on the New York border. The event was sponsored by RallyAmerica, the group which took over sanctioning Pro Rally in this country after SCCA abandoned it (by a secret vote of the SCCA Board of Directors) back in the 90s. Despite coming in almost last, being bone tired after bouncing along dirt roads guided only by printed route directions, and dodging huge rocks at speed for 3 whole days, Rex told us that they had a great time and would be back. Yee-haw!

We closed the meeting with a swap shop. Member-at-Large Blair “Pepe” Stitt told us that while he had sold his old house in Wendell (yay!) the new owners did not want the 2-post lift that had been installed in the garage (boo!). So he has that for sale. It’s a 9000-lb capacity rotary action lift if anyone is interested. In a side note, he thanked everyone who attended the recent memorial service for his father last week. We were just glad to have him back in good spirits and enjoying the food and camaraderie with us.

And, Chris Senior is trying to sell his high-performance street car, an Acura RSX. It has 123K miles, but the engine has headers and plenty of internal speed parts, as well as a sport suspension. He says it’s in great shape and he’s willing to deal. Anyone want a relatively inexpensive rice rocket?

And that was it. We paid our server, thanked the staff of El Rodeo for great food and a great place to meet, and headed home. Why don’t you plan to join us for the next Triangle Chapter meeting, Wednesday, July 2^nd, and we’ll try to make it even better? I’ll see you there…or at the races!

James Shanks
Triangle Chapter Coordinator