At the regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the SCR-SCCA BoD held on 2/16/12, per Article IV. Section 8. of the current SCR-SCCA By-Laws, the SCR-SCCA BoD filled both Director positions that had been vacated by Chuck Cecil on 2/4/12, and by Amy Brock on 2/10/12.

The following changes and addition have been made to the SCR-SCCA-BoD to fill these two vacancies:

Regional Executive – Joe Oliveira
Assistant Regional Executive – Melanie Murray
Board Member at Large – Roy Lowder

Per Article V. Section 1. of the By-Laws, Melanie Murray will retain her position as Swamp Fox (Charleston) Chapter Coordinator, and will have one vote on the BoD.

We thank Amy and Chuck for both their past and continuing contributions to the success of the South Carolina Region. We would also like to take the chance to congratulate Roy Lowder as the newest member of the SCR-SCCA BoD. Additionally, we express our appreciation to the multiple members that asked to be considered to fill these open positions.

!!!!!UPDATE!!!!!
 

Before we get to the results, SCR would like to thank the outgoing board members for their time, effort, and service to the region.

Congratulations to our new Board of Directors for 2012!

Regional Executive – Joe Oliveira
Assistant Regional Executive – Melanie Murray
Secretary – Jocelyn Locascio
Treasurer – Patrick Blume
Board members at large – Daniel Blakeney, Roy Lowder, Nick Hallman, Donna Littlejohn

Gamecock Chapter

Chapter Coordinator – Ian Ray-Smith
Assistant Coordinator – Brian Daraz
Chapter Secretary – Bridget Cate
Chapter Treasurer – Medwyn McClelland

Coastal Carolina (Myrtle Beach):

Chapter Coordinator – C.D. Rozsa
Assistant Coordinator – Gary Bennett Jr.
Chapter Secretary – Mike Vaughan

Swamp Fox (Charleston):

Chapter Coordinator – Melanie Murray

Garrett, Beth and Bryan are our awesome caterers this year and providing a dinner of BBQ, Fried Chicken, Cole Slaw, Baked Beans and desserts! The cost this year is $15 per person and rooms are available for $89 per night (Just mention the South Carolina Region SCCA.) Please register by December 23rd date. If you are later than that, there is no guarantee the rooms will be available at that price.

We look forward to celebrating after the New Year with you!

Contact information for rooms:

Wingate by Wyndham
108 Saluda Pointe Court
Lexington, SC
803-957-5000

Online registration on Motorsportreg.com

It’s that time again, end of year board elections! All positions on the SC Region board of directors are up for election every year.

Nominations will be accepted until December 23rd. Any SCR member may make a nomination. Voting for region-wide offices will take place December 24th through January 7th online, and votes can be submitted in person at our annual banquet in Columbia on January 7th. Chapter Coordinators will be voted upon by members of those chapters. Full details will be online when voting goes live December 24th.

All SC Region board members are elected for a term of 1 year.

The following candidates have already been nominated. * denotes current board member.

Charleston Chapter Coordinator
Melanie Murray *

Myrtle Beach Chapter Coordinator
C.D. Rosza * NOTE: Myrtle Beach chapter will be holding elections at the meeting on Jan. 4, 2011 at 7pm at Bumstead’s pub.

Gamecock Chapter Coordinator
Ian Ray-Smith * NOTE: Gamecock chapter held their election at the beginning of this school year.

Board Members at Large (4)
Thom Mezzapelle *
Nick Hallman *
Daniel Blakeney
Amy Brock
Don Moody

Secretary
Joceyln Locascio

Treasurer
Patrick Blume *

Assistant Regional Executive
Marcel Ciascai *
Joe Oliveira *

Regional Executive
Chuck Cecil

Please send additional nominations and candidate bios by November 23rd to matt@scsportscar.com .

Bios/nominations should include:
What position you are running for
SCCA member number
Hometown
Short description of your experience and why you are running for the position.
Picture

On October 15 there will be a car show (european marques of course) and BMW Performance Center events. A limited number of SCCA members will be facilitating these events. On Sunday October 16 we will be having an autocross on parking lot “B” of the BMW facility. This will be a joint event between SCR and CCR.

