2010 NEWS ARCHIVE

2011–2012 Officer Elections: The Shenandoah Region Election Committee has proposed a slate of officers to serve during 2011 and 2012. Their candidates are Sherry Westfall (president), Andy Turner (vice president), Pam Ebinger (secretary), and Bob Duntley (treasurer).

Ballots will be distributed as paper inserts in the October issue of the Heat Exchanger. You may also use the printable .pdf copy available here. Only those ballots received in the mail by Herb Distefano, 11100 Emery Lane, Bumpass, VA 23024 not later than October 29 will be counted. The results will be announced at 10 AM on Sunday, October 31 during the Annual Meeting to be held at G&W Motorwerks at 518 West Main Street, Waynesboro, just prior to the Fall Foliage Tour.

October Social/Business Dinner Meeting at Photoworks: Geoff and Mike Kilmer, fellow Shenandoah members and owners of Photoworks Creative Group, hosted our October 12 meeting at their facility at 700 West Rio Road in Charlottesville. Gary Hagar of Durty Nelly's Pub prepared an excellent dinner buffet with pulled pork and chicken BBQ, Brunswick stew, cole slaw, red-skinned potato salad, deviled eggs, a variety of drinks, plus carrot cake and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. The "Gang of Four" officer nominees were lined up and shot in the Photoworks studio (photo above). Goeff Kilmer gave us all a fascinating tour of Photoworks and all of the impressive machinery they have to make huge photo prints and displays. If you want a really big photo of your Porsche, they can produce it for you!

Euroclassics/Shenandoah Region PCA 9th Annual Driver Education Day At VIR: Mark Cooke of Euroclassics Porsche and the Shenandoah Region PCA ran this popular one-day DE at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) near Danville, VA for the ninth consecutive year on October 11 (Columbus day). There were three run groups based on driving experience. The "yellow" group for drivers who are new to the track followed a pace car driven by Wayne Hall of Euroclassics. Passing was allowed in the two upper run groups ("red" and "white") for experienced and advanced drivers.

Porsches & Pastrami: Sunday October 3 turned out to be a cool but mostly sunny day for this month's Porsches & Pastrami. Gary Hagar served his usual great fare at Durty Nelly's. After lunch, Sherry led nine Porsches on a drive through hilly country roads in western Albemarle County, looping around to the east and ending up at Ash Lawn, the home of President Monroe.

The 26th annual Classics on the Green European Automobile Festival at the was held at the New Kent Winery in New Kent, VA between 10 AM and 4 PM on a warm and sunny Sunday, September 19. This year's featured car was the Porsche. Robert Overholser of Lufteknic organized a great display of white Porsches, illustrating all major models from the 356 to the present. Pat Daily's "Fast Frieda" was among them. Drew Donaldson parked his gray 911 and Malcolm Hopker his "VA BRIT" 996 by the Lufteknic tent. Dave Cottrell displayed his blue 356C coupe and his Panamera at the Concours Detailing tent. Shenandoah members entering their Porsches in the concours included Bruce Russell (red 1984 Carrera Targa), Jeffrey Elmore (silver 2000 Boxster S), and Dick Pitman (red 1961 356B cab).

Here is a photo collage (2.7 Mbyte PDF file) produced by Harry Kennison.

More photos...

Autocross at Augusta: Our last autocross of the year had a good group of people show up to check out one of the fastest courses I had come up with at the Government center. We put a nice straight away in place to let the big cars run and balanced it with Slaloms, an offset Chicago box, and a large sweeping turn to challenge all of the possibilities you might run into in a car. 35 racers came out and really pushed the limits for our last race. We had the regular racers, along with some new participants. We had some rookie Corvettes, a herd of 10 Miatas, Jonathan Newhall's 454 powered Jaguar. Our local PCA Region was well represented by Stephen Garstang, Brian Lay, Emmett Richardson, and Mike Kilmer to name a few. Gary Krichbaum led the pack again with his 97 BMW M3.

There were actually two straights that pushed the speeds of the cars and challenged the braking to have a clean run. I was able to get the 914 into 3rd before I got onto the straight, giving the course a great feel. On the shorter straight, I made a mistake on my 4th run and missed a heel-toe downshift from 3rd to 2nd, causing the back tires to grab in the brake zone and hop, blowing apart my 911 motor mounts. The 914 was done for the day, but will be back with some new mounts and some more practice on the down shifts. Unfortunately, Erik had not had a chance to run, so no times for him. He has planned to fix up his 911 and maybe this will motivate him. Sorry about that Erik.

Stephen Garstang really ran his 2001 Boxster to the top of the list, finishing 4th overall. It was impressive that an early generation 986 non-"S" can do so well. Emmett Richardson also showed off his braking abilities by pulling down his 911 from some of the fastest speeds of the day in what looked like an effortless activity. Nice driving both of you. Our fastest lady was Sherry Westfall, and doing very well also was Paul Sponseller. He has been moving up the ranks and showing that seat time really helps you improve you autocross game.

