How did You hear about COM?

[lou m]

I was at New England Dragway in '88 with my Shelby. I lined up with a nasty V8 Mustang with open headers, no interior, race seat, and what looked to be a 12 point roll cage. Big bulge in the hood which was held on by hood clips and really big tires.

The car was soooo loud that I could not hear my car at all until I started to pull away from him in 3rd gear

After the race we talked. His name was Pat, a cop from Peabody. He wanted to know what the heck I was doing with a GLHS at the drags. He said it belonged on the road course.

He gave me all the contact info, I registered for my first event at Bryer and was hooked. Alot of that had to do with my first instructor, Rod Folia, who was just awesome. Thanks Pat, Thanks Rod!

Lou Milinazzo

[Dave_G]

A couple years ago I had recently gotten my Miata and was in the process of swapping in a Torsen LSD. I was out in the garage, which is detached and faces a reasonably well-trafficked state highway. From underneath the car on my back (swearing at a stuck exhaust bolt as I recall), I heard through the open garage door a car pass, slow down, stop, turn around, and pull into the driveway. Probably another traveler lost and asking for directions, I thought. I crawled out to offer whatever help I could.

Nope. It turned out to be Stephen Tier, who lives in the next town over here in the Vermont boonies. Stephen introduced himself and said that he had noticed me working on the Miata, figured me for a sports car guy, and just stopped to meet and talk. (I was to learn later that this is pretty typical behavior for this bunch. ) We had a good long conversation, during which he told me all about COM. It took me a year, but when I decided to get my car on the track, I knew COM was the group for me, and I couldn't have been more right.

Oh yeah, and Stephen also gave me some good tips for freeing that stuck bolt, which worked great.

[enjoythemusic]

At a car show someone approached me with a flier. Kept the COM flier for a few months and finally went ahead and joined

[APD]

Andrew Lewman, Chief of Event Operations infected me with the track bug. He's been hounding me to turn some laps ever since he started doing auto-x in his '02 WRX.

[StephanAlfa]

When I purchased my Alfa in 1999 (I onwed a total of 3 until then where I lived in Montreal).
I enrolled in the local chapter of the Alfa club. Wanting to put the car on to something realted to speed and control I did a Auto-X stint and there I met Eliot Shannabrook (Navy Blue Afla GTV in ST-3 class) and in 2000 I have my first event at the Glen with Fred Sanford as instructor.
I then did a few more races at NHIS and from there it's history. Wow, I've been with this club seven years now! Mark and Scott Swinehart and Tom Krueger started with me that same day too.
I raced kart (WKA) in NH, VT and ME. Wrecked in 1994 and hurt my right shoulder. Wife said no more wheel to wheel competition. TT at COM is much better: the friends, the spirit, the learning ... much better

[cuda6666]

In 1964 or 1965, I heard there was an autocross at Horseneck Beach, Mass. So I tow bar'd my 1953 Austin Healy to the beach and ran. I think the sponsoring club turned out to be COM. Then when Kieth Bryar built the track in Loudon, I used to go up and drive around the track after work before it was opened to the public. I think COM first rented Bryar in 1965, and I ran the event.

[offcamber09]

After the race we talked. His name was Pat, a cop from Peabody. He wanted to know what the heck I was doing with a GLHS at the drags. He said it belonged on the road course.

Lou Milinazzo

We had a visit at our shop in Peabody from a cop who used to run with COM way back in some kind of big honkin V8- I missed his name He heard about us and just came by to check us out. He was driving an unmarked Chrysler hemi. Must be the same guy.

I was introduced to COM by my Uncle Ed Givler- who has been a member since the 50's.

[MMiskoe]

I was working at Cohen Steel, like a lumber yard, but steel, not wood. Struck up a conversation w/ the guy buying stuff about what he was building. Fixing an RX3 that had crashed. I was lucky enough to make an error on the order so he had to come back the next day when he brought me a flier. It was Dick Harding who although maybe not still a member, does still come around. 3 months later I came to my first event - September of 1991.

Matt Miskoe

[JackFFR1846]

I was signing up for a BMW CCA driver school at the window at NHIS. There were COM 3 fold flyers on the counter. I took one and joined the following week.

