[Fot] Our weekend at the Glen

[Bill Babcock]

I am, in fact, quite stupidly willing to take that on if everyone  
agrees that Portland is the right venue. Stupidly, because having  
already helped to organize the CRC event I know how much work this can  
be. Since we are in fact an organization without any rules, I'm  
puzzled about how this gets decided. I guess we should just ask Joe  
and Kas. What say you guys? And does anyone have an objection?

I think a full-sized cutout of Uncle Jack in his leisure suit is a  
requirement for the event, and should travel to whatever other venues  
we subsequently pick for the Kastner Kup.

On Sep 10, 2008, at 6:23 PM, David Talbott wrote:

> I suppose we shouldn't presume Kas's comments to be an official  
> pronouncement on his part, but it does sound like Portland might  
> have some potential in a bid to be the host city for the 2009  
> Kastner Cup.  Since Bill Babcock has an obvious connection with the  
> local Convention & Visitors Bureau, not to mention that he's  
> essentially retired, I think nominating him for the position of  
> Event Chair would make perfect sense to get the ball rolling.  This  
> is a crucial role, especially if one is to believe that Joe  
> Alexander will be declining such opportunities for a while - or so I  
> thought I heard Jan to suggest last Sunday at the Glen.
>
> Of course, I'd be delighted to assist Bill in any way I can; however  
> I may need all the time I can muster just to make sure I have a car  
> finished for the event.  Given that the track is all of a 7 minute  
> tow from my shop, I'm thinking I wouldn't have too many excuses for  
> not being there.
>
> And unlike the Glen, the prospects for hurricane-induced weather  
> events are pretty slim in September for this area, in fact it would  
> be tough to pick a better time of the year to be in the NW.  Now  
> that I think about it, the picture of Uncle Jack in his polyester  
> leisure suit that someone posted a few weeks back was taken at a  
> balmy Saturday night party at the September CRC event a couple of  
> years ago.
>
> So what say, do I hear a second for my nomination of Billy B. to  
> lead the charge for PDX 2009?
>
> DT
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kas Kastner" <kaskas at cox.net>
> To: <Chasgee at aol.com>; "Bill Babcock" <Billb at bnj.com>
> Cc: <fot at autox.team.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 5:00 PM
> Subject: Re: [Fot] Our weekend at the Glen
>
>
>> Portland is a great city, great track an a neat place to have a  
>> good time.
>> ---- Bill Babcock <Billb at bnj.com> wrote:
>>
>> =============
>> As Jeff pointed out, it's Labor Day, not Memorial day. I get those  
>> two
>> confused all the time.
>>
>> Portland International Raceway is an interesting track from a
>> technical standpoint, and the CRC is a good race. The track was
>> repaved last year and some corners were changed a bit.  You won't  
>> find
>> better pavement anywhere. It's easy to run large-scale races there.
>>
>> PIR is right on the MAX line (rapid transit trains), so significant
>> others are not stuck at the track--they can go into Portland with
>> minimal effort, and Portland is one of the most accessible cities in
>> the US. Very compact--you can walk anywhere in downtown. Having been
>> pretty much all over the world and especially all over North  
>> America I
>> assert that Portland has restaurants, street food, taverns and
>> specialty food (like artiisan bread, great bakeries, etc) to rival or
>> surpass any city, including places like Paris, New York City and San
>> Francisco. You simply can't find better beer, and our Pinot's stack  
>> up
>> to the best.
>>
>> SOVREN is very strict about racing classifications for it's members,
>> but more flexible for outsiders. I'm sure I can work with them to
>> ensure that anyone that wants to come can race. I'm also pretty  
>> sure I
>> can get an all-triumph race. The CRC has plenty of track time--it  
>> runs
>> Friday through Monday with Thursday usually available as an
>> inexpensive test and tune day through the Lotus Club. You can wear
>> yourself and your car out at the CRC.
>>
>> The All British Field Meet runs the same weekend in the same venue
>> (yes, there are sometimes some space problems but we can overflow to
>> the Pro Pits which are nicer for camping anyway). They have car  
>> shows,
>> autojumbles, and a big vendor area. It's a well-attended show that
>> draws from car clubs all over the coast. There is a short on-track
>> autocross that's kind of a PIA, but I'd like to set up a better and
>> longer running autocross in the propit area--we've done that before.
>>
>> I think PIR is kind of ideal as a west coast venue for the Kastner
>> Cup. Seattle (Pacific Raceways) is too far from other facilities-- 
>> it's
>> in Kent, Washington--and the major race is the Northwest Historics,
>> which is a pretty crowded event. The Portland Historics is an HMSA
>> event, and they're hard to work with on car classifications.
>> Thunderhill is a wonderful track, but it's east of nowhere. Sears
>> (Infinion) is fabulous and wonderful Sonoma is close by, but the only
>> likely event is the CSRG Charity Challenge and it's often filled.  
>> CSRG
>> is an excellent organization, but they might be a bit tough on car
>> classification. I'm not sure any of the SCCA cars would be allowed to
>> run. Laguna is too restricted--they don't have many dates anymore.
>> We'd all need sand filters for Willows.
>>
>> The only limitation at PIR is noise--you'd all need mufflers.
>>
>> It's not too early to start planning. How do we get this going?
>>
>>
>> On Sep 9, 2008, at 8:35 PM, Chasgee at aol.com wrote:
>>
>>> Bill,
>>>
>>> Funny you should mention those two venues, because I was discussing
>>> this with some So Cal brethren and we came to the same conclusions.
>>> It is the West coast's turn again and I think Portland would be
>>> fantastic.  Let me know if I can help organize this.
>>>
>>> Chuck Gee
>>> Blacksmith Racing
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Bill Babcock <Billb at bnj.com>
>>> To: Henry Frye <henry at henryfrye.com>
>>> Cc: fot at autox.team.net
>>> Sent: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 11:55 am
>>> Subject: Re: [Fot] Our weekend at the Glen
>>>
>>> I'm thinking it's time for the left coast. Maybe Thunderhill? It's a
>>> hell of a track, though the surrounding facilities suck. Portland
>>> would be great, the Columbia River Classic is the weekend before
>>> this SVRA race (Memorial day weekend), and it's a high-track time
>>> event. Most folks are sick of racing by the time the Monday races
>>> roll around. it also encompasses the All British Field Meet which a
>>> lot of Triumph folks attend as well.
>>>
>>> I know I could get SOVREN to roll out the red carpet for FOT since I
>>> helped to give this race a boost a few years ago. The Saturday at-
>>> track party is legenday, an opportunity to get out your vintage
>>> duds, and I can commit to a pretty cool FOT party at Casa Babcock.
>
>

Bill Babcock
Babcock & Jenkins
Billb at bnj.com
503.936.7660
www.bnj.com

Editor
Ke Nalu e-Magazine
Paddlesurfing's Web Journal

Bill at kenalu.com
www.kenalu.com
blog: www.ponohouse.com/ponoblog

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://autox.team.net/pipermail/fot/attachments/20080910/1066caef/attachment-0003.htm>