Past Events 2002
Bainbridge “Festival of the Leaves”
On Sunday morning, October 20, several BMC members met at the London McDonald’s to travel to Bainbridge for the “Festival of the Leaves”.
It was chilly but sunny and the following individuals enjoyed a day in south central Ohio: Chuck and Phyllis Bundy, Nancy Clemmons, Carl and Lynda Cooper, Mike and Brenda Fisher, Rob and Amy Young.
We got to Bainbridge about noon and were able to shed our jackets for a walk around the festival. We ate lunch at the Senior Citizens building then got out of town before the parade started.
The festival organizers provided us with driving tour maps to enjoy the fall color.
Rob and Amy Young led the way as we were on some wonderful Miata roads. We stopped during the drive at Seven Caves and Pike Lake State Park to stretch our legs.
We had supper at the Lotus Chinese Restaurant in Washington Court House before heading our separate ways.
Thank you Rob and Amy Young for leading this trip. An enjoyable time was had by all.
Join us next time for a new Miata adventure!
Nancy Clemmons
Miata Club Canoe Outing
On Saturday, September 14, several Buckeye Miata Club members gathered at Bob Evans Restaurant to embark on a canoe trip planned by Carl Cooper down the Licking River. Joining us for breakfast and part of the trip were Bud McClees, Alan & Linda Crawford, and Les and Mary Jo Grose. Upon arriving at the Canoe Livery, we were given canoeing instructions which included leaving anything you didn’t want to get wet, behind. Lynda Cooper was happy to keep our keys since she will never canoe with Carl again. The springtime “dry” run found Lynda capsized in the water. Being a non-swimmer, Lynda called it quits. The following people used kayaks: Rob and Amy Young, Jerry Juracek and Cathy Reeves, and Jim Hayter. The rest of us used canoes: Carl and Chris Cooper, Steve and Linda Johnson, Earl and Patti Hassler, and Beth Erb and Nancy Clemmons. The sun came out and made for a very pleasant ride. We traveled 4.3 miles down the Licking River through Black Hand Gorge in Dillon State Park. Occasionally we would have to walk through some shallow places. During our voyage two water machine guns magically appeared. Rob and Carl were more than happy to oblige anyone who was not getting wet enough. The scenery was gorgeous and once in a while everyone would get real quiet and enjoy the serene and peaceful surroundings. What a stress reliever! Our journey ended with at stop at Miller’s Essenplatz (Miller’s Eating Place) in Newark for a late lunch. Thank you Carl and Lynda Cooper for a wonderful day trip. Come join us next time for another Miata adventure!
Nancy Clemmons
Miata Challenge #5 Click Here for Results (Challenge Results)
The first weekend of August was a busy one in northeast Ohio - the Gravity Games competition was in Cleveland, the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction and parade occurred in Canton, and the Fifth Annual Midwest Miata Challenge was held at the Firestone Lot in Akron. The Midwest Miata Challenge Autocross was the brainchild of the Buckeye Miata Club in Columbus. The Buckeye Club and the Northcoast Club each had members that loved to autocross. Reasoning was that other Miata clubs in the area did too. Why not invite all Miata clubs in the Midwest to gather at a central location for a day of autocrossing? Hence, the Midwest Miata Challenge was born. This year, it was hosted by the Northcoast Miata Club, with sponsorship from the Miata Owners Club, Cascade Auto Group, and Park Mazda of Wooster. Fifty-eight drivers and thirty-six spectators converged at the Firestone lot on Saturday morning. Five clubs were represented - the Buckeye Miata Club from Columbus, the North West Ohio Meanderers from Toledo, the West Penn Miata Club from the Pittsburgh area, the Indy Miata Club from Indianapolis, and the hosting Northcoast Miata Club from the Akron/Cleveland region. Drivers and spectators came from six states - Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Car colors made a rainbow - there were Yellow, British Racing Green, Laguna Blue, Silver, 10th Anniversary Sapphire Blue, Red, White, Blue, Black, and Merlow. After Registration, the drivers took their vehicles for a Safety Tech Inspection. They were then free to walk the course. The Northcoast Miata Club Competition Director, Neal Weingart, conducted a Novice Walk for the beginners. After the mandatory Drivers' Meeting, the action began. Each racer had four timed runs in the morning, and three in the afternoon. Boxed lunches were provided by Chef Gon-Mobil from Seville. During the lunch hour, drivers and spectators alike could visit the display areas of each of our three sponsors and purchase Miata merchandise. Due to the high heat and humidity, several drivers did not make their runs in the p.m. The largest class was C Stock, with fourteen competitors. Nick Flynn, from West Virginia, won the class with a time of 50.558. Chuck Gajewski, from the Northcoast, was a close second, just twenty-eight thousandths behind. Rounding out the top three was John Fessler, a Northwest Ohio Meanderer. Laura Van Wormer, the victor in the three deep C Stock Ladies class , posted a best of 52.443, which actually beat five of the men! Top bananas in the Novice Class were Mason Workman, CSN, and Cheryl Foreman, CSNL, both from the Buckeye club. On street tires, Steve Johnson was over a half of a