CCR-SCCA Central Carolina Region Sports Car Club of America

Ryan’s Steakhouse on Lauren’s Road (Motor Mile) in Greenville.
Eat from 6 to 7. Meeting from 7 to 8:30.

Next Thursday night, we will have our dinner meeting with updates on southeastern motorsports events, sell and swap shop, and other regular features. Todd Owenby will be reporting on upcoming autocross events and Scott Franklin will be updating us on road racing events. A representative from the Clemson Sports Car Club will be on hand to tell us about their autocross in Anderson, SC on November 9th. (It’s not too late to sign up!) We have a great cross section or road racers, autocrossers, time trailers, rallycrossers, tuners and people that just love cars! You will enjoy networking with people with a common passion for all things with 4 wheels. If you know of any car shows or events in the area in the coming months, please bring the information to the meeting. Thanks!

Our speaker for the evening will be Michael Mitchell. Michael is the Curator of the BWM Car Club of America Foundation.  Both the BMW CCA and the BMW CCA Foundation are headquartered in Greenville, SC.   Michael started with the Foundation in 2002 and he has been full-time with the Foundation since 2006.  He is over the Foundation’s Archives, and works directly with Bill Wade, the Foundation’s Tire Rack Street Survival  Director. Michael’s motorsports interests include autocross, rallies and concours, and event photography.

Michael will be speaking on the Tire Rack Street Survival® school program which is sponsored by Tire Rack, BMW, BMW Car Club of America and Sports Car Club of America. TRSS is a safe teen program designed to go beyond today’s required driver’s education and give teens across the U.S. the driving tools and hands-on experience to become safer, smarter drivers. Trained and qualified in-car driving instructors are provided as well as classroom experience for each student. The reports we received from the TRSS training done  in Charleston this year by SC Region showed it was helpful, fun and productive for the students AND the volunteers who helped run the event.

Last year, over 5,000 teenagers died in motor vehicle crashes, the leading killer of American youths aged 16 to 19, accounting for more than 40 percent of fatalities in that age bracket. To reduce this number, Tire Rack Street Survival® has developed a non-profit, national driver education program aimed at teaching teens the skills they need to stay alive behind the wheel.  http://www.streetsurvival.org/index.php

SCCA Central Carolinas is working with SWCCCR to put on a TRSS training school here in the upstate next spring. We will discuss after the meeting how you may be able to help in making this event happen and making a difference right here where we live.  Todd has taken the initiative to begin this project and we appreciate his efforts.

Please bring a friend and introduce them to our SWCCCR group. We look forward to seeing a good turn out. Thanks for your support!. Questions? Ideas for speakers or vendors? Items for Sale? Write me at tedagmar@juno.com

Ted Theodore
tedagmar@juno.com
(864) 915-5052

We had an excellent turn out for the SWCCCR September Thursday night meeting. Five new people attended and we look forward to having them at future meetings.

Gary Ramsey did a great job speaking tour group about SAC and how they started building Cobra Replicas. Make no mistake, this is NOT just another “kit car”. The degree of attention and commitment to excellence is obvious in their work. Gary walked us through some of the history of SAC and his experience racing at dirt and asphalt tracks in the southeast. He said that SCCA has been a wonderful club for him to run with, make friends and share. He answered some questions on Dynos and gave us some information handouts to better understand how they work. We left Ryan’s Steak house after our regular meeting and went down to the SAC shop on Lauren’s Road. Gary, Jack and Joey had Gary’s monster Blue Cobra from the hillclimbs this year on the dyno ready to go. Gary passed out earplugs and fired it up. It took a while for the tires to warm up to get stick on the drum but he took up to 400+HP on his pull. It was really amazing to watch that kind of power on a dyno. One thing Gary said stuck with a lot of us “Running your car on a dyno is one of the most humbling experiences you can have.” Everyone thinks they have more power than they really have. On the other hand, dyno time is still one of the best ways to find all those little places extra HP is hiding. SAC put on quite a show and the tour of their shop was a real pleasure.

Make sure to visit SAC at http://www.southac.com/

Great MEETING! Thanks to Jack, Gary, Joey, their wives and family for hosting us at their shop. We wish you continued success with your shop and with your Cobras in shows and hillclimbs! Thanks to all who came out!
Ted

The SouthWest Chapter of Central Carolina’s Region will hold it’s next meeting on Thursday, September 11th at Ryan’s Steak House on Laurens Road in Greenville, SC. We will meet to eat at 6:00 to 7:00 and start our regular meeting at 7:00.

