From the Editor's Desk

Hi, there — 

How exciting is it that in seven days, we're going to be at Hershey racing cars?!  I don't know about you, but I can't wait.  I'm looking forward to more seat time and getting better in the MR2.  I'm also looking forward to taking over as Registration Chief for this year! 

I also have some exciting news about a new program that we're looking to start this year within the club.  It's called Tire Rack Street Survival, and it's an amazing program.  I have information about it below, and I look forward to sharing more as I make progress!

I'll keep it short this month, and see you at the registration table and out on the race track!

Keep it Classy Susquehanna - Melissa Mauro
Editor, The Squeal

Note from the RE

We find ourselves at the beginning of yet another motorsports season! I hope you all have your cars ready for Hershey next weekend… I know I don’t. I’ve been busy racing the Porsche at Sebring and prepping for Road Atlanta the weekend after Hershey, so my autocross game is not looking strong at this point.

Anyway, I do have a bit of exciting news to share with you all this month! On March 14th, SCCA announced that Susquehanna Region is one of 27 regions to receive a grant from Track Night in America Driven by Tire Rack Grant funds. I, with the expert help of Bryan Roper, put together a grant proposal at the end of January for funds to upgrade the timing equipment used by Rallycross. Mr. Roper is hard at work gathering additional options and vetting possibilities, but stay tuned for more information and the debut of new equipment this season!

That’s it from me this month. I’ll see you all on the course!

Important Staff Changes

By Kristen Poole

Let’s all remember that the folks that run Susquehanna Region are all volunteers! It takes a lot of people a considerable amount of work to make sure we can all get out and play on the asphalt or in the dirt.

This year, Susquehanna Region will be taking a hard look at position responsibilities for both the board and program chairs, creating a list of responsibilities for each and recruiting where necessary to ensure that the club and the programs have what they need to run smoothly without any one person having too much on their plate. To that end, we've done a bit of restructuring for the Solo program that I'm excited to share with you.

I have a couple of important announcements to share with you this month. First, I’m happy to announce that Chris Brown (our member spotlight this month) has joined the Solo Committee as Junior Solo Chair. We’re still working out all of the details, but he’ll be helping with some of the behind the scenes work to run the Solo program and allow Chris Benfer to focus on the direction/future of the program and event operations. Brown will be teaming up with the volunteers already hard at work on venue acquisition to drive new possibilities on that front as well (hooray!).

In addition, Melissa Mauro has taken over as Solo Registration Chief for 2018 and will have my full support for the first few events to ensure a smooth transition. We also moved the management of MotorsportReg to Melissa so she owns the full registration process from setup to check-in, which should ensure a smoother operation from the registration side of things. If you have any registration-related questions, please contact her directly using the link on the right side of MSR pages, or email her.

This change moves the pre-registration responsibilities off of Markus Houser so that he can focus on his duties as a Director on the Board and the VERY important work of managing the club's equipment.

BIG thanks to both of these members for stepping up and taking an active role in the Region’s programs for 2018. With the addition of some key players like these, I'm excited for the possibilities that 2018 holds! I hope you are, too. Please join me in welcoming them!

If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines a bit wondering how you can help, I guarantee we can find a spot for you! Please reach out to me via email or on Facebook and let’s chat!

Our 2018 Autocross Season is Here!

by Chris Benfer

After a long winter, our Autocross season is finally about to begin.  Our first events will be March 24th and 25th at Hershey.  Even though we increased the limits this year, both events quickly sold out.  If you are not already signed up, you can still get on the wait list and we'll take as many people as we can.  The schedule for the Farm Show will be up soon, so for those of you who can't join us in Hershey, we'll see you there.  Also, a big thank you to everyone who made our first Annual Tech Day a success.  We had a good turnout and now the tech lines will be shorter for everyone the morning of the event.  If you are interested in the Annual Tech Day for next year, you will need to run at least 7 events with us this year, but the registration is free and you can skip the tech line!

Rallycross School & Event 1 Coming Soon

The 2018 RallyCross season is almost upon us! This year, we’re starting again with the Rally school on Saturday followed with the first points event on Sunday. 

Speaking of points, Triton Automotive gets bonus points for sponsoring this year’s RallyCross program! Give Matt at Triton a buzz if you’re looking for a premium pre-owned, auction, or parts vehicle!