The Spridget (Austin-Healy Sprites, and MG Midgets) are small inexpensive English sports cars. The Sprite was first, it got its start in 1958. The Midget was next, a rebadged and somewhat more expensive version of the Sprite built in the same MG factory. Almost since their beginnings these cars have been a part of the SCCA. From autocrosses to club races these cars have taken part in SCCA events. Many still compete in SCCA disciplines.

So if you are looking for some end of the summer fun or are chasing a series points championship in either CCR or SCR register today and join us at BMW on October 16. Registration is open and available at MotorsportsReg.

Garrett Molzer and Bryan Hayes (pictured) piloted Frankenstook to 4th place and 7th place finishes against a tough F Prepared field, and showed they have what it takes to challenge for a championship.

This week, 9 South Carolina Region members were on course for the 2011 Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska. It took 4 days to run nearly 1,200 competitors through 3 runs on each of 2 different courses at the Lincoln Airpark. Our drivers faced the best talent and car preparation the world of autocross has to offer, and came out looking good!  Thanks to everyone who followed your fellow SCR members this week.  Here’s how they did!

Tuesday/Wednesday Drivers

Congratulations to our Tuesday/Wednesday drivers on an excellent showing against some tough competition, bringing home two trophies!

• Bryan Hayes (F Prepared, Honda S2000) – 7th place (trophy finish) out of 25
• Garrett Molzer (F Prepared, Honda S2000) – 4th place (trophy finish) out of 25
• Chuck Pyanowski (Super Street Modified, Nissan 300ZX) – 11th out of 24

Thursday/Friday Drivers

Our Thursday/Friday drivers put on an excellent showing in some of the toughest classes in SCCA Solo… and one of them is now wearing a championship jacket!

• Andrea Feay (F Street Prepared Ladies, Volkswagen Rabbit) – 3rd place (trophy finish) out of 9
• Aimee Fincher (F Street Prepared Ladies, Volkswagen Rabbit) – 5th place out of 9
• Jon Nwanagu (Street Touring R, Honda S2000) – 35th place out of 64
• Matt Palombi (F Street Prepared, Volkswagen Rabbit) – 10th place out of 24
• Jadrice Toussaint (B Stock, Honda S2000) – 1st place out of 33, NATIONAL CHAMP!
• Geoff Zimmer (F Street Prepared, Volkswagen Rabbit) – 6th place (trophy finish) out of 24

Bryan Hayes is now a Nationals trophy winner both as a driver and as an engineer, having developed Frankenstook into a competitive car against some of the best builders Solo competition has to offer.

Post-Solo Nationals Party

Our monthly Columbia Member Meeting will be a party in honor of our Nationals competitors at My Mechanic Auto Center in West Columbia:

Tuesday, September 6
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
My Mechanic Auto Center
900 Williams Street
West Columbia, SC

We’ll throw some burgers and hot dogs on the grill, and have plenty of beverages available.

So that we can get some great food and drink, we’re asking that everyone bring $5 to throw in the pot for this event. We’ll make sure to get you more than your money’s worth, we promise!

And so we can get a rough idea of how much to buy, please take a quick second to sign up online here:

http://tinyurl.com/2011scrparty

We hope to see lots of you there! We have a busymeeting – not only will we be reviewing Solo Nationals, but we’ll also be previewing the upcoming PDX/Time Trial/CCPS/ECR at Carolina Motorsports Park on September 17-18, as well as our next Solo at the Black Lake (Michelin Proving Grounds) on September 24.

Complete Solo Nationals Coverage and Results

You can review all of the Solo Nationals coverage here:

• Live Blogging of SCR Competitors – Facebook
• Solo Nationals Recap on SCCA.com
• Final Results

Congratulations to our SCR drivers… we’re proud of you!

The weather was predictably hot in Florence as 67 drivers braved the 93° heat and humidity to battle each other and the course in Round 6 of the 2011 Folger Subaru South Carolina Autocross Championship.  In spite of the absence of many top competitors from this weekend’s event, the action turned out to be even hotter than the weather, with many close class battles and more than a few surprise winners.