We will have updates and results on current events in motorsports as well as a schedule on events in the next two months (including the Black Lake 2 day autocross September 26th and 27th at the Michelin Proving Grounds in Laurens, SC.) We’ll also recap the Eagle’s Nest hillclimb with three of the TOP 4 finishers present! Great representation from our SWCCCR group! We will also have a trade and sell time so bring info on the junk that’s in your garage that is soon to be someone else’s treasure!

For our speaker this month, we have something special. We will be joined by Jack Abney, Gary Ramsey and Joey Burton from Southern Auto Classics on Laurens Road. Along with making some excellent AC Cobras from scratch, they also have a dyno , I have asked Jack, Gary and Joey to come speak to us on Dynos. They will cover all aspects of dynos from how they work, what variables they adjust to reach optimum performance, how to read your charts, costs and what you can do to make the most of your dyno time. After our meeting, we will drive down to his shop (just a mile or two from Ryan’s down Lauren’s Road) and they will put one of our member’s cars on a dyno and do a pull for us. This is a great chance to improve your understanding of dynos and get better value when you do take your car to a shop.

Take a look at their website when you have time. www.southac.com By the way, that beautiful blue Cobra that took 2nd place overall at Eagle’s Nest Hillclimb was driven by Gary Ramsey. Gary is an incredible driver and that is one wicked awesome car!

We really appreciate the guys from SAC coming to speak and look forward to a great turn out.

Thanks. If you have any questions or need directions, please give me an email or call.

Thanks for making SWCCCR what it is today! THIS would be a great meeting to bring a friend!

Ted
(864) 915-5052
tedagmar@juno.com

Thanks to everyone that attended last night. We had some first timers from Clemson University and Phillip Hodge from Greenville. We’ll look forward to having them join us in the future. Brian Guinn celebrated his 48th birthday with us as well.

Todd and Scott recapped upcoming events in road race and autocross and Nick Hallman told us a little about the Tire Rack Teen Street Survival Program SCR is putting on in Charleston this weekend.

Dick spoke a little bit about getting involved in our club and areas we need member support. From site selection and acquisition, to finding sponsorship for events, to corner working races and hillclimbs, CCR needs you. It doesn’t have to be an area you are trained or have experience in. It has to be you that says “Can I help”. We had some door prizes provided by Redline Rim Repair …contact these folks at http://redlinerimrepair.com/ for your rim repair needs. They recently did my rims on the Z3 M Roadster and I was very impressed with their work.

Dave McKenzie CCR AX Director and Nick Hallman SCR AX Director spoke to our group about the autocross programs, member participation, our site situation and plans for new site acquisition and the September Michelin “Shootout at Black Lake” event. This promises to be a memorable event and we are all excited to see this on the horizon. Dave mentioned several events coming up including our 24 hour autocross. Nick told us about the Allied vs Axis competition in Charleston this weekend. We appreciate these guys coming and we’ll look forward to running some events and getting ready for the battle at the Michelin Testing Grounds between the two clubs.

We closed the meeting mentioning how new people are coming in and we are in a growth mode and about how we lost one of our SWCCCR past attendees in Steve Poe. Bruce advised us more about Steve’s accident and the importance of safety in our sport.

Thanks for attending and we’ll look forward to seeing you in August.

Ted

Our meeting will be 2nd Thursday of the month which is July 10th at RYAN’s Steakhouse on Laurens Road in Greenville, SC. We will eat from 6 to 7 Meet from 7 to 8:30 and leave when they throw us out as usual.

Our speakers will be:
Dave McKenzie – Autocross Director for Central Carolinas Region
Nick Hallman – Autocross Director for South Carolina Region
Dick McCollister – Regional Executive for Central Carolinas Region

Dave and Nick will be speaking about the southeastern autocross programs. They will cover venues, events, classes, competition, rules and talk some about the Shootout at Black Lake… the CCR / SCR joint 2 day event being held at Michelin’s testing facility in Laurens. Plan to attend to hear more!

Dick will be speaking briefly on your contribution to our club and opportunities to get involved. We will also have reports on recent motor sports events including road races, autocrosses and hill climbs and a calendar for upcoming events.

Also, if you have any items for sale or trade, please bring the info to the meeting.

Thank you for your support of the South West Chapter of Central Carolinas Region!!!

