Results from Rimrock Truck Center II
September 25, 2011

Sunday, September 25^th dawned bright and warm. After buying a cheap pair of sunglasses (I’d forgotten my trademark Aviators at home), I arrived at the Rimrock Truck Center. On previous outings, Rimrock’s southern lot had been filled with people riding small motorcycles; they were either taking a riding class or they were a circus troupe rehearsing a low-speed routine. This time, however, the southern lot was empty of riders—a development the SCCA course designers used to full effect. The course was one of the longest in recent memory; drivers arriving at the event surveyed the expanse of sun-faded asphalt and marveled at the distance they’d have to travel. “The danger isn’t getting lost,” I explained, “it’s running out of gas halfway through.”

The event started smoothly; most of the drivers had a few seasons’ experience and required very little explanation, and the new drivers caught on fast. After Chris Brewer’s always-entertaining driver’s meeting, the run groups set to their respective tasks.

The field encompassed many vehicles; Steve Gruver’s ’69 Corvette and Dwight Gilliland’s Lotus Elan were both agreeably “vintage,” but so were Steve and Dwight themselves. On the new-school end of the spectrum, there were entries like Joel Gruver’s Mini Cooper S Clubman, Dustin Park’s Mazdaspeed 3, and RJ Matthews’ Subaru WRX STi. The most popular make at the event was Honda—seven drivers campaigned one. The H badge was well-represented at this event, and showcased the marque’s popularity among racers. There were three different CRXs at the event, two of them with two drivers trading off runs. Brent Hergenraeder's sleek, black S2000 and my own ’96 Acura Integra, both shod with practical all-season radial tires, rounded out the lineup. All ran well (in my case, I mean that it got around the track without the clock requiring an “hour” function), but only one coughed an exhaust-rotted length of tubing out of its aging 5Zigen muffler…can you guess which? Thanks for handing it back to me, guys—the thing’s a hazard. I couldn’t figure out how to put it back in, so I threw it out.

Randy Roberts had brought out his whole stable of racecars; his screaming-yellow chop-top Volkswagen Cabriolet shared the track with his two CRX hatchbacks. “I’m driving all of ‘em today,” he said. “Make the guys in the timing trailer really work to figure it out.” He made good on his promise…or at least appeared to do so. Several of his (I assume) family members were there to drive; if his two young children were tall enough to work the pedals, I bet they would have turned out as well. As it was, Nathanial Wiggins, Krissy Martin, and Ryan Wood each made fine showings in the battered little Civics. It was hard to tell who was driving what; everybody looks the same while wearing a helmet. There was no way I could follow it

The course didn’t favor one type of car over another, and proved neither too daunting for new drivers nor too easy for new ones. Subsequently, everybody seemed to be having a good time. Rookie driver Woody Jensen negotiated the course just as easily as his more seasoned son Nels, each in their old-school Japanese sports cars (motor-swapped Honda Civic CRX and ’86 Toyota Corolla, respectively). The track was sweet enough to lure Nick Johnson back to the races to put his Mini Cooper S through the paces once again. The course designers made sure it didn’t have too many high-speed sections followed by waves or cracks, which was easier on suspensions, and much easier on Doug Hills. Doug’s CRG Road Rebel kart didn’t leave the course or bottom out too hard all morning. It was a splendid track, and big thanks go out to the cone placement specialists. You know who you are.

Yellowstone SCCA’s final event was the topper on an excellent season of racing. For all that were there, thank you for working so hard, and for those of you who weren’t there, what’s the deal? It was awesome. As I left the grounds, I promised myself I’d return. I made good on this promise not ten minutes later, when I realized I’d left behind all the junk that I’d taken out of my car. But as I left again, I repeated the promise. It was a truly marvelous season, marked by excellent weather, excellent courses, and excellent people. Hope to see you all again! 

Event Chair - Randy Roberts
Safety Steward - Chris Brewer

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