fEATurEd THis monTH rir, richmond international raceway 2011 ...

from the PRESIDENTMother Nature sure gave usa mixed bag of weather tostart the spring season. The Zone2 PCA DE at Virginia InternationalRaceway had the best conditionsI’ve ever experienced for thatevent. The sun shone and daytimetemperatures were in the mid toupper 70s, quite a contrast to theusual rain and frequently frigidtemps. Shenandoah had a strongshowing of drivers and supporters.Fellow member Jim Ottaway triedhis first DE, and son Kyle served aspit crew. See Kyle’s article in thisissue to read a teen’s take on hisfirst trip to the track. Member BatesMcLain, a veteran vintage Morganracer, tried his first PCA DE in hisnewly painted 944, and HamishBrookeman got promoted to thewhite group.The weekend after the Zone 2 DE, Rick Ebinger and Erik Boody hadplanned an Autocross Test, Tune, and School for March 27 to introducenew and inexperienced drivers to autocrossing and to get the old prosin shape for the season. Mother Nature was not happy that weekendand gave us snow and very cold temperatures. With the threat of awinter storm warning and the possibility of five inches of snow, wedecided to cancel the event.A couple of weeks later Rick and Erik rebounded with the help ofco-sponsors Mark Cooke of Euroclassics Porsche and Jack Woodfinof G-Force Karts to host an outstanding autocross at the RichmondInternational Raceway. (See Rick’s article and the autocross resultsin this issue.) I was rather intimidated by the venue at first. Thebanked turns and concrete walls made images of spectacular NASCARcrashes race through my mind. But Rick and Erik put together anexciting, challenging, and safe course; and there were no metalbendingincidents. One of my favorite parts of the event was thepractice area. Participants took turns going around a short course towarm their tires and themselves up. Toward the end of the day Ricktook the cones up, but I continued to practice. I had a great timemaking up my own patterns and working on smoothness, but alsoaccelerating hard, braking hard, turning abruptly, and rocking the carjust to see what it (and I) would do under those conditions. Autocrossesand driver’s education events are a tremendous amount of fun but arealso valuable events for improving your driving skills and learning theSherry Westfalllimits of you and your car in safe and controlled environments. Our nextautocross is at the Augusta Government Center in Verona on May 14.Online registration is now open at MotorsportReg.com.Our tour co-chairmen, Dan Graff and Bates McLain arranged for apicture-perfect spring day at the Millmont Grille in Charlottesville tohold our first Porsches and Pastrami Reloaded. Many new members, theregulars, and even a prospective member from Fredericksburg cameout to have lunch on the patio and go for a scenic drive to Stanardsvillefor ice cream at the Dairy Queen. (See photos in this issue.)Gary Hagar was the originator of Porsches and Pastrami and ourgracious host at Durty Nelly’s Pub for two years. When Gary decidedhe would not be able continue this very popular event, Dan and Batestook over. Many thanks to Gary for starting this tradition and to our tourco-chairs for continuing it.Our club historian Harry Kennison has written another Shenandoahhistory quiz that will challenge our memories. Answers can be foundtoward the end of this issue. Bruce Russell will give us some tipsfor preparing our Porsches for the driving season with his “Russ’sRamblings” this month.Upcoming events you don’t want to miss are the open house at ForeignAffairs in Staunton on April 30; the Bavarian Chef Drive and Dineplanned for May 1 that will start with a wine tasting at Sweely EstateWinery, continue with a scenic driving tour, and end appropriately forus Porschephiles with a German dinner at the Bavarian Chef; moreautocrosses; Shenandoah’s signature production in it’s fifteenth year,the Richmond Porsche Meet (RPM) on June 10-12; and the PorscheParade in Savanna, GA July 31-August 6.Another event you may want to attend is the Zone 2 PCA Club Raceand Advanced DE at VIR near Danville on June 24-26. Even if you don’tdrive, you can watch the excitement of the colorful, well-tuned cars asthey vie for position around the track or volunteer and get close to theaction. (See announcement for volunteers)Last but not least, a big thank you to Pam Ebinger who served assecretary of Shenandoah for two plus years. For personal reasons shedecided to step down, and past president Herb Distefano has agreedto serve in her place.Feel free to call or email me at (434) 295-3955 or vscapes@cstone.net ifyou have questions or suggestions. Driving season is finally here. Enjoyyour Porsches!Sherrywww.foreignaffairs.us108 Kerry Lane, Staunton, VA 244015