Western Blip 4

[TomBobN20]

Greetings from the West. Sy has very kindly asked me to post the Western Blip articles from the Western Series on the TJ site to get a bit more coverage and encourage the Westies to use this site. The original intent of these articles was to act as a catalyst to build strength in the Western Series which was sorely lacking last year. This, obviously, is the fourth article. I will post the first 3 when I get back from the Las Vegas.

Later,

Tom Roberts

WESTERN BLIP 4


Bright light city gonna set my soul
Gonna set my soul on fire
Got a whole lot of money that’s ready to burn,
So get those stakes up higher
There’s a thousand pretty women waitin’ out there
And they’re all livin’ devil may care
And I’m just the devil with love to spare
Viva las vegas, viva las vegas

I like to have music playing while I write. Somehow it sets the soul to burnin’. For those of you who know this, you’re very old like I am. For those who don’t, it’s the opening to one of Elvis’ best songs, Viva Las Vegas. If you don’t know who Elvis is there is no hope for you (and yes, he is still alive). It’s time to head to Vegas.

Greetings from the Great Northwest where the state animal is the slug and the state bird flew south and never came back. Contrary to popular belief, we don’t all have web feet. Some yes, but not all. But I for one am ready for the sun and fun of Las Vegas where the superior WESTERN SERIES RACECAR DRIVERS are about to humiliate the southern series boys and girls (so much for unbiased journalism).

But first, Sebring. Ya know, I have to admit, I went down there really dreading the whole thing. Let’s face it, it ain’t the entertainment capital of the world. Sure there’s the country fair where Tommy Brown tried to kill a bus full of elderly shuffleboard players. Or watching the 24 hour bike riders go around Sebring racetrack through the night and know you will never have to do that. Besides that there isn’t a whole lot to do in Sebring at night.

And then there’s the track. To say that it’s flat is a gross understatement. The biggest elevation change is a six inch compression at the Water Tower turn. But the most memorable feature of the place is you get the hell beaten out of you. It’s a bloody washboard. And everybody swoons over the place. Oh Sebring, I LOVE Sebring, Sebring is soooo amazing. These people are nuts. And, unfortunately, now, so am I. I hate to admit it but I love this insane racetrack. I have decided the ghost of Fangio lurks around the pits and whispers in everyone’s ear that it is a great place to drive. Ya just gotta love going into turn 17 full tilt boogey and trying to figure out how not to die. So if you haven’t done Sebring, do Sebring. But do yourself a favor and do a lead/follow with Jim Pace. Yes I know Skippy charges a ridiculous and unnecessary amount for L/F but in this case it is worth it. Jim knows every molecule of the place and you will come away a believer.

For those of you who haven’t heard, we have greatness amongst us in the form of one Alexander Rossi. (His mom has informed me that his name is not Alex so we gotta work on that. I tried to tell her that Alexander is a bit long to pronounce but she stuck to her guns, so Alexander it is.) Anyway, this kid is a serious driver. He has obliterated the track record at Sebring. Just for fun I came up to him each time he broke the record and told him he was sandbagging and that he needed to knock another half second off of the time and each time he did it. But the memorial race was truly epic. They stuck him in the back of over 20 drivers including Matt Franc, Bo Bo Bonilla, and Doc Duerson. Turn one he did with two wheels in the grass passing half the field, by about the third lap he had and kept the lead. Get his autograph now because when he’s a big shot racer we will be just common trash on the side of the track. Seriously, Alex, I mean Alexander, it is a pleasure to watch you drive (at least from the behind). This kid is good. I have to brag for a moment that I was able to pass him once at Sebring. It didn’t stick for more than about ten seconds but I guarantee I will brag about it to my grandkids, not that I will ever have any grandkids, but if I did………..Keep it up, Alex, damn, sorry, I mean Alexander, we’re glad you’re on our side.

