Conference oass::racers

Here is the 1993 TENTATIVE NER race schedule, subject to change at anytime.

April 16-17     Drivers School   NHIS
April 18        Regional         NHIS
April 30 May 1  National         Lime Rock
May 29-30       National         NHIS
May 31          Regional         NHIS
July 16-17      Regional         Lime Rock
July 24-25      Double Regional  NHIS
August 14-15    Regional         NHIS
September 4-6   Regional         NHIS
October 24      Regional         NHIS

------------------------------------------------------

Other activities worth noting...

Mt Washington Auto Rally in June

Busch G.N. North at Lime Rock is a possibility

    Jim, did you make the mini-Convention last weekend?  Anything to report
    here as to what happened? Saw something about an "awards" dinner
    Saturday night. Awards for what?  Those wouldn't have been for the
    NERRC champions would it?  That stuff's usually  held at the banquet in
    January.  Peter and I were in Atlanta saying goodbye to "The King" so
    we missed the SCCA stuff up here.
    
    Thanks,
    
    	Barb
    

    Hi Barb,
    
    I only made it up there to drop off some radios for the Maine Forest
    Rally and had to leave. I'm not sure what all went on there other than
    seminars, etc during the day. I knew there was a banquet, but not sure
    for what.
    
    Sorry.
    
    jim e - who already made reservations for the annual weekend in
    January.
    

1/11/93


Here is the 1993 TENTATIVE NER race schedule, subject to change at anytime.

April 16-17     Drivers School   NHIS
April 18        Regional         NHIS
April 30 May 1  National         Lime Rock
May 29-30       National         NHIS
May 31          Regional         NHIS
July 16-17      Regional         Lime Rock
July 24-25      Double Regional  NHIS
August 13-14    Drivers School   NHIS
August 15       Regional         NHIS
September 4-6   Regional         NHIS
October 24      Regional         NHIS



The change here is that NER has added another drivers school in August at
NHIS.

    This is really an NNJR SCCA note but lots of NER folks may know Mary.
       
    Mary VanDerWeghe who was NNJR Chief Registrar died suddenly on 1/27.
    For those who want to send a card to Scott, his address is:
    
    Scott VanDerWeghe
    RD 1, Box 427
    Great Meadows, NJ. 07838
    
    
    I got the information from Karen Petersen.
    
    jim 

    Reminder - this Sunday is the NER Open House at Ron Bouchards ACURA
    dealership in Auburn, Mass. I believe the doors open at 11AM for the
    public. SCCA folks setting up need to be there a lot earlier....
    
    jim

    Tomorrow the 16th is "opening day" for NER at NHIS. For those who are
    driving or working, registration opens at 7AM. Cars should be on course
    about 10AM due to the drivers meeting/lecture.
    
    Hope to see some new faces there. If not, think about Lime Rock on the
    30th....
    
    jim

    I have free 2-for-1 tickets for the May 30th SCCA National at NHIS.
    They allow 2 people in for $20. Children under 12 FREE.
    
    If you want a one or more tickets, please send me mail and I'll get
    them out to you. Come one, come all.
    
    jim

    I was a worker at NHIS for the drivers school this past weekend on Sat.
    with my grandaughter.  I worked station #8 with a partner and my
    grandaughter worked in the resturant selling T shirts and other
    material.  We both enjoyed ourselves a great deal.  People were nice
    and it gave both of us a chance to see the racetrack as neither one of
    us had been there before.  We are both NASCAR, WINSTONCUP fans and it was
    interesting to see some different racing.  We both may work future
    schools in the future.  We are not sure.
    
    Sally  

    Sally,
    
    Which group were you with this weekend? We can always use more workers
    during the Sat/Sun/Mon Memorial Day weekend, and the others......
    
    jim

    Jim, think COM had last weekend up there.  
    
    Right, Sally?
    
    	Barb
    

    Barb, you are right!  As far as working Memorial Day weekend I don't
    know for sure.  I do the 50/50 raffle at Monadnock Speedway in
    Winchester, N.H. on Sunday, May 30th, but I am not sure what is happening
    the balance of the weekend for me at this moment.  I will get back to
    you.
    
