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February 2018
The World’s First Corvette Club
President - Kelly Ryan
Celebrating our 62nd
Anniversary Year
CCA social activities started off 2018 with a new president, in a new venue and with a new method for
selecting the Dick Thompson Award winner. The Annual Awards dinner was held at Normandie Farms,
a charming and intimate French style restaurant located in Potomac Maryland. The food, accommoda-
tions and service were enjoyed by members and their guests. All who attended were treated to Nor-
mandie’s famous popovers and to-die for dessert selection. I would like to thank Van, Nita and April for
their continued help and assistance in making this year’s awards dinner memorable. Guests from both
Sport Chevrolet and Radial Tire were able to join us in honoring this year’s Dick Thompson Award win-
ner Pat Roney. I believe both Jon and Van took a number of photos of people enjoying the company and
activities.
In previous years, the winner was selected on the basis of points accumulated in NCCC sponsored
events. In as much as the club is no longer a member of NCCC, this year’s evaluation included more sub-
jective criteria. That criteria included an individual’s contributions to raising the level of enjoyment and
safety of competitive racing, as well as an individual’s competitive performance. As a student of Pat’s
instruction on the track and seeing what he has done to promote Corvette racing I was extremely happy
to see Pat recognized as the winner for 2018.
The Club has a number of activities coming up to break up the winter doldrums. On Sunday February 25
members and their guests are invited to what is becoming an annual event Karting at the Autobahn in
Jessup MD. Pat Roney is the go to guy for this event. There is more information about the event on the
CCA web site and also in Pat’s section of the newsletter.
Jean Wade has organized a St Patrick’s Day cruise and celebration on March10 at the Kilarney House.
Again, check the events tab on the Club’s website for details and to register for this early spring activity.
Speaking of early spring, be sure to check the new competition director’s (Bill Sandusky) article for de-
tails of the upcoming autocross season. Rumor has he’s planning a time and tune session for club mem-
bers only in March.
Corvette Courier
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 2
In closing this month’s column, I would like to invite all members to join us in one of our many club
activities. Whether it is an autocross, one of our monthly business meetings (second Tuesday night at
the Green Turtle on Burtonsville), shop night (fourth Tuesday evening at Sport Chevrolet) or one of
the many cruises and trips planned for this coming year, please consider coming and joining other
members in enjoying life with your Corvette.
Save the Wave!
Kelly Ryan
CCA President
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 3
Membership Director - Jean Wade
CCA Membership Update
MEMBER NEWS AND INFORMATION
Welcome our Newest Members from January Found Us/Sponsor
Michael Hubbard Mt. View, CA 65 R meadow wood yellow Web
Jesse & Harumi McDaniel Leesburg, VA 18 GS yellow Web
Allan Trusk Clearwater, FL 07 Z51 victory red Web
James Rosso Brooklyn, MD 07 black Autocross
Raymond Ramirez Homestead, FL No Vette Web
Geo Barriel Naples, FL No Vette Facebook
Steve Wukina New Carrollton, MD 04 Z06 black Web
What our new members shared with us -
Jesse is retired from US Air Force and he loves Corvettes.
James Rosso tracks his car at Summit Point and VIR.
Steve Wukina has a 2014 Mustang Convertible, Black Premium will show for shows.
Shop on Amazon Smile and help the National Corvette Museum.
Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the Museum. Amazon-
Smile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same service. Designate the National
Corvette Museum by clicking this link (http://smile.amazon.com/ch/74-2519972) and log into your Ama-
zon account.
Maryland CCA License Plate Representative:
Mr. Wayne Hatcher from Hagerstown, MD
Looking for CCA Organizational Maryland Plates for your Vette or even maybe the daily driver? Wayne
will help. 204-382-4476, 13405 Windsor Dr. Hagerstown Md. 21742 [email protected]
Want to sponsor an event for the club? Please contact me.
If you know of any more cruise-in meet ups, please let me know.
Check the following page for upcoming events. Don’t miss out on all the fun!
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 4
Upcoming Club Events & Reminders
Calendar - https://www.vette-club.org/events/
February Business Meeting This is the club's monthly business and membership meeting with the Board and is open to all club
members. Arrive by 6:30PM for dinner & discussion.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018, 7:30PM – 9:00PM
The Greene Turtle – 15660 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville, MD 20866
https://www.vette-club.org/events/230/
9th Annual Winter Karting Event
The Corvette Club of America would like to invite all race enthusiasts to a Karting event at Autobahn
Indoor Speedway in Jessup, Maryland. RSVP to Pat Roney ([email protected]). Flyer on page 6.