With the light turnout and the aforementioned heat sure to bear down later in the day, Solo Chair Thom Mezzapelle made the call to offer six official runs, but divide them into two sets of three.  Each of the two heats ran three times in the morning, took a brief lunch break, and resumed competition in the afternoon with another set of three runs.  As a result, both heats enjoyed the faster course conditions of the morning, and both struggled to match their earlier times in the afternoon when the sealed asphalt surface began to absorb more heat and refused to offer the same grip it had before.

In B Stock, Jeff McClain squeaked out a win over Joe Halford by .172 seconds.  Joe dropped half a second off of his morning times in his final two runs – making him one of the few to do so on Saturday – but was unable to squeeze out those extra 2 tenths needed to best Jeff.  Meanwhile, Dan Lackore struggled through four cone-heavy runs before finally putting together a clean 49.943 to best a steadily-improving Derek Blanton.  Derek, who purchased a 2011 VW GTI at the beginning of the season to replace his H Stock MINI Cooper, has evidently found the new ride to his liking.  Derek has been putting increased pressure on the G Stock leaders as the season progresses.

B Street Prepared had one of its best showings this year, with five cars in class, but everyone was looking at the (decal-covered) rear bumper of Adam Benaway, who ran away with the class on his very first run of 46.665.  Even though his worn-out tires were unable to propel him any faster in subsequent runs, that run was good enough for the 4th fastest raw time of the day.

The always-competitive Street Touring did not disappoint, with nine cars in class and an epic battle that saw the top five cars in class finish in the top 12 in PAX and qualify for the Folger Subaru Shootout.  Robby Mundo’s Subaru Impreza came out on top, on the strength of a 47.840 in Robby’s second run.  In the afternoon session, Jarret Cox inched closer and closer as Robby struggled with cones, but ultimately came up a scant .032 seconds short on his 6th and final run.  Street Touring S only had three cars in class, but all three battled within .472 seconds of each other.  Kelly Mezzapelle was over 2 seconds back of leader John Byrd with three runs left to go, but John was unable to improve his time in the afternoon.  Kelly charged hard in the ’97 Mazda Miata she shares with husband Thom, and her fourth run brought her within .069 seconds of the lead.  However, the cone bug bit her on her final two attempts, handing the win to John.

Street Touring X was missing several top contenders, including Heath Olinger, David Delli-Gatti, and Gary Heidebrecht.  They may all have been bested anyway by a stellar performance from Masayuki Todoroki in his Honda Civic Si.  Masayuki, a graduate of the Solo Novice School hosted by South Carolina Region in February, showed he has learned much in the last six months by ripping off a 48.713 to take the win over Michael Delli-Gatti.  Street Touring U brought us another close battle as Dave Jenkins sneaked past Jon Davis by just .167 seconds, as did Street Modified FWD, where Chad Matthews and his MINI Cooper S beat co-driver Roy Lowder by .121 seconds.

Nine Novice class drivers took to the cones on Saturday, with several first-timers getting bitten by the autocross bug.  Medwyn McClelland, one of the members of our new Gamecock Chapter for USC students, made the trip from Columbia in his new-to-him BMW 540i, turning in a time of 57.705.  Shaun Durant, the manager of the nearby Residence Inn by Marriott, brought his Mustang V6 out to play and had a blast.  “I’m hooked,” he said.  “I don’t know how I missed this before, but I’ll definitely be back.” All three of the Marriott hotels next door to Florence Civic Center – the Courtyard, SpringHill, and Residence Inn – are owned by Raines Development Group and are the official hotels for South Carolina Region events in the Florence area.  In addition to supporting SCR events, the Raines group now supplies SCR with two competitors in the form of Shaun and long time member Grey Raines.

