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2003
2004
News
December 22, 2004
Have
you looked at the
2005 calendar lately? FAIR members are planning on
racing 31 races next year! To add your name to the
upcoming 2005 schedule click
here.
December 16, 2004
Judy
Smith - you've heard her name, you've definitely seen her,
she's usually the first person interviewing a driver after
finishing a race. She covers off road races for the
Dusty Times and
Hot VW's magazine. Judy was recently honored for the
12th time (seventh consecutive time) as SCORE Journalist
of the Year. Long before becoming a journalist, Judy was a
racer, competing in classic races such as the Baja 1000
and the Mint 400, she also has been a FAIR member longer
than anyone can remember. FAIR members took a vote last
night and made Judy an honorary lifetime member as a way
of saying thank you for her contributions to the club and
to the sport we all love.
So
before last nights meeting, the 2004 and 2005 Board of
Directors took a little
survey....
December 15, 2004
It's
a couple hours before a FAIR meeting starts and you hear
that a recent TV show on NBC had Baja 1000 coverage
featuring 2 club members, it would be great to show the
video clip at the meeting but you don't have a copy, what
do you do? You log onto
Race-Dezert.com ask if anyone has the show on tape,
and a few hours later you've got a copy in your hands. Ben
Yen is the guy who made it happen - he's a
Checker, and his website:
www.airextreme.com has some very cool vintage Robby
Gordon, Ivan Stewart and Baja 1000 footage. Ben is also
the webmaster for class 5 unlimited racer,
George Seeley who raced FAIR Vice President Chris
Bowman at Primm this year with great
results.
RDC
also hosts a FAIR members forum, first you have register
as a user on RDC, then click
here to be added to the member list. It's the best way
to stay current on club events and issues between
meetings.
December 14, 2004
2005
looks to be a stellar year for the First Association of
Independent Racers (FAIR), with the official announcement
that FAIR will be offering pit support to it’s club
members for the entire 6 race SCORE Desert Racing Series.
Founded in 1972, FAIR has been offering best in class pit
support to our off road racing members for close to 33
years. Back in the early days of the sport, with fewer
races and even fewer race promoters FAIR had to impose a
limit of 45 member’s racecars per event. Race teams that
did not plan ahead or last minute entries often where
placed on a waiting list for pit support.
Times have changed; over 40 race dates and 7 different
race promoters fill the 2005 off road racing calendar,
racers will have plenty of choices as to where and when
they race in the coming year.
FAIR
just finished up a very busy year; 155 racers, competing
at 22 events, winning 26 times with 79 top 5 finishes,
earning 3 class championships in 2004. That exceeds the 19
events and 20 wins FAIR members had in 2003.
Founded in 1973 by the late Mickey Thompson, headed by
President Sal Fish since 1974 the
SCORE
Desert
Racing Series is the premier off road racing series in the
world, drawing entries from around the globe with races
taking place in the
Southwest USA
and Baja
Mexico.
SCORE has agreed to have marked, designated FAIR pit
locations for the club at upcoming races so FAIR pit crews
have adequate space needed to service club member’s
racecars. Pit locations will be one less thing FAIR
members have to worry about on a race weekend, allowing
club racers to focus on the task at hand, winning.
With
recent Baja 1000 TV coverage on CNBC and the upcoming
release of the movie “Dust to Glory” 2005 looks to be an
exceptional year for off road racing. Committing to the
SCORE series along with FAIR’s continued first class pit
support at local races ensures that FAIR members will be
the winners you see standing at the top of the podium.
Join
us in the winners circle in 2005!
November 9, 2004
Special Baja 1000 gathering @ the Checkers weekly meeting
- 8:00pm Wednesday - November 10, 2004
Wear
your FAIR shirt!
map
November 7, 2004
Plans for the Baja 1000 are being finalized daily, click
here for updates.
November 4, 2004
Election results for the 2005 Board of Directors
President
Tom Sobray
Vice
President
Ken Tolbert
Race
Director
Daniel Folts
Treasurer
Eric Yee
Secretary
Alan Madden
Sergeant at Arms
Bill Worthing
November 1, 2004
It’s
that time of year, the start of the holiday season,
switching back to standard time, the Baja 1000 and of
course, elections.
While a certain election only takes place every four years
and this year your vote will be as important as ever, Al
Gore lost the 2000 election by a reported 400 votes. With
way to many propositions to list, health care and Indian
gaming are spending a ton of money to sway you to their
side. Read the propositions, learn about the candidates
and vote!