Sunday, February 25, 2018, 9:30AM
Autobahn Indoor Speedway – 8251 Preston Ct., Jessup MD 20794
https://www.vette-club.org/events/225/
February Shop Night
Bring your Corvette in to Sport Chevrolet in Silver Spring for a do-it-yourself shop night. Sport Chev-
rolet allows us to use their vehicle lifts; however, you must bring your own tools, fluids, etc.
Tuesday, February 27, 2018, 6:30PM – 9:00PM (arrive before 7:30PM)
Sport Chevrolet – 3101 Automobile Blvd., Silver Spring, MD 20904
https://www.vette-club.org/events/242/
St. Patrick’s Day Lunch Join fellow CCA members for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration at Killarney House! RSVP to Jean Wade
(301-253-6074 or [email protected]) or online (link below). Flyer on page 7.
Saturday, March 10, 2018, 12:30PM
Killarney House – 584 W. Central Ave., Davidsonville, MD 21035
https://www.vette-club.org/events/228/
March Business Meeting This is the club's monthly business and membership meeting with the Board and is open to all club
members. Arrive by 6:30PM for dinner & discussion.
Tuesday, March 13, 2018, 7:30PM – 9:00PM
The Greene Turtle – 15660 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville, MD 20866
https://www.vette-club.org/events/231/
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 5
Cars & Coffee and Cruise-Ins
Meet other CCA members and share your love for the club! The events listed below are believed to be
year-round or will start back up on the date noted.
Calendar - https://www.vette-club.org/carscoffee-cruiseins/
Laytonsville Cruise-In
9840 Olney-Laytonsville Rd., Laytonsville, MD 20882
Fridays, 5:00PM-8:00PM
Katie’s Cars & Coffee
760 Walker Rd., Great Falls, VA 22066
Saturdays, 6:00-9:00AM
http://katiescarsandcoffee.com/
Church of the Holy Doughnut
Greene Turtle Parking Lot – 15650 Old Columbia Pike, Burtonsville, MD 20866
All Year, Sundays, 7:30-11:00AM
https://www.facebook.com/churchoftheholydoughnut/
Clarksburg Cars and Coffee
Clarksburg Village Center – 22700 Sweetshrub Dr., Clarksburg, MD 20871
Every other Sunday, 8:00AM-?, starting back up in the Spring
https://www.facebook.com/groups/448833328626683/
Annapolis Cars and Coffee
Annapolis City Dock – 69 Prince George St., Annapolis, MD 21401
Sundays, 9:00AM-12:00PM
https://www.facebook.com/pg/annapoliscarsandcoffee/
Shady Grove Cruise-In
McDonalds Parking Lot – 16701 Crabbs Branch Way, Rockville, MD 20855
All Year, Sundays, 9:00AM-1:00PM
Bethesda Cars ‘n’ Coffee
Corner Bakery Café – 10327 Westlake Drive, Bethesday, MD 20817
Saturdays, 8:00AM-10:00AM, starting again on March 24th
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BethesdaCarsnCoffee/
Membership Director
Jean Wade,
[email protected] 301-253-6074,
2000 Red Coupe, 1 Red Hot
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 6
Also see Pat Roney’s article on page 18.
What
9th Annual Winter Karting Event
The Corvette Club of America would like to invite all race enthusiasts to a Karting event
at Autobahn Indoor Speedway in Jessup, Maryland. This is an event we started several
years ago and is being brought back again this year by popular demand. Younger racers
that are 56" tall and 13+ years old are welcome to participate in the event this year. We
are planning on having both a race group and Arrive and Drive sessions. There are a
limited amount of spots available so please register as soon as possible. You will pay
upon arrival (arrive before 9:30 to pay & check in). Contact Pat Roney and tell him
which of the following two events you are interested in participating in or if you have
any questions.
ARRIVE AND DRIVE – 14 lap session on the track. Minimum 56” tall and 13
years old.
RACE – 14 lap qualifier and 14 lap race. Fastest 10 racers go on to a final 14 lap
race.
When Sunday, February 25, 2018
9:30 AM
Where
Autobahn Indoor Speedway 8251 Preston Ct.
Jessup, MD 20794
http://www.autobahnspeed.com/
Price
The cost for this event will be about $60 plus taxes if you have not registered in the last
year. For those that registered the day of the event last year, your registration is still
good, by one day. and that will reduce your price to about $50 plus taxes. Many of us
bought the 5 race package and still have races left on your account. Autobahn is still
honoring those remaining races, so some may not have to pay anything this year. Don’t
waste a lot of time looking for your Autobahn card. When you give them your name
they will tell you how many races you have left.
