Under The Radarcorvettesupersports.com/.../April2011CSSNewsletter.pdf · Charities, For many years, CSS has been a major sponsor for our two main Charities; H.I.S. House Transitional

Under The RadarThe Monthly Newsletter of Corvette Super Sports

Volume 52 number 4April 2011

Corvette Super Sports is a car clubmade up of Corvette owners with a passion for a finedriving machine, with the goal to participate in andsupport auto-related activities, such as: car shows,auto-crossing, rallies, drag racing, caravans, cruises,parades, etc. We support (N.C.C.C.) NationalCouncil of Corvette Clubs, National CorvetteMuseum, several social, civic, and charitableorganizations. CSS is incorporated as a non-profitorganization in the County of Orange, California.

We welcome guests to our meetings on firstTuesday of each month at 7:00PM at"SIZZLER" Steak, Seafood & Salad Bar 1401N. Harbor Blvd, Fullerton, CA 92835(Harbor Blvd. at Brea Blvd.)

Corvette Super SportsCharities, For many years, CSS hasbeen a major sponsor for our two mainCharities; H.I.S. House TransitionalShelter and CHiP's for Kids.

HIS House is a 4-6 month program forhomeless men, women, and children toprepare for and secure employment,education and permanent housing.

CHiP's for Kids began with an individualCHP officer that spread like wildfire withintheir own departments. To reach out in thecommunity to help abused, orphaned, andseriously neglected children. CorvetteSuper Sports was introduced to Hillview

Acres Children's Home though ourinvolvement with the CHP. Hillview bringshope through a safe therapeuticenvironment, to help children regain trust, aplace to heal and away from seriousemotional disturbances.

Through our volunteer and club events suchas car shows, visits, work/clean upday, donations, garage sales, CorvetteSuper Sports donated not only many hoursthroughout the year but also monetarydonations. HIS House and CHiPs,combined, have been recipients of $5000each year. We hope that this will continuewith our SUPERSPORTS member’s efforts.

Charity Donations

Corvette Super Sports was blessed during2010 to have provided venues that attractedmany participants. From our activities, wewere able to donate $10,000 to our charities.

HIS House $3,500 CHIPS $2,000 Hillview Acres $2,000 Council for Aging $1,000 Navy Relief Fund $1,250 Ronald McDonald House $250

Corvette Super Sports believes that it is our duty to participate in other Corvette Club’sactivities to support their charities.

Corvette Super Sports' Charities

These are the organizations and programs our members support ... because we believe in "giving back" tothe communities in which we live ... and drive ... our Corvettes.

H.I.S. HouseHomeless Intervention Shelter

P.O. Box 1293, Placentia CA 92871714-993-5774

Visit "Charity's Closet" Thrift Shop

CHiPs for Kids and its support ofthe Hillview Acres Children's Home

Club Liaison and CHiPS for Kids Coordinator: CHPOfficer Donnell Holmes

Who’s Who at Corvette Super Sports

Officers Board of GovernorsPresident: Cindy Orrico Donn Donna StewartVice-President: Diane Wiest Art HuhtaSecretary: Ginger Girvin Roger BaconTreasurer: Marge Huhta Ron DeBartolomeisNewsletter: Geoff Girvin Vicki KumpWebmaster: Doug Mariani Linda NorrisN.C.C.C.: Joe Orrico

ChairpersonsClothing-Shirts: Shirley Jones Sergeant at Arms: Ron DeBartolomeisClothing-Jackets & Hats: Shirley Jones Trophies/Awards: Tom CuccioSocials: Geoff Girvin Dealer Rep: Cindy OrricoCharity: Bob Reed Car Show Chairman: Cindy OrricoRaffle:Meeting Hostess: Linda NorrisMembership/Hospitality: Donna Stewart

Banquet: TBD

Phone Committee Chairman: Donna Historian: Pat & Jan WorksStewart

Don’t forget the Board Meeting on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM. The meetings’ venue willbe changed each month to add variety. Board meetings are open to all members. We encourage you toattend and welcome your comments pro and con.

Come to a board meeting and you too can be pictured here!

The March Board meeting was held at Mimi’s Café In Anaheim

SO Many Blessings – TAKE TheTime To Count Them!……..

Madam Pres

Hi Everybody!!!

April is so full, I don’t know where to start!Without any April Fools jokes for me, thismonth will go down in history, for me anyway!I actually tasted Alligator and it wasn’t my purseor shoes! Deep Fried Alligator Nuggets, but dipanything in Ranch dressing and what’s it goingto taste like? Yes, chicken! (Future CSSPresidents, Beware! It was our ‘previous’ CSSPresident that got me to try it!) It was after thisthat 49 of us Corvette Pirates sailed off on aCaribbean Cruise to St. Maarteen, St. Lucia andSt. Kitts.

We started our venture from Ft. Lauderdale,where Joe, myself and Cliff Harris braved theFlorida Everglades. Good thing lots of otherairboats were around cause it could have been acreepy area, that’s for sure. Our guide was wellversed on the area, or else he told some prettygood stories. And of course, we only ‘really’saw one alligator that he was familiar with……afemale alligator….. named Cindy – of course!Isn’t she cute?

The cruise consisted of smooth sailing, lowertemperatures and humidity and no lack of foodon the 9th Floor Trough! This trip was an extraspecial treat for me because my girlfriend thatI’ve known since I was 3 weeks old and herhusband joined us! We got to Snuba, Joe did aZip-Line excursion and I won the Hot WheelsCar Show (my credit card sitting under my carhad something to do with that though….) Forthose who have been to 3rd World Countries, youwill understand me when I say, “There’s NoPlace Like Home”. Very sad to see the povertyover there, very different way of life and I am sograteful every day that I live in the United Statesof America!

As we were on our Red Eye flight from LongBeach to Ft. Lauderdale, Joe’s 6th grandchild wasborn! I was getting intense text messages beforeboarding and on de-boarding, looking at picturesof Scarlett Rose, born to Joe’s youngestdaughter! So tiny, so precious, so proud.

More awesome news is that my nephew, Travis,is on his way home from Afghanistan! Travis is

Neil & CynDee Aerts youngest son (My brotherand CSS Family Members living in Spokane).Neil is ‘trying’ to enjoy his Corvette, but everytime he gets the keys out…. I get a text saying“IT’S SNOWING ##^)&$^(“

A small CSS group also attended this year’sLong Beach Grand Prix. Best $20 dollars youcan spend is for the Corvette Corral! $20 bucksgets you separate security parking, a big whitetent full of shade, tables, chairs, water, sodas,snacks and big screen TVs that you can watchthe race from! And if you feel venturous, walk100 yards out over to the track and join thecrowds yelling and cheering! My favoritemoment was when I saw the Ferrariphotographer in our Corvette parking area –taking pictures – then taking a video of all of usinside the tent! He was a great sport when Iasked if “I” could take ‘his’ picture! Who rulesnow??

