Western States Cobra Bash 2008 - Main Thread

[jmarsey]

Hi to All WSCB-Track Day Folks and Attendees,

Please give yourselves a big hand and congratulations! Myself, the entire Track Day Team, and Reno Fernley were truly honored facilitating your event. Absolute great job as participants, drivers, and working together in your run groups. You were on schedule and on the line! Your “control”, flagger at start/finish, and all corner workers were very impressed with you guys. Unless you were there this year, it is hard to describe the “magic” we experienced at Track Day!

FYI:
WSCB has birthed 2 separate and independent events: “CH1”, which is a get-together & cruise, and “Cobra Roundup” which will be a track day. We are already down the road and development is in progress! Stay Tuned!

That’s about all I can say at this time but both Duane and I are very excited to explore and develop what is now beyond WSCB. (A necessary and needed transition for expansion, refinement and more FUN.)

Thank you for your continued support and incredible enthusiasm as we lay plans for the future!

Once again, Great Job Everyone!... And when I said “we are a family”, I meant it!

Talk soon,
John Marsey
WSCB-Track Day Director (signing off)

Ps, whoever takes on The Bash and wherever it takes place, keep us in mind as your Huckleberry for Track Day!

[Igofastr]

Great!! You guys did a fantastic job getting us around the track safely, and I can't wait to get out again. The driver's meetings were informative and fun. The debriefings were also well done.

I will certainly plan on attending any future events you all are associated with, and do wonder where else you would suggest I look for open track days ...NASA, Norcal SAAC, etc? I think I may be hooked.

[CoupedUp]

John,
I was really impressed with you, the staff, instructors, and the facility. It was only my third track day, but by far the best organized and most fun! I was especially impressed with how you guys worked around the "incidents" to make sure the delays were minimal and everyone got plenty of track time. Many thanks again, and a special thanks to Eric for showing me the faster way around!

Doug

PS - I stopped for gas on the way back to the hotel and had a vapor lock issue as well. Here's another vote for something closer to sea level!

[dblbarrel]

Thanks to all, especially, Duane, and John.
You guys made the 36 hrs of cobra seat time worth it.

[hoppy]

To all who made this event possible my thanks and admiration. The planning and organization of events was flawless. Josette and I had a great weekend for the second year in a row and look forward to what ever evolution comes about. We would like to contribute to the effort in some way so please as you develop the plans for this group to get together again let us know how we can pull a bit of the weight.

[jmarsey]

Originally Posted by Igofastr

Great!! You guys did a fantastic job getting us around the track safely, and I can't wait to get out again. The driver's meetings were informative and fun. The debriefings were also well done.

I will certainly plan on attending any future events you all are associated with, and do wonder where else you would suggest I look for open track days ...NASA, Norcal SAAC, etc? I think I may be hooked.

Hi Ron,

What are you doing June 7-8? We’ll be running at Thunderhill / NASA on those days and would love to have you join us for which ever day works. I would suggest you just come up to see how we do things, ride in my spec racer and attend a few downloads. Come on Saturday and stay for the BBQ. This will open your eyes to a well run organization as well as the realities of driving on the track, which we’ll discuss. Also, you can say Hi to Eric.

If that doesn’t work, I’ll be at Infineon June 28-29. Same offer. Say Hi to Eric & Karen at this one.

Great Job on the track Ron!

Talk soon, John

[jmarsey]

Doug, dblbarrel, Terry,

Thank you for your support and was our pleasure for sure! Doug, thank you! I'll let Eric know! I had a minor vapor lock issue at the track on Saturday. We did good with the weather on Friday. Saturday was 10+ degrees hotter at the track.

Great job!

John

[4pipes]

John, I was so impressed with your assistants, Eric and Karen, I decided to find out more about Karen. She is quite the accomplished person:

"Karen Salvaggio serves as Vice President for Women in Racing with the Women's Automotive Association International (WAAI), the premier organization for women in the automotive industry. As Editor-in-Chief for Thunder Valley Racing, she travels nationally to support and develop opportunities for women in racing. She is an avid racecar driver, and was most recently awarded the 2005 Regional Championship for the National Council of Corvette Clubs (NCCC).

Karen’s twenty-year racing career began in 1985, driving in NASCAR Winston dirt track events in California. She drove to numerous top five finishes and secured the Most Improved Driver award in stockcar racing, before making the move to road racing with the Vintage Auto Racing Association (VARA) in the early 1990’s. Over the next five years, Karen competed in endurance races in a 1959 vintage Corvette roadster. Her growing passion for racing, and a desire to develop highly refined driving skills, led her into performance driving late model (Z06) Corvettes in high and low speed events with the SCCA and National Council of Corvette Clubs (NCCC).

In 2000, Karen joined the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), competing in the Women's Global GT Series. Karen has also competed in NHRA drag racing events, garnering the Gardei Memorial Overall Competitor Award in 1997 (Firebird Raceway), and Top Eliminator at the Pomona Drags in 1999. She also serves as an instructor driver at NCCC, NASA, and SCCA driving school events, and enjoys working with novice drivers as they develop confidence through driving mastery.

Karen has secured more that 150 first place finishes in driving competitions, and was awarded the 2005 West Coast Region Championship for the National Council of Corvette Clubs (NCCC), a title she previously secured in 1998, 1999 and 2001.

Current Race Season:

Race Series: Factory Five Challenge Series (NASA FFR); Editor in Chief: Thunder Valley Racing
The 2006 season finds Karen competing in the Factory Five Challenge Series (FFR) with the National Auto Sport Association (NASA). She drives on the West Coast circuit, and will compete at the National Challenge Series level in September at Mid-Ohio. She is an instructor driver with the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) NCCC, and the SVTOA (Ford) Clubs, and feeds the competitive spirit through high-speed competition events.

Karen's goal is to bring widespread, international attention to the efforts of women in racing through her work with the dedicated teams at the WAAI and Thunder Valley Racing. Her racing goal is to compete on a national or international level with a road racing team at endurance events.

Personal: Karen served nine years in the U.S. Air Force as an aircraft mechanic on B-52's and KC-135 aircraft. She had several stateside assignments, as well as tours in Japan and the Philippines. In 1985 she left the military to pursue a career in education, and used the GI Bill to secure her college education while working full time as a service manager at a motorcycle shop. She earned her bachelors degree in social science, became an elementary school teacher, and then served as a school principal for eight years.

Karen currently serves as Director of Student Support Services for a school district in Riverside, California. She holds a Doctorate in organizational leadership, and a Master's Degree in education. Her daughter Tracy, an aspiring driver herself, garnered the SCCA Novice Driver of the Year award when she was just 16 years of age, and is currently pursuing a career in education."

[Ibr8k4vetts]

Just would like to say THANK YOU ALL!!! and sorry for the mess I made on the track with my brain fart

[decooney]

Dave,
Yes - glad to see you found the truth behind it all. A rare find indeed. As we indicated at the Track meeting, many were and are still amazed at the quality and level of world class instruction resources available to all of you at Track Day. John and I spoke again today, and in his words that describe it best "Truly Magical".

Not enough can be said about what can be said about what John accomplished here with the magic from John, Eric, and Karen and some of our very close personal friends (Gary C., Gary B...) and all from the NorCal/River City Shelby Club (too many to list).

On a related note, this is something so special, it deserves further attention, and John is giving that attention and vision moving forward. More on that from John later...