Any ideas on improvements to meetings or potential sites for autocrosses for 2008 in our area, please contact me. This would include the area between Greenville and Columbia, Greenville and Charlotte and up into Western North Carolina as well. If you would like to add a friend to our mail out list, please send me their name and contact info. Please encourage them to attend a meeting so they can see what we’re all about. Just forward this email on to them… we would like to get more people attending meetings!

Ted Theodore

Our meeting will be 2nd Thursday of the month which is June 12th at TIMKEN ICAR in Greenville, SC. Our speaker will be Ron Wilcox who works for Timken… Ron will be speaking on Sound control at the track. Ron has a lot of knowledge and experience from working sound at Lime Rock and as a part of his profession with Timken. He has assured me that he will show us a least 5 ways of beating the sound trap. This might be a valuable help for your future. . We will congegate in front of the building between 6:00 and 6:30. We have been asked by Timken ICAR to have several cars on display out front for pictures between 6 and 6:30. This is for internal publications and future press. If you would like to bring your car and have something either exotic, unusual , a race car ( a Shelby Daytona Coupe would be AWESOME!) send me an email to confirm tedagmar@juno.com . From 6:30 – 7:00 we will eat. From 7:00 – 7:30 there will be a tour of the facility. From 7:30 – 8:30 Ron will give his sound control presentation .

Note : You must turn in this form in advance to Ron’s email address to be able to take the tour. No exceptions. We each have to be approved. Ron.Wilcox@Timken.com You do not want to miss this tour…we are very fortunate to have the ICAR center open their doors for us. Thanks Ron!!!!

ICAR is not on the Mapquest street map. . From exit 48 of route 85 head towards Mauldin on Laurens Rd. Turn left onto Millenium Dr. After you cross the RR tracks turn left at the ICAR facility. The Timken building is in the back on the left. You can park in front of the building. If you need more directions, call Ron at at 770-2141.

Also, if you have any items for sale or trade (or cars for rent for driver’s schools) please bring the info to the meeting.

Again, thank you for your support of the South West Chapter of Central Carolinas Region!!! Any ideas on improvements to meetings or potential sites for autocrosses for 2008 in our area, please contact me. This would include the area between Greenville and Columbia, Greenville and Charlotte and up into Western North Carolina as well. If you would like to add a friend to our mail out list, please send me their name and contact info. Please encourage them to attend a meeting so they can see what we’re all about. Just forward this email on to them… we would like to get more people attending meetings!

Thanks
Ted

CCR would like to extend our condolences to the family of Steve Poe. Steve attended the last SWCCCR dinner as a guest of a CCR member. Steve was the unfortunate victim of an accident in his garage. After replacing a seal on his Corvair, the car shifted while jacking up the transmission. Even though the chassis was supported by jack stands, lifting the transmission caused the car to move and come down on Steve. Steve leaves behind a wife, brother, sister and two grown sons.

Steve’s obituary can be seen at the Greenville Online web site.

Memorials may be made to: Corvair Preservation Foundation, P.O. Box 607, Lemont, IL 60439
or to: American Heart Association, 3535 Pelham Road, Greenville, SC 29615

This unfortunate event should be a reminder to all that we must take care when working in the garage. Working under a car can be dangerous, and potentially life threatening. Please use the best equipment you can and always have someone else around when you are under a car.

Great meeting last night! We had about 38 attendees and several were first timers. We were entertained with videos from Chimney Rock and Crow Mountain hillclimbs during dinner. A lot of memories from the Rock with Jerry Kieft, George Bowland, John and Mike Green… great racing action from the past and present.

Todd, Scott and Seth covered upcoming events on Autocross, Rallycross, Road Racing and course working events. We also recognized one of our younger members Stewart Cameron for his first trophy win in a cart at an autocross in Florence last week. Ross Hennin reported on the Clemson Sports Car Club’s Motorsports Festival last month. Ron Wilcox filled us in on our plans for our next meeting in June at the TIMKEN International Center for Automotive Research (ICAR center) in Grenville. If you love cars, this is a tour you don not want to miss! Ron will also be our speaker on Sound Control. Ron was a sound trap man at Lime Rock for many years and has promised to teach us some tricks on beating the sound trap… (he’s already filled me in on some and I was amazed!)

We will be having a tour of the ICAR facilities as a part of the meeting but you must fill out a form in advance of attending the meeting for approval. Thanks Ron and Vincent for your help in setting this up!