It appears from my calendar that the Corvetteevents are finally starting!! I know I havemissed a few: Ronald McDonald House Car

Show, Gambler’s Classic, but upcoming areInland Empire Super 7 and more.

Now, to top off my babbling – let the CorvetteEvents begin! “Our” first event of the year wasthis last weekend, of Inland Empire Corvettes,Super 7! Awesome event that we have attendedin the past and once again, did not fail us. Andthat was evident, since we had 10 cars attend andguess what? We got “Club Participation”!!Surprise!!! Goes to show that CSS knows agood time when we’ve been there before, huh?Thanks to those other 9 cars that brought homethe trophy for us. We will have to take extratime at the next club meeting when I ask ifanyone got any hardware… ( Larry & Gary…. –gee, show offs!) I’m know there will be moreabout this in our Newsletter.

Reminders to all that Mother’s Day is May 8th.

Quote:"The division between success and failure is yourattitude. If you project problems, they will findyou. If you project accomplishments, then thoseresults find a way to weave towards you. Makesure you kick aside the rejection of pastproblems. They hold very little bearing on whatyou can do going forward. Be bold, confident andunbending when it comes to what you want. Youhave the power!"Written in 2011 by Jim Fargiano

Even more in this month of April, I am sograteful and proud of our Service Men andWoman and send extra thanks and prayers to ourService Men and Women!God Bless America – Now and Always!

Keep on Saving the Wave!!!

Respectfully,Cindy OrricoPresident – 2011

CSS NewsThe Social events for May 2011 are:

5/28 Homeland Security Practice

The Club events for May 2011 are:

5/1 Corvettes of Temecula Valley Car show5/14 Corvette Dreamin – Mission Bay Car show5/21 Wild West Car Show5/21 Pomona Valley Corvettes Car Rally

The other events for May 2011 are:

Please help us keep our records up to date.Now you can use the new combined Membership Application/Change of Information form to let us know of

changes and updates to your addresses (postal and email), phone numbers (including cell numbers), Corvettemodel(s), etc..

If you have an idea for a Club Outing, Mystery Run, and Caravan to someplace special for lunch, we want tomake it easy for you. There is a Cruise Planning form on the Web site for submissions of your ideas.

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."Albert Schweitzer

Corvette Super Sports Local News

Charities Byline – Bob Reed

GIVE AND IT WON’T HURT!One thing is for sure, during this down-turn inthe economy there is less charitable giving at atime when it is needed more than ever. I’mconfident that we all still want to contribute. Theproblem is those extra dollars may no longer beavailable!

Our club’s charity slogan for this 2011 is “Giveand it won’t hurt.” There are ways that you canhelp without opening your wallet!Earlier in the year I introduced severalorganizations that our club can support withoutwriting a check.

These are worthwhile charities that support ourarmed forces, children and others that are truly inneed. Take a moment to look over how you cansupport these organizations. I would be surprisedif you said that you don’t have at least one itemon the list.

In cooperation with our primary sponsor,Connell Chevrolet, we will be collecting “CellPhones for Soldiers.” That old, unused cellphone in the bottom of your drawer can beturned into minutes that our young men andwomen in uniform can use to call home. Be sure

to bring your old cell phone to our August CarShow and receive 5 raffle tickets!For more information go to:http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/

In that same drawer, next to that unused cellphone, you probably have a gift card with a fewcents or a few dollars of value that you willnever use. The Salvation Army is collectingthose cards and turning them into needed cash tohelp those regardless if it local or around theworld.For more information go to:http://www.salvationarmyoc.org/giving.htm

For a number of years now, St. Jude’s Ranch hasbeen supporting the needs of children throughtheir recycled greeting card program. Thechildren use the fronts of the cards to create newcards that are sold around the world. WhileChristmas cards are the most popular, Get Well,Birthday, and other occasion cards are needed.For more information go to:http://www.stjudesranch.org/help_card.php

What to do with your donation:You can either bring your items to a club event,such as our monthly meetings or mail them tothe club’s address: CSS PO Box 592, La Habra,CA 90631.In addition to the three new "painless" projects thatI outlined above, I want to remind you that a thriftshop, Charity's Closet, run by one of our primarycharities, H.I.S. House, is a great way to turn yourunwanted items (clothing, furniture, etc) into ameans of providing a shelter for a family in need.And yes, they do provide receipts for tax purposes.

Charity’s Closet134 N. Bradford AvenuePlacentia, CA 92870714-993-4687

CORVETTE SUPER SPORTS –GENERAL MEETING

General MeetingTuesday, April 5, 2011

Sizzler Restaurant – Fullerton, CA

Minutes of the Regular MeetingVice President Dianne W. called the meeting toorder at 6:56 p.m. Marge H. recorded theminutes. The president and secretary were notpresent. A quorum was not present.

Hospitality:Donna S. introduced Paul D., a former memberof CSS.

Good News:• Donna S. has completed treatment• Rick M.’s shoulder is healing• Rick and Lynn M.’s son is cancer free• Bert W. is retiring in May to transition to

domestic engineer status• Dianne and Bert W.’s grandson is graduatingfrom Army basic training in June. They will beattending the graduation.

Old Business:• Drive In Movie Night has been canceled

because of lack of support by the membership• Car Show is August 14. Connell Chevrolet willdonate tee shirts and trophies. Donations for

raffle prizes or cash will be accepted at anytime. Flyers are available for members todistribute.

Events:• See web site for details of events in April andMay

• June 4-5 is Spring Mountain. Call or emailKathy B. To sign up to bring food.

• July 8-10 is Big Bear Bash. The Bash beforethe Bash will be at Shirley and Garry J.’s home.More details to come.

• July 16 is Corvettes of Southern Californiapicnic

Birthdays and anniversaries were announced.

Rick M. brought window flags and tookorders.

Larry C. gave the Clean Car award to Doug andSherry McD.

Thanks to Shirley J. and Donna S. for bringingsnacks.

Charity:Bob R. has a motto for the year: “Give and itWon’t Hurt”• Cell phones for soldiers (with or withoutaccessories)

• Gift cards-unused or partially used forSalvation Army

• Greeting cards (not Hallmark, AmericanGreeting or Disney) for St. Jude’s Children’sRanch

• Remember Charities Closet to make householddonations. It is affiliated with H.I.S. House.

Treasurer:Marge H. reported• M & M fundraiser has collected $164 as ofMarch 15.