Register
(RSVP)
RSVP to Pat Roney ([email protected])
www.vette-club.org/events/225/
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 7
What
St. Patrick’s Day Lunch
The Killarney House, in Davidsonville Maryland, features Irish food made from family
recipes using fresh, local ingredients. In addition to their family friendly restaurant, the
Killarney House also has a pub side. Where you can always get a perfectly poured pint
of Guinness or other fine draft from their quality selection.
When Saturday, March 10, 2018
12:30 PM
Where
Killarney House
548 W. Central Ave.
Davidsonville, MD
killarneyhousepub.com
Price
~$20 per person.
There will be separate checks and you will pay there.
A menu will be posted on the website soon.
Register
(RSVP)
RSVP online or to Jean Wade by March 8th
www.vette-club.org/events/228/
301-253-6074 or [email protected]
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 8
Corvette rAMBLINGS
The Corvette Courier Editor – Jon Thorn
As Kelly mentioned, the club enjoyed a terrific Annual Awards Dinner at Normandie Farms and the
main event of the evening was presenting Pat Roney with his well deserved Dick Thompson Award for
2017. Perhaps the only snag of the entire evening was handing me a microphone and allowing me to start
talking about club history. Fortunately, they were also able to get me to stop! Van and I were snapping
some photos during the evening and you’ll find a selection of them at the back of this issue of the
Corvette Courier.
I also played around with my camera a little
before returning the Dick Thompson Award
Perpetual Trophy to its home in the display
case at Sport Chevrolet. If you have been fol-
lowing the CCA closed group on Facebook
you probably have already seen this picture.
In case you have not seen the photo, you are
missing a lot by not joining the CCA pri-
vate, closed group on Facebook. There are
often interesting, and even serious, discussions
about Corvettes and club activities. And some-
times, we even have some silly items like this
Lego C7 model and its driver enjoying our
Dick Thompson award. The silver bowl was
presented to Dick in 1957 as the over all win-
ner of the first SCCA National Event at Marl-
boro Motor Raceway. The Thompsons gave
the bowl to the CCA to create the Dick
Thompson Award.
If the history of the club interests you, there is
an article beginning on page 22 that you will
want to see. I located a story on the CCA that
was published in the Corvette News magazine
in 1958. This was a magazine published by the
Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors.
The GM Heritage Center scanned the maga-
zine as well as a lot of other GM publications and makes them available on the web.
Speaking of history, I often wondered what became of John Ralph. He, along with Charles Eyre, were
the two founders of the CCA in 1956. Following the 1959 NCCC organizational meeting, convened by
the CCA, he was also appointed the first President of the NCCC. While doing some snooping around on
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 9
Google on one of the nasty weather days in January, I came across the following obituary from the
Washington Post. I still have no information at all on Charles Eyre so if we have any other historical
sleuths in the club with part of his story please let me know.
Rambling on, Kelly asked me to post this picture of the CCA parking lot banner at the NCM. The club
has participated in the banner program for five years that I know of and we will continue again this
year. The photo is also significant for the fact that the club sharing the light pole with us was the
Battlefield Corvette Club in Fredericksburg, VA. We coordinated with them during the 2014 NCM
Caravan and we will be doing it again for the 25th Anniversary 2019 NCM Caravan. CCA members
Van Vander Haar and Nicholas Nucci will be
representing the club and helping Frank San-
cineto, the Caravan Captain for Maryland,
North Carolins, South Carolina, Virginia, and
West Virginia. I am sure that Van and Nicholas
will be looking for some volunteers from the
club so please keep it in mind.
Continuing to Ramble while trying to connect
the dots, one of the two Corvette road trips I
have planned for this year is to attend the NCM
Le Mans Viewing Party in June. It turns out that
Battlefield Corvette Club President, Jack
Whitis, and several of their club members will
also be at the NCM for the Le Mans race. This
should give those coming along with me a good
chance to meet some of the members of the
BCC. I have been loosely connected with them
for a couple of years now and I am a member of
their closed group on Facebook. It will be fun
working with them again on the Caravan.
John William Ralph
On October 8, 2005 of Flint Hill, VA. Mr. Ralph was retired from the Kennedy Center as a
stage technician. After retirement he moved in 1980 to Flint Hill and became a building con-
tractor. He was a co-founder of the Corvette Club of America. He is survived by his wife Peggy
Ralph; one son Michael Monetta of Amissville, VA and three grandchildren Halie and Nicholas
Monetta and Lauren Freeman. A Memorial service will be held on Friday, October 14, at 1
p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, Washington, VA. Interment Flint Hill Cemetery. Memorials
may may be made to the Hospice of Rapidan, P.O. Box 1715, Culpeper, VA 22701.
Published in The Washington Post on Oct. 12, 2005
The Corvette Courier Febuary 2018 Page 10
Ok, one last topic for the month (but the dots are all still connected…). I received the following email
from CCA member Bob Witten. It turns out that this will be an extra special year for the LeMans race.
