Sunrise at Day 1

The first Tour event of 2012 for many of the Spokes members was this last weekend, March 17th and 18th. The weather cooperated, and the courses stayed dry. Spokes members in all classes spent the weekend dialing in cars, both old and new.

Biergarten a bit un-beered

Being a university campus, the venue did not allow adult beverages, putting a bit of a crimp in the style of the RTRT. Once at the Spokes hotel, though, styles once again became decidedly unimpeded… causing an early shutdown of the poolside festivities by the management due to customer complaints.

Grid B getting ready to go, B-Stock and FP battle ready to begin

The first heat included the STR battle between Jason Minehart, and Rob Irish and John Pomrenke. This one would go down to the wire.

The second heat also had two of the most heated battles of the tour, B-Stock, and F-Prepared. Ricky Crow, and Jadrice Toussaint continued their battle initiated at the Dixie Tour the week before with them once again trading co-drives, this time in Ricky’s S2000 CR. Vivek Goel, the Tour course designer, would also be trying to lay claim to a B-Stock trophy in what is probably without a doubt, the only Blaze orange wheeled Acura NSX in the world.

Vivek and Tom Cook's rides, lookee dem wheels, Hale you are an artist!

Rick's 240z

F-Prepared pitted Beth McClure-Strelnieks and current club Prez in the McClure Strelnieks’ Porsche Boxster, vs. recently retired president, Rick Martinez and John Hale in Rick’s Datsun 240Z. They would all be tested, no doubt by Tom Holt, in his 240z as well.

Tom's 240z

The final Heat was where this Rattle writer was testing the STX waters for the first time at a tour after the big ST shakeup moving many new cars into the fold including Novice chief, Todd Roberts in his MS-3. My Co-driver, James Wilson from the Houston region, was here to see what the car could do. The third heat also packed in the Big boy toys in XP class. Vitek Boruvka debuted his LS-3 Banshee MX 6.2., vs. his co-driver, Dan Pedroza. It would prove to be another back and forth battle.

My ride

Jason Minehart's STR winning Miata and Todd Robert's near-Trophy MS-3

Vitek and Federico

You’ll have to excuse the Rattle editor for this event. I’m working on a new camera acquisition as the phone has nearly immediate battery issues when spending even a short time in camera mode.

The 2012 SCCA Solo Season is underway!

With the Dixie National Tour now complete, Texas takes the spotlight and quite a few Spokes members are already signed up for the Sun Belt National Tour at Texas A&M’s Riverside Campus, site of numerous past events. The event begins Friday March 16th, with competition beginning Saturday the 17th. The Rattle will have coverage of the event in it’s entirety during and after it’s completion.

Follow this link to event information and registration

http://www.scca.com/events/index.cfm?eid=3595

Live Results when available:

http://sololive.scca.com/

Good Luck to all!

This is a partial list of attending Spokes members and SASCA folks at best:

B-Stock
Jason Kupka
Connie Hudson
Vivek Goel (Also the course designer for the Tour)
Vanessa Crow
Chris Williams
Ricky Crow

D-Stock
Tak Inoue

H-Stock
Eric Jones

Road Tire FWD
Dan Difeo
Josh King

Street Touring FWD
Ann Hollis
Andy Hollis

Street Touring C
John Kanalas
George Hammond
David Alarcon

Street Touring Roadster
Matthew Leach
Chris Leclair
Rob Irish
Kyung Wootten
Jason Minehart
Jon Pomrenke
Michael Wootten

Street Touring X
Shawn Murphy
Todd Roberts

Street Touring U
Tom Cook

X-Prepared
Scott Bowman
Troy Dudley
Dan Pedroza
Vitek Boruvka
Nick Gruendler

D-Prepared
Steve Hudson
Drew VanderPloeg
Sierra Pedroza
Sherman Chang

F-Prepared
Jerry Centanni
Rick Martinez
John Hale
Tom Holt
Beth McClure-Strelnieks

B-Modified
David Stamman
Julia Stamman

B-Modified Ladies
Marian Stamman

Super Street Modified
Troy Acosta
Eric Strelnieks
Federico Del Toro
Peter LeBlanc

Street Modified FWD
Michel Agujia

Street Modified FWD ladies
Joan Bell

Kart Modified
Tom Harrington

Well, we had an awesome set of parties this year already, the 2010 Year End Party at Scholz Garten was a blast  and the Annual Tech Party and Membership Drive was very successful!  Thanks out again to  John Long and Dan Pedroza for supporting the club and offering the Automotive Specialist shop for the tech party!  And if you haven’t heard already, here are the extra-special annual awards that were presented at the banquet, huge respect to these folk, they deserve it:

Steve Willis Memorial Driver of the Year – John Hale

Member of the Year – Tom Holt

Rookie of the Year – David Alarcon

Now let’s get down to business!  First Spokes autocross of the season is right around the corner on Sunday February 6th at San Antonio Raceway.  It may be cold now but the weather folks are calling for high temperatures around 67 degrees on Sunday in Marion, TX.  That’s what I call perfect autocross weather.  Pre-registration is open on Axware for all of our SAR events so go sign up and join us out there to kick off the racing season!  The management at SAR have indicated that they will be opening the concession stand for all of our events this year so bring your appetite as well!  Mmm, concession stand burgers…

The 2011 Southwest Division Divisional schedule has been posted and the dates and locations are listed on the Spokes website.  More information as well as links to the region divisional web sites will be added as they become available.  Make plans to attend what is guaranteed to be an awesome Divisional season!