• $250 from Connell for Drive In Movie Nighthas been applied to car show account to helppay for trophies. They will donate the entirecost of trophies when the final bill arrives.

• Six car show registrations have been received.Two policies were presented, discussed andadopted by the board of governors at the lasttwo meetings. Upon the approval of the generalmembership they will become policies of thisorganization. Because a quorumwas not present, these policies were read anddiscussed. A vote will takeplace at the next meeting when a quorum ispresent. The board is supportingthe passage of these policies.

MOTION:With the recommendation of the board ofgovernors, I move that the club’s health andwelfare policy read as follows: “In the caseof a member’s hospitalization, a plant not toexceed $50.00 or a gift cardnot to exceed $25.00 be given to the member. Incase of a medicalprocedure, illness, or other health situation a ‘getwell’ card or note of cheerwill be sent by the health and welfare chairmanas appointed by thepresident.”

MOTION:With the recommendation of the board ofgovernors, I move that the club’s bereavementpolicy read as follows: “To honor and remembermembers of Corvette Super Sports who passaway, a maximum of $100 shall be used topurchase a brick at the National CorvetteMuseum, or a donation to one of the designatedcharities supported by CSS.”

Other: Jim C. won 50/50. Marcia L. won dinner raffle. April 19 board meeting will be held at

Mimi’s on Euclid. Meeting was adjourned at 8 p.m.

Written by,Marge H.

Birthdays & AnniversariesMonth-by-month list of birthdays and anniversaries celebrated by CSS members.

APRIL BIRTHDAYS APRIL ANNIVERSARIES

Armando J Sanchez 04/01 Greg and Chris Glodery 04/21Jim M Cooper 04/05 Chris and Jennifer Spencer 04/21/91Jo Anna Buckingham 04/13 Ron and Karen DeBartolomeis 04/27/68Linda Norris 04/16 Rick and Lynn Miller 04/29Vicki Kump 04/17 Greg and Chris Glodery 04/21Lynn M Miller 04/17Jennifer Spencer 04/25Jay Lynch 04/27

MAY BIRTHDAYS MAY ANNIVERSARIES

Sue Rosen 5/8 Sanchez, Armando & Hortencia 05/14/94David Dunn 5/14 Meeuwenberg, Doug & Ann 05/18/74Cindy Orrico 5/21 Cuccio, Tom & Barbara 05/27/78Chuck Rosen 5/23Garry Jones 5/26

Social CornerThe goal of the social chairman is to postthe events for the entire year so that ourmembership can plan accordingly.

Social events are defined as a caravan toa place of interest where we canparticipate in an adventure and have timeto talk with other members about recent

Car Show and Rallies that we haveparticipated in.

The Club event is defined as our clubparticipating in another Corvette Club’sactivities to support their charities. Thefollowing is our annual schedule will becompleted after the February GeneralMeeting:

Current CSS events can be found at thefollowing URLhttp://www.corvettesupersports.com

If you have a suggestion for a CorvetteEvent or a Social Event, please contactGeoff at [email protected]

Date EventFeb 5 Valentine BowlMarch California Missions and MuseumsMarch 19th Homeland Security Whittier Narrows 9amMarch 26th Vapor Trails Autocross LompocApril 9th Mullen Auto Museum Oxnard 8:30 am departureApril 23rd Inland Empire Corvettes Super 7 Rallye - YucaipaApril 30th Homeland Security PradoMay 1st Corvettes of Temecula Car showMay 14th Corvette Dreamin’ Mission BayMay 21st Corvette West Car ShowMay 21st Pomona Valley Corvette Assoc. RallyeMay 28th Homeland Security – TBDJune 4th CSS Highspeed Autocross – Pahrump NevJune 18th Peterson Auto Museum – Los AngelesJune 25th Homeland Security - TBDJuly 8th Bash B4 the Big Bear Bash – Garry and Shirley’s – Big BearJuly 8-10 Big Bear Bash – Rallye, Autocross, Car Show – Big BearJuly 23-24 Santa Paula Murder Mystery Dinner TheaterJuly 30 Homeland Security - TBDAugust 8th Gene Autry Museum – Griffiths Park Los AngelesAugust 14th CSS Car Show Connell ChevroletAugust 20th MacArthur Military Museum/Pt Fermin LighthouseAugust 27th Homeland Security - TBDSept. 3rd Donna’s Pool Party – Annual Pot Luck

Sept. 10th Homeland Security - TBDSept 16-18 2nd Annual Wine Cruise – Santa Ynez ValleySept. 24th Cruise-In’ for the Cure OC Fair GroundsOct 7-9 Corvette Roulette – Las VegasOct 22nd Wild West Car ShowOct 29th Homeland Security – Redlands then PIE RUN to Oak GlenOct. TBD Casino NightNov. 5th Pistachio Festival – Newberry Springs – Peggy Sue’sNov 12th La Palma Days Veterans Day ParadeNov. 12th Bowling with Turkeys – La Habra BowlNov 19th Homeland Security - TBDDec. 10th Getty Museum – Los AngelesDec. 10-11 HighSpeed Autocross = Porsche’s taste like chicken!Dec . TBD Christmas PartyDec 17th Homeland Security 2011 Final Exam

Club Events for April

GAMBLERS'S CLASSICfeaturing

the Great American Sports Carby Ron DeBartolomeis

The day started out early Fridaymorning heading East with abreakfast stop at PEGGY SUE'S forthe early risers. Breakfast reallymotivated Ed who said “let's Get'erDone” with a triple digit entranceonto I 40 !! Yep he was feeling hisOates!

We had 9 cars represented by Bob &Vickie, Ed & Linda, Bud & Dawnette,Ron & Karen, Scott & Renita, Kevin

Presser, Chuck & Sue, Rick & Lynnand Jim Raymond.

The WAXERS came away with three(3) third place trophy's.

C4 Bob & VickieC5 Ed & LindaC6 Rick & Lynn

Note, C6 third place is underinvestigation for improper wheelcleaning techniques.

Congratulations to the winners.Keep"em shinning !

Friday night we enjoyed a wonderfulbuffet dinner and Hawaiian show puton by HOT LAVA..

Saturday evening prime rib dinnerwas special as we celebrated Lynn's,Linda's and Vickie's BIRTHDAY.None of them would reveal whichBirthday they were celebrating !!

Our group came away with a car loadof raffle prizes as you can see in thegroup picture. You'll notice Bud won ayellow Mongoose mountain bike. Hedidn't arrive home until Wednesdaynight. He forgot to put the bike inhigh gear !!

Kudos to Corvettes of Bakersfieldwho did an extremely good joborganizing and executing this greatevent.

Long Beach Grand Prix

Drivers…… Start YourEngines!!!!!