[mossaidis]

tireless and countless hours of searching on the internet for a something between auto-cross and full-bore SCCA road racing experience. There was SCDA, COM, BMWCCA, PDA, EMRA, PCA...

Most seemed to be overpriced schools and filled with overpriced cars and no real (at least not publish) way to push your car.

Only COM had a time trails and a driver's school, clear understandable rules on car classification (it was actually an easy transtion from Auto-X rules to COM). And I remember COM stating that they had "licensed" instuctors with SCCA, EMRA and other road racing clubs.

When I asked the NER auto-X group about track clubs, COM was hands down mentioned as having an excellent safety record and the most fun.

All those rumors were true, Chris Connacher was first instructor at MT

[jimalley]

I was also searching the web for a place to run a Dodge Viper that I owned at the time. I joined instantly and waited for the next event at NHIS to go and observe what it was all about.

I was both surprised and pleased that as I walked around the garage area there were people who although busy and pre-occupied with the event, took the time to talk to me about the club. I was really surprised when everyone I spoke to discouraged me from using the viper for the events. Many suggested that I talk to the people who were driving something called a Miata. Well for one of the few times in my life I listened to the logic of a low maintenance well balance race vehicle and started searching for a donor car.

Although I had never built a track car, I did alot of research and over the next winter built my Miata. I had very valuable help and information from COM members like Don Pierce and others who had never met me but were eager to help in any way they could.

My first event ever was on a rainy day at Summit Point. Don was my first instructor and stuck with me, even after two off track excursions in my first two runs I was hooked with both the experience and with the nature of the entier memberchip of COM.

I still think this is the most fun in motorsports. Great job COM.

[skivittlerjimb]

Dave G. and Alex Grabau are to blame!

Though I've only done one event I'm pretty sure I'll become somewhat of a regular, at least at Calabogie, Tremblant, and Mosport, if I can figure out how best to have a roll bar in the GVR4 and still feel somewhat safe driving it on the street. If I had my druthers, I suppose I'd have kept it as an ST car, but being a 3200lb. car, it'd be awfully slow! Not that it'd ever be competitive against the STi's in SPB, either. Oh well... just here to learn and have fun!

-Jim B.
'92 GVR4 280/1000

[chaos4NH]

Back in the late's(yes, 1960's), I was running a 1960 Ford Falcon (all 144 cubic inches!) in the 6 cylinder classes at the Byar Saturday night dust bowl. Someone mentioned to me that a club ran on the road coarse every now and then, so I asked Keith Bryar about it. He told me that there happened to be a track day the following Sunday. I took my Brandy new Javelin up there. Can't remember what class it was in. I got 1 lap with a COM member in a car with 3 other newbies, then we were turned loose!!
Yee Haw. I toasted the motor of the Javelin about the 3d time around!
Many years later, I worked with Grove and he offered to let me drive his Camaro, then I rented it from him for a second event (this was fall of 1987, I believe. I remember them having the Coors Silver Bullet Shootout. It was non contact - ya, right!
As I look back, it seems like there more (proportionally) ladies entering back then. We need more ladies driving!
COM is a great group of people!
Again, many years later, I bought the slobomatic Sentra, thought I had a fast car and wanted to find out just how much it could do. Looked up Corvettes of Mass on the 'net and found it listed under COM Sports Car Club, joined and found how slow the car and I really were!
So, I guess I blame Grove most, can't blame Keith, and of course I share no blame!
I am sorry I missed all those years between 1987 and 2004!

[eastcoastbumps]

Paddy and I were doing an autocross in the parking lot of NHIS and went up to watch the 'real' racers during a break. It looked like so much more fun.

I'll never forget someone telling us to go to turn 3 to watch the action. We hung out there for ten minutes and saw an E30 get tapped while in traffic and then flip into the tire wall. Craziness.

A few weeks later we bumped into Alex Teng at F1 Boston. We were there with the Subaru crowd. He convinced me and Paddy to do an event with COM. We've been hooked since. That E30 accident didn't deter us at all.

[LDP82]

i heard about COM a few years ago from my dad who heard about it through PCA.