That’s all for now.  See y’all Sunday!

Join us on December 5th for the final points event of the Spokes 2010 Championship Series.  This is a joint event hosted by SASCA and Spokes at Blossom Athletic Center in San Antonio, TX.  There are several class trophies on the line to be determined by this event so don’t miss it!  Blossom is just a little further down the road than SAR so what are you waiting for, go register here!

The Spokes Year End Party date and venue have been officially confirmed and we will be at Scholz Garten on January 15th for a celebration to honor those that did well (or not!) this year and to kick off the New Year in Spokes style!  The full 2011 Spokes schedule is currently in the works so expect an announcement about the rest of the schedule before the end of the year.

SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES!

First off, just want to remind everyone that the October Spokes autocross on October 17th has been canceled.  I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused but there were some issues that kept us from getting our originally planned venue.  We are always looking for new autocross sites around Central Texas so let Rick Martinez or anyone on the Spokes BOD know if you have any ideas, contact information for the owners or property managers is even better.

Even though the October event has been canceled we are still holding our regularly scheduled Spokes meeting on October 19th at Pok-e-jo’s on Parmer Ln.  We are calling for all volunteers that are interested in helping out the club next year in a more “official” capacity to attend this meeting so that we can discuss Spokes BOD positions for next year.  There’s a lot of opportunity on the Spokes BOD to make a huge difference in the club, please join us and be a part of it.  Even if you do not want to serve on the BOD, we still need enthusiastic helpers!  Remember, this is YOUR club and the success of YOUR club depends on YOUR contribution!

Year End Points Race!  Do not forget about the Spokes Championship Series Year End Points Race!  The links below (or at www.spokes.org if you are reading this via blog or email) have been updated for the year and there are only two events left to catch up if you are behind.  Remember, only Spokes Members are eligible for Year End Championship trophies and it’s not too late to sign up.  These trophies will be handed out at the Spokes Year End Party in January, also members-only, so keep your ears open for the details in the next month or so.

That brings us to the Spokes 2010 Season finale(s)!  November 14th and December 5th at San Antonio Raceway.  Be there to defend your Championship trophy, be there to to overthrow the reigning Champion in your class, or just be there to have a great time autocrossing your car with great friends,  fun challenging courses, and awesome weather!  See you there!

SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES!

The NBA Finals are over, World Cup is in full swing, and F1 has announced their very aggressive plans for Austin.  Time to get off that couch, dust off the cobwebs, and let’s go autocrossing again!  Spokes and the Southwest Division of the SCCA have big plans for you this summer!  Read on…

What better way to dust off those cobwebs than with a good old Spokes/SASCA joint event at San Antonio Raceway on June 27th!  Based on the pre-reg list so far it looks like this is going to be a great start to a very busy summer schedule.  Remember, these joint events offer the opportunity to accrue points in both the Spokes and SASCA Year End Points races so take advantage of the double dip!  Go register today!

Next up, Riverside Annex in College Station, TX will again be the site of the first Divisional in the 2010 SCCA Southwest Divisional Series.  This event is the weekend of July 17-18 and is hosted by the good folks of the Houston Region SCCA.  A huge expanse of concrete and a two-day divisional format should combine to create an event for the record and storybooks!  Expect the Spokes Road Trip Racing Team to make a healthy showing at the event as well as in the trophies!  This event marks the first weekend of three weekends in a row of autocross action for Central Texas!  Woohoo!

To keep the momentum rolling we will be back at San Antonio Raceway on July 25th for another great Spokes event.  Year End Points races should be shaping up nicely by this the time this event roll around so expect a detailed roundup of class trophy positions before this event.  Remember, only Spokes members are eligible for Year End Points Championships so make sure you sign up to be a Spokes member!

And to round out this intense three-weekend autocross feast we’ll be hitting the road once again, this time to Grand Prairie, TX to attend the second event in the SCCA Southwest Divisional series.  This event is put on by the Texas Region SCCA and is on the weekend of July 31st – August 1st.  This will be the first divisional at this site so come on out and make it the best divisional ever!

I’m tired of typing but just a quick heads up on a venue change.  Our August 22nd event has been moved from the Riverside Annex to San Antonio Raceway.  Sorry folks, we really wanted the Annex but forces out of our control deemed it necessary to move the event.

See y’all Sunday!

SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES!

