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The Rod Knock North Suburban Sports Car Club’s Official Newsletter July 2016

Rod Knock Club & Racing News July 2016

ization more critical, or are

peoples’ needs and interests

and sustainability the ulti-

mate goal? So many priori-

ties, so many

choices. It’s the

culture of the or-

ganization that

determines its

mantras.

How did GM

behave when a

possible ignition design detail

seemed to have a link with fatalities?

How did Tylenol behave back in the

70’s when people were put at risk due

to tampered product packaging?

How should any

food producer react

to a discovery of

dangerous contami-

nation or suspected

product compro-

mise?

Our Technical Inspection pro-

cess supports it, the GCR preaches

it, Corner Workers watch and en-

force it, Crews in red trucks and

ambulances are idling off track

ready to do it: SAFETY.

We live in a capitalist system

where, according to the textbooks,

profit is the mantra. We even have

corporations treated as “people” in

some legal settings. That’s a bit con-

fusing. So, in a capitalist setting, are

people more important than profits?

Is the growth and vitality of the organ-

A Conundrum: Buy the best, most expensive?..or..

Buy the minimum safety margin?

We have chosen an exciting lifestyle. Often, we’re the

envy of our neighbors and friends. Also, often, racing

generates a precautionary response from Moms and

Dads and other family members. Most folks recognize

the tradeoff of fun and danger, and not only behind the

wheel of a race car. Rock climbing, parasailing, downhill

skiing, boating, field sports and skydiving all pose their

own danger/joy balance.

And all have their own versions of safety regulations

and equipment. There are supplier companies that

manufacture gloves, padding, shoes, goggles, jersies,

tools and rigging - all of which need to meet standards of

safety & reliability that an industry association have set.

There are brand names and lessor known brands.

There are even knockoffs that have entered and confused

the picture. People who want to participate in the activi-

ty may be surprised and put off by the cost of entry into

the chosen sport. The cost of Snell rated auto racing hel-

mets can range from $300 to $2000, so, how much is enough?

If we use the model that quality parallels price, then this could

get expensive if only the best will do. My habit is to buy mid-

range priced items provided full functionality is offered and good

ratings prove value. Consider the protection offered: fire? Crash-

worthiness? Reliability? Structural Integrity?

Less expensive options may protect equally well. The rules

state what not how much. Aircraft quality bolts, triangulated

frames, extra roll cage braces, factory-only parts, Kevlar vs. fiber-

glass all add a measure of safety. Choose a parts supplier that is

respected and whose advice gets high marks. Often folks within

NSSCC and MCSCC can be that source. Ask around the paddock.

Official statements are

prepared and made to the

press that conform to a

safety first mantra. Watch

as the events proceed to

confirm the reality of the focus of the

research, fix, and permanent going

forward outputs.

Then watch racing clubs—all over the

country–as they form and create their

corporate and operational entities

built on the premise that all who come

to their events hope to have fun safely

and go home intact. These corpora-

tions promote and enforce safe prac-

tices which ultimately result in suc-

cess. We all want it that way…..Ed

Safety, They say

Is the First Priority……..

"NO JOB IS SO IMPORTANT AND NO SER-

VICE IS SO URGENT-THAT WE CANNOT

TAKE TIME TO PERFORM OUR WORK

SAFELY." BELL SYSTEM 1946

“We want the public to be assured that in this time of

crisis, the safety of our employees and customers is our

highest priority”, said every corporation every time

when caught in a tainted food or leaded paint or oil

spill or poisoned ground water or sharp exploding pro-

jectile or suddenly flammable product, etc. etc. etc. etc.


July 2016—In This Issue:

Pg1 Best, Most Expensive, or Minimums?

Pg1 Safety the First Priority?

Pg2 Our President Speaks

Pg2 MCSSC 2016 Season Schedule

Pg2 Our Sports Terminology Explained

Pg3 Event Results, Member Winners

Pg3 Gramma, Jay Leno and Next Issue

Pg3 Rod Knock’s Mid-Year exam. I dare you.