And the Long Beach Grand Prix is rollingagain!!!

Of course it was a wonderfully, warm dayin Long Beach, make that 2 days for usdie-hards! Let me tell you, the absoluteBEST part of this race, is the “CorvetteCorral”!! For $20 bucks, you get all thewater, sodas and many muchies to goalong with them, not to mention ‘privateparking’ just for us Corvette owners!Plus the shade of the tent and the tables

and chairs in which to rest your tired feetand get your poor body out of the hot sun.

Once again this year, we had our goodfriends, Carl & Bonnie Corbett from theLas Vegas Club come down to stay withus. They have attended this race for thelast 20 years. We always have a goodtime when they come to visit. What can Isay….. Corvette People!

I was the lucky one this year and won the“Lap around the track”, but since Carl hadbeen trying to win that raffle for 20 years,I let him have my ride. Besides, I’m notthat great of a passenger and Joe took theride last year and said that those concretewalls came ‘awfully close’ to the sides ofthe car!!! It was so worth seeing that earto ear grim on Carl’s face too!!

This year we also had Dave MacDonald,Sherry Sablan, Dave MacDonough, Art &Marge Huhta and special guest Albie.

Dave in the Pits with Car #3Dave & Sherry having a

great6 time!

Art & Joe trying to sync their HAMRadios Marge & Albie’s 1st

experience of engine sound

The Corvette Corral parking lot filled up.My funniest part of this was seeing thephotographer from the Ferrari Tent overin the Corvette Corral TAKINGPICTURES AND VIDEO’S OF US! Hewas a great sport and laughed when Iasked if I could take his picture! Let therumors begin!

The Corvette Drivers come over to thetent every year and sign whatever youwant them to – yes, exactly – whateveryou want them to. Most people get theircars signed too. They are 4 great driversand 4 great gentlemen. But they also goout to all the cars and pick their ownpersonal favorite car – what a nicesurprise for Joe and I that Oliver Gavinchose ours this year!! We got a coolautographed diecast as our prize! (Nowwe need another curio cabinet to keep itin!)

This was our 4th year in a row attendingthe Grand Prix and I see it continuingyear after year. It’s like a carnival – foodgalore! Turkey legs, ears of corn, $10dollar beers, $12 dollar margaritas and somuch more, besides the yelling andcheering for our favorite cars.

I can see the tradition continue for us,however, I have some worries about Art& Marge if they continue to takeAlbie…… for 2 reasons……

Number #1 – when Ron Fellows wasfinished with his talk and had openquestions, Albie’s question was: “Whydid the #3 car hit the wall?”

Number #2 – in this picture below, Albieis asking the Security Guard if he gavehim his allowance, if he could buy thiscar………

For a good time, join us next year at theLong Beach Grand Prix in April!!

Cindy Orrico

Mullen Auto MuseumThis was the second trip to themuseum for CSS. The turnoutwas light, but those that went hada good time. Attendees wereDoug MacDonald and SherrySablan and a prospective newmember Dennis and DonnaNewbury. The following waswritten by Dave who took thepictures as well. Thanks Dave!!

Hi Jeff: Here are some of the pictureswe took on the Corvette run (2 cars)

yesterday to the Mullin Automotive Museum,Dennis and Donna Newberry, prospectivemembers, and Doug MacDonald & Sherry Sablan.We had an nice trip to and from the Museum, Itincluded Bugattis, Delages, Delahayes, HispanoSuizas, Talbot-Lagos and Voisins covering severaldecades! We had lunch at the Red Lobster!

Doug

A DIFFERENT SIDE OF SPRING MOUNTAIN

(AKA RUNNING WITH THE PORSCHES)BY JENNIFER SPENCER

On a quarterly basis, the Las Vegas PorscheClub holds a driving performance enhancementweekend at Spring Mountain (“racing” is illegal

in NV). They open the event to all types of carsthus giving this gal with the need for speedanother opportunity to get out on the track.So in mid-April, Chris & I headed to my newhome away from home, Pahrump, NV. Luckily,when Chris used to sell food, he had the pleasureof servicing the Las Vegas region that includedPahrump so he wasn’t completely shocked uponarrival at the size of the town (it’s not a city -population in July 2007 was 32,979 and fellas,the ratio of men to women was nearly even andthe median age was 45). We stayed at the SaddleWest Casino/Hotel and discovered the onlycasino we’ve ever been to (and we’ve been tomany) that have nickel slots at the bar! And totop it off these even give out Royal Flushes(yippee)!

Anyway, about the racing, the Porsche Club runstheir track days a little different than CorvetteTrack Days. If you’ve never run with them, youeither have to have one of their instructors ridewith you on your first run to “sign you off” orattend their “Student Program”. There were 19of us students. Some were like me (have run athigh speed but still have plenty to learn) andsome had never tried it ever before. Theassortment of cars and people was sizeable;besides Porsches there were Nissans, CorvettesMini Coopers and even a Lamborghini.

After the regular driver’s meeting, we had someclassroom instruction and then did a exercisedriving in water (extremely helpful) and braking(like autocrossing). We then partnered up withan instructor and headed to the track ( my girlElizabeth was awesome). The new trackconfiguration is 3.4 miles of FABULOUSNESS!My dreaded turn 3 is now a straightaway and thebus stop is a hoot. The first run of the afternoon,our instructors drove our cars for 3 laps and thenwe got back in the driver’s seat.

The second day they combined the student groupwith the novice group (previously graduatedstudents) to the same run group as there arefewer cars overall (you can sign up for just oneday). Our instructors will still riding with us butnow (at least for me) we were moving on toreally nailing the details of hitting the apexes andpushing up the speedometer. By the last run ofthe day, Elizabeth helped me slice 23 seconds offmy previously fastest lap! Now for you future

racers (and you know who you are) when the laptimes for the fast guys/gals is just under 3minutes and us pokey folks are doing around3:30 so 23 seconds is a big deal!

Unfortunately, there was a fatal casualty of adear friend of many of us. Marvin Maise lost hisbeloved Corvette to a fire. Luckily, he was ableto get out of the car (abeit on the passenger side)unscathed but the distinctive yellow Corvettethat we saw at the track and autocrosses wasn’tso lucky. We all will miss the car but are gladwe don’t have to miss Marvin.

So my overall experience was incredible! Igraduated to the novice class for September (ohyeah, I’m going back for more). I already madesure Elizabeth would be there . I think this is agreat venue for the beginner and expert raceralike.

Hope to see you at Spring Mountain for CorvetteTrack Days and Porsche Track Days (I’ll be atall of them).