    Sally

    Just to let folks know, Paul Choiniere won the Mt Washington Auto Race
    destroying the record with a new time of 6:46.62. The old record was
    7:08.61.
    
    Paul was clocked at 95MPH though the speed traps.
    
    jim

    This weekend at NHIS is our "Christmas and Hannucha (sp?) in July"
    event. I will be bringing a christmas tree to be decorated. If you are
    coming, bring something to hang on it. Old, small carparts are a good
    start. Old balls are good to....., lights, etc....  so come one and
    all.
    
    jim

    Think you may have to talk to some of the over 10+ NER SCCA members for
    the "old balls".  (Sorry, Jim -- had to pick a nitt)
    
    See ya Saturday - with both the Elva and the PRS (look out Richard
    Clark!!)
    
    	Barb
    

    Barb,
    
    Anyone can bring old christmas tree balls.....  nevermind..... I can
    get in trouble here....
    
    jim
    

    Ohhhhh, "CHRISTMAS TREE" balls.  That's different!!
    
    See ya tomorrow (balls and all),
    	Barb
    

    Gloria Barbour - wife of Jim Barbour NER Area 1 director is in the
    hospital for a bit. If anyone would like to send her a card or flowers,
    she is at
    
    Mass General Hospital
    55 Fruit St.
    Boston, Ma. 02114
    
    I don't have a room number, but it should get there.
    
    jim

                1993 NER SCCA Fire School announcement

Sorry for the short announcement but there is a fire school being held 
Saturday July 31st at the Westover Air Base in Chicopee, Ma. (MASS PIKE
exit 5). The curriculum is mainly F&C, but all specialties are welcome
to participate. You must be an SCCA member over 18 years old to practice
putting out a fire, but others are welcome to come and partake in the 
classroom instruction.

I will be unable to make this due to family obligations, but if you are
free that day and want to participate, please call Dick Patulo at 
413.566.3643 between 7-9PM and let him know you are coming. He needs to 
leave a list of names at the guard house.


enjoy

                      1993 Mt Washington Auto Race
                     WO1N, AB1X, KA1RV, W1LUS, N1HTS

This year's winner destroyed the old record of 7:08.61 minutes, so we'll 
tell you right upfront. Paul Choiniere's new record for the mountain is 
6:46.62 minutes, for an average speed of 65.5mph!!! Paul was driving a 
specially prepared Audi Quattro.

The "ham gang" here is WO1N - Ken Caruso, AB1X - Mark Hald, KA1RV - Erik Piip,
W1LUS - Bruce Anderson and N1HTS - Jim Evans. This group has been growing
since 1990 and this was Bruce's first time with us. We found out that Bruce
has walked the mountains many times before. As we were preparing the 
accommodations, we were wondering how we could get 5 guys in Jim's motorhome.
Erik took care of that by bringing his family along and sleeping in a tent. 

The trip started at Jim's where Erik unloaded the playpen tied to his roof,
amongst some items inside to give the 4 occupants some room to move around. 
Once Mark and Ken arrived, we picked Bruce up since it was on the way, and 
then a trip to HRO, the ham "candy store" in Salem, NH where for once Erik 
didn't buy the place out. Packed to the gills, we decide to go straight up 
RT93 and go through Franconia Notch. This was the first big test for the 
motorhome, and it passed with flying colors.

We arrive at the White Birches Campground in Gorham and find out that we are 
in the same site as Phil Cardoza had last year. Erik took Marianne and Jerry's
old site. We couldn't get connecting sites, but there were seasonal campers 
in the campsite between us. It's funny how that family packed up and left us 
for the weekend after they saw us raising the antenna and setting up the radio!

We broke out the liquid refeshments and began the antenna raising. This is 
usually done with a slingshot tossing a rock with string attached over the 
tallest branch and hoisting the center of the antenna. After a half hour and 
multiple unsuccessful trys by Mark and Ken, and 2 dents in Mark's truck hood, 
Jim grabbed the rock and threw it over a branch then we raised the antenna. 
He couldn't stand the strange looks the other site was giving us, and their 
comments like "Have you done this before?". We set up the radio and started 
making contacts around the world like Lebanon, Slovenia and Macedonia. During 
all this, Pene was keeping Tonis and Sam the "eveready bunny" away from all 
of us to prevent trips to the local hospital. By the way, if you met Sam, you 
understand the nickname.