Pg4 ATGATT Perspective

Pg4 Risky Assumptions Perspective

Pg5 “3 Questions” Profile: Mitch Lelito, B/P

Pg6 Rod Knock Tech Tip: Shaving Soap

Pg6 Bonus Tech Tip….Lexus CPU Hiccup

Pg6 Mentor Support Available

Pg7 Safe Behavior On Track

Pg7 Safety Recall: Jeep Grand Cherokee

Pg7 Club Officers and e-mails

Pg7 Sponsor Logos

Pg8 For Sale “Rod’s List” - Driver Training

Pg8 Ray Kollock & MCSSC Safety Suit Raffle

Pg8 4 Sale: Craig Inanen’s Club Formula Indy

Pg9 July 2,3,4 Old Glory NSSCC flyer

MCSSC 2016 Season Schedule

March 19 NSSCC Indoor Racing School BHF

April 16-17 DS & W2W Blackhawk (NSSCC)

May 14-15 HPDE/HSAX/Enduro/W2W Milw.Mile

May 28,29,30 HPDE/W2W/Enduro/HSAX BHF

June 11-12 HPDE/HSAX/Enduro & W2W Milw.Mile

June 17,18,19 Staff VSCDA Blackhawk

July 2,3,4 DS&W2W&HPDE/HSAX BHF (NSSCC)

July 30,31 HPDE/HSAX & W2W Blackhawk

Aug 13,14 W2W & W2W/Enduro Road America

Sept 17,18 W2W & W2W/Enduro GingerMan

Oct 1,2 HPDE/HSAX & W2W Blackhawk

Oct 22,23 W2W & W2W Blackhawk

Dec 3rd NSSCC 2016 Awards Banquet Ye Olde Town Inn, Crystal Lake, Illinois

Jan 14, 2017 MCSCC Banquet, NSSCC hosting Location being arranged as we speak

First, I would like to wish everyone a "Happy July 4th!" and I hope it will be a good one, since this is going to print on July 1. Our July 4th event, the "Old Glory Grand Prix II" is coming up on July 2-4, 2016, and with this race we have gained a new sponsor/marketing part-ner with www.rockauto.com. Per the Constant Contact PR release, www.rockauto.com has agreed to pro-vide us with materials for registration

and in return showcase their online catalog of products. I encourage all of our members if they are in need of any auto parts to check www.rockauto.com first. They can easily enter their web-site by using our own website www.nsscc.org and clicking the link on the left hand side of the menu column. I would like to personally thank

www.rockauto.com for coming on board and partnering with us in our current and future racing and event endeavors. In addition to the above, I would

like to thank everyone that shows up and helps this club out on a day-to-day basis when it comes to all sorts of activities. I would first like to thank our me-dia contributors: Larry Noble of the Rod Knock, Eric Lattas for our website content and updates, and Mark Atkinson our Artist. Without

these three, most of the commu-nications and look of the club would be lost and not updated. These three have been very in-strumental in getting our mes-sage across to old and new mem-bers. I would also like to thank everyone who helps us organize, run, and contribute at our race weekends: from our executive

board (Scott Durbin, John Saccameno, and Mitch Lelito) to our race chairs and members that show up to most if not all of our meetings: Rob Roderick, Eric Barnes, John Churchill, Nancy Mizura, Jason Ostrowski, Dave Bralich, Bob Dudeck. Without all of them and their support, this would be one very difficult and lonely position. And let none of us forget NSSCC’s own Lynn

Serra who is skillfully guiding Mid-western Council while contributing to our own success. Lastly, I would like to thank all of

our mem-bers and competi-tors. With-out you, there is no club and no fun. Without you this would not

be worth it. I want to say "Thank You" for all that you do in helping out this club as well as spreading the word about what we do. I feel that we are the "best positioned” club within the Midwestern Council of Sports Car Club organization. Thank you all. Let's have a great race weekend, and a great Fourth of July holiday.

Till next month, Michael Palmer, President

NSSCC Monthly Meetings held on 3rd

Thursday of the month, 7:30 pm in

the private room, Sweet Baby Ray’s

BBQ, Higgins Rd (Rte 72), Elk Grove

Village (Board meeting = 7:00pm)

Our Sport’s Language:

vo-’kab-yu-,ler-ee \ n

We’ll try to make the unfamiliar familiar with this feature. Often newbies of any endeavor are buried in the terminology of the new thing they’re trying to conquer. That can only offer barriers to progress. So, in an effort to encourage faster and deeper understanding of the way we “seasoned veterans” talk, each issue will offer explanations of a couple of terms you may hear us throw around.

HANS Device: Is actually a brand name acronym meaning Head And Neck Support, worn over the shoulders, se-cured in place by the safety harness’ shoulder belts, and secured to the hel-met’s temples. It is intended to mediate driver injury from neck-snapping for-ward motion in the event of a collision.