Inland Empire Super 7Saturday, April 23rd was the thirdannual IEC Super 7 Car Rallye andCorvette Super Sports membersturned out en masse to supportour friends at IEC. Normallyattendance is high each year, infact we earned “ClubParticipation” again this year. Wewon the trophy in year one,missed it in year 2 by one car andgot it again this year for bringing10 cars to the event.

The attendees were: Joe andCindy, Ron and Karen, Chuck,Dave and Jenny, Larry and Curly(aka. Gary), Scott and Renita, Rickand Lynn, Doug and Jackie (thenewlyweds), Bob and Kelli andGeoff and Ginger.

The Rally this year was upthrough Crestline to big Bear andback through the outskirts of OakGlen back to the starting point atAngel’s roadhouse.

Although the Rally was not timed,the Rally Master probably did nottake into account that there wassuch thick fog around Crestlinethat you could not see the frontsof the cars while driving and thatcontributed to a slow driveoverall.

In Big Bear we stopped toparticipate in 3 games including

an Autocross using remotecontrol cars.

One of the games requireseveryone to put on their thinkingcaps to recall how to get intopanty hose. I heard most of thefemale contestants say that theydid not wear such stuff anymoreand the male contestants all saidthey were very rusty and way outof practice getting their hands intopanty hose. The object of thegame was to get a penny at thebottom of each leg and put thepenny in a cup. Someone on myteam forgot to tell me that therewas a penny in each leg. Drat.

Then there was the box of pingpong balls strapped to your backand you had to get them out of thetissue box without using yourhands.

Think of the motion that a pogostick has and that is what thecontestants had to do to get theballs out of the box. The teammate had to collect them and getthem into a pouch in 30 second.Now think 20 mile per hour windgusts that came up only when theping pong balls actually got out ofthe box. It sound hard, but Boband Kelli got all 8 balls out andwas tied for first place only to loseby drawing a lower card as a tiebreaker.

On the Rally there was a PokerRally for the first and second halfof the course and a Scrabble Rallyover the entire course.

Now for the prizes. We willprobably need to wait for theactual results to be published butsuffice it to say that CSS cameaway with a lot of loot. Larry toldGary (aka Curly) that he felt luckythat day and they should havegone on to Vegas because thosetwo won something in every oneof the contests. They got 5th placein Poker Rally 1, 1st place in PokerRally 2, 1st place in Scrabble Rally,4th place in the ping Pong game,and 2nd place on the Poker gamebefore the Rally started.

The other awards were Ron andKaren 3rd place in Poker Rally 1,

Rick and Lynn 5th place Poer Rally2, Joe and Cindy 4th in Scrabble,Ron and Karen 3rd in Scrabble,Bob and Kelli 2nd in PingPong andRick and Lynn 1st in ping Pong.Ginger and Geoff 5th in the AutoCross, Dave and jenny 3rd in Auto

Cross, Scott and Renita 1st in AutoCross, Bob and Kelli 4th in Pokerbefore the Rally, Geoff and Ginger3rd in Poker before the Rally, andScott and Renita 1st in the pantyhose game.

Joe knows how to work a crowd.

Gary seems to work it too.

Watch out Bob, it looks like Kelliknows how to work the crowd too.

As always it is good to see Rickand Lynn and Scott and Renita!

The first of many!!!

Even Ron and Karen got hardware

Congrats Bob and Kelli for Pogo,no no, that is Ping Pong game.

And More hardware

And More

And More

And, yes more

Cindy beat me to the podium forthe Club Participation Award

But this says it all

NCCC National News

Although we have spokenmany times about the FutureCorvette Owners Association(FCOA) and stated severaltimes that we have the mostFCOA members in the West

Coast Region, we thought thatit might make sense to showeveryone what comes in thepacket for your little one timedonation and a copy of theapplication. Joe was kindenough to get this for us.

NCCC Board of Governorsmeeting minutes can be foundat the following link

http://www.corvettesnccc.org/Meetings.html

Hello Governors,

From the recent meetings in St.Louis...

Friday 2-25-2011, MembershipCommittee meeting.

Betty Parks, Conventiontreasurer told us she hasreceived 440 registrations forConvention, so things areproceeding well there and itwill be a good Convention.

Sylvia Hoaldridge, Blue Barseditor, said the database wasn'tset up correctly and failed toproduce mailing labels for theCharter and Lifetime members.They had to do an additionalprint run in order to deliverissues to these members. By theway, you can become a Lifetimemember by paying $300 at renewaltime. You will receive aspecial membership card thatshows you're a Lifetime memberand you'll never payNCCC dues again. The break evenpoint is 12 years, so if youplan to live longer than that itmight work out financially...

Larry HIggins, DistributionCenter, said he mailed out10,362 total packets (renewalsplus new members). He said thepostage for that was$9198. He passed out packetsthat were returned for various

reasons. I will be forwardingthem to you to deliver to yourmembers. We need updatedaddresses or corrections forwhatever the problem is. Insome cases these are a mystery.I have one packet that has thecorrect address on it. I was atthis person's house in December,so I know it's correct and helives there.It says, "Attempted- not known", so maybe he movedsince then? (I don't think so.)

There has been a lot of emphasislately on saving money. Part ofthis comes from the fact thatNCCC is down about 1000 membersfrom the highest number aboutfive years ago. This means lessincome from dues. Expenses haveincreased since then, so we'retrying to do the same thingswith less money. One aspect ofthis is that we've been askingfor suggestions for increasingmembership. Along the samelines, we're trying to promoteNCCC and some people havequestioned the methods. NCCChas two traveling displays thatare sent to any club that asksfor them. One of them was atthe Corvette Dreamin' car showin San Diegothe last couple of years and PRDirector Doug McMahan told methey asked for it again thisyear. It costs about $1500 peryear to ship the displays aroundthe country. I have asked inthe past how many new membersare brought into NCCC from thedisplay. Nobody has been ableto answer this question. It wassuggested several years ago thatwe write "display" on themembership application forms,but that hasn't been done. I

can't see that we get $1500worth of new members from thedisplays, especially since theyare sent to events where most ofthe people there are alreadyNCCC members. The display isset up at various non NCCCevents, notably Corvettes atCarlisle and similarevents. We were told that ChipMiller used to give NCCC freespace to promote the charityraffle car and NCCC. After hedied, his sons refused to dothat. NCCC does get a lot ofsupport from Mike Yaeger of MidAmerica Motorworks. Mike hasbeen closely associated withNCCC since he started hisbusiness. He told us a fewyears ago that he used to cometo the NCCC governors meetingand sell Corvette parts out ofthe back of his station wagon.Anyhow, he puts on the Funfestevent, which is huge. Theproblem is that NCCC's displayis lost in the crowd of vendorsand we're trying to figure outhow we can stand out from thecrowd and get some traffic. Thecharity raffle car is a drawbecause a lot of people areinterested in buying a chance towin it. Somebody mentioned thatthey have found out throughexperience that if you aren'tgiving something away thenpeople won't stop at yourdisplay. Somebody suggested"booth babes", but at our age wedon't have anybody thatqualifies for that position.