Friday morning the alarm goes off at 4AM and we all stumble out of bed. Four
guys trying to move everything around in a motorhome in order to get ready 
for breakfast and the "sandwich brigade" is not a pretty sight. We send a 
runner to wake Erik. For practice day, we only ran the top half of the
course from station 20 through finish due to the number of workers available.
Jim was net control for the emergency channel (they didn't learn from last 
year...), Ken was at 25, Bruce at 28, Mark at 30 and Erik at 21. Things went 
rather well for all the runs with some wrecker pickups at the end of the day. 
Station 30 was the HOT SPOT of the day collecting cars for all kinds of 
reasons. One was the #23 Audi which had a quick engine fire. We also won't go 
into it here but there is a new location on the mountain - Buffum's Boulder 
and it's up by Cardoza's Farmstand. With everyone down at the base, Jim 
closed the net at 10:45.

Back at the campground it was time for the worker brunch, and what a lovely
brunch it was. The Mimosas were magnificent - just dip your cup in the pot.
We also learn that Jean and Chiz wanted to be with the crowd and was across 
the campground while Laurie wanted a quiet spot and was across from Party 
Central (Howe). While Jim was at the brunch, Ken, Mark and Bruce mapped out a 
hike up IMP and left without Jim. Erik decided to drive the family up the 
mountain and see the view. The last time they were in the mountains was 
during a snowstorm. The weather was hot and the dip in the pool was COLD, but 
refreshing. That night the gang went to town for the Oldies Nite on the town 
common before heading back to make more contacts on the radio. 

The Saturday 4AM funnies goes off just like the day before. We get to run the
whole mountain today. The assignments: Ken at 5, Bruce at 17, Mark at 22, 
and Erik at 7. Jim opens up the net at 6:30 after all the workers have started
up the mountain. It's warmer than the day before and the weather is still
holding out nicely. Pego Mack had some difficulty opening the window next to
her in control even though it had one simple latch, but hey, it was early.
Just about everyone gets two full runs in for qualifying. Stations 28, 29 and 
30 still appear to be magnets for cars with just about everything stopping 
there. John Howe pulled off at station 4 with a flat due to being sideways 
through 3, then damaging the rim. He remembered to carry a spare and jack, and 
had the car ready to go long before the cars from the top were brought back 
down. Two notable items to mention are that Paul Choiniere broke the course 
record by 5 seconds during qualifying, and the Chief Steward John Buffum 
driving a black Audi sedan with three Audi reps followed the last race car up 
and beat the 1961 record. These reps got one fantastic ride!!!

Back at the campsite we veg out for about an hour or two, then Bruce, Ken and
Jim walk up behind the campground towards a small stream for some rock 
climbing and cooling off. The temperature by the water was definitely cooler 
and suprisingly, the mosquitoes weren't bad. Lucky for us since we forgot the 
OFF. Mark headed to the pool for some quiet time and Erik and family head off 
to see model trains at Crossroads of America, and then a nice scenic drive
through RT302 and RT16.

At about 3:30 we break out the radio and hook the antenna to it. By now
Field Day is going wild and we want to see if we can contact the club station
in Billerica using WT1E as their callsign. Bruce finds them and moves just
off frequency to tune the antenna. By the time he moves back, they are gone.
Given the dark clouds coming up from the south, the only thing we can think of
is that they are having bad weather just like last year and had to shut down 
until the storm passes. We immediately start giving other stations FD points.
The most notable sounding call we contacted was VE2SEX. For the un-initiated,
Field Day is an annual event that gets ham radio clubs to go on emergency power
and try to make as many contacts as possible to test out the equipment, but 
it's just another excuse for a contest. Later on, Bruce lights off a pack of 
fireworks and drops them behind Jim's chair. After the smoke clears and Jim's 
heart begins to pump again, we quickly clean up the paper remnants and head 
to the cookout before the campground noise police catch us. Ray walked by the 
site quickly and headed up the hill with a nasty look on his face. Whew....