Balaclava: An important article of fire proof safety clothing worn under the helmet, also called a head sock. Re-quired in W2W racing and often sug-gested with other full safety equipment in higher speed track days & AX classes .

The President Speaks

Dear NSSCC Members

ALL THE PARTS YOUR CAR WILL EVER NEED

http://www.rockauto.com/



http://auto.com/

http://www.nsscc.org/

http://www.nsscc.org/

http://ww.rockauto.com/

http://ww.rockauto.com/


EVENT RESULTS:

NSSCC members finish in top 3 spots on June 11 & 12th:

NSSCC Podium Winners Milwaukee Mile Race Challenge II

1st Place Finishers: Martin Zimmerman ITGT

2nd Place Finishers: James Fogerty EP; Walt Kelley SP

3rd Place Finishers: Gary Cooke EP

HSAX 1st Place Finisher: John Tennant [YS]

HSAX 2nd Place Finishers: Greg Nemec [BS] , Rob Roderick [AM] , John Qualich [AS]

(h)1. Never

(c)2. Always

(f)3. Sometimes

(b)4. Usually

(g)5. If Raining

(a)6. When Passing

(e)7. In the Pits

(d)8. During Lunch

a. Watch your mirror at the same time to be aware of faster cars coming up

on you, too.

b. Hurried before-track prep may overlook a critical checklist item.

c. Pay close attention to P.A. announcements for calls to grid.

d. Review the optimum path thru a least-favorite corner and mentally im-

print corner set-up, entry, apex, speed for when back on track .

e. Scan the area you plan to park/drive over to remove objects that may

ruin your day with a flat tire.

f. Give in to the safest track behavior vs. the chanciest track behavior.

g. Get overshoes to slip over your in-car footwear as you walk around,

keeping the soles dry and prevent slipping off pedals while driving.

h. Disregard a safety flag on the bridge, or at a corner.

___ 1. Never ….

___ 2. Always ….

___ 3. Sometimes ….

___ 4. Usually ….

___ 5. If Raining ….

___ 6. When Passing ….

___ 7. In the Pits ….

___ 8. During Lunch ….

Rod Knock’s Mid-Year Exam:

“No One Said There’d be a Test!”

Safety and racing gurus from major venues pooled their knowledge to offer a mid-season

status and behavioral assessment for our NSSCC members. Are there correct answers

to this quiz, answers that will form the desti-ny of our sport in the Midwest and tracks all

over the Eastern Seaboard? Uh, sure…..Ed

Next Rod Knock Issue: Worst mistakes

you can make on Track.

This is an issue with a safety theme.

Question: Did you

see the barrel roll in the Hemi Under Glass

that developed when Jay Leno was taping

his “Jay Leno’s Garage” show? This may be one of the best media event scenarios to show off safety cell design and race car compo-

nentry to the general public. Safety is Cool.

Gramma you did a great job

of fixing your seatbelt!


Emotional Health: Don’t overlook

the mental health of the moment.

Rested? Overstressed? Angry? Atti-

tude often impedes or sharpens skill.

Connection to the Car: Don’t

slide around in your seat. A firm grip

with your butt & hands

assures control.

Support Crew: Extra

pair of hands find surpris-

es—2 heads are better than

1. A smile, a helmet pat

and shared work go a long

way.

The Question: Which of the areas

above is the riskiest to ignore?

CHECKLISTS Really, Really Help:

Car, Clothing, Helmet, Pit Area, Crew,

Track, and Me. Let’s not get all the

way to the track and forget or overlook

an item that may prevent a safe return.

This is a motorcycle safety acronym

referring to a commitment by street

riders to personal safety. Motorcycles

are inherently dangerous, and riders

and their passengers are mercilessly

exposed to the elements, hard pave-

ment, sharp objects and big motorized

other vehicles. So, caution beckons.

Arguments for personal freedoms and

individual choice aside, it is the smart

rider that assumes an incident has their

name on it somewhere, sometime,

maybe even today.

Therefore, why, to-

day, should I choose

to ride with sandals

and shorts, no shirt?

Oh, yeah, and may-

be I should clue in

my honey who

showed up in a bikini

top and short shorts as she’s climbing

up onto the high seat on the back. But,

I don’t want to spoil her fun as we leave

the house after a cool couple of beers.

