[Spridgets] Sprite Midget Race Series End of Season Results and 10th Anniversary

[Erick Zanner]

What is the “Clancey Schmidt adjustable a-arm” for Spridgets? Any pictures?
EZ

On Thu, Aug 26, 2021 at 8:15 AM <stanbmason at aol.com> wrote:

> Spridgetites,
>
> Below is our end of season report.  Attached are the end of series results
> and a great shot of awards presented with a back drop of a Austin Healey
> Sprite Prototype Lucas Fuel Injection.
>
> Enjoy
> Stan
>
>
> *2021 Sprite Midget Race Series End of Season Report & Overview of 60th
> Spridget Reunion (revised August 25, 2021)*
>
>
>    1. *Overall* - It is hard to believe that we have been doing this
>    great fun on and off the track for 10 years as the Sprite Midget Race
>    Series.  Before the SMRS we would be excited if we had 5 Spridgets racing
>    for the weekend.  This year we experienced 21 to 28 Spridget to play with
>    at each race. The 10th Anniversary was planned to be special and it
>    lived up to that expectations.  Record turnout for all of our races and
>    finished with traditional Grattan Finale.  The end of season awards were
>    exceptional and would have never been possible without Dave Kessinger and
>    his vision.  We enjoyed having new Spridget racers from Pennsylvania,
>    Virginia, Kansas & Texas join us and share our passion on and off the
>    track.  It was so exciting to have the 2 World Class Restored Sprite
>    Prototypes all the way from Texas join us.  We exceeded our high water mark
>    of having more Spridgets than Formula Vees at several races this season.
>    2. *Grattan – *We were told that we would have less area in the
>    overall paddock.  This discourage some from coming and actually resulted in
>    smaller numbers than what was originally anticipated.  We were able to hold
>    on to our traditional Spridget Paddock location, but with the additional
>    Spridget Racers coming in we needed to have other locations to place
>    everyone.  I appreciate everyone’s patience in trying to organize this
>    special event.  Friday was a humid hot day ending with the Cape of Good
>    Hope Pub Toasting followed by our Texas friends Steve and Mike Coleman’s
>    presentation and display of 2 Historic circa 1967-68 Sprite Prototypes made
>    at the Geoff and Donald Healey’s Cape Works in Warwick England.  The
>    research and details the Coleman’s have put into these cars makes me very
>    appreciative of their passion to show these great restored cars to us in
>    the MidWest.  I consider them true Ambassadors of the Austin Healey Marque
>    and more specifically Sprites.  Hearing these cars on the track as I was
>    passed will always be one of my favorite memories.  Saturday was the
>    busiest of the weekend with the Spridget Race moved to Saturday from our
>    traditional Sunday morning race.  Brat Lunch was well supported with Carl
>    and Bob at Chef Helm both days.  A parade lap at 2:30 for Street
>    Spridgets.  The Sprite / Midget Street and Race Car Show was held during
>    the day with Rob Brackett taking the lead.  Awards were presented that
>    evening for Sprite Street - Rob Brackett, Race Sprite - Gary Perser, Race
>    Midget - Mark Maehling and Best Of Show - Rob Brackett.  1st place per
>    class Spridget Race position were announced.  Sunday we enjoyed our Brat
>    Lunch followed by our annual awards listed below and attached.   Compiling
>    end of season results from the weekend is always an added frustration and
>    even thought I try to double check before the presentation, there always
>    seems to be some oversight that occurs.  Our special 10 year celebration at
>    Grattan had some first time racers joining in the fun.  I felt it would not
>    be fair for those that were going for season points to be penalized from
>    those that just entered this race, so I only gave position points to those
>    that had at least entered 1 series race prior to Grattan.  This means that
>    you may see double entries for those that only attended Grattan. I
>    overlooked announcing Ellie Lynch’s 3rd place in Bug Eye 2M2.  This is
>    especially embarrassing knowing the praise I gave her after she came off
>    the track on Sunday with a 1:38 ET in her first time racing at Grattan.  I
>    announced Jeff Carloss’s 1st place in Bug Eye 2E, after looking more
>    closely to points awarded from the 3 sessions I realized that there was
>    actually a tie for 1st with Rick Fisk.  Rick deserves special mention
>    since he started the first race at Gingerman with a 1275 in Bug Eye 2M2 and
>    then bought a 948 from me and did well enough at Black Hawk and Grattan to
>    manage a 1st place in 2E (maybe I should have kept that engine!).
>      Please see attached results in this email.