second faster than his nearest competitor, Chip Wigton. Penny Cummings ran unopposed in the Ladies street tire class. E Stock had five competitors, with Dave Vasko coming out ahead at the end of the day. His best time of 50.53 beat all the C Stock drivers! We had a father/daughter combo in this class. Jeff Morris finished third in ES, while his daughter Gillian ran solo in ESL. We had many other family affairs, just not in the same class. Mike DePietro ran in CS, and his son Tom competed in CSP. Jim Neusser, also in CS, saw his stepson Blair Judson, run in CSP. Rich Johnson, numero uno in CSPST, saw his son Erik, competing in DP, finish with the fastest time of the day. We also had four husband/wife twosomes among the entrants. It really looks like the family that plays together stays together. The Buckeye Club took the top four positions in C Street Prepared. That's better than horse racing's win, place, and show! CSPL and CSPST each were won by members of the Northcoast. A one, two punch was dealt to Bud Henthorn of the Buckeye Club in D Prepared. Dick Pickles, president of the Northcoast Miata Club, came in second, and Erik Johnson, also of the Northcoast came in first. That made Bud low man on the totem pole. Our congratulations to Erik for the fastest time of the day, 47.964, in just his second autocross!! You may wonder why he hasn't had more time in the victor's circle. Well, he's a young man, and his lifestyle precludes him from waking before noon on the weekends. Unfortunately, most clubs close registration well before then! Buckeye Miata Club had the only competitors in E Modified, so swept both the men's and ladies' classes. The same thing occurred for the Northcoast Club in STS2, with husband and wife Jim and Cathy Lynch. After the awards were presented, we caravanned to the Portage Lakes for dinner and post-mortem at (what was the name of the place?) We'd like to thank our sponsors, volunteers, competitors, and spectators for a great day and a great event. See you all next year!!
Miata Challenge #5 (Again)
By Bud Henthorn
It was a Saturday, August 3rd, 2002 Hot and Muggy with temperatures hitting 96 degrees F in the shade. Gallons of bottled water were consumed by the 65 entries completely using up all the liquids that the host club “Northcoast Miata” supplied. They also supplied box lunches with your $30.00 entry fee but the humidity kept us from enjoying them. BMC lady drivers all took 1st place trophies while the men did the best they could. Every one who went has a story but I can only report thru the eyes of #79 D/P.(3rd overall) The course was beautifully laid out. I.E. designed very well! A 52second AVG 2 lapper that had you faster the 2nd lap in the same spot you were 5 mph slower the first lap with the beginning of the 2nd lap a completely different line and apex than the first lap entering and exiting that 2nd lap with a wiggle on the final straight to the Finish line that if you lifted you lost a half second to your competitors. Every body co-operated in spreading themselves out among the many classes including yours truly who unselfishly entered their strongest class. “D/P”! They had a stripped Race car fully prepared and very lightweight prepared by Rich Johnson so well that the hood was never raised and driven very well by 2 drivers who kept the Goodyear race rubber properly heated up. They took FTD overall 1st & 2nd. #79 came in 3rd on his Ecstas. Not that he didn’t try to pull it out. With a full stomach in the hottest part of the day and with a “GO FOR IT” from Bob Slone I jacked up the weekend Warrior and changed to Bob’s 2 year old Endurance race Hoosier Slicks which were past their 2nd Birthday. Was I stupid from the Heat? No! Fact was, the track conditions were so horrible that Bob Slone’s soft, current this year Qualifier Hoosier slicks picked up so much of the loose gravel that not just every turn but even in the first turn so many stones stuck to the face of his tires you could not see where any rubber touched the pavement. And this is with gloved hands wiping the tires clean at the start. So seeing this, crafty ole #79 says the hot set up must be harder compound slicks! Aha! Bob’s backup wheels and tires had that harder compound. Alas, was not to be. They picked up the gravel as well and my times on Endurance slicks was not as fast as my morning runs on the Kumho’s...All that work..... Well we did have fun and I did the calculations. We lost to Northcoast Club by 22 points. That translates to; if we had 4 more drivers and they placed 2nd or better we would have had 24 more points(6 points for a 2nd place finish) Sm2 auto cross rubber and stock tires were 2 classes not represented by BMC. A footnote here, Remember that very fast Miata with the American flags from Pittsburg with the water injected turbo/Supercharger 13” x 8 “and one half wide wheels Hoosier autoX compound tires that blew away all of us local guys on raw time but couldn’t stop in time and slid past the stop pylon at our 3rd points event. Well 175hpPlus hp did not help him at the challenge. He was over a second back behind #79. Toledo says very slim chance they can hold the Challenge next year. If we have one it will have to be put on by BMC. Wouldn’t that be great! Nothing like Home Court ADVANTAGE and less personal Expenses. We should do it. I volunteer for Competition Rules Chairman. “The Older I Get The Faster I Was”
Bud H....