Not only will we have members again attending the NCM LeMans Viewing Event but we will have a
member in the crowd at LeMans! I hope that he can bring the team the same luck that Evelyn and I did
back in 2011. Incidentally, continuing with a “small world theme”, Bob is in Missoula now which is
less than 50 miles from Hamilton. Hamilton is where one of my cousins has a ranch and it was the site
for our 2013 “Cousins” union. That was a 6159 mile trip in the Corvette that covered 12 states and just
over 30 days. It was also the reason there was no newsletter in August of 2013!
I’ll just close out with a 2011 picture from LeMans that illustrates the “spirit” of the fans. If you want
to locate the Danes in LeMans just look for orange jump suits or Jan Magnussen.
And here is a favorite advertisement
from that race. It is Tommy passing
the Ferrari in the rain for the eventual
win after chasing it all night long.
One final note if I can squeeze it in
here. The NCM announced that there
will be no Museum in Motion trip to
LeMans in 2019. (See page 21.) I
think this has to do with the WEC
“Super Season” announced for 2018
but I will check on it.
Jon Thorn, CCA Courier Editor
Hi, Jon,
I’m going. and our two sons are joining me. We'll already be in Paris for my wife’s High school
reunion.(She grew up in France and attended the American School in Paris). Its the same
weekend as the race, so she suggested I go to the race while she did the reunion. A no brainer..
Its taken some doing to arrange accommodations. Got a place in Le Mans on the tram circuit. I
wanted to camp in the infield but just too expensive! Race tickets booked, now working on
train or bus from Paris to Lemans. Number one on my bucket list and having the boys with me
is an unexpected bonus. Just wanted to thank you for your info on your experience. It helped
guide me through the maze!
All the best from snowy Montana. I think I mentioned Deb is the Visiting Professor of Journal-
ism at U Montana in Missoula, for this semester. Alls going well. Back in late May.
Bob
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 11
Competition Director - Bill Sandusky
Corvette Competition
Competition Report - February 2018
Not a whole lot going on now, but our first event for club members only is coming up March 25,
2018. As of this report, we still are awaiting final approval from the Board at Lincoln Tech. This
event will give us a good dry run of our new procedures and hopefully yours truly will have a course
laid out that will be fun for everyone from novice to veteran.
I would like to take this time to encourage our new members and any others who may not have partici-
pated in an autocross to come try it out. Bring your corvette or your daily driver, it doesn’t matter for
this kind of event. Our autocross is low speed, meaning you might get up to 30 mph for a short dis-
tance. Vision, braking and turning are what autocross is all about. There is something to be learned
for everyone that you can employ driving out on the road. There will be plenty of seasoned veterans
on hand to show the novices how to get thru the course.
Not a fan of driving autocross? How about helping run the event. We are always in need of club vol-
unteers to assist with the tasks reserved for CCA members to make the event enjoyable for all the par-
ticipants.
So for now, keep an eye on the website for registration to open and by next month, we will be hound-
ing you with the newsletter and emails that will entice you to come out.
Bill Sandusky, Competition Director
Corvette Club of America, Inc.
[email protected], 301-801-7519
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 12
HIGH PERFORMANCE DRIVING EVENTS by Pat Roney
9th ANNUAL WINTER KARTING EVENT
This fun for all karting event is coming up the end of the month, February 25th. It is filling up quick
so please send me an email if you can make it. We will make sure all have fun with events for the rac-
ers and also for the ones that just want to drive around the track. More information is at the end of my
report.
THE 3RD ANNUAL INSTRUCTOR SYMPOSIUM 1/21/2018
Dave DuBois, HPDE Instructor for the Northern Virginia Corvette Club, organized the Instructor
Symposium in 2016 to discuss issues that HPDE instructors see on the track, as well as safety equip-
ment, methods of instructing, how instructors can help event organizers, and the Motorsports Safety
Foundation. A group of 30 instructors, drivers, organizers and chief instructors attended the event.
Our own Bob Couse introducing the presenters while Dave DuBois looks on.
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 13
Dave had a full schedule with many pertinent topics to discuss as evidenced by this schedule.
The symposium was action packed from start to finish with most of our sessions going over and cut-
ting into our lunch time and quitting time. Thanks to Dave DuBois for a great choice of topics and
presenters.
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 14
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 15
ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA PARTY Jan. 27 & 28
CCA members Tony and Marnie hosted a party in Pennsylvania as we cheered on Corvette Racing.
