King (or Queen!) of the Heap: Just a friendly reminder that only races completed thru the end of June qualify for each 2012 Regional Chumpionship, so be sure to get your team registered for an event this month if you want to qualify!  Qualification for the Chumpionship is based on where you finish and the length of the race.   The basics can be found in Section 1.8 of the ChumpCar Rule Book, with further details found on the ChumpCar Forum (http://forum.chumpcar.com/index.php?/topic/3623-2012-chumpcar-world-series-schedule-infoupdates/).  What's that?  Didn't finish high enough to qualify for the Chumpionship event but you still want to go?  Well, if there's any available space, your Regional Director may invite your team to participate in the Regional Chumpionship.  No, you can't win anything but you can still participate -- so, start sucking up to your Regional Director!

Review Mirror: Recent Events

Daytona, Daytona, DAYTONA!

Thanks to all of those that joined us for the inaugural ChumpCar World Series race at Daytona International Speedway! Not only was it 14 hours of EPIC racing, complete with tropical storm and a little "racing is rubbing" action, but it was a historic event that put 120 cars on the track at the same time! Some people dream of Disney World, ChumpCar competitors dream of Daytona!

Read more about the ChumpCar World Series 14 hours of Daytona in SportsCar Illustrated

photo provided by AWOL Photo: Eric Tillotson

In the GARAGE: Q/A with Squirrels of Fury

1. Tell me about SoF- who are the founders? How did you guys come up with such a cool name-does it have any hidden meaning? And what got you all into ChumpCar?  

Squirrels of Fury was founded by Hank and Sam Moore, Randy Buehl, and Jay and Penny Borden.  After a long civil battle, Randy Buehl was eventually extradited to Winnipeg to answer for his crimes against Roman numerals, allowing Dave Glubrecht to step in and fill the role.   We invented our team name after 8 years of painstaking market research... but after we found "Amazon.com" was already taken, we dreamed up Squirrels of Fury in an energy-drink fueled series of hallucinations.  Our interest in Chumpcar was a natural evolution when we realized that HPDE has pre-agreed upon "passing zones",  but we didn't have enough money for conference racing.

2. Tell me about your cars- they are very distinctive!

We have what used to be a VW Scirocco... and what used to be an Audi 5+5.  The Rocco began the last part of its life as a circle-track racer (which is where it attributes its wonderful roll cage).  The Audi was purchased for $50 at another budget racing event after it had an unfortunate collision with a wall.  Randy Buehl actually provided the $50, and Dave Glubrecht turned it into the S1 Pikes Peak replica it is today using nothing but spare body panels from other junk yard cars.  There's nothing special or black magic under the hood or on the frames of these cars.... the welded differential, the track bar constructed of depleted brake pads and wrench extensions... the throttle cable assembled with zip ties, or the "Scirocco to Audi to Scirocco" brake retro-fits were all born out of necessity from objects available at the time.   To try to point to something unique about the cars to make them standout would do a disservice to both Hank and Dave... these guys do things that are both heroic and genius to keep the cars together during some of the most strenuous times of a race.  It's the hard work and personality of these two guys that could make driving a washing machine fun.

3. What is your most memorable ChumpCar experience- can be an event, a moment in a race, a team, etc?

If you want to talk about a single event, it has to be the Halloween bash in Portland a few years ago.  The fog had gotten bad enough in the middle of the night that the majority of the cars had gone off-track within a 60 minute period, forcing Chump officials to red flag the event until morning.  That was the night the Audi hit the wall, bending the frame. Hank decided to straighten it out by attaching a tow-chain to the hitch of his Dodge truck, and having some poor crew member sit in the Audi's driver seat with his foot on the brakes.  Hank then repeatedly stepped on the gas in the truck and yanked that car apart until the frame straightened. 

4. If you were King/Queen of ChumpCar for a day and could make any changes / do anything you want- what would you do with the series?

I would take greater efforts to not dilute the spirit of true crap-can racing by enforcing not only the rules set forth, but also the spirit set forth.   The greatest risk to organizations like ChumpCar is the increasing apathy shown towards the gradual creeping in of performance parts and obvious expensive modifications.  The racing organizations understandably err on the side of marketing... but over time it tends to dampen the spirit of the ChumpCar enthusiasts and sour the core.  I do like the class separation that Chump has done with the "Chump" class and the "Exception" class... but if I were King for a day I would lay down the hammer on any cars that don't meet the Chump criteria and put them in the Exception class... even if it meant ruffling a few feathers from racing teams who get re-classified.  Making some examples out of people would show a commitment to the rules set forth, promote the true spirit that founded ChumpCar, and alleviate the frustrations of die-hard ChumpCar participants who feel slighted every time a new competitive "cheater" shows up.  Knowing the penalty is the loss of a podium shot would cause more teams to think twice before trying to sneak in that performance suspension.

Oh, and I would make sure Justin Bieber works at Dairy Queen for the rest of his life.

5. What advice can you share with drivers who are looking for something like ChumpCar, someplace they can really race and still have a good time without going broke, but are new or don't know where to start?

Going broke is inevitable.  Doing events like Chumpcar only maximizes the amount of time you can spend racing before financial destitution.  If you want to get into events like Chumpcar, you have to understand the real adventure is in the experience.  A podium finish is gravy... simply getting to the checkered flag with four wheels still attached  is the meat of the challenge, and should be the measurement of your substantial accomplishment. I think it was just over a year before SoF actually finished its first 24-hour endurance race... and technically that was because we talked the fire truck crew to tow Hank across the finish line as the checkered flag was thrown.

6.  Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Our web site is www.squirrelsoffury.com, and we'd be doing a disservice if we didn't at least casually mention the Flying Lumberjacks and Team Pony Express.   If you want examples of other great teams that make this entire experience fun and worth-while (Just don't loan them money... ).