On the course, another brand-new autocrosser, Toyo Phongprija, piloted his Honda S2000 to a time of 52.483 and the Novice class win.  In Pro class, all of SCR’s Solo Nationals hopefuls were missing in action, except for one (Chuck Pyanowski).  In their absence, Nick Hallman drove the borrowed Subaru STi of Jon Davis to his first Pro class win and the fastest PAX time of the day overall, with a 46.587 (39.039 PAX).

When the day’s official runs were done, the Top 12 PAX finishers were rounded up and sent out for a final set of runs in the Folger Subaru Shootout.  The Shootout allows the fastest 12 to take one additional run.  Times from that run are compared using the PAX index, a multiplier designed to handicap times amongst all the various Solo classes.  From there, the fastest 6 go out for one more run, then the fastest three to finally determine one winner.

In Round 1, Michael Vaughan and his Subaru STi seized a ticket to the second round, turning in a 47.046 (39.424 PAX), .4 seconds better than anything he ran in during official runs.  He wasn’t finished, either.  William Bostic climbed up from 8th in official runs to 4th in Round 1 on the strength of a 47.309 (39.928 PAX) in his Mazdaspeed 3, eliminating Chuck Pyanowski, who was 6th in PAX during the day, from the competition.

In Round 2, the upsets came raining down.  Don Bruner, Jr., Vaughan, and Jarret Cox went 1-2-3, eliminating PAX winner Hallman, who was unable to match his earlier times after a crucial bobble in the slalom.  Bruner’s run to the final round was particularly impressive given that the PAX index for F125 shifter karts is a mammoth 0.952, meaning that he must run raw times that are almost as fast as everyone else’s PAX times.  Bruner did just that, seizing the Round 2 win with a ridiculously fast raw time of 40.742 (38.786 PAX).  Vaughan proved his Round 1 heroics were no fluke by turning a 46.455 (38.929 PAX), a better time than Hallman’s top time in official runs and just .143 behind Bruner.

In Round 3, Vaughan and Bruner both knew they had to go for broke, and Cox was lurking, hoping for both to make a key mistake to give him the win.  Bruner nearly matched his Round 2 time, turning in a 40.980, but that just set the table for Vaughan, who obliterated his earlier time with a 45.914 (38.475), easily the best PAX time of the day and more than enough to give him the victory in the Folger Subaru Shootout.

When all was said and done, Round 6 of the Folger Subaru South Carolina Autocross Championship turned out to be well worth enduring the sunny weather, with a safe and fun event and intense competition to be found everywhere.  If you missed us, we hope to catch you next month, when South Carolina Region runs The Endless Summer – a PDX, Time Trial, and Club Racing weekend at Carolina Motorsports Park on September 17-18; and Round 7 of the Folger Subaru South Carolina Autocross Championship returns to the Michelin Proving Grounds (the “Black Lake”) in Laurens, SC on September 24.

Results

• Final Results
• Raw Results
• PAX Results
• Summary Results
• Folger Subaru Shootout – Round 1
• Folger Subaru Shootout – Round 2
• Folger Subaru Shootout – Round 3

The Endless Summer is a two day weekend of Driver’s Education, Time Trial, and Club Racing hosted by South Carolina Region SCCA, consisting of the following events on September 17-18, 2011, at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC:

PDX – “Performance Driving Experience” – also known as a HPDE or Track Day, this is an educational event designed to let you take your street car on the Carolina Motorsports Park race course at speed, with an in-car instructor who will teach you the basics of handling your car on a race track. Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced groups are available.

Club Trial – a 2-day time trial event for licensed Time Trial/Club Racing drivers, or drivers with equivalent track experience to PDX Advanced.

Double Carolina Cup Pro Series (CCPS) – 2 rounds of the 2011 CCPS championship, a 45-minute endurance race for Spec Miata, Improved Touring, Spec Racer Ford, and similar classes.

Enduro Championship Racing (ECR) – Saturday only, a 1.5-hour endurance race for Spec Miata, Improved Touring, Spec Racer Ford, and similar classes.

EVENT INFO AND ONLINE REGISTRATION: http://www.scsportscar.com​/cmp

Questions? Contact membership@scsportscar.com​ or call us at 803-386-7727.