Tony and Marnie’s new home is beautiful and has so much personality. What a great place for en-
joying relaxation time and a great house for a party. It is well off the beaten path and almost impossi-
ble to find. Once there negotiating the uphill winding drive way is intense. Thank goodness some-
one was moving their truck so that I could find a place to back into, because backing down that drive-
way in the dark was not going to happen. This driveway would be a very challenging go-cart track,
maybe even better than the one that Ricky and Jordan Taylor had to practice on. You knew right
away upon arriving that you were at the right place for a Corvette Racing party as soon as you
walked into the garage.
Tony’s yellow Corvette C6 Z06 with his Corvette Racing helmet is just in front of 4 very famous rac-
ing suits. The one far right as we view them Tony wore as part of Corvette Racing’s pit crew for a
Petit LeMans and both Baltimore Grand Prixs. The suit to the right of the Corvette Racing suit is the
one that Dan Binks wore as the crew chief of the Chevy Intrepid GTP that Tommy Kendall drove
back in the 1990’s. Dan Binks, crew chief for the #3 Corvette Racing car, told Tony that if he quit
smoking for a year that he would give Tony his Intrepid GTP fire suit. Tommy Kendall signed the
race suit that same day at the IMSA 6 hours of the Glen. The Jaguar suit to the right of that one was
Tommy Kendall’s from the Lexus GT Team. It seems that Tony Gentilozzi lost the bet that Detroit
would beat Baltimore in the 2014 playoffs and this driving suit was the prize.
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 16
Marnie and Tony.
Marnie as the flag girl for the #3 Corvette Racing car.
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 17
Our Corvette Racing group cheering Corvette Racing on. Wait, where is Gina? Gina is Tony’s sister
and is a real Corvette Racing fan. At her young age she has been to about 10 pro races all over the
country.
I couldn’t find a good picture of Gina at this party so here is a picture of
Marnie and Gina from one of Tony’s Oktoberfest parties.
Gina is wearing the red dress.
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 18
THE CORVETTE CLUB OF AMERICA INVITES YOU TO THE 9th ANNUAL
WINTER KARTING EVENT TO GET READY FOR RACING SEASON.
When: 2/25/2018 9:30am
Where: Autobahn Indoor Speedway, Jessup, Maryland.
The Corvette Club of America would like to invite all race enthusiasts to a Karting event at Autobahn
Indoor Speedway in Jessup, Maryland on Sunday, February 25th starting at 9:30am. This is an event
we started several years ago and is being brought back again this year by popular demand. We are
planning on having both a race group and Arrive and Drive sessions. There are a limited amount of
spots available so please sign up as soon as possible.
Please respond to [email protected] to let me know if you are interested and which event
you are interested in from the following list:
ARRIVE AND DRIVE – 14 lap session on the track. Minimum 56” tall and 13 years old.
RACE – 14 lap qualifier and 14 lap race. Fastest 10 racers go on to a final 14 lap race.
Autobahn Indoor Speedway
8521 Preston Court
Jessup, MD 20794
Ph. 410-880-0010
The cost for this event will be about $60 plus taxes if you have not registered in the last year. For
those that registered the day of the event last year, your registration is still good,, by one day. and that
will reduce your price to about $50 plus taxes. Many of us bought the 5 race package and still have
races left on your account. Autobahn is still honoring those remaining races, so some may not have
to pay anything this year.
I look forward to seeing you all February 25th at Autobahn. Please email me and let me know if you
can make it.
Pat Roney, [email protected]
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 19
MOTORSPORTS SAFETY FOUNDATION INSTRUCTOR CERTIFICATION
The MSF has been working for a couple of years to help make the HPDE’s safer. As a matter of fact,
the MSF was at Sebring back in January 2016 offering Simpson Hybrid Neck Protection devices and
helmets for participants to try out. I rented one and had the opportunity to see if it would work for
me. I do recommend neck protection for all in this sport.
The MSF Mission/Vision is:
Improve the standards and operations of HPDE schools,
Instructor training programs, and Instructors to provide a safer and better
quality experience for performance driving students and Instructors
MSF has developed an Instructor Certification program and Chin Trackdays has been heavily in-
volved working with MSF on this. There are 5 Levels of Certification:
Level 1: Online Instructor training program
Level 2: Hands-on Certified HPDE Organizer Instructor Training Program (for Level 1 certified In-
structor Candidates only).
Level 3: Classroom Instructor.
Level 4: Remote instruction using data acquisition and video.
Level 5: Chief Instructor, with focus on operations and organization of a HPDE event, as well as the
management and mentoring of instructors.
Chin Trackdays has been working with MSF for a couple of years on developing the Level 2 program
and is now one of just a few organizations certified to offer Level 2 training and certification.
Chin’s Level 2 program has 2 classroom sessions and 6 on track roll playing sessions.
I am honored to be one of the first to have achieved Level 2 certification.