That’s actually a bit of an unfair com-

parison for a sports car club’s newslet-

ter. After

all, we’re

told by the

rules that in

all-out

track war-

fare we’re gonna do our own version

of ATGATT. It’s in the GCR. We

have to show our fireproof under-

wear to tech inspection personnel.

The Club has decreed our level of

safety, to a certain extent.

Personal safety decisions enter in

as equipment purchases are consid-

ered as discussed on page one.

There are additional con-

siderations that overlay

safety purchases, even be-

yond the need to just buy

stuff because I have to.

Last month we featured a

follow-up column from

John Haydon about how to

determine the “health” of

the fasteners holding critical

parts together. We also rely

on testing agencies to decree

the reliability and standards

satisfaction of safety equip-

ment such as helmets and

firesuits. Even tires and

seatbelts have recommenda-

tions for “age limits” due

to material composition

deterioration.

Vigilance is the watch-

word. No one should be

more aware of the totality

of the layered safety enve-

lope in which he/she

rides than the driver. After all, he/she

has the most on the line. So ATGATT

in the 4-wheeled world of autosport

still commands a personal commit-

ment and follow-through by the peo-

ple involved in the effort to field a race

car on race day.

So, it seems, there is still some

room for choice within the man-

dated safety formulas of our

sport. Remember, sins of omis-

sion are just as damning as sins

of commission…..Ed

ATGATT: All The Gear All The Time

It’s easy to think of safety in terms

of what’s seen—uniforms, fire bot-

tles, harnesses, roll cages. But those

items are not the whole story.

Structural Safety: The racecar

platform, steel, welds. Stressors can

take their toll and render materials

and joints vulnerable.

Mechanical Systems: Brakes,

steering, suspension, fuel. Wear and

time affect all systems, and prudent

attention is key.

Motive Power:

Motor, transmission,

shafts, gears. Start-

ing out, one expects

to finish. Safety in

this instance means

not breaking down on track.

Personal Armor, Protective

Clothing: Perhaps the first things

focused on in a safety discussion.

How much is “enough”?

Physical Condition: Are you in

good shape? Weight managed?

Heart Healthy? Strength and endur-

ance training is vital.

Assumptions Which One is Riskiest?

Yawning, getting into the car in the

garage early in the morning, key in,

twist, and off to work. Pull out into the

flow of the tollway with a stab of the

pedal, same-o, same-o. Assumptions

aplenty. Good for you that your

maintenance schedule allows that.

Racing is on a different plane.

Assumptions are not a good idea.

Shortcuts usually aren’t, either.

The day you make an assumption

about your lug nuts’ torque is the

day it’ll bite you. I once had a

loose suspension nut pointed out to me

by a fellow FV driver. Not because I

was assuming, but because I was igno-

rant of the need to

check this particular

fastener. Knowledge

is power. Follow-

through is just smart.

Bumper sticker:

Bad Spellers of the World, Untie!


NSSCC Members can answer some questions that help describe their racing passion and histo-ry and offer commentary about their cars and experiences. Mitch Lelito, Orange Dodge Challenger RT HSAX and Pace Car shares reflections on his storied past this month.

I bought my Dodge Challenger in June 1975… and I started pylon auto-crossing it that same month (wow!… how time flies when you’re having

fun… 41+ years … and all with the same car!)… AND, in fact, my 2nd ever event was at Blackhawk Farms in July 1975!... it was an HSAX, hosted by MCSCC… I started with the pylon-autocross events with local Chicago-area clubs… Chicago Region SCCA, and also the Tri-State Sports Car Council (TSSCC) – typical pylon autocross racing events, including season-long championship “series” of those events. I primarily stayed with these pylon autocross events, and became involved with club leadership roles… becoming the Presi-dent/Director of the TSSCC for 10 years between 1980-1990…

I’ve had growing interest in road course events, primarily HSAX, and on a rare occasion I’d participate in a MCSCC race commonly held at BHF. With growing family and work responsibilities, I took a temporary hia-tus (break) from the racing scene in early 2000…. Lasting until year 2010 when NSSCC fellow member and long-time friend Brian Garcia twisted my arm and got me involved with the

