COM Members at SCCA School

[Crusin]

James Alley, Will Martins, Gordon Andrade, Matt Daniels, Mark Wheatley and I attended, survived, and passed the SCCA License School this past weekend. We all had a great time with no damage to our cars or pride. Our track experience with COM was obvious, with Gordon and Matt taking the pole and outside pole position in one race with Gordon winning the first practice race. Will Martins won the second practice race.

First, a big BIG thanks to Lester Seal for allowing me to drive his new ITA prepared track car, which is being returned in the same condition as when I picked it up. APEX Automotive Engineering knows how to make a Miata run and handle. Also, thanks to Don Pierce and Bill Hasselbarth for their support as pit crew and Mark Wheatley for his encouragement and support while on the track.

Andy Bettancourt of Flatout Motorsports offered his experience in builing Spec Miatae to help us mount our timing transponders.

Marc Martin, Bruce Allen, and Mark Litzermann and Haydn Taylor who all stopped by at one time or another to offer words or encouragement or congradulations.

Two days of classroom sessions and over 225 miles of on track experience left us all smiling and exhausted. Unlike COM, where you are on track with drivers of similar experience and skills, the SCCA school is open to anyone, even those with limited to no track experience. Passing in the corners was often an exciting experience. Some students seemed to have learned driving skills watching NASCAR or playing Grand Theft Auto on a PS2. This means that you have to be on your toes, alert and observant all of the time. Red flags, black flags, and cautions were thrown at random times to test our awareness of flagging stations. Phew....

Anyway, thanks again to everyone who helped us, supported and encouraged us, and made this a successful event. I apologize if i forget anyone but the adrenalin is still wearing off.

\:D/

[Don P]

Congratulations guys!!!

I'm not surprised, way to go.

As an observer of the two school days it is quite apparent that the COM experience gives "our guys" a big advantage. They know the line and boy were they fast. In every one of the on track sessions our 'COMers' (6) placed in the top ten. And mostly in the top 8. Only once when Will had a mechanical issue did that not happen..

Anyhow for those wanting to step up, what you're doing with COM is a tremendous experience.

Best,

Don

[MiataSteve]

Nice Job Guys! :salute:

[ctier240]

Good job guys
Your about to go over the top of that slippery slope
To which I'm not sure there is an end

Christopher

[timmmy]

From my vantage point (mostly at turn 3) everyone from COM did an outstanding job. Congratulations to everyone who A) survived with no new dents (I am still amazed Gordon didnt get T-Boned in 3) & B) Everyone who got licenced.

I couldnt make it over there again on Sunday as I got called into work (with a hangover), how did everyone do in thier first SCCA race?

See you there next year

[deimos]

Glad to hear others have taken the plunge as well. Once you go fast in a pass, you never go back. Well, until you run out of money.

Congrats on a clean event.

[Grippy]

First off thaks to everyone Lee mentioned that helped us all along the way, it was much appriciated. And thanks to COM and it's great instructors for teaching us how to drive. It was obvious that we had an unfair advantage over most of the other students. It was a total blast and we all had a great time, and learned a lot!

Congrats to Matt for taking 11th spot on his first real SSM race! Well done!
Congrats to Andre on his first ever SCCA SM win.

It was humbling to watch Fred Furguson and Ken Payson duking it out in the pouring rain for 2nd spot, they were flying nose to tail the entire race. I was WAY slower in my race and struggling to keep the car on the track. That was awsome!

[WillM]

What a great event! Lee & Gordon summed up hit the nail on the head; the COM guys represented well. From what I heard, we were considered the "C.O.M." guys or the APEX guys, as we are all running APEX AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING windshield banners.

A huge THANK YOU to all that helped, especially Don P who saved my bacon on day two, Bill H for crewing on Friday and Sunday, Les for all of his help on Sunday (and for the past several months!), and Emily Daniels for providing us with the cleanest windshield and best Rain-X appication known to mankind.

None of us - especially me! - could have had such a successful event without your help!

Gordon makes a good point about COM. Perhaps we've found a new motto:

COM - The unfair advantage!

Along with the great times us students and recently signed-off SCCA guys had, it was great fun watching and participating in the regional on Sunday. Fred F, Andrzej, Mark M, Marc W, and newbie Matt D made an excellent showing!

[mdaniels]

Wow. Too. much. fun.

Learned a lot this weekend - some things *to* do, and a lot of things *not* to do!! I would also like to thank the unbelievable instructors at COM who made this transition significantly easier than it could have been. Some people showed up for the school "cold" with little or no track experience - I can't imagine trying to do that without the killer education you get through the COM club...we spread the word to anyone who would listen! This past weekend was a dream come true for me - the rush of an actual wheel-to-wheel race is amazing.

Thanks again to everyone mentioned already in the thread. Don's narratives of getting around NHIS rivaled anything any other instructors at the school had to offer, Les' unending support and help getting the cars ready, plus his amazing enthusiasm was quite the inspiration in the weeks leading up to the annual tech, and then ultimately the shakedown at NHIS with COM, and the school and regional. Mark Wheatley had tons of great advice and help for us newbies - valuable stuff when we got out there and mixed it up. Bill and Hayden, thanks for crewing for us, taking care of the details and getting us hooked up in the cars - I hope to return the favor real soon!!!

And Emily - thanks for cleaning everyone's windshield except for your husband's!!!!



Matt

[Stynger]

And Emily - thanks for cleaning everyone's windshield except for your husband's!!!!

Matt

She said "you didn't ask."
It takes a few events to learn the rules.

Seriously, you guys did the club proud. Nice job.

[offcamber09]

Congratulations guys and welcome to the brotherhood of crumpled fenders.

[turtlevette]

where was the school held? cost? maybe next one.

[denndy]

Glad to hear everyone did so well, especially that it was a clean weekend. My only wheel-to-wheel experience is in a go kart at 35 mph. Must be a real adrenaline rush, and also scary at times.

It's great to hear about all the support from those in the club. COM has a great group of knowledgeable people willing to help out with whatever is needed. I can still see Lester taking the Subaru off the flatbed at the last event - a nice piece of jack handling.

All the best to the new licensees as you pursue your track dreams. Hope to see everyone at Mosport.

Dennis