We only had four events this year due to some changes in schedule we did not control. We already have the Richmond International Raceway next year set in April, and we will put together another competitive season for everyone next year. We have a Track Day coming up in October with Euroclassics down in Danville, so try to make it if you can. Virginia International Raceway is a great place to check out and try your hand on the track, and this one day event lets you sample the experience to see if it is for you. Thank you to all of the helpers this year and thanks to the Club for the equipment that Erik has put together for us to have a great set up. Everyone have a great "off" season, see you in the spring.

Rick

Here are the results by time and by class.

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Shenandoah's 15th Anniversary Party at Lake Anna: The 15th Anniversary of the founding of the PCA Shenandoah Region in August 1995 was celebrated on Saturday, August 14. The festivities began at 10 AM with a driving tour led by Herb Distefano starting from the Exxon Station/Pit Stop on the north side of the Gum Spring exit 159 off I-64.

The first stop was the Lake Anna Nuclear Power Station, which is a two-nuclear-generator facility that has been in operation for more than 35 years. We were given an informative tour on the history and operation of the plant.

The second leg of the tour crossed Lake Anna several times en route to the home of Herb Distefano, where our Porsches were parked near the waterfront (photo above). An excellent no-charge catered lunch was served under the tents alongside the lake, followed by two birthday cakes and ice cream. The People's Choice award and a bottle of wine went to Scott and Tana Kaefer for their white (multiyear composite) long-nose Carrera. Howie Dunbrack gave high-speed rides on the lake in his 270 hp jet boat, and three pontoon boats took us on tours of the lake up to the power plant.

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Photo collage by Harry Kennison (2.6 Mbyte .pdf file).

Porsches & Pastrami: The August 1 Porsches & Pastrami began with a deli lunch served by Gary Hagar at Durty Nelly's in Charlottesville. Then we drove to the Taylor & Boody organ factory in a renovated school building near Staunton, where they showed and demonstrated their latest tracker organ. Special features include unusual embossed pipes and electronically controlled stops, although the key action is still mechanical. Member and Safety Chairman Erik Boody is a designer there.

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Green Bank and Cass Scenic Railroad Tour: The Shenandoah and Blue Ridge regions led a two-day tour to the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) near Green Bank, WV on Saturday, July 24 and to the Cass Scenic Railroad on July 25. The tour began at Pesto near Crozet, and there was a pickup point in Churchville, just a few miles west of Staunton, VA. A total of 60 people showed up on Saturday, so we broke up into three run groups to enjoy at various speeds the seriously curvy and hilly road over three mountain ranges into West Virginia. We arrived at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory facility at noon and lined up to park in front of the Science Center (photo above), where we were served a buffet lunch.

After lunch, three groups of 20 people each were shown around the electronics lab by engineer John Ford and the telescope control room by radio astronomer Jim Condon. Then we saw a video about radio astronomy, picked up hard hats, and took two buses down to the GBT itself. The GBT mirror is 330 feet in diameter, and the overall height of the telescope is about 470 feet. The telescope can be pointed to any direction on the sky to track radio emission from astronomical sources, and the moving weight of over 16 million pounds is supported by 16 steel wheels running on a level circular track. The mirror consists of about 2,000 panels kept within 1/100 inch of a perfect paraboloid by computer-controlled adjusting screws.

About 20 people stayed overnight near Snowshoe and took the Cass Scenic Railroad ride to the Whittaker Station logging camp on Sunday. The Shay steam locomotives ride on gear-driven trucks that can handle the sharp curves, irregular tracks, and steep grades typical of logging railroads on mountains. They are slow (12 mph maximum) but get the job done. Some of us also took advantage of free passes to ride the ski lifts at Snowshoe and use the paddle boats on the artificial lake used to supply water for the snow machines in winter.

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Zone 2 ran its Rumble at the Oak Tree club race and advanced DE at VIR on a sunny but scorching hot Friday–Sunday June 25–27. The paddock temperature exceeded 100 F on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. About 1600 bottles of cold water were handed out by the Zone 2 event organizers, and DE drivers were given a dispensation to wear short-sleeved shirts. Even so, two race drivers required emergency medical treatment for heat exhaustion.

Small regions like ours don't have the personnel or money to run such big events by themselves, but they can still contribute. A number of Blue Ridge Region members worked to direct traffic at the false grid. Emmett Richardson and Jim Condon from the Shenandoah Region helped with the DE tech inspections, and Sherry Westfall was a "gofer" driving a golf cart as needed to deliver water and ice, direct traffic for the charity laps, and hand out water bottles to drivers coming off the track.