Online Registration (MotorsportReg.com):
http://scsportscar.motorsportreg.com

This is the 6th event in the 2011 Folger Subaru South Carolina Autocross Championship, though anyone is welcome to participate. If this will be your first Solo, welcome! For your first or second time competing in an autocross event, we strongly encourage you to register for “Novice” class, which will group you with other novice drivers and partner you with instructors who will introduce you to the sport and help you with any questions you might have.

Entry Fee:
$20.00 (SCCA Members)
$30.00 (Non-Members – price includes SCCA Weekend Membership)

Registration will close on Saturday, August 6 at 5:00 AM. It will cost an additional $5.00 to register and pay on-site. Register and pay online today and save money!

South Carolina Region Solo Rules

Getting Started in Solo

Event Schedule:
Setup – 6:30 AM
Registration – 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM
LATE Registration ($10 late fee) – 8:30 AM – 8:45 AM
Tech Inspection – 7:30 AM – 9:00 AM
Novice Course Walks – 8:30, 8:45, and 9:00 AM
Driver’s Meeting – 9:15 AM
First Car Out – 10:00 AM
Fun Runs (Time Permitting) – 4:00 – 5:00 PM

Questions? Contact Thom Mezzapelle at thom@scsportscar.com or call the South Carolina Region office at 803-386-7727.

Event Description

The Subaru Showdown is a two day autocross championship and Subaru owner’s appreciation event jointly hosted by Central Carolinas Region SCCA and South Carolina Region SCCA, consisting of the following events on July 16-17, 2011:

• Autocross – a 2-day event for ALL CARS with two separate courses on the Carolina Motorsports Park West Course.
• Car Show – Two separate 1-day events for Subarus only.
• PDX – “Performance Driving Experience” – a 2-day HPDE/track day event on the Carolina Motorsports Park East Course for Subarus only.
• Time Trial – a 2-day event for Subarus only, held under SCCA Club Trials rules.

Sponsors

• Fairway Subaru – Greenville, SC
• Folger Subaru – Charlotte, NC
• Subaru of Charleston – Charleston, SC

Event Details/Registration

Entering Multiple Events

Autocross, PDX and Time Trial participants are welcome to enter the Car Show. Unfortunately, Time Trial and PDX entrants will be unable to participate in Autocross, and vice versa, due to overlapping schedules. If you would like to experience both events, it is possible to purchase a single-day PDX entry and a single-day Autocross entry. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Spectators

Spectators are welcome! All events on this weekend are sanctioned as spectator events. Carolina Motorsports Park charges a $5 fee at the gate for spectators. Access to “hot” areas (pits, grid, autocross grid/course) is restricted to SCCA members and weekend members who have signed the appropriate SCCA and CMP release/waiver forms.

Volunteers

Volunteers are needed for the PDX and Time Trial portion of this event! The main need is for Flagging and Communications (corner workers), Pit and Grid, and Paddock workers. Volunteers will receive either a $30 cash expense reimbursement for each day worked, or a $30 credit toward future South Carolina Region SCCA Solo, PDX or Time Trial events for each day worked. Plus, volunteers will be provided breakfast and lunch for each day worked and a free ticket to the Saturday night cookout.

Special offer for Autocrossers: Are you only planning on driving one day of the weekend? If you’re willing to volunteer on the other day, we’ll give you the normal volunteer perks above AND give you your autocross entry for free! Sign up on the volunteer page first, and then we’ll issue you a discount code good for a free day of autocross! Space is limited for this offer.

Volunteer registration is on the PDX/Time Trial Registration Page. Sign up today!

Event Flyer

Download our event flyer and help us spread the word!

• Event Flyer (PNG format – forum size)
• Event Flyer (PDF format – 8.5″ x 11″ print size)

Questions?

• General event questions: Nick Hallman – nick@scsportscar.com, 803.386.9146
• Autocross: Thom Mezzapelle – thom@scsportscar.com
• PDX/Time Trial: Joe Oliveira – joe@scsportscar.com
• Registrar: Kelly Mezzapelle – kelly@scsportscar.com