Stockport Mill Inn Road Trip
By Nancy Clemmons
On Saturday, July 13, twenty-one people enjoyed the hills of southeastern Ohio on a road trip to Stockport, Ohio in Morgan County. After meeting at the Cracker Barrel in Pickerington, we traveled through small towns such as Baltimore, Somerset, and Malta to the Stockport Mill Inn along the Muskingum River. We ate lunch at the Restaurant on the Dam, took a tour of the Inn's unoccupied rooms, and then went for a Sternwheel ride on the Kathryn Helen Hook paddleboat. On our return trip, we drove through McConnelsville and South Zanesville to Brighton's Ice Cream Shop for huge bowls of ice cream. A side trip to the Hopewell Church Covered Bridge was an excellent photo opportunity. Thanks to Jim Hayter for taking pictures when my camera's battery died. Steve and Linda Johnson returned home after lunch so we deemed it necessary to stop by their house to explain the fun they had missed. Thanks to Chuck and Phyllis Bundy and Lynda Cooper for their help in planning this trip. We especially enjoyed driving our beloved Miatas over the hills and around the curves of State Routes 669 and 376. Hopefully more Buckeye Miata Club members will join us next time for a Miata adventure!
RAIN RAIN GO AWAY !
BMC Autocross #2 April 21, 2002
by Matt Collins
Well autocross number two was a washout. Trying to plan these events is like ridding on a roller coaster. While watching all of the different avenues available to project what Mother Nature is going to do at any given time is nothing but a crap shoot. I find myself watching the weather channel too much and going to weather dot com way to often. The week of April 15th I started the ride. For the most part, the forecast was for rain on Sunday, but not a total washout. One thing you must understand is, we do race in the rain, but the combination of rain and temperatures in the 40's DON'T GET IT ! Friday night when taking advantage of all of the technical information it was starting to look dismal for a autocross to take place on Sunday. Saturday morning when doing my forecasting, I finally thought I had made a decision. I spoke with a few of my fellow autocross committee members and the popular thought was (CALL OFF THE RACE). Great, I thought for the first time in three weeks I would get to sleep in on a Sunday morning. Well, I get home from work at 6:30 Saturday night and have to be at a Company outing at Speeds at 7 P.M. Without hesitation I fire up the computer and log on to weather dot crap and to my surprise(now remember what they said the weather was to be for your drive to Clifton Mill or whatever you were going to do for the day), IT TURNS OUT TO BE BEAUTIFUL. I'm now at the point were I'm not having fun anymore! Well back to my last visit to the weather people. Now they say there is only a 20-30% chance of scattered showers. It's now time to make what I believe to be the final decision. I make the call and tell everyone, (WE ARE GOING TO RACE IN THE MORNING). So Lynn and I head over to Speeds and have a short but nice visit with my cohorts from Byers Imports. We get home and I load the trailer and the truck with all of the supplies for the autocross, and I get to bed around mid-night. At 6A.M. the alarm goes off and it's time to get moving. Oh what the .... ,I take another look at weather dot CRAP ! Now remember it's six in the morning, WHAT? They are now saying that starting around 7 A.M. and continuing thru the rest of the day, rain. Oh buy the way, can anyone tell me the difference between showers, light rain, and rain? Well we told everyone we were racing, so I finish loading the truck and Lynn loads her car with all of the registration forms and such. As I have stressed to all of you, we need you at the track buy 8 A.M. we leave the house to make that half an hour drive from Gahanna to Hilliard so we can be there on time. I had to stop for air, so Lynn is now ahead of me. When I finally arrive at my destination............to my surprise are a dozen or so plastic covered racers. Wow, now I know I'm not the only nut in The Buckeye Miata Club.
