Event 3 - August 14, 2004

I don't know how we escaped the bad weather, but we did. Maybe it was in return for the lousy weather we had for our first event. Whatever the reason, 80 degrees, dry, and a breeze, what a great day. Turnout was incredible; we had another record crowd with 75 drivers participating in today's event.

The timing system gremlins came back to haunt us in the morning and this unfortunately meant that we lost some time. We still got 4 morning runs in but they took longer than expected, and so we only made 3 in the afternoon to ensure that we got finished at a reasonable time.

The course at this event once again made the full loop of the Devens runways. The first two-thirds of the course were fairly fast and open but the trip back along the main runway was more challenging and certainly had to be taken a lot slower.

Our fourth and final event of the season is on Saturday, September 18th. During the event we'll make the drawing for the free set of tires, courtesy of NTB of Portsmouth. Anyone who competes in at least 3 of our autocross events is automatically entered into the drawing. Hope to see you all then.

Going into the final event there are several interesting battles for class champion titles. Mark Schnoerr already has class 1 sewn up, but class 2 is going down to the wire between Lisa Roche (17pts) and Joe Kraetsch (15pts). In class 4 Neil Halbert needs a fourth or better to take the crown, otherwise David Beningson is in with a chance. Class 5 is already decided and goes to George Rouhart (with wife Betsy currently running in second place). It's neck and neck in class 6 with Judy Hendrickson and Fran O'Day both on 15 points. Class 7 will go to Gerry Fitton just so long as he competes in the final event (remember, you have to have entered at least three events, and only your best three places count). Class 8 is assured by Tom Frisardi. Class 9 is a battle between Ollie Lucier (19pts) and Colin Blake (17pts), with Chris Jacques (13pts) certainly not out the running either. Class 10 will likely go to George Skaubitis (15pts), but there is a chance that Joe Wilson (10pts) could take it if George chokes. Class 11 looks pretty certain its going to Linda Kogan, but theoretically it could still go to Ron Mann, Fred deNapoli, Hank Black, or Scott Eggimann. Class 13 will be taken by Steve Berry just so long as he shows up for the final event, otherwise it goes to Jay Gratton (if he shows). Class 14 is a 4-way race between Robert Meeker (16pts), Charles Stroymeyer (15pts), Phil Kogan (13pts), and Mark Skala (12pts). All four drivers will have to drop their lowest score except for Phil who missed one event. Class 15 will be taken by Bruce Christensen if he competes in event number 4, otherwise it goes to Scott Martineau if he competes. And finally class 16 looks like its going to Mike Stukalin in the red Miata; he has 18 points and his closest rival is Mark Gallagher with 12 points.