NEW CCA HPDE PAGE ON OUR WEBSITE
Our Website team let by April has been working their magic on our CCA website and has upgraded
the HPDE page. She has added a schedule of events our members are planning to attend as well as a
list of tracks and videos that our members have done. I am really impressed with the excellent job
she has done. Thanks for all of your hard work and creativity April.
Here is a link to the new page: https://www.vette-club.org/hpde-track/
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 20
WANT TO TRY YOUR CAR OUT ON TRACK?
Please remember to keep it to the speed limit and stay alert on the street as, in my opinion, it is much
more dangerous at the speed limit on the street than on the track at speed. If you would like to hear
more about the tracking experience, please feel free to ask myself, or any one of our tracking group
about how easy it is to give it a shot.
Tracking Schedule (Keep an eye on this schedule as it will be updated regularly)
March 5-6, 2018 Chin at VIR
March 16, 2018 FATT at Summit Point Ckt
March 17-18, 2018 Audi Club of Annapolis at Summit Point
April 14, 2018 FATT at SP Shenandoah Ckt
April 23-24, 2018 NCM at NCM MSP
April 28-29, 2018 Chin at NCM MSP
May 4, 2018 FATT at Summit Point Ckt
May 14-15, 2018 Chin at Watkins Glen
May 31, 2018 HOD NE at Summit Point Shenandoah
June 4-5, 2018 Chin at VIR
June 25-26, 2018 NCM at VIR
June 29, 2018 FATT at Summit Point Ckt
July 20, 2018 FATT at Summit Point Ckt
Aug. 11-12, 2018 Chin at Summit Point
Sept. 3-4, 2018 Chin at Watkins Glen
Sept. 7, 2018 FATT at Summit Point Ckt
Oct. 13, 14, 2018 Chin at NCM MSP
Oct. 21-22, 2018 Chin at VIR
Nov. 4, 2018 FATT at Summit Point Ckt
Nov. 17, 2018 FATT at SPC Instructor Apprec
Pat Roney
Corvette Club of America
Runner?? It was a victory lap.
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 21
NCM Ambassador - Terry Popkin
National Corvette Museum Report
Terry Popkin, NCM Ambassador, [email protected], 301-949-2464
Not an NCM Member?
Become one!
Learn More!
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 22
A Little Piece of Corvette Club of America History
By Jon Thorn, Corvette Courier Editor
I am not sure if you have noticed but this has not been Corvette weather lately. One cold January
morning I decided to exercise my computer mouse by scouting around the web looking for bits of
CCA history that I had not seen before. It turned out to be a very interesting morning. I stumbled onto
a copy of the Corvette News from 1958 at the GM Heritage Center. It was a quarterly magazine pub-
lished by GM and Volume 2, Number 3, contained an article on the CCA as well as information on the
upcoming 1959 Corvette models. There is too much information to cover all of it. But, if you would
like to see the full issue of the magazine, it is located here on the web:
https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-heritage-archive/Corvette-News/1958_Corvette_News_3.html
For me, a very interesting thing was spotting pictures of the timing equipment that the CCA developed
in 1957. We have a written record of the progress of the development from club meeting minutes but I
had never seen a picture of the system, let alone pictures of the system in actual operation. I have
already covered some of this material in the CCA’s closed Facebook group. If you have seen that post,
please keep reading because there will be additional cool information here. In fact, I will start out with
some details from the magazine that have nothing to do with timing equipment.
A significant portion of the magazine was dedicated to providing information on the 1959 Corvette
which was the next thing coming at that point. I recommend going to the link above to get those
details because I will not have room here to cover them. The link above directs you to a PDF file of
the magazine. Thankfully, the GM Heritage Center has also scanned a rich collection of their other
historical documents. A good link to start with is below. But, fair warning, a GM fan can spend hours
here: https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-heritage-archive/historical-brochures.html
This is what the magazine cover looked like back in 1958
for the issue that I’ll be covering here. The GM Heritage
Center did an excellent job of scanning the originals and
both medium, and high resolution PDF copies are avail-
able.
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 23
This was an interesting page in the magazine. Notice that the only club listed for Maryland, DC, and
Virginia as of 1958 was the CCA.
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 24
This is the cover page for the article on the CCA. I will include the article itself on the following page.
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 25
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 26
Here is an enlarged view of the timing and scoring station in the photo collage on page 24. According
to the club minutes the CCA provided timing and scoring support at Marlboro, Andrews AFB, and for
the Greater Metropolitan Area Sports Car Council in addition to numerous autocross events.
The timing equipment appears to have been powered off of 110V AC provided through extension
cords.
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 27
At the right is another view of the timing equipment
showing the display. The five vertical slots contained
decade counters that provided the numerical readout.
