NEWS – aka The Broken Spoke
Happy Sunday!
What a great day to be in the shop/garage getting the car(s) ready for the track. Or … and hear me out, here … staying inside and eating chips on the couch. Because weekends are SHORT, am I right?
Whatever fun you’re up to this weekend, I’m sending you all the latest news, as I know it. I’ve laid it out in more of a magazine style (Broken Spoke revisited?) so you can do a full read OR just glance at items that interest you less. Enjoy!
- ICE DICE REPORT AND RESULTS
- MUDLARK TSD RALLY INFO
- CSCC MONTHLY BOARD MEETING AND INFO
- CELEBRATING VOLUNTEERS
- CLUBHOUSE NEWS
- PRIVATE LAPPING GROUP AT RMM
- UPCOMING EVENTS THAT MAY INTEREST YOU
- UPDATED RACE DAYS SCHEDULE
ICE DICE REPORT AND RESULTS
With the weather being as warm as it was most of the winter, planning Ice Dice events was tricky, to say the least. We run on Lake MacGregor, entering the lake via Dean’s property (so many thanks!). And with the assistance of many volunteers, the course is set up on Day 1 and run on Day 2. We were able to do this only two of the four planned weekends. Ice Dice Director, David Gray, determined that the two events would constitute a season and has worked out the results for a championship (attached). In short, of 27 competitors, first overall was David G (2012 Subaru WRX STi), second overall was Cole M (2009 Honda Civic Si), and third overall was Michael D (2023 Subaru WRX). Congratulations to everyone! See the attached file for a complete breakdown of class winners, etc.
The second TSD rally in the series is coming up! So, we know from experience (Snowball in February) that you CAN drive a TSD rally in a Titan diesel truck, but it’s not the best vehicle if you want to actually do well. But I mention it so you know that you can drive ANYthing; whatever you’ve got. No roll-cages required. No helmets. Just some simple safety equipment, plus an evening class to learn the navigational how-to’s (kids can do it, and have!), and you’re off. It’s a very inexpensive way to get into rally racing. You can also volunteer, which is an absolutely primo way to get involved and started in rally. Mudlark Rally info can be found at the sign-up at , as well as the supplementary regulations doc, which is attached here.
CSCC MONTHLY BOARD MEETING AND INFO
Our April board meeting is coming up on Thursday, April 4, 7:30pm at the clubhouse (4215 – 80 Ave NE) and all are welcome. We’ve been having a lot of fun building some socializing into our meetings and will continue that. But for our April 4 meeting only, we will not be doing a movie. We are doing a couple of meetings back-to-back that evening, and so in order not to burn anyone out, we’re going to start with our board meeting at 7:30pm and follow that up with a meeting to discuss the lease we hold with our tenant. Everyone is welcome to both of those. But there will be no movie this month. Instead! We will be incorporating an extra evening of social fun in April at the clubhouse, which deserves its own section. ↓
CELEBRATING VOLUNTEERS
We can’t say enough about the importance of volunteers. A lot of the good things in life don’t happen without them. And that’s certainly the case for both planning and running race events. National Volunteer Week is April 21-27, and we want to get in on the fun. So, we’re going to put together an evening of information geared towards all you car fans. Please join us on Thursday, April 18 at 7:30pm at the clubhouse, where we’ll have a variety of speakers to let us know How It’s Made or How It Works or How It Runs (think car mods, ham radio at rallies, rally cars, tires, all the good stuff). Oh, and donuts. Because reasons. Everyone is welcome whether or not they feel like they are volunteers, but especially if you’re thinking about BECOMING a volunteer. Because word on the street is that the best way to get into proper rally racing is to start by volunteering.
Oh, and! I’m hoping one or two of you may consider sponsoring the evening with a door prize or maybe the cost of donuts or something. If that’s the case, please contact me at jamie.gray@cscc.ab.ca. Thank you!
CLUBHOUSE NEWS
If you know the clubhouse parking lot, you know it doesn’t accommodate an awful lot of cars. But on Saturday, March 16, it was PACKED. Like, the guys at the bottle depot next door dropped by to nicely point out that our people were using their lot as overflow. This situation occurred because on the main level, Women In Motorsports Canada along with Surfin’ Berms held a networking event for ladies and girls motorsports enthusiasts, and the place was absolutely packed out. Great fun.
In the basement, same day, we had scheduled a clean-up day and so me and the race directors (Rob J, David G, and Dan S … THANKS guys!) got down to brass tacks, moving everything, sorting everything, cleaning most things, and getting very dirty. But we really sorted things out so that all the directors know where all the equipment is. We came across some odd-ball items that no-one could identify except as “probably rally.” We came across ancient radios, some cool signage (more on that in the near future as we talk clubhouse garage sale!), old helmets galore, and a mile or two of flexible snow fence. We can’t think of a good use for this around the property, so if anyone would like to offer $5/roll to the beer fund to buy some of it for use on the farm or wherever, let me know. Thanks, too, to the Calgary Amateur Radio Association guys who moved a bunch of their equipment to off-site storage, freeing up a bit more room. Their presence there allowed us to meet a bunch of them whom we hadn’t met yet, chat, and learn more about what goes on with ham radio in the south end of the clubhouse basement. It’s very interesting! And they’re a really nice group of guys. Do you know we’ve been doing rallies with their assistance on radios for DECADES?
PRIVATE LAPPING GROUP AT RMM
Have you been wanting to get wheels on the new track at Carstairs? It can be a bit pricey, but there are some options. Jay Pringle of Track Techniques has a private lapping group at Rocky Mountain Motorsports, through which he is selling a limited number of memberships. He says, “A couple of the biggest advantages of the membership is the opportunity to come to the track 5 times each season and the second is to be driving with the same group of drivers each time you come out. I only run two groups at each event so the members can maximize their driving time at each event.” Check out all the details on the attached document, visit the website , or e-mail Jay at tracktechniques@telus.net
403-703-9387. Why is this part of CSCC club news? It’s because Jay has offered our club a commission for the coffers if new memberships are purchased via this info, so please let him know if that is the case.
UPCOMING EVENTS THAT MAY INTEREST YOU
- April 5-7: World of Wheels in YYC
- Friday, April 19: RMM beginner track experience
- Thursday, April 18: Volunteer Appreciation social evening (clubhouse)
- Saturday, April 20: RMM – public track day
- Thursday, April 25: Novice training for Mudlark TSD Rally (clubhouse)
- Saturday, April 27: CSCC Mudlark TSD Rally (start at clubhouse)
UPDATED RACE DAYS SCHEDULE
Now that the Red Deer Sports Car Club have posted their event dates, I’ve incorporated them into the Race Calendar. Please note that this calendar was made for the convenience of folks looking at track events from Edmonton down south to the border. It includes only car-related events (no bikes, trucks, kart). It provides events-at-a-glance and so hopefully it’s helpful to you! If you know of anything that would be good to add, do let me know.
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That’s all for now! Enjoy the warmer spring weather.
Jamie
President, Calgary Sports Car Club
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