Dateline: January 1998
Building for 1998
Welcome race fans! Here we are gearing up for 1998. Just a few updates since the holiday break…
Recaro North America has officially committed to sponsoring team scR for 1998! As a result, the race car will be making special appearances throughout the year at selected Recaro events. We will keep you apprised of any cool venues we may be visiting. Of course, this exposure doesn’t hurt our other sponsors, either!
Saturn of Ann Arbor has officially committed to sponsoring team scR for 1998 as well! As you know, the car was on display at the retailer for several months this winter before returning to the garage for the 1998 rebuild. Join me in welcoming them back on board for another exciting season!
And now for our mystery sponsor – AUM-WEB! Who? AUM-WEB specializes in developing and maintaining internet webpages. In exchange for the requisite race car graphics, t-shirts, and race passes, team scR will be launching its very own website, courtesy of AUM-WEB! Look for www.teamscR.com coming soon to a modem near you! Thanks, guys! We also are going on-line in real time with e-mail and the like. As soon as I figure out how to configure my modem, we’ll be up and running.
So, now that SPS, 1-800-NEW-FOAM, Recaro, Saturn of Ann Arbor, and AUM-WEB have been cajoled into joining us in 1998, we can get to the business of building a race car. At last. The motor, trans, and brakes come off the car in the next few weeks or so for a thorough going through. We figure that to be competitive on the National circuit we need fresh hardware. Real fresh and real legal, but real ‘right’. I’m sure you understand.
So, with that said, time to roll up the sleeves and get to work. As you can see from the schedule below, things have shifted slightly since the last preliminary schedule, with the most significant changes being the addition of a Watkins Glen National event in June (just for you New York folks) and the replacement of the National opener at Gingerman with a double Regional at Grattan – we want to ramp into this ‘National’ thing. Keep in mind, once again, that this is the preliminary plan and is subject to slight alterations – but for the most part this is it! Enjoy the rest of your winter.
| Date | Venue | Closest Dairy Queen | Race Sanction |
| May 9/10 | Grattan | Grand Rapids, MI | double Regional |
| May 30/31 | Mid-Ohio | Lexington, OH | National |
| June 13/14 | Watkins Glen | Watkins Glen, NY | National |
| June 27/28 | Road America | Elkhart Lake, WI | National |
| July 11/12 | IRP | Indianapolis, IN | National |
| July 25 /26 | Road America | Elkhart Lake, WI | National |
| Aug 8/9 | Grattan | Grand Rapids, MI | National |
| Aug 22/23 | Mid-Ohio | Lexington, OH | National |
| Sept 26/27 | Mid-Ohio | Lexington, OH | Regional Runoffs |
and, hey, you never know…
October 5-11 Mid-Ohio Lexington, OH National Runoffs (?)
Dateline: February 1998
scR motorsports online!
Well, it’s official. Team scR has officially infiltrated the worldwide web! Thanks to our newest corporate sponsors, AUM-WEB, team scR will now be able to reach the masses through the magical electron network known as the internet. Although the page is still under development, please feel free to visit the site and give your feedback. Throughout the year we will be posting race reports, providing links to our sponsors, and making exciting race photos available for download. What more could you ask for?
Don’t delay – visit us today at www.teamscr.com!
In other news, we’re still preparing a race car for 1998. The engine/transmission removal was performed two weeks ago (Steve and Walt, I still owe you a beer) and the initial teardown and inspection are complete. Close examination of the engine components revealed that I was way too easy on the car. Team scR’s ace engine guy, Jim V., asked if the engine was really raced, or if we just idled it on the grid. Of course, we owe the lack of wear and self-destruction to frequent oil changes and a rigid maintenance schedule (kudos, crew), but we are still going through with a complete rebuild for 1998. Complete, but by the books. We found several, shall we say, ‘non-optimal’ engine parameters which we plan on correcting for this season. If all goes to plan, the engine will be back in the car running by the end of March.
At least we had better be done by the end of March. On March 28, team scR will be travelling to scenic Dayton, Ohio to entertain the masses at Saturn of Dayton. We plan on bringing the race car, magazine reprint handouts, and lots of stories to tell. If any crew members are interested in making the trip down and back (all on Saturday), please let me know ASAP. Timing is tight, but the more the merrier. The only qualification is that you must have crewed on the car for at least one race last season. Of course, if nobody volunteers, I’ll take whoever I can get, but crew members do have a certain priority (and you thought it ended with the free T-shirts).
That’s all for now. Check out the most recent schedule below (change of venue, but no change to the date). And don’t forget to visit the really cool website.
| Date | Venue | Closest Dairy Queen | Race Sanction |
| May 9/10 | Grattan | Grand Rapids, MI | double Regional |
| May 30/31 | Mid-Ohio | Lexington, OH | National |
| June 13/14 | Watkins Glen | Watkins Glen, NY | National |
| June 27/28 | Road America | Elkhart Lake, WI | National |
| July 11/12 | IRP | Indianapolis, IN | National |
| July 25 /26 | Road America | Elkhart Lake, WI | National |
| Aug 8/9 | Grattan | Grand Rapids, MI | National |
| Aug 22/23 | Mid-Ohio | Lexington, OH | National |
| Sept 26/27 | Mid-Ohio | Lexington, OH | Regional Runoffs |
| October 5-11 | Mid-Ohio | Lexington, OH | National Runoffs |
Until next time…
JWJr
teamscR.com