Not
on quite the same scale and way more on a local level, a
certain pit club will be holding 2005 Board Member
elections on Wednesday night November 3rd. With
a roster of active and inactive members totaling 379 we
almost could have swayed the last presidential election.
Nominations for the 2005 board have often taken on a
humors tone but this Wednesday will decide the clubs
direction for the next year. Each candidate for office
will be given a 5-minute time slot to state his or her
goals, values and mission for 2005.
Running for office in 2005 are:
President
Bill
Markel
Art
Savedra
John
Kennedy
Vice
President
Frank Wagner
Ken
Tolbert
Treasurer
Eric
Yee
Tom
Moxley
Race
Director
Daniel Folts
Dave
Massingham
Sergeant of Arms
Bill
Worthing
Secretary
Alan
Madden
All
potential candidates for office are encouraged to attend;
last minute nominations will be accepted.
October 17, 2004
Brent Parkhouse has a very unique part in this years Baja
1000, he's first off the line in 1/2-1600 or should we say
his car is. Brent called a Baja 1000 team meeting at
another Brent, this one is Guston, at his dad's La Cañada
home. During that meeting Mr. Parkhouse scheduled a test
day at Hodge Road for Saturday afternoon October 16th.
Brent Guston was working in FAIR pit C at the SCORE Primm
300 helping out on several pit stops. His dad Mr. Guston
Sr. just purchased Jerry Penhall's class 12 racecar with
plans of racing next years Baja 500.
Holding the helmet in the picture below is Greg Sharpio,
Greg pulled the new FAIR trailer out of some really soft
stuff last year at the SCORE Henderson race.
At
the last minute Brent had to fly out of town for a
business trip, so his guys took the car to test without
him.
The
Parkhouse Tire business trip was in Cabo San Lucas for
some fishing!
So
here is this weeks contest, Brent was with his car in
sprit, your job is to draw him into the picture. Stick
figures are ok, pasting in your favorite picture of Brent
is also acceptable. Get creative!
Official "Where's Brent" entry form
October 10, 2004
Long
weekend is the best phrase to describe the Off Road Expo,
good or bad is your choice, for the club as a whole it was
great! FAIR members helping with the 2004 Equipment
Raffle; selling tickets, seeing old friends, making some
new ones and taking in the sights of a show catering to
our love of racing.
The
thank you list is long; The Baja Shop for letting us
squeeze into their display space, Brent Parkhouse for
rounding up all the donations to raffle, Art Savedra for
arranging the Orleans Hotel donation, Ken, Shelby, Chery,
Jonathan and Brittany Tolbert for selling 13 ticket books
on Saturday! Harry and Christopher Dunne, Tom Reynolds,
Alan Madden, and everyone else hanging out at the booth
having a good time. In addition, to all the club members
that took the time to sell raffle tickets before the show,
a huge thank you!
So
who won the best FAIR temporary tattoo placement contest?
The competition was heavy all weekend long. Was it Art
Savedra for leaving our mark on the lower back of a
Checker members girlfriend? Or Neil Gonzalez for his
application skills on Shelby Steinberger?
October 7, 2004
Watching TV, reading the newspaper, or listening to the
radio - you cannot escape the current media topic, the
upcoming presidential elections. Vote, register to vote,
rock the vote - we hear it all day long until the next
high / slow speed car chase starts, then you have
"Breaking News".
How does this affect us, FAIR? We had a motion proposed
last night to change the start time of the clubs meetings
from
8:00pm to a new time of
7:00pm.
To some, no big deal, to others - leave it alone the clubs
meetings have always started at
8:00pm. To the members attending Wednesday's meeting, the
vote was to change it, new meeting start time,
7:00pm.
With a meeting attendance of 47 people, an open bar
courtesy of Art Savedra and table seating for an event the
next morning, we had the general meeting and 2 to 3 table
meetings going on at the same time. When the motion was
proposed, a vote was taken and the motion passed. Then
another vote was taken of current paid FAIR members and
the motion passed again 12 to 6 in favor of the new start
time. 47 people, 18 votes? what happened to the other 29?
Some left the meeting early, some have not paid their 2004
membership dues and the balance were prospective members.