Below right is a typical decade counter display from a
1957 Hewlett Packard catalog. Depending on the
pulse count, one of the ten numbers (0-9) would be
illuminated in each of the five columns.
The cabinet would have contained a stable oscillator
that generated pulses. The start and finish line sensors
were photo electric devices that could start and stop
the oscillator pulses from going to the decade counter
displays. Crossing the starting line would enable the
pulses to be sent to the counters. The counters them-
selves were cascaded together allowing a “full”
counter on the right containing a count of nine to pass
a single pulse to the next counter on the left when it
received the 10th pulse. It would also reset the full
counter back to zero. With five decade counters they
were able to count up to 99,999 pulses before it would
roll over back to zero.
There was probably a switch selectable divider on the
output of the oscillator that would allow selecting the
pulse rate going to the decade counters. By carefully
setting the frequency of the oscillator and applying
the selectable divider they would have been able to
cover a wide range of time measurement with pretty
good accuracy. The display would easily be able to
show time in seconds from 9.9999 to 9999.9 by ad-
justing the divider. For a typical autocross course like
we use today they could have set the divider to read
up to 99.999 seconds. In fact, if pulses were only sent
to the counter array every second from the divider
they could have measured more than 27 hours with 1
second accuracy so it would have even worked as a
timer at the Rolex 24-Hours!
The timing system still would have been very basic
compared to what we are using today in the club. For
example you could only time a single vehicle. There
was no ability to do split timing. You could only
measure the time for one car on a drag strip or road
course and you could not have more than one car at a
time running an autocross course.
By the way, those are vacuum tubes on the back of
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 28
the decade counter. No transistors, integrated circuits, or anything solid state in those days.
It was also interesting to see the photo detectors that were used to tell when a vehicle crossed the start
and finish line. Here are a couple of enlargements of the pictures on page 24.
The principle was very much the same as we use today, sixty years later. The car would break a light
beam sending the signal that it had crossed the line. The system would use two boxes. One contained a
light source and the other a photo sensitive detector. But the similarity ends there. The 1958 version
would have been sensitive to light level changes. They could have potentially had problems with
background light changes like the sun coming out from behind a cloud and they certainly would have
had problems in the rain. Our current photo sensors take advantage of using very narrow spectrum
light from an ultraviolet laser diode rather simply looking for a level change in white light. In addition
the laser light is not a steady signal like turning on a regular light bulb. It is modulated with a particu-
lar pattern that the photo detector expects to see. This means that you could take another ultraviolet
light source (like the sun) and it could not interfere with detecting that the light beam had been broken
by a passing car.
Technology certainly has advanced in the past sixty years. We now have the capability of not only dis-
playing your autocross time on your cell phone but the times of all the competitors as well. Imagine
what the CCA members above, sitting in their chairs around that big equipment cabinet, would have
thought if they had seen what we can do today!
Still, the CCA can be proud of the fact that the club was making major contributions to motorsports in
the Nations Capital area in 1958. No other club or organization (including the SCCA) had the capabil-
ity of providing their own electronic timing system in those days.
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 29
A CCA Awards Dinner Story
"I never win." Can't say that any more!
My 2004 Convertible still has the original Goodyear Eagle tires. The car is always garaged, and with
only 5000 miles, the tires still look brand new, including the factory stamps. The problem is, as most
of you know, rubber degrades and weakens over time. The elastomer components become less flexible
and less durable. So even though tell-tale cracks may not be visible, older tires are simply less reliable
and more failure prone.
This, coupled with the likelihood of driving the car more this summer (including some trips in the
boondocks), led to the decision to get new tires. The 'where to get' part was easy. Radial Tire in Silver
Spring had recently installed tires on my wife's Miata and my SUV, and both experiences were pleas-
ant and problem free. The 'clincher' of course was that Paul of Radial Tire has been a great friend of
the CCA for years. Knowledgeable, helpful, very fair, and just a genuinely nice guy.
So I called Radial Tire to check on availability and price. Eric handled those items because Paul was
in Daytona for the Rolex 24. I was in no hurry anyway, so I figured I'd wait before signing up, and I
wanted to confirm the correct tire pressure sensors as well. But then, a couple days later, it occurred to
me that Radial Tire was putting up a $1000 gift certificate to raffle off at the club's upcoming Winter
Awards Dinner, and, since there was no rush -- what the heck -- I'll give that a shot and see what hap-
pens!
You guessed it. I bought some chances for the certificate, and after dinner, the drawing was held.
Bingo! Its one of my numbers! Amazing. I think Joe was up there watching out for me. And now,
thanks to the CCA and Radial Tire, I'll soon be riding on stronger, smoother, safer tires!