Shenandoah's Scott Leopold of Werkstatt drove a Spec Boxster in the "black" race group. The photo above shows the black group at the end of the front straight on the starting lap of a sprint race. Note the black 944 near the back, trailing a cloud of dust because it was crowded off the track in this high-speed traffic jam. Many Shenandoah Region drivers got an amazing amount of track time (about seven hours for those hardy enough to use it all) in the advanced DE: "Mad Mel" Brannan, Jim Condon, Emmett Richardson, and David and Erin Israel. First Settlers drivers from Richmond included Carl Gerster, Scott Riesenweaver, Steve Sarfaty, and Bud Syme. The Israels were kind enough to bleed Jim Condon's brakes after they went soft in the Saturday afternoon heat.

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RPM: Once again Alex Smith arranged sunny weather for the RPM concours on Saturday, June 5 at the home of Howard and Leeanne Faunce. A huge number of Porsches decorated the lawn, highlighted by an unusually attractive group of 356's. Other notable cars included a Carrera GT, a new Boxster Spyder, an electric blue Tesla, and an Arial Atom. After lunch at the "Cafe Carrera", many left for a tour of Agecroft Hall and then a tech session at Euroclassics. At the awards dinner in the evening, Jack Bair spoke about the creation of the Porsche 911 Club Coupe, and Dick Pitman won the first annual Gay Jewett Award for the "people's choice" car, his 356 recently restored by Lufteknic.

Here is a link to photos from Saturday's events. Send an email to Jim Condon if you would like a (free) digital copy of the high-resolution original of any photo.

RPM Autocross Report by Rick Ebinger: Another fun time scheduled at Southside Speedway was had once again with the RPM event this June. We had 24 racers who tried their luck in the 3/8 mile banked oval track. We always chase the Fastest Time of the Day, but there were multiple class battles that made the day interesting and rewarding for those who watched and participated. The two battles that come to mind were the one between Mike Kilmer and Eric Huggins. Both run mid-80's 911's and ended one tenth of a second apart, with Mike winning the battle this time. Jeffery Elmore also had a similar type of battle with Stephen Garstang. Jeffery had a great day, driving to first in class and 4th overall. Great run, Jeffery. Elizabeth Roark dominated the Ladies class with a 18th place finish. She had the best reaction after her last run with her personal best of the day. Congratulations !!!

We had a total of 24 racers for the day and Pat Daily came out again with his much loved 356. Pat was having a ball all weekend during the Concours on Saturday, to the dinner on Saturday night, to the race on Sunday. A few years back I drove Pat's car while he looked on around the race track. I thought it would be nice again to run his car and offered. Pat took me up on the offer immediately, offering to take pictures of the run. Now to some of you, it might sound strange to offer to drive someone's car or let someone drive yours, but in truth it is a special treat. I love when Erik Boody drives my car because I get to see it in action, look for problems, and see what everyone else sees when I run. I also get to benchmark myself against a very good driver who has the skills to sit in a car one time and get 9/10ths out of the car first run. By doing this for Pat, who truly loves his car, he gets a treat not normally had. I ran the first run and came in hot, enjoying the ride, yet relieved I brought it home safely. Because Pat uses this car for many things, including Concours, it has not had the race upgrades one might expect of a car being autocrossed. Compared to a few years ago, I was ready for the difference from a race prepped car and really enjoyed the run. When pulling up to Pat after the run, and being glad to return the car in the same condition it was given to me, I was surprised and even more nervous when Pat asked me to go again and this time he'd film it. I did and it was a very fun run. Pat had put SR tires on the car and they are great on the street, but when they heat up, they go away, meaning the traction goes away as well. Me and the old girl made it safely back and 2 seconds faster than the previous old run. Pat was happy, I was happy, and had yet another great experience in that "old girl". Thanks Pat for the chance to run the great 356 through its paces.

The 914's did well for this event. Bobby Smith cleaned up again with FTD and we just couldn't catch him. Erik did well for only driving a couple of runs and I was happy to be 2 seconds off of Bobby. It is always good to have Alex and his family help and participate in these events, and Alex slipped by Kerrigan by just under a second. Kerrigan brought out the Synergy prepped car and it was fun to watch that track car go around the track. Nice drive, Kerrigan, and thanks for the demonstration. We even had a special sighting of the license plate shedding 993 of Bryce Jewett. He has done that in the past and did not fail to provide yet another show of this rare and usually funny "at Bryce's expense" exhibit of license plate control, or lack thereof.

It was a good day and everyone was fun to watch. Thanks for the new comers, like Don Henck and his beautiful 993, and the regulars, (notice I dodged the "old" word), like Emmett Richardson. Be careful Emmett, I might team up with Pat Daily and put some Khumos on some of my old 6 inch rims I have and we'll see if the 356 can catch you. Tires are good for 3 seconds in an autocross, I need 4. By the way, it would be a VERY tight autocross course we'd set that up on.