John opened his presentation with an in car camera shot of the trip up Chimney Rock in one of his racers. He talked us through the lines and features of the course that made it the crown jewel of hillclimbs for many years ago. He related many stories from the cars he drove, events he ran, mechanical failures and the many successful trips to the King of the Hill titles he earned.

John fielded questions from the group on topics on preparation, tires, focus, and handling. John also showed some films from races he ran at Daytona and the runoffs at Road Atlanta one year. John ran out of tapes but if he had kept telling stories and showing tapes, Ryans would have been serving breakfast this morning. Thanks to John Finger for being our speaker and for his continued service and support to Central Carolina’s Region.

We took a month off due to so many activities and conflicts on April Thursdays but ….. we are back and ready!!!! I hope you have missed getting together with some sports car friends and will come to our meeting … and bring a friend!

Our meeting will be next Thursday MAY 15th at RYAN’s on Laurens Road in Greenville, SC. Since we are headed in to Hillclimbing season with Wolf’s Ridge, Eagle’s Nest and Crow Mountain in the coming months, we have asked John Finger to come speak to us…. both on his experiences running hillclimbs as well as a “101 introductory course” on lines and preparation for tackling a mountain in a Time Trial. John has an outstanding career in racing and is one of the “Sweet 16” winners of the Chimney Rock Hillclimb. We will be showing some videos from in car cameras for Wolf Ridge, Eagle’s Nest and some from John at the Rock . This will be a meeting you don’t want to miss . Mark your calendars now. We’ll start eating at 6:00 and start the meeting at 7:00 try to wrap up around 8:00. If you are interested in Course working for ANY of the upcoming hillclimbs, please email me!!!! It really is the 2nd best seat in the house…. Food and accommodations are free!

BIG NEWS! The July meeting will be held at the Timken ICAR center! Ron Wilcox will work with us on getting a tour of the facilities and he will be our speaker on Sound Control. Ron ran Sound Trap for many years at Lime Rock before moving down this way. He has promised to give attendees 5 ways to beat the Sound Trap. Road racers…you really don’t want to miss this!!!!!

Also, if you have any items for sale or trade please bring the info to the meeting. We’ll try to set some time aside to let anyone with trade or sale items to present them. This is another opportunity for networking that SWCCCR brings to the table to add to the value our meetings. It’s new year…go look around your garage, get rid of some junk and get some money! Someone else will see that junk as TREASURE!!!

Again, thank you for your support of the South West Chapter of Central Carolinas Region!!! Any ideas on improvements to meetings or potential sites for autocrosses for 2008 in our area, please contact me. This would include the area between Greenville and Columbia, Greenville and Charlotte and up into Western North Carolina as well. If you would like to add a friend to our mail out list, please send me their name and contact info. Please encourage them to attend a meeting so they can see what we’re all about. Just forward this email on to them… we would like to get more people attending meetings!

Ted Theodore

Our March meeting at Ryan’s on Lauren’s Road went great! We had 2 guys down from Hendersonville with East Coast Chopstix who told us a little about their website and activities. They are very interested in getting more local autocrosses going in upstate and Western NC. Check them out at www.eastcoastchopstix.com We also had a good group from Clemson and a first time visiting road racer from Easley. We hope to see you all again.

We covered all upcoming motorsports events in southeast and stressed the need for course workers. Both SCR and CCR are in need for upcoming events. Ross Hennin, incoming President of the Clemson Sports Car Club, walked us through the plans for the Clemson Motorsports Festival event coming up April 19 at stadium parking lot… mobile dyno, car show, dealers, food. Should be a good time. Contact Ted for more info.

Dave Michel (President of DDMWORKS in Piedmont, SC) did a great job of walking us through options for getting more power. He brought samples of everything from filters to turbos and superchargers. He talked about the trade offs and cost versus benefit ratio. It’s common for people just getting started to buy A piece or A part to improve their car’s performance… Dave advised to keep looking at the system…all parts have to be working together in flow to achieve more power and benefits you want. Good information and Dave’s experience in this field made for an informative evening. Thanks Dave for the presentation and the helpful question answer session that ended around 10:30 !!!!

Vincent and Ron are working on getting a future SWCCCR meeting set up at ICAR along with a tour. Keep your fingers crossed. We are all really looking forward to seeing that. We’ll see you second Thursday of next month! Thanks!

Ted Theodore tedagmar@juno.com