We arrive at the cookout and there are dark clouds overhead with sprinkles
here and there. Not bad for the first rain of the weekend. While we chow down,
we see NER members over by the rescue truck, grabbing cold ones. Now we know
the REAL meaning of the rescue truck. Rick, one of the stagecoach drivers 
mentioned that Nat-the-stagecoach-driver-from-hell was hanging on from a tent 
post earlier in the week when he was securing some ropes and a gust of wind 
came up causing the circus tent to lift. How come Nat didn't tell us this?
Laurie had a good one to tell. As she went to move Bob Elliot's race car,
some van in front of her decides to back up in front of her. She moved 
out of the way RATHER quickly. Let Bob wreck his own car.... It would have 
been a great writeup!

Then out of the blue (yeah right), the announcer asks the folks there to wander
over to the starting line to see the autoroad manager Howie Wemyss (AKA King
of the Mountain) and chief steward John Buffum (AKA King of the Road) 
participate in a friendly (?) race with Howie's golf carts. Little did John
know that Howie had his kids drive that cart around to wear the battery down
a bit...  With the workers all set with appropriate flags and fire bottles,
Marianne gave them the green flag and the two were off and running side by
side NASCAR style - almost bumping. Howie was reaching in John's cart to turn
the key off. Who said this was a fair race? They were about even at the 
turnaround before the uphill and then Howie snuck in front at the 3/4 point 
causing Buffum to raise the hammer he found in the cart towards Howie. Kevin 
checkered Howie first, then John. Funny how the only flags they responded to 
were the green and checkered. Everything else was waved at them during the 
race. 

After we wipe the tears from our eyes from laughing so hard, we head back to 
the tent since it was getting dark and we wanted to get good seats to watch
the fireworks. We were able to coerce Nat-that-certain-stagecoach-driver to
warm up the crowd with his hand signals for OOOOs, AAAASSS, YEAHS and WOOPEE.
He included a new one for THAT'S CUTE. During the fireworks, there was more
drizzle, but we weren't budging from our spots. Back at the campground, we
start winding down another long day. It stops raining and Jim heads to PARTY 
CENTRAL while the rest of the group pull the radio out for the last time.
About the only thing to note was the "spam spouting" at the campfire... spam, 
spam, spam, spam,.. amongst other Monty Python bits.

Sunday we get to sleep late - 5:30! We could have gone later but we needed
to pack everything up and clear the site before leaving. Antennas come down
a lot quicker than going up. At the mountain, Ken is at 26, Bruce at 21, 
Mark at 14 and Erik at 29. Jim opens the net up at 8:25 but we have a long 
way to go before we start. The safety steward checks the top and it's 
300-400 feet visability at the top, so we chance racing the entire road. As 
it turn's out, the clouds scattered and the folks at the top were bathed in 
sunshine. We named Howie the Weather Steward, but the offerings to the weather 
god at the campfire didn't hurt. This is also the first year nobody said "so 
you're Erik", probably due to the family being there.

On the trip up, Ken and Alan Huntress bummed a ride up to station 26 with
Erik in his Nissan Pathfinder. Keep in mind these vehicles have expansive
dashboards really neat for placing things on, like $500 portable radio's. 
During the trip up, Erik had his radio on the aforementioned dashboard.
All was fine until he took the sharp left hand turn at station 20. They were
pulling only about .5G's when the radio went flying across the dash, right
towards the open passenger window. Now, Ken and Erik are gawking at the good
show of spectators on the rocks at 20, while they are watching this big $
radio head towards oblivion. Ken very calmly reaches out and snags the radio
by the battery pack after it was about 3/4's the way out the window, much
to the delight and applause of the crowd there.

Today the mountain road people have to get the paying spectators up to the 
right spots, so there's a bit of traffic before the race cars go up. We start 
with the vintage cars: 1966 Mustang Replica, 1953 Kurtis 500, 1953 Allard, 
1961 Giant King sprint car, 1931 Indy Studebaker, 1950 XK120 Jaguar and a 
Chrysler 300, then later the newer race cars. We even had Amateur TV (ATV) 
equipment at station 24, and in WE1E Karen Cutler's car, plus we were 
monitoring it in control, and on a large TV under the spectator tent. Station 
24 panned the cars as they went by him, but left it off for Karen's run. The 
announcer said the pictures were great. Speaking of the announcer, as John 
Howe pulled up to the starting line in his Honda CRX, he announced that this 
was the beginning of the noisy fast cars, and Control burst out laughing 
(sorry John). During his run, Paul Choiniere was clocked at 95MPH through the 
speed trap. This is the fastest speed we've heard in four years.