“3 Questions” Member

Profile: Mitch Lelito

NSSCC/MCSCC .. to be the “Honorary Pace Car” at the NSSCC “Return To Road America” weekend event in the summer of 2010. Most muscle-car enthusiasts think my car is a drag racer… NOT! T/A stands for TRANS AM… of the SCCA Trans Am racing series… my all-time favorite.. especially the historic 1970-era series!... power-thumpin’ pony cars battling it out against each other for what they were intended and meant to be doing!!! As my Challenger has primarily been pre-setup to compete with the SCCA autocross classification of E/Street Prepared, I’ve squeezed into the MCSCC HSAX classification of B/Prepared. Current GCR has “points per modifica-tion” which heavily determines which category/class you’re positioned in. I can compete fairly successfully within B/P, however, I may be switching to either B/Modified, or else Super/Street in the future. Since summer of 2015 I’ve been rebuilding/restifying my

Challenger… hoping to be back-on-track for the 2017 MCSCC HSAX cham-pionship se-ries.

Oh… by the way… My Challenger is not a factory original

1970 Challenger T/A model car… I

cloned into that model by ~1978…..

strictly for past SCCA Solo II rules/

classification purposes… and that

drives the “purists” of the Mopar car

collectors crazy… its been detailed

into a T/A model very specifically. Fellow life-long NSSCC Friends & Mopar Addicts

Brian Garcia John Sandberg

I meet lots of people who want to get involved with racing (W2W, AX/HSAX,

HPDE, etc), especially via the internet’s different forums and e-chats, even

developing more friendships via the internet! I observe so many car enthusi-

asts eager to spend lots of money and buy as many different products, make

extensive car modifications, etc… and most all these people do it without a

targeted goal. That may end with the car not prepared/modified enough, or

else, it can easily be over-modified, placing your car in a class that you’ll need

to make/spend even more modifications to become competitive. A commit-

ment to a Club will offer the mod guidance, and new friends await!

Is it a “show car”???... My “show” is on the track! When asked “..Why do you race the car when it’s so beauti-ful, etc…” My answer is that “I’m keeping the purist’s reputation up for their heritage of the cars…”

I always encourage newcomers to seek and find a sanctioned racing group/club that has established rules to follow, then, build/modify your car to a chosen set of that club’s rules.

W2W is better. No, HSAX is better.

Waiting for TLC in the garage…..


that crud in your en-

gine? Of course you do

–you're on this forum!

Fortunately, there's a quick and easy way to do things, and it won't result in a ruined en-gine. It's called...

SHAVING CREAM! Buy some super normal shaving cream, then fill every nook and cranny with it. Like so:

Then, scrape whatever

needs to be scraped, and

let all of the crud fall onto

the cream. Once you're done,

vacuum every thing out with a

shop vac, and the cream (and

the crud) will magically be re-

moved.

It's probably a good idea to

still do an oil change a few

miles after using this trick, but

Once again my friends at Grassroots Motorsports.com have raised the bar on simple solutions to a simple prob-lem. I received an e-mail singing the magazine’s praises, including a pre-view of an interesting suggestion for messy engine repair found on their

online version, in the project blogs. We’ve all been there—how to clean off an old gasket without nasty bits of waste falling into oil gallies, water jackets and cylinders. Here’s what they say: “Have a nasty gasket you need

to scrape off, but don't want all

it does eliminate hours and

hours of disassembly and

cleaning on a job like this.

I’m sure most of us have had the

pleasure of stuffing holes in a block

with paper towel bits, only to see

small fragments disappear into the

block and escape your careful retriev-

al operation anyway.

Most of us have also snapped on

protective rubber gloves to preserve

our tender baby bottom smooth

hands from chemical burns and per-

manently grease-blackened finger-

prints.

So, a great non-toxic solution with a

low cost softening agent that’s re-

moved with a wet/dry vac - potential-

ly an almost total removal of waste

material. Kinda makes me wish I had

a valve job waiting to test it…...Ed

1. cap: a friend of Odysseus entrusted with the education of Odysseus’ son Telema-

chus 2. a: a trusted counselor or guide b: TUTOR, COACH—men-tor-ship \-,ship\

n 3. a: colloquial v NSSCC usage—i.e., [to mentor] of or pertaining to darn valuable

insight and assistance of mind, body, and vehicle to promote safe, fast, fun racing b: a strong breath mint n

[email protected] can connect you with an experienced club member that can answer, obfuscate, and open horizons.

NSSCC Mentor available: \’men-to(e)r, ‘ment-er \ n [L,fr.Gk Mentor]

Bonus Rod Knock Tech Tip:

Lexus CPU Hiccup?