We have a possible autocross on the weekend of July 17th. We are still firming up because we changed a few dates around to fit in the Richmond International Raceway autocross on August 21st. We finally got everything locked down and it is a go. We are taking a limited number of cars, so sign up early Shenandoah Region. We want all who want to attend to be able to come out and stretch the legs of your favorite cars. This is a great venue and should not be missed. Participation keeps this event going, so we are counting on you. I will update points in the next few weeks and give a standing on where we are at. Come on out and play, we'd love to have you...

Here are the autocross results by time and by class.

Engelbert Muelhaupt provided these photos of the autocross. If you would like any full-size digital originals, email him at t-bert@comcast.net.

First Settlers Region DE and PCA National Instructor Clinic at VIR: The weather was perfect for the clinic and advanced DE on Friday, May 21. Saturday and Sunday were open to all for a DE and a "taste of the track", a single instructed run session for those interested in DE but not yet willing to sign up for a full weekend. Shendandoah member Malcolm Hopker (the VA BRIT) drove his first DE successfully in the green group (photo). Congratulations, Malcolm!

Shenandoah's Second Autocross of 2010 attracted 42 drivers to the Augusta Government Center in Verona on Saturday, May 15. Rick Ebinger's 58.880 seconds in his 914 was the fastest time of the day, closely followed by Gary Krichbaum's 59.113 seconds in a 1997 BMW M3. The fastest lady was Jennifer Kimber in 1 1991 Civic Si. Here are the results by time and by class.

Cole Scrogham's daughter Sydney drove a bright yellow New Beetle in her first autocross, watched by proud grandparents Weldon and Phyllis. More photos...

Montpelier to Bavarian Chef Drive and Dine: On Saturday, May 8 we visited President James Madison's home Montpelier, where he wrote the foundation of the US Constitution. Then Dan Graff led us on a drive over some great Porsche roads in Orange, Culpeper, Rappahannock & Madison Counties with a stop at Prince Michel Vineyards and finishing up with a huge dinner at the Bavarian Chef. More photos...

Porsches & Pastrami isn't only for Porsches: check out these graceful lines on Greg Long's classic Citroen.

Porsches & Pastrami: On May 2 the Porsches & Pastrami crowd met at Durty Nelly's in Charlottesville. Following a great lunch served by Gary Hagar at the Pub we followed Deane Parker's very visible orange Boxster S on a driving tour through the rolling pastures and woodlands of southern Albemarle County to the historic town of Scottsville. We parked at Country Blessings Local Foods, which sells Chaps ice cream, just what the doctor ordered for a very warm sunny day. Some of us also visited the Scottsville Museum and its memorabilia and artifacts from this town's glory days (A new exhibit "Where the River Bends: Scottsville and the James" just opened.) This small museum is one of our local hidden treasures. More photos...

Grand Am: The Bosch Engineering 250 Grand-Am race took place at the Virginia International on the weekend of April 23–25. Emmett Richardson was there, and he took the following photos.

Autocross: The first Shenandoah Region autocross took place on a beautiful Sunday, April 18. There were 40 drivers, about half in Porsches and half in "other" cars. Gary Krichbaum claimed the FTD with some very smooth driving in his 1997 BMW M3, and Emmett Richardson had the quickest official Porsche time. Jonathan Newhall wasn't the fastest in his Jaguar, but he did put on the best show. Howie Dunbrack and his friends Cory Bradburn and Paul Hansen showed up with their LeMons race car, a 1990 Geo Storm with a large lemon painted on the hood.

Here are the results by time and by class.

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Mr. Jefferson's Journey: On Saturday–Sunday, April 10–11 the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah PCA regions jointly ran a driving tour that followed some of the footsteps of Virginia's own Thomas Jefferson. The tour started in the Crozet area at the Pesto Mediterranean Grill. It was a perfect Porsche driving day: the sun was shining, the temperature was moderate, and spring was in the air. Shenandoah's Deane Parker led the group west through some of the narrow and winding (but paved) roads of rural Albemarle County and then headed south at Afton onto the Blue Ridge Parkway and finally to Lynchburg's historic district for lunch at The Depot Grille.

In the afternoon Jerry Hampton of the Blue Ridge Region took over and led the troops to Jefferson's more private and personal retreat, Poplar Forest, where we had a private guided tour of our former U.S. president's home. Finally, Jerry took us for some energetic driving on great Porsche roads (he radioed "DE on Route 43" as we approached the Peaks of Otter). We had dinner at the Lake View Restaurant at the Peaks of Otter Lodge. Some stayed overnight and others returned home after dinner.

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