Everything is going fine until car #44 goes into the trees at station 16. Once
we found the driver to be OK and the road clear, we start additional cars.
We brought the cars back down and begin second run. Drew Young's run ended
early at station 5 when his engine died, but he was in a great place to help
the station when the #7 Vette messed up and we had to stop the session. After
the cleanup we resume and wait for the last three cars to go. Since these
are the quick ones, we give them 2 minutes between cars as opposed to 1
minute. Good thing too. They all scream off the line and head up. As mentioned
in the beginning, Choiniere did a number on the record. 

After all came down, the awards were given out and we could walk up to all the
cars to take pictures and gawk at them. Erik was lusting after the red Audi
on "sale" for only $24,995, but Pene nixes that idea. It's been a long 
weekend, but as always we are ready for next year.

                          ALL THE WINNERS

            Class 0  Paul Choiniere        6:46.62
            Class 1  Gerald Driscoll       7:43.58
            Class 2  no class 2 cars          -
            Class 3  Dave Patton           8:36.05
            Class 4  Selcuk Kanamanoglu    7:43.03
            Class 5  Bob Elliott           7:59.68
            Class 6  Ed Sicotte            8:53.13






      
 

 
 
 
 
 
     
 
    
 
   

   

	Does anybody have the lineup for this weekend's races at 
	Lime Rock???

	thanks,

	-mike

    Lime Rock track paper says it's the Conn Porche Club - not open to the
    public.
    
    jim
    

	Rep .22

>>>
    Lime Rock track paper says it's the Conn Porche Club - not open to the
    public.
    
>>>

	That's wierd the track paper they sent me had the ner scca 
        championship listed for Oct 2nd. That's why the note here. 


	thanks,

	-mike

    Don't forget our Racing Against Leukemia weekend this Sunday at NHIS.
    
    Friday and Saturday we have SOLO I at NHIS. I'll be there Friday to
    flag. Saturday there is a SOLO II in the Concord area, and there is a
    Rally starting from the track (I believe).
    
    NER is the only region that can do all 3 specialties in the same
    weekend. Cars will be on track Friday at 8:30, so register early. Kathy
    Barnes says registration WILL have coffee.
    
    jim

                         1993 NER WF AWARDS CANDIDATES

O.S. AWARD : Given to the driver that has scared the workers the most during
             race times. 

none

WORKER N.E.R.D. AWARD : Given to the worker who best exemplifies the statement
                        "You shouldn't have seen me do it".

1. Jerry Stevens: Announced over the PA system at the SOLO I "Attention in
   the paddock. Will the drivers in the next group please report to the
   paddock".

2. Laurie Sheppard: Announced to the folks in the Checkered Flag restaurant
   "under this sweatshirt, I have HOOTERS". She proceeded to show the folks
    her HOOTERS restaurant t-shirt.

3. Marianne Stevens: At NHIS was having trouble understanding why her scanner
   wasn't hearing the Stewards net. She had the F&C headphones on.

4. Dave Anderson: As an instructor/observer at the Pig Roast drivers school 
   was sitting on the track at station 11's outpost while cars were out there.

5. Bill Fralick: Walked up to the workers cooking the pigs and said "Don't 
   worry. I'm not anything this morning".

6. Mary Carneiro: At the Pig Roast weekend said to Fred White "We don't 
   want you. We only want your equipment".

7. Dick Patullo: While picking up the equipment at station 8 before the pigs
   were served, ran over and completely, totally and utterly destroyed one
   of NER's small water coolers with the truck.

8. Bob Chausse: While on phones said "Control 3 green. We're waving yellow".
   Then after the havoc was cleaned up "I forgot what my first call was
   going to be."