So yes, I admit, Sebring is a great track, weird, but great. But is it great to include it in the Western Series. I for one don’t believe it is. I am aware that Skip Barber struggles to come up with tracks for the Western Series. I am sure that it is a financial decision to have the Western Series fly out to Florida but with all due respect, I don’t think it is a good financial decision. Last year we had five show up from the west. This year we had eight. Not a great turnout. Of course, the grid was packed with Southern and Masters drivers which looks good but it also means that most of the Western drivers get to wait two months to drive instead of driving once a month. So it isn’t good for the drivers either. It also screws up the point standings. Those that choose to compete in all of the races run on an unfamiliar track with a bunch of drivers who know the track well. Drivers who choose to double up at Laguna run on a familiar track and end up with more points. Drivers are encouraged not to run all of the races in this system and those that do decide to make the effort to fly cross country and incur the expense end up being penalized. This does not help to build a strong Western Series and I for one hope it changes. Financially Skippy would make out better if they had a race somewhere in the west with thirty or forty drivers but they have to give the series a chance to grow without creating speed bumps in the middle of the series.

To that end I do have some good news. I have it from a high source (thanks Todd) in Skip Barber that the first race for next year will indeed be at MillerMotorsportPark in SaltLake. The plan is to run on a section of the overall track (it can be divided about 5 ways) which will still be about 2.5 miles. This will give Skippy a chance to see how popular the venue will be so start saving now and show up so we can run the full course the year after. This is being called the best track in North America so let’s get behind it.

Okay, I’m going for a beer. Time for Tommy Fogarty, Western Instructor and badass dirttracker to fill you with his insights:

Being an instructor for Skip Barber is quite an experience- the first thing I realized when I took this job in 1997 was that I was going to meet lots and lots of interesting people. And I did and have been ever since. Just off the top of my head I can think of so many unique characters from every imaginable occupation and walk of life. Doctors, professional musicians, venture capitalists, career criminals, fighter pilots, athletes, financiers, entertainers, entrepreneurs and of course the enigmatic and utterly unclassifiable "international men (and women) of mystery" to name a few. There are some really desirable and amazing careers represented at each of our race weekends, and it’s always interesting to me that some of these fascinating people will openly admit to the instructors that they actually envy us!

Having worked as a Skip Barber instructor for the better part of ten years, I am still compelled to reflect every time someone says "You guys have the greatest job..." And we hear that (or similar statements) quite often. I suppose it’s human nature to occasionally take things for granted, and we instructors are sometimes guilty of doing just that, but let’s be honest- it is a GREAT job! For one thing, we have the opportunity to work with the people I’ve described. I really believe that you can learn a little something and gain a little perspective from everyone you meet, and what a varied group we’ve got here in the SBRS "family"! All of us- instructors and customers- should always remember what a neat opportunity we all have to mix with people we’d NEVER get a chance to meet if we stayed in our own socio-professional (yes, I made that word up) environment. Another reason this job is wonderful is that everyone we work with is genuinely happy to be there. I have yet to meet the person who is unhappy to be at racing school. We’ve all worked in places where this just isn’t the case, and we all know it sucks to be surrounded by unhappy, dissatisfied people. Okay, occasionally someone might be a little bummed out when handed a crash damage bill for a few thousand dollars, but even that is usually temporary.

I think that the real reason most of us stick with this job, though, is simply the gratification we get from sharing our passion with people, and the satisfaction of seeing our customers go from being uninitiated students with no more than a keen interest into truly capable racing drivers. It’s hard to convey the pride of accomplishment most of us feel watching one of our races between drivers who we’ve watched survive the process of learning the craft. It’s been said that the best jobs are the ones in which progress or accomplishment is tangible and evident. Nowhere is it more tangible or evident than it is here, and to be teaching something that people tend to be so passionate about just makes it that much better. I recently ran into a former series racer whom I hadn’t seen in about five years. We were talking about our lives and catching up when the conversation naturally turned to racing- his eyes lit up as he recalled a race he’d been in back in 1999 at Willow springs, and he began to describe a battle he’d had with another competitor and he motioned with his hands to emphasize the tightness of the wheel to wheel battle. He looked at me and said "Don’t you remember that race?!!?" The cool thing is that I remember every detail of it as though it were earlier today.

