Thanks to all of you who attended the CCR/SCR autocross at the Michelin Proving Grounds this weekend. We hope you enjoyed this event - the largest autocross ever hosted by South Carolina Region, with 226 cars taking to the course on Sunday.

Results are now online:
Saturday
Sunday
Combined Final Results

Remember that trophies and championship points for this event are based on the combined results over the two days. Championship points will be updated later this week. If you trophied, and were not present at the awards ceremony, you can pick yours up at a future SCR autocross.

Finally, there are many, many people who deserve our thanks for making this event possible. Please read more, after the jump.

Garrett Molzer put in more work than anyone. We had him running all over Greenville picking up supplies for this event; he and Beth got there at 4:30 and 5:30 AM, respectively, on Saturday and Sunday... a feat that I couldn't pull off on Sunday - sorry, man. He handled all of the logistics of getting us into and out of the gate each night, ran timing whenever he wasn't in the car, tabulated results, and basically organized all of our setup efforts on Friday night and Saturday morning. If he ever stopped to have fun, I didn't see it. Garrett is one person you can guarantee will always be doing something at our event. He doesn't take a break... though by Sunday, we were all trying to find places to take a quick nap.

Jon Krolewicz put in a looooooong day on Friday getting the course set up. If you've ever tried to set up someone else's course, from a map, using exact measurements... it's no fun. Doable, but not easy. Oh, did I mention? It's also going to be pitch-dark and pouring rain. By the time Jon finally dragged back in Friday night, he was soaked and maybe 45% of the way finished, but pulled it back out on Saturday morning and got us up and running with minimal delays. Somehow, he still managed to have the energy to stick it out with us through Sunday evening tear-down. Many thanks to the others who pitched in on that awful Friday night/Saturday morning setup: Jan Pogorzelski, Roy Lowder, Brian Guinn, Bill Giffin, Matt Palombi, Joe Oliveira, Stuart Kestenbaum, Garrett Molzer and Bryan Hayes. I'm sure there's someone I've forgotten here.

Speaking of Bryan Hayes... timing and scoring had absolutely zero technical problems (well, except for a barcode scanner that seemed to miss about every 15th car, but I think that had something to do with the labels and humidity) thanks to Bryan's hard work. He was another guy who hauled himself out of bed at ridiculous hours both mornings to get the site up and running, and then stuck by us all day to make sure timing ran properly.

Pat Smith did an absolutely incredible job as Paddock Chief, taking care of a huge amount of cars and space with much less help than we originally promised him.

Speaking of help... Thom Mezzapelle, recognizing that lack of help, pulled double- and triple-duty helping Pat in the paddock and doing all kinds of other odds and ends, including searching all over Clinton for something to mark cones with on Friday night when our chalk marks were washing away in the rain faster than we could make them.

Jake Hester and Chris Norfolk had to run registration without half of their usual team, but still did an excellent job. Tyler Scott and Kelly Mezzapelle were brave enough to take the plunge and learn our registration process on the fly. Hey, it's only the biggest event of the year... why not? My incredible wife, Terri, also jumped in to help with registration Friday night and Saturday.

Noelle Norfolk did an excellent job keeping track of waivers for a huge event, with the added twist of having to get two different waiver forms signed. I'll add my thanks to hers, for everyone on her waiver team that got out there early and made sure we got everyone through the gate with the correct forms signed.

Matt Palombi and Joe Oliveira did just about everything this weekend... set up, tear down, course setup, and their usual job of novice course walks and instruction. They, too, somehow found the energy to do all of that and stick around and pack the van.

CD Rozsa did a little of everything as well... setup, tear down, tech, and his usual duties as worker chief. Donnie Jones did a great job assisting CD and Mike Smith (see below) with the huge task of coordinating 220+ workers.

Beth Hartman spent her birthday getting up just as early as Garrett, setting up and running merchandise, and loading the van last night. All this... and she doesn't even drive. I'm starting a fund so Garrett can take her out to a really nice dinner... e-mail me to make contributions.

Chuck Pyanowski and Aimee Fincher had never run a grid that large, or with assigned spaces, but figured it out and made it happen. They worked every single group that they weren't driving, making sure those huge grids kept running smoothly. They also spent TONS of time laying the grid out and making sure that all the spaces were organized and numbered properly. And when they wound up running the same car (and therefore, the same run group), Philip Cheshire stepped up and made sure things ran in their absence.

Mike Smith, Allen Murray and their team took care of our tech inspection each morning. When Mike got finished with tech, he went over and pulled double duty helping CD as worker chief. Many thanks as well to Rich Little, who not only ran tech on Friday night for us (along with Matt Palombi, in yet another of his duties), but stuck around to help on Saturday and Sunday as well.

John Byrd did an incredible job as Chief Safety Steward, as did his safety team - Don Moody, Jack McGahey, and Phillip Redd. We never had an issue that these guys weren't on top of this weekend, and there never seemed to be a moment that John's watchful eye wasn't on the event.

Greg Pressley brought all the CCR equipment we needed down to Laurens for us, right on schedule, and stuck around in the pouring rain to help us set up course. See? I knew I was forgetting someone that helped with the course. Thanks, Greg!

Even though he knew he couldn't make it to the event, Ted Theodore spent a ton of time behind the scenes coordinating sponsors, vendors, and making signs. All of those course station signs, traffic flow signs, "grid A" and "grid B" signs? That was Ted. Did you like the barbecue vendor's food? Thank Ted. Did you like that we got this site back? That was Ted's work, too. I hate that he had to miss this event... because it sure wouldn't have happened without him.

And finally, Mike New worked his tail off for this event, not only doing a regular work assignment (even though I told him not to) but also working as our liaison with Michelin for every detail - from site access to rules and regs, and even garbage disposal. He put in some late hours, too, helping us get on and off site... even helping us take out the trash Saturday and Sunday. He did way more than he needed to do... but without him, we never could have satisfied Michelin's requirements and run the event at the same time.


All in all, we put 212 cars through on Saturday, and 226 on Sunday, 4 runs each. We learned a lot about what it takes to put on an event that size, on that large of a course and site. I'm exhausted, and I know the folks I mentioned above are, as well. Please... tell them how much you appreciate their efforts the next time you see them, or better yet, write them a note and tell them. Every single person I named above didn't get paid a dime for all this work - not even a free entry. They got to pay money for the privilege of working their tails off... and while I'm afraid we overworked them all this weekend, they did it cheerfully and willingly, fueled by a strong desire to see this event be a success.

If there's anyone I have forgotten, I apologize... nearly everyone that participated in this event did a great job of following the rules, performing your work assignments, and helping the event run smoothly. So, thanks to all of you.

Many thanks as well to SCR and CCR's loyal season-long sponsors, Fairway Subaru (SCR) and Continental Tire (CCR). Their efforts have made it possible for our autocross programs to continue to grow and flourish.

And a very special thanks to Rod Busbee and Swagelok for their sponsorship of the Black Lake Shootout. This event would not have been possible without Swagelok's support.


I hope everyone enjoyed this event. Thanks again for coming.

--Nick