Rod Knock Tech Tip:

Gasket Removal

This is a step out of the box because the tech tip is focused on a street car issue, not a race car issue. Contact Lexus, Bloomberg

reports June 10, but first, in order to heighten the suspense…..

1943, London, England: Joe Kennedy Jr. strapped

himself into the pilot’s seat of a converted U.S.Navy bomber,

now designed as a flying drone bomb packed with thousands

of pounds of explosives, intended to destroy a Nazi “super

gun” bunker in northern France. The plan was to have him

& his co-pilot get the plane in the air, then parachute out,

allowing a “mother ship” to remotely guide the plane to its

mission finale. Before he left, a lower level self-taught elec-

tronics officer pointed out a design flaw that he felt

risked setting off events that would cause the plane to

explode. No one believed him. Commander Kennedy

proceeded, bravely citing the importance of the mission.

What was the design flaw? Stray radio signals might

compromise a failsafe device designed to prevent acci-

dental detonation. Unfortunately, the officer was right.

What about Lexus? 2014-2016 navigation, audio,

climate control computers can be disabled by data broad-

cast via high-definition radio by a weather and traffic

service provider in Chicago, southern U.S. and Califor-

nia. 2016 Toyota Land Cruisers are also included. A

YouTube posting showed the Nav system start-up screen

on RX350 SUV going purple and restarting. Some have

dashboards screens stop & restart repeatedly. Forced

reset by the dealer or disconnect battery, wait 30 seconds

before reconnect may set things right again…..Ed

mailto:[email protected]


President, Michael Palmer [email protected]

Vice President, John Saccameno

[email protected] Treasurer, Scott Durbin

[email protected]

Secretary, Mitch Lelito [email protected]

Competition Dir./Club Steward, John Saccameno [email protected]

HSAX Competition Director, Eric Barnes [email protected]

V/H Competition Director, Jason Ostrowski [email protected]

Membership Chairperson Jim Kane [email protected]

Rod Knock Editor Larry Noble [email protected]

Letter to the Editor: Rolling Meadows and its money-grubbing red light cam-era: 2 times is 2 much. An 80+ yr-old senior com-plained to the Daily Herald and anyone else that would listen that she was fined for a simple left hand turn, along with other cars...twice. Her simple life support-ed by Social Security cannot afford this red light camera designed to catch unsuspecting motorists. Boy-cott the businesses is the war cry. Just because drivers with you on

the street (or on track) vio-late the rules doesn’t ab-solve you of the responsi-bility you bear for your own actions. We live in a socie-ty that presumes the rules

are good for the majority, and that things operate smoother when everybody follows those rules. If there is doubt about the validity of the benefit of a rule, then there are mechanisms established to challenge and

advocate change. Blatant disregard is not a strategy. It is cause for penalty. Did you now that in Kentucky you need a license to walk around nude in your own house? Hmmm. Good thing I live in Rolling Meadows…..Ed

2016 NSSCC Board

“The Rod Knock” is the official news publication of The North Suburban Sports Car Club. The publication is provided to North Suburban Sports Car Club members as part of

the annual membership deliverable and commitment from the Club. material published herein may be reprinted provided that usage is credited to the author, and North

Suburban Sports Car Club. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Board of Directors of North

Suburban Sports Car Club, the Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs, or it’s Bod.

Article submission is encouraged and accepted in MS Word format via email. When submitting photos or artwork, please request the material to be returned if that is de-

sired. Electronic copies of photos should be sent as attachments. Questions and comments should be directed to the Rod Knock Editor: [email protected].

but I also confirm by looking that I’ve done what I thought I did. Safety First. The problem with the “new tech-nology” is there is only a 1-space

push forward or a 1-space pull back be-fore the shifter spring-returns to a mid-dle, neutral position, like joy stick. The results of your transmission mode selec-tion are illuminated on top of the shifter and on the dashboard. If you were in D,

you have to remember to do 3 pushes forward to get to P. No clicks. Not everybody is confirming their moves. The investigation is pretty busy with interviewing folks that have been run over by their own cars. The cars are at fault, of course. The NHTSA is cau-tioning manufacturers to do extra due diligence as they introduce exciting new technologies to the general public to confirm proper, repeatable, safe opera-tion. This has now become a recall. BMW and Mercedes Benz also have “similar” shifters. Folks who have had close calls but no injuries expressed fear of driving their own cars. Safety sources call it a “user interface design issue.”…...Ed