Well to make a long story,well long, we took a vote (which took as long as it took me to ask "what do you want to do?" and the music to my ears, they all said, "let go to Bob Evans and have breakfast and talk racing". So we did.
As any of you who have been around The BMC for ant time you know, we can always be happy with going somewhere and eating, not to say, it looked pretty cool out front of Bob's with all of the Miata's sitting in the rain along with the three Miata's being tailored.
I do have to mention the names of the devoted (race nuts) that did show: the furthest was our course designer Bob Sloan who drove up from Lebanon Ohio, Steve Johnson who is my right hand man and general know it all when it come to autocrossing, Jeff Morris who in charge of setting up the course, Ron Larimer who is the Safety Steward, Jim Hayter who is our timing and scoring guru, Larry Clark who is not only new to autocrossing, but has volunteered to take on the responsibilities as our tech inspector, Lynn Stanberry who is charge of registration(and just a great person), drivers Mark Gleckler, Kevin Funk, Mason Workman (that not only brought his 97 Miata but also brought his F-Prod Race car all the way from Newark and Kevin Funk. Rumors have it that after we left the track that Jeremy Lucas even showed up. Hey Jeremy, if you would have been there on time you could have gone to breakfast with the rest of us. Oh, I can't forget my little buddy, Carl (I don't race) Cooper was there in the rain to help once again. THANKS LITTLE BUDDY !
Well now it's time to prepare for our next race which will be on May the 19th at Hilliard Davidson High School. Timed runs will start at 10:00 A.M. Again, it is recommended to be at the track no latter than 8:30 and we will need 6 workers to assist Jeff Morris in the setup of the course. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me one of the following ways. Home 614-471-7482, Byers Imports 614-864-5180, or email miatafy@ameritech.net .Remember this is a club event, so even if your not interested in autocrossing your Miata, please come out and see what could make over a dozen racer crazy enough to drive as far as most did in the cold rain. Oh, buy the way, the next autocross will be ran RAIN OR SHINE !
BMC Autocross #1 April 7th, 2002
by Matt Collins solo chair
The first autocross of 2002 is now in the books. We had a record number of drivers (37) with the first time ever to have Spec Miata's and a Jr. Kart running with the club. Dennis and Debra Mathias and Brian Murdick brought out the Miata's they will campaign in the new Spec Miata Class. This is the first year they will be running in this region (I believe in early July). Corey drove his new 96 Invader kart he will race in SCCA's Jr. Kart Series this summer. O.K. I'm going to boast for a minute. Corey has ridden with me and other members for the past 4 years, learning how to go thru a autocross course and sometimes giving pointers to the driver which lowered their times. Well, on Sunday he came out for his first time behind the wheel and drove the kart with times representing the way a driver should lower their times with each run (o.k. he dnf'd his second run........got so lost he gave up and came back in). His first run was a very respectable 59.46 followed up by his dnf, 58.09, 53.14, and finished with a 53.08. GREAT JOB! O.K. I'll move on.
With new rules what used to be B Stock,(1.8 Miata's) are now C Stock, this was as usually the largest class of the day with 15 drivers. Where else can a member show up without a car and get to drive someone else's car. Ross Kuhns car was in pieces in his garage getting a new clutch. Not having anything to drive, Matt Worls let Ross co drive his "99" silver M2. Ross is no dummy, he let Matt edge him out by almost a half of a second (Matt's 48.62 Ross 49.10). Good move Ross, there is another autocross in two weeks.
First place in C Stock went to Steve Lowry with the second fastest time of the day (47.24). followed by the two previously mentioned. Fourth place went to Mason Workman with a best time for him at 51.40. Mason is one of our new members from Newark who joined The BMC last year. Mason owns 2 Miata's, one is a 97 Red and the other one he and his father found in someone's driveway for $500.00 and made into a E Production race car. He does have just a little more invested in it now. He also have a few of 1st place finishes with the car for his first year (2001). Fifth (only .05 seconds) went to the silver fox who came out of retirement to compete in his first race in two years with as most of you know has the cleanest, no lime or dust on his car Rob Young with a 51.44. I guess all of the practice he gets in at Speeds keeps him in tip-top driving shape. Street tire was also a close competition in C Stock with less than a second between Mason and Sean Svendsen(51.99) who has not raced on street tires in over two years. Sean didn't replace his worn race tires since was expecting his new Mini Cooper earlier than when he will get it.
E Stock (which used to be C Stock) was won by Jeff Morris with a top time of the day of 51.16 followed by James Johnson with a 52.43. There were 7 drivers in E Stock (1.6 Miata), a record number in recent tears since most of the Miata's lately have been the 1.8 liter's. Jeff would like to thank you all for coming out, he has wanted to have a separate class for the 1.6's so there would be competition for the older cars.