Since there has been a lot ofsuggestions for bringing newmembers and new clubs into NCCC,it occurred to me to look at howmany clubs are FORMER NCCCclubs. My thinking was, how can

we convince new clubs thatbelonging to NCCC would bebeneficial if we can't keep theclubs wehave? I went through a list ofNCCC members in the West CoastRegion that the VP of Membershipgave to me. This list only goesup to clubWC-518, so it's an oldlist. Also Roadrunner Regionclubs were part of the WestCoast Region before they splitoff and became a separateregion, so the numbers aren'tstrictly correct. Anywho, wehad a total of 52 clubs on thelist (about 5 were Roadrunner).Out of those 52, 23 are stillNCCC clubs. Some of the clubsare dead, but there are severalthat are still around, notablySanta Clarita and North CountyCorvettes. Some of those wereNCCC clubs for many years, likeFresno. Why they left is amystery as they never say whythey're not renewing. Mostpeople believe that the reasonis that they don't see a returnon their investment of theyearly dues. The biggestbenefit is the insurance(which just got a LOT better -see the governors meeting notesbelow).

On this theme of NCCC benefits,I recently bought some partsfrom Eckler's, which is a NCCCsponsor and they supposedly givea discount for NCCC members. Isay "supposedly" because Iordered on their web site and Icouldn't find a place anywherein the ordering process toindicate that I'm a NCCC memberand should get the discount.That made me wonder how to getthe NCCC discount from the othersponsors that

offer it. I couldn't find thisinformation anywhere. The mainNCCC web site athttp://www.corvettesnccc.org hasan area right there on thefirst page that shows icons withlinks to various sponsors. Nohint on how to get thediscount. Blue Bars Magazinehas a list of sponsors thatoffer discounts, but the onlyinfo on how to actually GET thediscount is "Contact DebbieLindsay, Director ofSponsorship". It shouldn'tbe that hard. I didn't get achance to talk to Debbie whilein St. Louis so I don't knowwhat's involved. I intend topursue this. Stay tuned.

I've been told that we stillneed the white copy of the newmember application form, atleast until further notice. Wewere told that the USPS wasgiven a list of new NCCC membersand then asked for proof thatthose members knew that part oftheir dues was going to the BlueBars Magazine subscription. Wedid get approved for thePeriodical Rate, but we'reafraid the USPS might again askfor more proof that we deserveto keep getting that rate. Sosend in those applicationforms. I will send out aseparate email with a copy ofthe latest version of the formsoon.

Walt Jenkins, NCCC databaseguru, told us that we need topass on to the governors thatthey should click the "SubmitChanges to RMD" button. Whenyou do that I get an emailtelling me that you have madechanges.

Without that click, my onlyindication that somethinghappened is that I get a checkin the mail. Then I have to gointo your database screen andclick the button to get thechanges transferred over to mydatabase screen so I can acceptthe changes and input the checktracking info. Walt said thishas been such a problem thathe's been thinking ofeliminating that button becausethe governors aren't clicking itanyway. One suggestion that wehope will get implemented is toallow the dues info to beentered directly on the rosterscreen during renewals. Thatway you wouldn't have to go backand forth between the rosterscreen and the member infoscreen. I asked that a "AddSpouse/Companion to thisPrimary" button be added so thatyou wouldn't have to look up orremember the Primary's numberwhen adding a spouse. Walt saidto be sure to check the"Inactive" members list to makesure that a "new" member wasn'tactually a former member who isreturning to NCCC. If you don'tdo that it can cause duplicatedentries for the member, whichconfuses the database. Also, heasked that governors put in themember's middle initial to avoidtoo many people with the samename, which gets confusing.

Since the database has becomeour main way of tracking membersthe old methods which aredescribed in the "Guidelines forGovernors" booklet arecompletely obsolete. Thebooklet will be rewritten toupdate it so that it covers thecurrent processes.

We spent quite a bit of timediscussing ways of saving NCCCmoney and getting new members.Most of the suggestions weretotally impractical and no realchanges were made. The mostpopular target has beencombining of regions. After theRMDs voted 12-3 to drop thatissue, it's dead. Now they'relooking at combining offices. Iasked what the Parliamentarianactually does besides carryaround a copy of "RobertsRules of Order" in his pocket.I don't think this will goanywhere and I don't think theMembership Committee should belooking at this anyway.

I talked with Dennis Patrick,NCCC Merchandise, and he told methat the 2011 pins are availableon the main NCCC web site. Hetold us in November that hewould send out an email aboutthe 2011 pins, but I never gotanything. Several people haveasked me about 2011 pins, sohere ya go.

The governors will be voting onthe location for the nationalgovernors meeting. I don'tremember the exact years. Ithink it's 2013-2015. You willbe getting a ballot in the mailsoon to vote on this. Thesites submitting bids were St.Louis (the present location) andIndianapolis. We were told thata web page will be set up tocompare the costs, advantages,etc. for each location. Themain disadvantage we've seen isthat there are no restaurantsnear the Indianapolis hotel,as opposed to many restaurantsin the Westport complex in St.

Louis. We expect a very closevote on this and we REALLY wantto continue going to St. Louis,so we will be asking you to votefor St. Louis. The main NCCCweb site tracks the ballots asthey are returned, so we willknow who doesn't vote. We WILLbug you about this, so beproactive and get your ballotin.

We have a new insurance agent,Brown and Brown. Jim from B&Bgave a presentation on thechanges. The plan is to getthis presentation up onthe main NCCC web site soon.There were many changes, all ofthem good. Jim showed uspictures of his Fixed Roof Coupe(2002?), so he's "one ofus" and understands the Corvettementality and knows what we'reconcerned about. He said thefirst thing they looked at wasthe "extra" insurance coveragethat many venues ask for. K&Konly covered $1 million and manyplaces want more than that. Jimsaid the various clubsspent $20,000 on additionalcoverage, as asked for bydifferent venus. So theyinvestigated this and found thatthe highest coverage any venuewanted was $4 million. Theymade NCCC's coverage $5million.That's automatic for every NCCCclub and every member. The $5million is for every NCCC"event", which includescompetition and any event thatthe club participates in as agroup, like a drive and dine.You are not covered whiledriving as an individual to ameeting place (your automobilepolicy covers that), but you areinsured while part of the

group. B&B has added D&O(Directors and Officers), whichwe did not get from K&K. Theycover all the NCCC nationalofficers, regional officersand club officers. So if yourclub is sued for whateverreason, the officers are coveredand will have representation.K&K covered "track" vehicles(vehicles used at a competitionevent) with a $1000 deductible.B&B changed that to $zerodeductible. B&B has also added"crime" insurance up to $50,000so if somebody absconds withyour club treasury that'scovered. Overall, this is aMUCH better deal than we gotfrom K&K. One thing that didcome up is coverage for spouseswho are not NCCC members. Theyare NOT covered, so if your non-NCCC wife is driving andsomething happens -- nocoverage. It's got to be thecheapest insurance coveragethere is at $10 for $5 million,so make those spousesNCCC members.