Tommy Fogarty

So a bit of news from the Skippy family. First of all a huge round of applause to Gerardo Bonilla who won the opening round of the Star Mazda series at Sebring. Bobo has worked his tail off to get there and we’re all thrilled for your success. Keep it up. Also many of you may not have known that Patrick Barrett has left our series to do undercover work on Jim Russell Racing. He isn’t doing a very good job staying under cover though, as he is currently leading their series. Rub their nose in it, Pat (wait, he probably wants to be called Patrick, kids these days sure are demanding) Patrick and we hope to see you at the Skip Barber Banquet in April to give us a full report.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Sy Aryeh of Team Juicy fame. He was interested in including some to the Western Series articles on his website. I will have to admit I hadn’t done much with the Team Juicy site and was a bit reluctant to mix our info with the other items. After talking with Sy for some time I have to say that I am very excited to be included on the site and look forward to adding to its already outstanding information. Some of us are a bit slow to catch on to a great thing so for those who have found and used the site you are way ahead of me. For those who haven’t, go now. It is an incredible resource for everything Skippy and beyond. Sy has put a huge amount of time and energy into this site and truly needs to be commended. Thanks for your patience dealing with a the techno-handicapped, Sy, and I look forward to helping the Western Drivers get on board the TJ bandwagon. Future plans for my contribution will be a section devoted to the unsung heros of Skip Barber, the instructors. We are going to try to collect photos of each of them and create a small bio. We are blessed to have such amazing talent to guide us each step of the way and it is time to recognize them for their efforts. A request that the instructors going to Las Vegas find me so I can get a shot of you.

I am also going to try to put together a complete library of videos of all of the tracks that Skippy runs at. To that end I am requesting you send me copies of your track videos. We will select the appropriate examples and create a section on the Team Juicy website that you can reference to get some help to learn a track before you get there. Now don’t blow this off and hope someone else sends the videos. Get busy and send me a copy of the tracks that you have. My address is Tom Roberts, 147 NW 59th St., Seattle, WA98107. Just a small effort from you can help create a great resource for all of us to learn from. Thanks, now here is the Team Juicy link to check out. Get registered and go into the forums. There is an amazing amount of info. When you’re done, come back. I got more stuff to cover:

http://www.teamjuicyracing.com/

Pretty amazing isn’t it. In the future this newsletter will be posted on the site so everyone can see just how cool the West Coast Players are and will be compelled to join us for some fun.

Okay, it’s getting late on Monday night and I’m getting rummy. Next stop, Las Vegas. This should be really interesting as no one has been to this place and there will be a lot of people running. But the capper will, of course, be the West trashing the southerners in the Enduro. I know y’all would like to think you have a small chance to win but you don’t (yes, the truth can be painful). We have a secret weapon, one Alex, SH__, I mean Alexander (the mind just isn’t what it used to be) Rossi. We feel you pain. Second isn’t that bad. See you there (in our mirrors).

I will also have some tickets to auction off for the Danny Gans show Sat. night. They retail for 100 bucks, though I’m sure I will get much more. Sarah Wahl and Rick Balsley have very kindly donated their tickets and all proceeds will go to the mechanics fund. Dig deep, this is a good show and a good cause.

Lastly and amazingly it is time to think about the last race of the Series at Laguna Seca in April. Don’t forget to join us at the banquet and please get your items in for the auction. Yes I know it is Easter but what better way to celebrate it than with your (Skippy) family. Perhaps we can arrange an Easter Egg Hunt using the R/T 2000s. One person drives while another is strapped to the nose grabbing eggs with their mouth. I will be glad to provide emergency dental treatment at a very reasonable cost. Okay, I’m outa here.

Thank you, Thank you very much, (Elvis has left the building) TR