>    3. *Sponsors* - We are very fortunate this year to have several
>    sponsors:
>       1. *Dave Kessinger –* providing T-Shirts, Spridget Signs and the
>       Fantastic Iceberg Awards.
>       2. *Clancy Schmidt –* free entrance to next race drawing (if you
>       have his A-Arm sticker on the side of you race Spridget) along with
>       monetary donations and Spridget paddock signs.
>       3. *Winners Circle –* Jeff Porada for his donation
>       4. *Jeff Carloss –* for his continued support of providing his
>       artistic work and providing free SMRS posters
>       5. *Colin’s Classics –* Cana and Colin Comer 2021 sticker
>       contribution
>    4. *Driver Incidents Spridgets and Group 2* – As the VSCDA Group 2
>    representative I can say in recent history we have had some of the least
>    Driver Incidents involving the Driver Committee.  I am concerned that this
>    is no longer true and in fact we now have the most incidents.  I am working
>    to understand this better with data provided by Gary Kropf.  I am compiling
>    these results and will share by the end of the year in hopes of
>    understanding where we are going wrong.  We have 2 more races with VSCDA
>    the ELVF at Road America and Blacktober at Black Hawk.  The early data I
>    have seen seems to indicate that passing safely is our biggest challenge.
>    We need to return to our Vintage Values and if you are uncertain of a
>    pass wait until you are confident you can make a clean pass.  When in
>    traffic especially around unknown drivers, having a defensive posture is
>    always the right approach to keep your car and others from being damaged.
>    The Jim Donato Most Respected Driver Criteria below should always be our
>    guide.  There is no better feeling when racing to trust the person you are
>    going wheel to wheel with and giving room by both drivers.  I believe we
>    all (including myself) need to have a reset button with Vintage Values of
>    having fun over Red Mist!
>    5. *Race Attendance* – As you can see from the chart below we exceeded
>    the most racing Spridgets in the history of SMRS attendance at all 3
>    tracks.  Gingerman had it’s largest with a real abundance of Driver School
>    Spridgets.  Black Hawk almost doubled it’s largest attendance.  Grattan was
>    also a big number exceeding our previous record of 23 in 2015 where Grattan
>    was the MG Focus when we picked up quite a few Midgets.  We continue to
>    have the largest numbers in Spridget Vintage Racing and probably SCCA based
>    on my viewing of Vintage Magazines and club race lists.  The Yellow
>    highlighted areas are SMRS Tracks where we determine our end of season
>    results with the total for the season in the last row.
>
>
> *Race Track*
> *2012*
> *2013*
> *2014*
> *2015*
> *2016*
> *2017*
> *2018*
> *2019*
> *2020*
> *2021*
> *Gingerman*
> 14
> 14
> 12
> 16
> 9
> 12
> 18
> 17
> 0
> 21
> *Blackhawk*
> 13
> 11
> 11
> 14
> 12
> 12
> 12
> 14
> 9
> 26
> *Grattan*
> 17
> 14
> 20
> 23
> 15
> 14
> 16
> 18
> 12
> 28
> *ELVF 60th*
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 47
>
>
>
> *Blacktober*
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 15
>
> *SMRS Total*
> 44
> 39
> 43
> 53
> 36
> 38
> 46
> 49
> 21
> 75
>
> 6.       *Season Overall Winners*  (requires having a perfect score of 48
> points from at least 2 of the 3 race weekends)
> 2013
> Cana Comer
> 2014
> Greg Cory and Nathan Burress
> 2015
> Colin Comer and Randy Byboth
> 2016
> None qualified
> 2017
> Ashley Burress, Nathan Buress and Jim Donato
> 2018
> Ashley Burress and Ron Soave
> 2019
> Doug Bruce and Jim Donato
> 2020
> John Salisbury
> 2021
> John Salisbury, Doug Bruce & Nathan Burress
>
> 7*.*       *Special Spirit and Driver Awards*:
> *Gary Kropf Spirit Award* (started in 2015 in honor of Gary’s attitude
> that we all admire). This Huge piston award was donated by Paul
> Fitzsimmons and polished up with name tags by Charlie Hall’s vision of this
> spirit award.
> a.       Previous Winners: 2015 Salisbury, 2016 Donato, Salisbury, 2017
> Soave, Kelly, Mason, 2018 Kropf, Salisbury, Hall, 2019 Bruce, 2020
> cancelled.
> b.      Criteria:  Promotes the Vintage Spirit, Assists others within the
> paddock, with repairs, parts, advice and encourages racer in making next
> session.  Quick to organize group activities with race and banquet.