Cal Milans
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 30
CCA Awards Dinner Photos February 3rd, 2018
Pat Roney receiving the 2017 Dick Thompson Award
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 31
A terrific venue this year, excellent food, good friends, and lots of Corvette talk.
Pat, our Dick Thompson Award winner flanked by
Nita (Treasurer) and Kelly (President) who organized
the event.
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 32
An excellent turnout from the membership! The room was full.
The CCA Web Team, Paul and April, with Nita. Raffle sales benefitting charity going very well.
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 33
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 34
Bob, 2016 - 2017 President gets a well deserved award!
Honored guest, Paul Moorcones of Radial Tire
Lots of raffle items thanks to all of the work from Van. And then the winning ticket holders showed up!
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 35
The Corvette Club of America is
proud to be exclusively associated
with Sport Chevrolet.
… Be a Sport fan too!!
3101 Automobile Blvd
Silver Spring, Md 20904
www.sportchevrolet.com
The Corvette Club of America was founded by John Ralph and Charles Eyre who organized the first club
meeting on July 17, 1956 at a Chevrolet dealership in Arlington, Virginia. By the end of 1957 the club
changed its name from the Capital Corvette Club to the Corvette Club of America, since it was the intent
of the members to make the club a national organization. Before the end of the following year the club
had over one hundred members.
In 1959, the Corvette Club of America held an organizational meeting of Corvette clubs at the Mayflower
Hotel in Washington, DC. The result was the formation of the National Council of Corvette Clubs which
today has about 19,000 members and is the largest non-profit association of Corvette Clubs in the United
States. For a variety of reasons, the CCA did not join the NCCC until July of 1966 and was awarded club
#1 for its efforts in establishing the organization.
In July 2016, the CCA notified the NCCC that it
would terminate its 50 year membership at the end
of the year. There were a number of factors but the
CCA felt that focusing our limited resources on the
National Corvette Museum would provide more
benefit for the Corvette Community as a whole.
The Corvette Club of America is a very active club
today with a strong mix of competitive, social, and
charitable activities.
Through the years the CCA has seen many fine
members come and go; however, one thing re-
mains unchanged. The membership is composed
of individuals both male and female, young and
old, that share a common interest, America’s
Sports Car - The Corvette!
The Corvette Courier
The Corvette Club of America is
proud to be exclusively associated
with Sport Chevrolet.
… Be a Sport fan too!!
3101 Automobile Blvd
Silver Spring, Md 20904
www.sportchevrolet.com
The Corvette Courier is published monthly by the Corvette Club of America, Inc.
P.O. Box 3355, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20885
Copyright 2018, Corvette Club of America, Inc.
Contact Kyle Bacon, General Sales Manager for a new or used car - (240)560-5540
President Kelly Ryan (240)601-6045
Vice President Art Bell (410)808-4000
Secretary Paul Vale (301)570-9348
Treasurer Nita Armstrong (443)852-1922
Membership Director Jean-Marie Wade (301)253-6074
NCM Ambassador Terry Popkin (301)949-2464
Competition Director Bill Sandusky (301)801-7519
Parliamentarian Jon Thorn (301)963-4864
Vendor & Club Relations Van Vander Haar (410)489-5002
Webmaster April Hussey
Member-at-Large Bob Atwell (240)375-3716
Non-Board Member Positions
Courier Editor Jon Thorn (301)963-4864
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 36
Business & Membership Meeting Location: The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille 15660 Old Columbia Pike Burtonsville, MD 20866 (301) 421-4012 Second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 PM Next meeting:
February 13th
Shop Night Location: Sport Chevrolet 3101 Automobile Blvd. Silver Spring, Maryland 20904 Fourth Tuesday of each month except December when it will be the THIRD Tuesday because of holidays. Shop Night begins at 6:00 PM. You must arrive no later than 7:30 PM or the shop may be closed. Next Shop Night:
February 27th
CCA Monthly Meeting Locations
The Corvette Courier February 2018 Page 37
Tony Avedisian, Owner 7500 Rickenbacker Drive
Gaithersburg, MD 20879
301-987-0565
http://www.tonyscorvetteshop.com
Contact CCA Tag Leader Wayne Hatcher
240-382-4476
Simply
the B
est
Since 1976, Radial Tire Company has provided the Washington D.C. area with quality tires and
the finest service. We have earned a reputation as the premier specialist in hard-to-find per-
formance tire and wheel applications. We stock tires from all of the top manufacturers for
whatever you drive, from small economy cars to SUVs and trucks. Our mission is to assist you
in getting the most out of your tires and car.
9101 Brookville Rd
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-585-2740
http://www.radialtirecompany.com
1953-2018 Corvette