It’s definitely spring time here in Texas and do you know what that means?  Perfect autocross weather!  And is there any better way to capitalize on this great weather than to book a bunch of autocross events for our friends?  Well, I can’t think of a better way so that’s what we did!

First up we are out at San Antonio Raceway on April 18th for another awesome Spokes autocross.  This event was just added to the schedule in place of our canceled divisional so make sure you check and confirm you are pre-registered on Axware.  This would be a good event to bring a new friend or two out to see what Spokes is all about!

Just two weeks after our April event we will be back at San Antonio Raceway on May 2nd to do it all over again (on a different course, of course).  We are packing these events in while the temperatures are still well below 100 degrees so everyone can get plenty of seat time in without melting!  Take advantage of this spring weather and join us!

We’ve got a special treat planned for May 23rd.  We will be teaming up with SASCA at Blossom Athletic Center in San Antonio for a joint SASCA/Spokes autocross on their very grippy asphalt lot!  Spokes and SASCA points will be awarded for this event and Spokes member entry fee and annual tech will be honored.  Huge thanks to the SASCA team for letting us join them for what promises to be a really fun event!

That’s it for now.  Get online and register, get your on-the-fence friends out to an event to enjoy the weather (and get hooked on our sport) and let’s autocross!

SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES!

Those NCAA dudes got nothing on us!  It’s practically spring here in Texas and we’ve got some great local, national, and just plain fun events coming up this month to be excited about.  Let’s get to it!

First up is our trip out to the Riverside Annex in College Station on March 7th for the joint TAMSCC/Spokes Autocross!  That’s right, we’re partnering up with the Aggies to bring you the best autocrossing you can find in Central Texas.   A huge expanse of concrete will be peppered with cones setup by top national driver Dan Pedroza and C-Stock Ladies National Champion Dani Pedroza!  Big thanks out to the TAMSCC crew for letting us come out and play with them.  This event is coming up fast so be sure to register as soon as soon as you can.  The university requires an insurance waiver to be completed before you can compete so download it, fill it out, and bring it with you on Sunday!  Form is here:  http://www.tamscc.org/misc/tamscc_insform.pdf

Next up on the schedule less than two short weeks after the Aggie event will be our 2nd Annual Spokes Spring BBQ Run on Saturday March 20th!  This year our drive will bring us out to Kreuz Market in Lockhart, TX for some of the best BBQ in Texas!  (Sensing a theme here?  Only the best for Spokes!)  More details will be announced via the Spokes email list in the coming weeks so keep a lookout for that and be sure to subscribe if you’re not on the list already.  Want more information about our delicious destination in the meantime?  Right here folks:  http://www.kreuzmarket.com/index.shtml

And, to wrap up an awesome Spokes month a bunch of us RTRT’ers are headed to Mineral Wells, TX the weekend of March 27-28 to compete at the SCCA Solo – Texas National Tour.  Don’t know what the Road Trip Racing Team or the National Tour is all about?  What better way to find out than to send in your entry form (or enter online) and join us for a great weekend of autocross competition!  Come out and compete against some of the top drivers in the country, hang out with your autocross buddies for a weekend, and see what makes out of town events something special!  Need more info?  Click here!  See you there!

SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES!

Hope that everyone had a safe and happy holiday season and is ready to get back into some serious Spokes activity!  To kick everything off we are gearing up to say ‘goodbye’ to the 2009 season and say ‘hello’ to the 2010 season with a  Spokes 1-2-3 knockout punch:  three weekends in a row!

First up is the Spokes 2009 Year End Party at Scholz Garten on Saturday January 23rd!  Doors open at 7pm and a delicious BBQ dinner will be served at 8pm.  After dinner we’ll be congratulating and awarding all of the Spokes Year End Champions, announcing Driver/Member/Rookie of the Year awards, and of course giving away the dubious Solex and Stromberg awards for other ‘outstanding’ achievements!  Entry to this party is no charge for Spokes members and $10-each for guests and non-members.

Just one short week later and we will be at Automotive Specialist in Round Rock for the Annual Tech Party and Membership Drive!  This is your chance to sign up to be a Spokes member for the 2010 season as well as get your Yearly Tech Inspection completed on your vehicle.  This year’s tech party date is Sunday, January 31st.  Thanks out to John Long and Dan Pedroza at Automotive Specialist for supporting us for this event and throughout the year.  Remember, this is on a Sunday this year, not Saturday!

And if Spokes parties and ‘bench racing’ are not enough to fulfill your autocross appetite then you’ll be pleased to know that the first Spokes autocross of the season is just one more short week after the tech party!  That’s right, Sunday February 7th will be the first Spokes autocross at San Antonio Raceway.  Online registration is already active on Axware for this event so go register already!

So, there you have it.  Three weekends, three great Spokes events.  Get your chores done, your car prepped, and your game face on because you do not want to miss even one event this season.  It’s going to be a great year!

SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES! SPOKES!