The death of young “Star Trek” actor Anton Yelchin early Sunday morning June 19th has returned attention to an active investigation first reported in February of user-unfriendly console shifter operation in cars from the Fiat-Chrysler Group. The National Highway Safety Administration’s ongoing probe centers around 2015 Jeep Grand Chero-kee SUVs, but 856,000 corporate com-panion vehicles sharing similar power-trains are included. The details of the young actor’s death have not been released, only that he was pinned against the driveway’s gate/mailbox structure. It is unclear why the vehicle began rolling toward him after he exited. At this point, it can only be assumed that the issue can be traced to the active investigation. What seems to be the issue is a new design which is visually and ergonomi-cally very different than the look and feel of a “usual” console shifter. Nor-mal experience feels the detent clicks of PRNDL as the user rows the shifter for-ward to confidently lock the vehicle in park before shutting off the key and stepping out. I don’t know about you,

Everybody’s Doin’ It…….?

Safe Behavior OnTrack

Recycled Wisdom: Success

always occurs in private.

Failure happens in full view.

And for Safety’s Sake: Jeep Grand Cherokee












Our Thanks to NSSCC member Ray Kollock for donating

his racing gear to benefit the MCSCC. If you haven’t yet

heard of this real bargain of an opportunity for a shoul-

der-to-toe (helmet not included) safety covering, read

along and join in the fun. Good Luck!

Rod Knock Classifieds

“Rod’s List”

All the following items are offered by your Rod Knock editor Larry Noble, Rolling Meadows. 847-253-7381. [email protected] — a competition driv-er education theme this issue!

An opportunity to own history. These 3 books go back to the genesis of our

sport in the modern era. The 1977 Turner & Miles autocrossing book (signed by

Dick Turner) was the first of its kind to legitimize parking lot event skills. Bondu-

rant’s 1982 high performance classic on how-to drive the track precedes his

videos and schools. He includes photos of Paul Newman & Robert Wagner from

“Winning” and James Garner & the gang from “Grand Prix”. Alan Johnson’s

1976 3rd edition best seller is the road racer’s trackside handbook. Hairstyles &

bellbottoms come & go but successful driving tips remain. Price: $15.00 each

Here’s where you come in. Have any items you’d like to list in our Club’s newsletter? Just e-mail description, price, (photo?) and contact info to [email protected] at your convenience.

2001 “Club Formula Indy” Car Craig Inanen [email protected] or 815/332-8222 eve’s

2001 CLUB FORMULA INDY car – $3100.00 - current MC annual inspection and log book. 600cc Polaris, rings and seals 2015. CVT, CDI ignition, Aaen tuned exhaust, Mikuni TM40’s w/ PJM velocity stacks, metallic filters, fuel cell. Wil-wood, Hawk pads and Master cylinders 2015. Carrera/QA1 coil

over shocks 2 new 2015-16. Rack & pinion, quick disconnect steering wheel, Kirkey seat, G-Force Pro 5 point belts and Simp-son arm re-straints new 2015. Running, tail and brake lights for rain.

Adjustable front wings, fixed rear wing = 1320 sq.in. surface. Addition-al downforce from 20 degree angle nose. 2 radiators, honeycomb protec-tor plus 18” heat exchanger. 760 lbs ew.

Spares include tires (6)(no rains), wheels (4), brake lines/pads, chains (5 sprockets= ratios 5.14-4.00 to 1), links, CVT belt, many add’l mechanical parts, and Polaris shop manual. Former CFI winning car returned to racing in 2015 capable of competitive times with a skilled driver. Can be inexpen-sive entry into open wheel large Formula racing for a novice/rookie. Can be changed from road racing to oval config w/simple steering, chassis adjustments, tire stagger.

Ask about available and “priced to sell” 2008 Ford E150 van with shelving, pull out storage & 2015 Quality Steel single axle trailer.



Midwestern Council Of Sports Car Clubs Presents North Suburban Sports Car Club Holiday ThreeDayPalooza Saturday July 2nd MCSCC Drivers School #2, Sunday July 3rd MCSCC W2W

Race #4, Monday July 4th High Performance Driver Experience & MCSCC High Speed Auto-cross #4. Details and Registration at motorsportreg.com. Ooooo, bring a Corvette like this:

Don’t forget to help out during the weekend—a fitting way to celebrate the Holi-day with fellow Car Dudes and Dudettes. Call Mike Palmer or Scott Durbin

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