The deadline for articles forthe next issue of Blue BarsMagazine is March 15th. If yournewsletter had a good articlethat would be of generalinterest, go ahead and submit it

to Sylvia. Now that Blue Barshas de-emphasized racing andadded more social articles youhave a good chance of beingpublished. I asked a while backwhy the drag records were inBlue Bars and everybody agreedwith me that they should bemoved to the NCCC web site. Iwas surprised to see them in thelatest issue. Well, it turnsout that Sylvia wants those tostay in Blue Bars (her email ispinkvette@... Her RACE CAR ispainted pink, so you can drawyour own conclusions fromthat). Sylvia asked that youcontact her if you haven'tgotten your issue of Blue Bars.She said a bunch of the latestissue arrived with the gutsmissing (only the cover left).

A tentative bid for the 2013Convention was received fromDick Yanko, former NCCCPresident and resident ofBowling Green, to have theConvention in Bowling Green.We'll see how that goes...

All for now.

See ya,

Cliff

National Competition News

NCCC Competitioninformation can be found at

the following link

http://www.corvettesnccc.org/Competition.html

The following Youtube video is from the ALMSCorvette Racing team discussing the paddle shifterand how it interacts with the race track.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wQs7GgF134

NCCC Regional NewsMAY

WC-500-001RS 1 PC Car ShowCorvettes of Temecula

Valley Temecula1 National NCCC Meeting St. Louis7 Regional NCCC Meeting8

WC-514-002 14 Corvette Dreaming PC Corvettes of San Diego San DiegoWC-514-003NS 14 Corvette Dreaming Corvettes of San Diego San Diego

15

WC-302-024 21 PC Car Show Corvettes WestSan Bernardino,

CA

WC-434-025 21 Gimmick Rallye #1 Pomona ValleyIrwindale

Speedway

WC-434-026 21 Hidden Time Rallye Pomona ValleyIrwindale

Speedway

WC-434-027 21 Poker Rallye #1 Pomona ValleyIrwindale

Speedway

WC-434-028 21 Poker Rallye #2 Pomona ValleyIrwindale

Speedway

WC-434-029 21 Game Rallye #3 Pomona ValleyIrwindale

Speedway

WC-434-030 21 Game Rallye #1 Pomona ValleyIrwindale

Speedway

WC-434-031 21 Game Rallye #2 Pomona ValleyIrwindale

Speedway

JUNEWC-394-032NS 4 PC Car Show Non Sanct Antelope Valley Corvettes Lancaster, CA

WC-326-006 4 High Speed Time Trials Corvette Super Sports Pahrump, NVWC-326-007 4 High Speed Time Trials Corvette Super Sports Pahrump, NVWC-326-008 4 High Speed Time Trials Corvette Super Sports Pahrump, NVWC-326-009 4 High Speed Time Trials Corvette Super Sports Pahrump, NVWC-326-010 5 High Speed Time Trials Corvette Super Sports Pahrump, NVWC-326-011 5 High Speed Time Trials Corvette Super Sports Pahrump, NVWC-325-004 5 Concours D'Elegance Orange Counth Vettes Huntington BeachWC-401-005 11 PC The Vette Set Seal Beach

18-24 National Covention Windy City Corvettes Tinley Park, IL2526

JULY23

WC-302-xxxRS 8 PC Car Show Corvettes West BB / Robin HoodWC-302-xxx 9 Low Speed Autocross Corvettes West BB / Robin HoodWC-302-xxx 10 Rallye Corvettes West BB / Robin Hood

1617

WC-518-040 23 Low Speed Autocross Vapor Trails Vettes Lompoc, CAWC-518-041 23 Low Speed Autocross Vapor Trails Vettes Lompoc, CA

243031

AUG67

13WC-326-033 14 PC Car Show Corvette Super Sports Costa Mesa, CA

2021

WC-518-042 27 PC Car Show Vapor Trails Vettes Santa Maria, CAWC-518-043 27 Poker Rallye Vapor Trails Vettes Santa Maria, CA

28

SEPT34

10-11 National NCCC Meeting St. Louis17 Regional NCCC Meeting18

WC-395-034 24 Time Trials Vettes R UsSpring Mountain,

NV

WC-395-035 24 Time Trials Vettes R UsSpring Mountain,

NV

WC-395-036 24 Time Trials Vettes R UsSpring Mountain,

NV

WC-395-037 24 Time Trials Vettes R UsSpring Mountain,

NV

WC-395-038 25 Time Trials Vettes R UsSpring Mountain,

NV

WC-395-039 25 Time Trials Vettes R UsSpring Mountain,

NVOCT

127 Corvette Roulette Las Vegas Corvette Assn Las Vegas

WC-202-xxx 8 Corvette Roulette Las Vegas Corvette Assn Las VegasWC-202-xxx 9 Corvette Roulette Las Vegas Corvette Assn Las Vegas

1516

WC-414-xxx 22 Peoples Choice Wild West Corvettes Victorville, CA232930

NOV

56

12-13 National NCCC Meeting St. Louis19202627

DEC34

10

WC-xxx-xxx 10 Time Trials TBDSpring Mountain,

NV

WC-xxx-xxx 10 Time Trials TBDSpring Mountain,

NV

WC-xxx-xxx 10 Time Trials TBDSpring Mountain,

NV

WC-xxx-xxx 10 Time Trials TBDSpring Mountain,

NV

WC-xxx-xxx 11 Time Trials TBDSpring Mountain,

NV

WC-xxx-xxx 11 Time Trials TBDSpring Mountain,

NV1718242531

West Coast Region http://www.ncccwcregion./

From Long Beach to Le Mans: Corvette Racing's OverseasOdyssey

Le Mans Test Day Sets the Stage for Sports Car Racing's Main Event

LE MANS, France, April 20, 2011 – This is only a test – but it's an important one. Corvette Racing will participatein the Le Mans Test Day on Easter Sunday, April 24. This one-day outing on the legendary French circuit will play akey role in the team's preparations for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 11-12, 2011.