9. Neil MacArthur: After missing a course check announced "Sorry control but 
   both hands were full".

===>above sent to pit talk


DRIVER N.E.R.D. AWARD : Given to the driver who best exemplifies the statement
                        "You shouldn't have seen me do it".

1. Austin Britton: For dropping his floppy disk on the track while testing
   at Lime Rock. 

2. Liane Lombardi: During a long wait before the Lime Rock national race asked
   the grid to please accompany her with the grid radio to the ladies room 
   so she can hear the 5 minute warning.

3. Bryan Wall: After hearing a certain grid worker's obscene comments over his
   radio before the 5 minute warning, he was charged up enough to go out and 
   win his race.

4. Joe Marcinski: Drove the car transporter to the July Lime Rock event for
   Joby Graham to use, but forgot to leave the keys. Joby didn't qualify, but
   made up for it by starting last and winning the race.

5. Scott Rose: IT driver said "I forgot to brake. That's why I went down the 
   escape road" on the cool down lap at the July Lime Rock event.

6. Peter Symonds: During the last open wheel session for the Pig Roast 
   drivers school, accidently found himself on track with the students.

7. Kevin Vibert: Driver of SR #62, for no apparent reason came to an 
   immediate stop at the Start/finish line during qualifying at the 3 Stooges 
   Regional. Kevin left lots of smoke and rubber, then continued.

===>above sent to pit talk


Honorable mentions
------------------

1. The doctor who treated Jo-Ann Gerde's thumb for the cat bite she received
   at the SOLO I. He gave her a letter that basically said "dummy, don't get 
   bit in the first place...". 

2. David Cobb-MOHUD: While coming back from the Runoffs "smuggled" 3 turtles
   on the plane. During the flight the stewardess came walking down the isle
   with a turtle that got loose. In preparation for landing, she announced 
   "Ladies, gentlemen and turtles, ......".

3. The purposely un-named driver at the April Drivers School who found a full
   can of gas in his trunk when he was checking for the rattle while at the
   Grid.

4. The honeymoon hotel for sending a bottle of champagne to Mr. and Mrs.
   S. Quint.

5. The GT1's at the July Lime Rock event for carnage during the pace lap.

6. Tom de Gruyl (NYR): Was on phones at station 12 and announced after the
   green flag was given "we have a good pack at 12".

7. To the purposely un-named flaggers who had to return a road sign during the
   July Lime Rock Friday night party, otherwise the driver of the "getaway"
   van was going to spend the night behind bars. The State Trooper was in a
   good mood that night.

8. Cathy Evans (Jim's daughter): During the pig roast was named the official 
   fly shoo-er but spent all her time trying to catch them.

===>above sent to pit talk

9. Barbara Platt: During Peter Symonds' victory lap exiting turn 6, the 
   centrifugal force was so great that it pushed her over and she turned off 
   the kill switch.  Peter had to turnaround, coast and "kick start" the Elva 
   from a roll to get it going again. They almost never completed the final 
   victory lap. 

    Given that the winner for the worker nerd was at the meeting accouncing
    the winners, I can post that here. It was Marianne Stevens for not
    taking off her F&C headphones in order for her to hear the stewards
    channel on the scanner.
    
    As far as the driver nerd winner? You'll have to wait until January
    when we have our annual banquet...... :-)
    
    jim

    but WE know who it's NOT, right, Jim?!?!?!!?
    
    	Barb
    

                         1993 NER WF AWARDS WINNERS


DRIVER N.E.R.D. AWARD : Given to the driver who best exemplifies the statement
                        "You shouldn't have seen me do it".

Liane Lombardi: During a long wait before the Lime Rock national race asked
the grid to please accompany her with the grid radio to the ladies room 
so she can hear the 5 minute warning.

                 -----------------------------------------


WORKER N.E.R.D. AWARD : Given to the worker who best exemplifies the statement
                        "You shouldn't have seen me do it".

Marianne Stevens: At NHIS was having trouble understanding why her scanner
wasn't hearing the Stewards net. She had the F&C headphones on.

                 -----------------------------------------


O.S. AWARD : Given to the driver that has scared the workers the most during
             race times. 

The award goes out to those that have scared the workers the most - IT and
Anerican Sedan drivers. Especially when during the first lap of a race when 
2 flag stations were destroyed.