I know this starting to sound like a recording, but this was also the largest group to compete in C Street Prepared, maybe that's why it was the largest turn out ever........you think? Well it looks like my time as 3 time championship in CSP might be at jeopardy with the change of class by Bud Henthorn. Bud drove his "94" R- Package Miata with a blistering fastest time of the day of 47.15, (can't someone get him to retire?) I followed with a48.70 once I remembered to trust my tires, but it was too late. Steve Johnson used his title of Mr.First Man to get Ron Larimer to let him co-drive Ron's Black 2000 Miata this year (hey Steve you need to take some lessons from Ross Kuhns). Not thinking Steve beats his car owner by less than 3/10ths of a second. You would think he would know better, seeing that Her Majesty (Linda ain't going to let him drive her new one. Anyway, Steve drove to a 49.41 followed by Ron with a 49.70.
E Modified was one by Bob Sloan in the most beautiful (in my opinion) Miata there is. Bob's time was good for the 3rd fastest time of the day 47.51. If you have never seen this car, Bob has done just about every modification known to man. Bob is also our course designer for the 2002 season. If he makes another course as hard as this one was, I think a few members will take him out back to the hangman. It was a challenging long course with hidden turns, a chariot race a slalom and some fast speed turns. It really was a good course, but a little challenging for the first event of the year.
The other first was a good number of non racer members that came out. Amy Young came out as well as the Niemans. I tried to get Jane to go for a ride without success.................now comes the rest of the story. For those of you who have attended the March and April meeting, you might remember a new couple who just joined the club. Their first meeting they were a couple of minutes late and Queen Linda embarrassed them with a question in front of the group (and they still came to dinner). Last week at the beginning of the meeting they walked in late once again, (you would have thought they would have learned)............they must have thick skin because they came to the autocross. Well if they still like us it will be a miracle. David Hawkins and Linda Sabo are who I'm speaking of. It might be a good idea for some of you to call them and tell them we (the members of the BMC) are really nice. When they got to the site on Sunday I showed them where to go and sign the release form required by our insurance. They did. I then pulled my "92" CSP Miata towards the starting line and asked Linda if she would like to go for a ride................she replied YES, and that wasn't the last thing she said. As Linda set down in the passenger seat, she asked if it was safe, which I replied yes. As I launch the car at 5000rpm, she gave out a loud screech. I make the right hand turn approaching the slalom I hear a voice asking me to slow down, as I enter the hard 90 degree turn at the end of the fastest part of the course I hear another sound followed by SLOW DOWN (I actually thought about it for a brief second). The rest of the run was filled with many other noises that I haven't heard before. As I stopped to pick up my time slip, I thought it would be a kind and honorable gesture to ask how she was and to say I'm sorry. The reply that I got was not expected, "THAT WAS FUN". Well Linda, if you still want to be involved in the club........I'm sure I speak for the rest of the members, "THANKS FOR BEING A GREAT SPORT"
I would like to say a GREAT BIG THANKS to Chuck and Phyllis Bundy. The two of them came all the way from Pataskala all the way to Hilliard to donate some loner hamlets to the club. I guess it's things like that that keep me in the club and make me proud to say, "I belong to The Buckeye Miata Club). Again, thanks so much.
The day was filled with good weather and many new relationships from the many new faces, who saw and learned of the fun the autocrossers from the BMC have. Oh, you thought I would forget you? Thanks little buddy for all of your help once again.
BMC's Annual Valentine Brunch, February 10th, 2002
On Sunday, February 10, 21 members of the BMC attended a Valentine brunch at the Lenox Inn. There was lots of food, great comradery and lots of conversation about two things that all BMC members love-Miatas and eating or is it eating and Miatas? A great time was had by all.
Charlene Brock
BMC's Annual Winter Hike, January 19th, 2002
Eleven Buckeye Miata Club members participated in the Annual Winter Hike in Hocking Hills on Saturday, January 19th. Early morning snow covered the highways and trails. Rob and Amy Young and Bud and Nancy McClees were first on the trail. The second group consisting of trip leader Carl Cooper, Jim Hayter, Nancy Clemmons, Bill and Andi Pepperney, started hiking about 9:30 AM. Matt Collins and Lynn Stanberry had a cabin for the weekend and got a later start but all BMC members completed the six-mile hike. The snow-covered trails were very slippery and a least one participant fell three times. No harm done, I have lots of padding. Hocking Hills is beautiful any time but add a little snow and you have a winter wonderland. Come join us next year!
Nancy Clemmons