"Every lap at Le Mans is valuable," said Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan. "It's impossible to testthere outside of the race environment because the course uses several miles of public highway. When you haveeven one day to gather information it's extremely beneficial, especially when your competition is going to be there.Corvette Racing's objective is to maximize the value of our time on the Le Mans track and then apply that when wereturn for the race in June."

Once a fixture in the run-up to the 24-hour race, the stand-alone test day had been suspended for several years.Its return to the calendar in 2011 posed a logistical problem for teams competing in the American Le Mans Series,which hosted its second round in Long Beach, Calif., last Saturday.

"The schedule makes it difficult, expensive, and risky to get the cars and equipment from Long Beach to Le Mansin time for the test," said Corvette Racing team manager Gary Pratt. "Everything would have to be crated up andflown from LAX on Sunday morning after the ALMS race. Even a short delay in customs or air transport could meanthat the shipment wouldn't arrive in time for the test.

"Fortunately one of our customers, Larbre Competition, has a Corvette C6.R that is available for the Le Mans test,"Pratt explained. "This is a chassis that we ran last year in Le Mans, and that Larbre raced at Sebring last month. It'sthe same spec as our current cars and the Larbre team will compete with it in the GTE-Am class at Le Mans.Combining our resources for the test day and sharing the information that we gather will be a win-win for bothorganizations."

Corvette Racing's four full-season drivers – Tommy Milner, Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin, and Jan Magnussen – willattend the Le Mans test, along with key Corvette Racing personnel. At the top of the to-do list is the requirement toqualify Milner to race at Le Mans after a three-year absence. He went to the 24-hour classic in 2006 and 2007 withthe Panoz team.

"I'm 25 years old, I've been to Le Mans twice, and yet it's been so long since I've raced there that I have to do 10laps to qualify again to drive," Milner said with a laugh. "I'm looking at the test as a briefing on what it's like to driveat Le Mans in a Corvette C6.R. It will be a great opportunity to get comfortable in the car and to get seat timewithout the pressure of the race week." Olivier Beretta, Milner's full-season teammate, agreed: "It is very importantto go to Le Mans when you have the rare opportunity to drive on the same track that you will race on," he said. "Theonly difference will be the weather, but Europe has been very warm recently and I hope the good weather will stayfor another week. Then after the test we will have more time to think about and get ready for race week."

Driver Jan Magnussen will be reunited with an old friend at the Le Mans test day. "We'll be using my car from lastyear, so I should know it well," said the Dane. "The weather during April may not be representative of the conditionsduring the race, but the test is a opportunity for the drivers to get back into the rhythm of Le Mans. It is a differenttrack to drive because you have to attack in certain places and not in other places, so it's helpful to get a few lapsand work on the setup. Corvette Racing has always done a very good job of looking at all of the data and beingright on when the race is there."

Oliver Gavin will be teamed with Magnussen at Le Mans this year, a combination that scored three consecutiveGT1 class wins in 2004-06. "It's fantastic to be going to Le Mans because any time running on that track isprecious," Gavin noted. "You've got to make the most of it because it's such a unique circuit and such a uniqueenvironment. It's great for Larbre Competition to work together with Corvette Racing. You think you've got loads oftime with a full day to test, but it whizzes by so quickly. Each driver is keen to get as many laps as possible, andyou've got to make the most of it. I'm sure the engineers will have a very detailed plan for every second of the testday."

From: ALMS

CORVETTE RACING TAKES SECOND AND FIFTH IN STREETS OFLONG BEACH

Gavin and Magnussen Finish on GT Podium, Milner and Beretta Charge fromBack of the Grid

2011-04-17

LONG BEACH, Calif., April 16, 2011 - Corvette Racing survived two hours of close combat to finish second andfifth in the American Le Mans Series at Long Beach. Jan Magnussen and Oliver Gavin took the second spot on theGT podium in the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R when the race finished under caution. Tommy Milner andOlivier Beretta fought their way from the back of the grid at the start to fifth at the finish in the No. 3 CompuwareCorvette C6.R. The BMW of Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand was first across the stripe under the yellow flag.

Not even Los Angeles' notorious rush hour could rival the traffic on the historic 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporarycourse. With 29 starters on the concrete-lined circuit, close calls and contact were commonplace, although only twofull-course cautions slowed the race. Gavin started the No. 4 Corvette second on the GT grid and held that positionthrough the opening segment, which was interrupted by a lengthy full-course caution. When racing resumed hetook the lead with an opportunistic move.

"I had a very eventful stint with lots of bumping and banging and cars spinning in strange places," Gavin said. "Thestart was pretty standard, everyone got a bit strung out, and then the LMPC cars were getting in the way. It allstarted when the BMW behind me disappeared. On the next lap he was turned around at the fountain turn! Therace leader went the wrong way, I went the right way, and I got myself into the lead."

Hand's BMW and Patrick Long's Porsche subsequently got around the Corvette, but Long soon encountered thewall and the Porsche eventually retired. As green-flag pit stops began shortly after the one-hour mark, Gavinhanded off the No. 4 Corvette to Magnussen.

"I was pushing absolutely as hard as I could, and I was cutting the margin," said Magnussen, who ran the fastestlap of the race in GT and trimmed the BMW's lead to six seconds before the race-ending caution period. "Therewas a lot of traffic, and in a race like this you have to take so many chances. After the race I had a walk around thecar and looked at all the places where I'd tapped the walls. It's a shame we weren't closer at the finish, we could

have had a good fight."

Milner was on a mission when the race began, moving from 14th in class to fourth before the pit stop sequence putBeretta behind the wheel of the No. 3 Corvette. The car was moved to the back of the grid at the start after a post-qualifying change of tires.

"I got lucky with the first yellow flag because we'd just cleared all of the Challenge cars and LMPC cars," Milnersaid. "The car was great, and although it was a little banged up, it was still quick. That's just street racing -everyone gets bunched up."

Beretta brought the No. 3 home in fifth after a relatively uneventful run. "I'm happy for the team - we got our secondpodium in two races which is really important," Beretta said. "Tommy did a good stint, he was very clever, and thecar was quite fast. Then it was just using my brain to keep the position and put the points in the pocket."

Gavin and Magnussen are now second in the unofficial GT class points standings with 36 markers, and Beretta andMilner are third with 31. Mueller and Hand lead with 50 points.

"When you can leave Long Beach with two cars intact, you've accomplished something," said Corvette Racingprogram manager Doug Fehan. "The fact that we were able to finish second and fifth make this a very satisfyingday. Now it's on to Le Mans!"

ESPN2 will televise coverage of the American Le Mans Series at Long Beach from 5 to 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, April17.Corvette Racing's next event is the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France, on June 11-12, 2011.

Consequences