A total of 143 competitors made their presence known at the May 4 & 5 Event
#1 of the 2002 Evolution SEDiv Solo2 Championship Series at the Buckingham
Airfield in Fort Myers, FL. Guess I better learn to count as it was
erroneously announced at the event that there were only 125 entrants. That
makes this event the highest turnout since being SEDiv Solo2 Steward several
years running. A special thanks to all those who showed their support by
attending this event at the far southern end of the division.
Thanks is due to the independent Gulfcoast Autocrossers for graciously
hosting this SCCA event and all the effort put forth by their core workers to
make this a record breaking turnout. Further thanks to the following SCCA
SEDiv members who served in key SCCA positions to make this a special event:
Karl Rickert, Laing Conley, & Jeanne Darrow; Registration
Rick Cone, Carol Cone, Tracy Lewis; Timing & Scoring
Bill Coffey, Gary Meredith, Neal Tovson; Event Safety
Mark Chiles, Bill & Elliott Harvey; Protest (nobody dared file with these
guys :-)
Finally, special thanks goes to the Evolution Performance Driving School for
their sponsorship of the SEDiv Solo2 Series, and additionally for donating an
Evolution School entry that was raffled off at the end of the Drivers
Meeting. The lucky winner was Cary Quick, a Buccaneer Region member from
Jacksonville, FL who came down to run his Chevy Camaro in ESP.
The event got off to a slow start on Saturday when registration was flooded
with late entries after closing, most who required information entry and
changes in the Timing & Scoring software database. As frustrating as it was,
we just couldn't find it in our hearts to refuse anyone's desire to attend
the event. Unfortunately things went downhill from there. A big spin at the
finish by none other than the Evolution School entry raffle winner (oh, the
irony ...) resulted in the Event Safety Steward stopping the event until we
moved the vehicles and equipment in grid to provide a larger buffer from the
finish area.
The event then proceeded to clunk along at a snail's pace, providing everyone
with ample opportunity to be broiled well-done in the blazing Florida sun
when the usual sea breeze disappeared for most of the afternoon. I'm ashamed
to admit that final runs were not completed until almost 6 PM, even though we
did not shut down for lunch. I have to accept full responsibility for this.
Having not held an event since last August, a number of situations just
weren't properly executed by me.
Sunday proved to be a cooler day; both in weather and execution. We got the
first car off promptly at 8:30 AM as promised. A revamping of the timing and
auditing procedures made for a much smoother and quicker event day. The
first two heats were completed by 11:00 AM. After shutting down the event
for a 1 hour lunch social we completed the final two heats, held trophy
presentations, and had most people packed up and on their way home by 3:00
PM.
In the final analysis, among the 143 entrants there were 38 class winners and
25 additional class trophy-place finishers, each receiving a classy
photo-montage trophy plague provided by Scott Schleh Auto Art. Of particular
note, Jesse Naughton from Gainesville, FL skillfully wielded his H-Stock 2000
Mazda Protege and edged out 35 other SEDiv Solo2 rookies for the Top Dog
honors in the PAX-based Rookie Challenge. We hope to have final event
results posted soon on the SEDiv Solo2 website.
Don't forget, Event #2 of the Evolution SEDiv Solo2 Series is scheduled to be
hosted by the Central Florida Region at the Gainesville Raceway driver test
course on June 22 & 23 in Gainesville, FL. I promise this event will be
executed much more smoothly than this past Saturday. We are expecting an
unusually large turnout for this event and it's possible that a maximum entry
limit may be implemented, so don't delay, register on-line today:
www.sedivsolo2.com
Mark Sipe
SEDiv Solo2 Steward
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