Here's this year's schedule:

4/21/18 -  Rally School
4/22/18 -  Points Event 1
5/12/18  - Points Event 2
6/16/18  - Points Event 3
8/18/18 -  Points Event 4

Register for our Rally School and first event of the season below!

Introducing Tire Rack Street Survival

I'd like to start talking about Tire Rack Street Survival by giving you an overview of what the program is and how it works.  Long story short - it's a program that teaches teens and young adults (16-21) the skills to make them better prepared and saver on the road.  It involves some class time, and several driving tests; including a slalom, skid pad, braking exercises to name a few.

This program is run by volunteers and "Coaches" - which is where you come in.  There is a short online course that you can take to get certified, and also gets you more acquainted with what the program is all about.

My goal is to start the program this year, to provide a great service for our community.  I won't be able to do it alone, so I wanted to give everyone some information on the program and provide you the link to become a coach.  If you are interested in helping me with this, I'd love to hear from you!  

I've listed the link for the program itself, as well as the coaching site to get certified.  Once you are certified, it asks you to email your certificate to Tim Beechuk, but if you can also email me directly, I'll have your information on file when we start to rally the troups!

This is a really amazing program that I'm so excited to start, and I will continue to keep you posted as things progress!

Notes about Track Night in America

by Alan Lesher

Race tracks in the northeast will soon be open for the season.  SCCA has a full schedule of regional and Majors races scheduled from March through November. That's great for licensed racers...but what about everyone else? SCCA is doubling-down on track days in 2018. Every track in the NeDiv except Summit Point and Watkins Glen have Track Night in America dates this year.  There are 36 of them spread over 7 tracks.   The tracks are:  Lime Rock Park, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, New Jersey Motorsports Park, Palmer Motorsports Park, Pittsburgh International Race Complex, Pocono Raceway and Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.  The closest is Pocono, at 135 miles from Harrisburg.  These events are a great opportunity for anyone interested in racing or just plain speed to get a taste of on-track at a reasonable cost in a controlled setting.  All events are weekdays, afternoon into the evening.  Check it out on the SCCA website.  

Track Night is for street cars (autox & rallyx drivers, that's you!) with some exceptions.  I have an older Firebird Formula race car.  It is no longer competitive in either American Sedan or Touring 2, without a massive infusion of $. So, I keep it for track events. I was able to get a waiver because limited prep cars like my Firebird are not that much removed from a street version, except for a major upgrade in safety. I'm going to go to Pocono, anyone want to join me?

March Regional Meeting

Thursday, March 22nd • 7:30 p.m.

Our next meeting will be held on the second floor at Appalachian Brewing Company, 50 N. Cameron Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101. All members are encouraged to attend. Come an hour early for dinner (and a drink) with other members.

Meeting Agenda

• Treasury:
  - Financial report - Lesher

• Autocross:
  - Continued discussion/approval on plan for event trophies/cost - Benfer/Brown/All
  - Vote to accept/reject 2018 Autocross Supplementals - All
  - Discussion surrounding upcoming Hershey event/needs - Benfer/Brown

• Rallycross:
  - Continued discussion/approval on plan for event trophies - Moore/All
  - Update on I-beam purchase and storage - Roscinski/Roper
  - Discussion surrounding grooming the lot prior to start of season - Roscinski/Roper/All
  - Follow up on training RallyCross registrars to use the iPads - Roscinski/Mauro

• Club administration:
  -  Update on t-shirt and postcard purchases - Poole
  - Update on venues/contracts/sanctions - Poole

• Club Communication:
  - Website report - Poole
  - Facebook report - Austin
  - Squeal Report - Mauro

• Old Business:
  - Report on how annual tech day went - Lesher/All
  - Update on purchase of RX radios - Houser
  - Update from Truck Committee on progress - Houser
  - Discussion on purchase of sand bags for tent and timing - Roper/All
  - Report on success of Safety Steward Class & donation possibility - Austin
  - Discussion on increasing cost of end-of-year banquet tickets - Austin/All

• New Business:
  - Road Rally possibility - Poole
  - Possibility of start a Cars & Coffee gathering for the club - Austin/All

Motorsports, Susquehanna Style

News from SCCA

2018 Rules