> Volunteers with other VSCDA activities and committees.
> *c.       *This year’s winner was Charlie Hall
>
> *Jim Donato Most Respected Driver *(started in 2016 in honor of Jim’s
> contribution and example of a great respected driver)
> Criteria: A driver that exemplifies the meaning of a Vintage Sports Car
> Most Respected   Driver includes:
> *Predictable* (Stays on racing line and points racers by when being
> passed or when passing.  Makes sure that over taking driver knows they are
> about to be passed and allows room and good judgement),
> *Confident & Observant* (Uses mirrors and is aware of others racing
> nearby)
> *Respectful* (Confirms that their race car is mechanically sound and will
> not cause others to be injured from improper maintenance.  Can sit down
> with other competitors and enjoy their company after any session)
> *Objective* (open to other’s comments) Drives Defensively (adjusts for
> conditions safely regardless of other driver’s interaction).
> *Previous Winners:* 2016 Namesake Jim Donato, 2017 Mal Fay, 2018 Ashley
> Burress, 2019 Buzz Merchlewitz.
> This year’s winner was John Salisbury
>
> 8.       *Spridget Contributors to VSCDA* (we appreciate our group’s
> unselfish contribution to VSCDA and the Sprite Midget Race Series making us
> one of the best groups within VSCDA for volunteering their time and making
> this club continue to thrive for our enjoyment (I was at Gingerman and
> Grattan and apologize if I missed any names):
> a.       Ron Soave and Jeff Porasik for both Blackhawk Events as Event
> Chairmen.  Don Kelly and Doug Bruce as Event Chairman for Grattan.
> b.      Dave Young, Paul Fitzsimmons and Gerry Brasil, Brad Carloss, Carl
> Goodwin   for their contributions to Scrutineering / Tech Barn
> c.       Stacey Donato for her overall running of VSCDA registration and
> all that she does along with her family from her Mom and Dad on down to her
> daughter.  Registration assistance from Jan and Jeff Freers, Cheryl Carloss
> & Janet Carloss.
> d.      Charlie Hall, Gary Kropf, Roger Heil & Jim Donato for Drivers
> Committee.  Gary Kropf initiated the Driver’s Committee Summary of actions,
> which is greatly appreciated and time consuming.  I think measuring
> something as important as safety is the key to reducing incidents and
> allowing us to improve.
> e.  Doug Bruce for Homologations and Corner / Paddock Worker Sprite Door
> Annual Award selected for the best Grattan worker selected by their peers.
> f. Tom Wilcox for taking the lead at Blackhawk and taking care of sale of
> regalia, organizing Spridget Paddock and Brat Lunch
> g. Jim Donato as VSCDA Vice President
> h. Bob Danielson continuing to support the Donato Most Respected Driver
> Award that he crafted and provide updated driver plaque.
> i. Charlie Hall continuing support of the Kropf Piston Spirit Award that
> he initiated and continues to provide updated plaques for.
> j. Stan Mason as VSCDA Group 2 Representative and SMRS lead.
> *9. End Of Season Awards* -Every driver that met the 2 race weekend or
> more requirements received awards if they attended Grattan finale. Results
> are attached to this email.
> *10*. *Classifications* - I would like to revise our SMRS classifications
> for the 2022 season and I have several thoughts of how we can improve.  If
> you have some thoughts of how we can group Spridgets for fair competition I
> would like to hear from you.  Our criteria up to this time has been to
> follow VSCDA requirements, which include conformance to SCCA 1972 GCR/PCS
> guidelines and exceptions as spelled out by VSCDA.  Even under these
> conditions there is varying shades of gray that we need to clarify for fair
> classifications.
>       *11. SMRS Past / Future* - Like all organizations including SMRS we
> will only be successful if we have new people stepping up to fill
> positions.  I have been at the helm for the past 10 years and will step
> down on or before 2026.  It would be nice to have someone that is retired
> or will retire in the future to pick up this baton before my departure.
> Maybe even mirror me and assist before 2026.  I have started a job
> description / overview of what I currently do.  I know there are others out
> there that can take SMRS to a higher level learning from our past and
> improving the future.  If you have an interest now or in the future please
> let me know.
>
> *12.  VSCDA Upcoming 2021 events*:
> 1.      Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival Road America September17-19
> 2.      Blackhawk Farms Octoberfest, October 16-17
>
>   Thanks for a Great 10th Season and Enjoy a Spridgetly Life of Relative
> Speed!
> Stan Mason
>
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