Greetings from Salem
The weather these last few days has been beautiful and spring is definitely in the air, which means that race season is almost here. Our first race of the spring session, an NDR Rally is coming up in just 4 weeks, March 20 &21 and promises to be a really fun event. NDR rallies offer eligibility to racers as young as 7 and as old as 20. And with weight limits in Super Stock and Masters slightly higher than AA, if you’ve been growing (or have passed age eligibility in AA) and are having a hard time making weight, you can still race in NDR.
As an added bonus, this spring we are offering a super discounted entry fees of just $20 for past racers and FREE for anyone who has never raced Soap Box Derby before. We’ll be offering trial runs in association cars, as time permits, to kids who are interested in trying out the hill and offering car tuning and building help to new car builders. So come on out and join the fun. Look for some new additions at and around the track to help enhance the race atmosphere and to encourage new participants.
We have some new racers to introduce. Our new Legacy Sponsorship program, founded by past Champions Robie Mossbrucker, 1976 and Tom Parent, 1977, along with the West Salem Boys and Girls Club has chosen Shelby Peterson and Anna Kriedel, both 11 years old, to campaign in Stock this season. They are busy building their cars along with their volunteer pit crew from the Boys and Girls Club and are a very enthusiastic group to work with. We’ll have some pictures soon on our blog of their car building efforts and their great teamwork. Welcome to the great sport of racing girls!
We also want to welcome Maj and Kallan Wehrmeister who have recently relocated to Lake Oswego from Vallejo, CA. Maj represented Region 2 as Stock Rally Champ last year in Akron and is building a Super Stock to rally. Kallan is a first year racer in Stock. So let’s extend a warm Oregon welcome to the Wehrmeister family.
Saturday March 13 we are planning a workday to get ready for the season. We will be checking our equipment, including all the association cars, making some repairs at the track to the sound system and tuning up the association cars. If anyone would like to volunteer to help out please let us know. We also still have a couple of oil can cars that need some TLC so let us know if you can adopt an oil can to make some minor repairs.
For those of you concerned abut the state of business in Akron, things are looking up. As first reported on our blog, http://salemsbd.blogspot.com AASBD, First Merit bank and the City of Akron have reached a deal to restructure debt with the loan guaranteed by the City of Akron. This is great news and bodes well for the future of Derby.
For our out of town racers, we are in the process of finalizing an agreement with the Shilo Inns and Suites of Salem. They are offering our racer’s families a rate of $ 65.95 per night at their facility on Market St. in Salem. Their amenities include free wireless internet service, an indoor pool and spa, and a deluxe continental breakfast. Stay tuned for more details as well as a confirmation code to access this rate for online booking-we’re just a day or two away from getting this put to bed.
Lastly we want to extend a big Thank You to our sponsors, Les Schwab, PrintIt Sign Media, Maaco, Peterson Collector Cars, Hess Design and of course the great City of Salem. The support of these folks is crucial to us and we ask everyone to support them in return.
Jim Youngers-Race Director
And the Entire Board From SSBDA
