Triangle Chapter Report – December 2015

The last meeting of the Triangle Chapter for 2015 was a lively one, in no small measure due to the fact that, once again, we were not alone in the upstairs lounge at El Rodeo. It seems that the staff forgot we were coming and booked another group in the downstairs meeting area, so we wound up with overflow dinner guests among our members. Oh well, I hope that they had a good time. But due to the crowding and the confusion, I opted not to try to hook up my DVD player to one of the restaurant TVs and show the Goblins Go in-car video that James Etchells brought, of the SARRC race in his EP Miata. Hey, Jim! Bring it again in the early part of next year, to the February or March meeting, and we’ll try again. We should be pretty well starved for racing videos by then!

The accounting is still underway from the 13/8 hour Enduro, but it’s pretty clear that we lost some significant money. We needed 55 cars or more to break even and we had about 42. Lots of factors contributed to this, not the least of which was the jam-packed SEDiv race schedule for the month of October, following the Runoffs at Daytona. The entry list spoke volumes. The Enduro continued to draw a healthy contingent of drivers from the Northeast, but the SEDiv population was severely reduced. The Board has been having serious discussions about whether to revamp or cancel the event and there’s no clear consensus on what to do. RE-elect, Sam Fouse, has been in negotiations with Southern New Jersey Region, which has a similar event in April, and Washington DC Region, which has been considering reviving their enduro in July, about combining our separate events into a series, an East Coast Triple Crown, if you will. The Triangle members in attendance were very much in favor of that idea. They want to keep the event. But it was pointed out that this alone will probably not be enough. We are going to have to change the date, either moving it forward into November (where it was originally many years ago) or backward into September. But that’s not easily done. Moving forward into November increases the risk of inclement weather while backward risks a conflict with the Runoffs. And there’s VIR’s perspective to consider as well. VIR rents the track to Chin Motorsports on the Sunday following our Friday-Saturday-only event, and it’s unclear whether that could continue if we move the event. VIR is in favor of keeping our Enduro going, but they’ve indicated that there’s not much that can be done for 2016. So, we might have to find a way to hold a “bare-bones” event for a year until a new date can be worked out. Of course, all that might change if we could find an event sponsor who would be willing to help shoulder some of the cost. Stay tuned, folks. The new Board of Directors, as well as the Comp Board, will be working on it in the coming months, and all suggestions or other forms of assistance are welcomed.

And speaking of the new Board, by now everyone should know that the election for 2016 was over almost as soon as it began. Since only one nomination for each vacant position was received, the new Board members ran unopposed. So there will not be any ballots to mail and count this year. Sam Fouse is our new RE, and when he takes office in January, at the annual meeting and awards dinner, his current position as Member-at-Large will become vacant. Per the Bylaws, the Board will have to vote in someone to fill that position, so anyone who wants the job should make their wishes known to one of the Board members for 2016. Sam will be joined by Mike Spencer, who continues in his term as Assistant RE, Steve Keadle also continues his term as Treasurer, and James Shanks is the new Secretary. Members-at-Large include Blair Deffenbaugh, and the newly-elected Heather Clark and Morgan Mehler. The West and Cape Fear Chapters have not yet announced their Chapter Coordinators for 2016, but the Triangle Chapter held its election last night. Mark Senor was elected unanimously after his nomination by Rex Deffenbaugh. By the way, Rex will continue on the Board for the next year in the position of (recent) Past RE, which is also provided for in our Bylaws.

And that was about it. I’m stepping down as Triangle Chapter Coordinator, a position I’ve held continuously since 2008 (I also held it between 1997-2004). I took it over from Blair Stitt because he found that being SARRC rep and Chapter Coordinator left him too little time for racing. Imagine that! And now Mark takes it over from me. Oh, and by the way, he and I had a chat with the manager of El Rodeo about 2016, and after he apologized for the night’s mix-up, he assured us all would be well for our return visit on Wednesday, February 3rd. Remember there’s no January meeting because we are all going to the Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner at the Coastline Convention Center in Wilmington, January 9, 2016, instead. I’ll see you there…or at the races!

James Shanks
(outgoing) Triangle Chapter Coordinator