Nominations for the 2005 Board of Directors are open thru
November 3rd. Voting for next years officers will take
place on November 3rd too. Elections have been moved
forward from the November 17th meeting because of the Baja
1000 starting the next morning @
6:00am.
FAIR is a democracy, and only works when; you attend and
stay for a complete meeting, pay your membership dues,
voice your opinions and VOTE.
October 5, 2004
Tomorrow night, Wednesday October 6th @ 8:00pm is a
regular scheduled FAIR meeting.
Raffle ticket sales are going well, please sell your
remaining tickets and bring the ticket stubs and money to
tomorrows meeting. If you have not picked up your required
20 tickets to sell, there’s only a few days left until the
drawing.
This
Sunday October 10th is the raffle drawing at the Off Road
Expo, Baja Shop exhibit @
4:30.
We need some more members to work in the booth selling
tickets and handing out / applying the new FAIR tattoos.
If you’re going to the show, and who’s not, spend a little
time hanging out with the Baja Shop boys.
We
also have 3 races to cover!!! SCORE Primm 300, MORE Kartek
Challenge and the SNORE Gold Coast 250. 3 races in 3 weeks
and 31 racers supported, the stories will be good!
Planning for the Baja 1000 is shaping up with at least 6
maybe 8 pits for this years peninsula run. Interest is
running high, this could be the largest supported race
FAIR has done in years!
Nominations for the 2005 Board of Directors will open.
The
Holiday dinner is coming……….
September 21, 2004
Strength in numbers? There is no I in team? FAIR was
founded on the notion of racers pooling resources to
provide far more pit support than any one team can do
alone. Does it work? Oh Yea! FAIR supported 25 racecars in
the past 2 weekends with fantastic pit support, strong
finishes and 4 wins! Special thanks to all of our racers,
pit captains, race managers and pit crew members, the
numbers speak for themselves, FAIR members kick butt!
On
top of all our racing, we have our 2004 Equipment Raffle
happening too. Ticket sale have been strong; Bryan Geer,
Ken Tolbert and Brent Parkhouse have sold over 100 tickets
each!
Jason Zindroski of High Rev Photography not only provides
the club with great photos for the website and a 10%
discount to FAIR members, he is also the first person to
purchase a raffle ticket from the website! Don't be
afraid, it's a safe transaction thru PayPal. If you live
out of state, can't make it to a meeting or FAIR members
avoid you?? Just click on the link, and your raffle
tickets will be mailed to you, simple.
The
raffle drawing will be held at the Off Road Expo - Baja
Shop display @ 5:00pm October 10, 2004.
If
you need more tickets or have not picked yours up, we are
having a special FAIR gathering at Parkhouse Tire on
September 29, 2004 @ 7:00pm. This is not a regular
meeting, no agenda, no set meeting structure, just a get
together of racers hanging out enjoying some refreshments
and doing a little bench racing, with Brent on his home
turf; it will be a good time!
Lastly, if you're thinking of racing the SNORE 250 on
October 2nd and want FAIR pit support, this is the place
to sign up.
Parkhouse Tire
5960
Shull Street
Bell
Gardens,
CA
90201
August 17, 2004
What
happens when your jones'n for some desert racing action
and the next race on the calendar is a month away? You can
re-live some of the best racing footage from several races
all on one DVD / VHS, Desert People "Triple Down" will be
making it's highly anticipated worldwide premier on
September 4th at the Galaxy Theater in
Santa Ana,
CA.
If
you missed the premier of "The Second Lap" you don't want
to miss this one. Racecars, vendor displays and all the
color of the desert racing scene, in the city, with clean
clothes on?
Check out
www.dezertpeople.com for tickets.
August 11, 2004
Word
has been traveling around about the big decisions made at
the last meeting August 4th. FAIR is selling
our truck and all 3 small trailers.
This
Saturday morning @ 6:30am is a work party to prepare the
FAIR truck for sale. We will be sorting out the remaining
contents and removing the generator for use in the clubs
new trailer.
JFK
Racecars 9726 Buena Vista Apple Valley
760.247.3717
map
All
members attending will receive dash plaque # 2
commemorating the trucks last hurrah, these plaques will
be presented at the clubs next meeting August 18th.
Saturday is also a MDR race in
Barstow,
although FAIR does not have any racers entered, some club
members are talking about going to spectate.
FAIR equipment plans
August 5, 2004
Too
Fast Frank Wagner underwent another intestinal surgery
yesterday afternoon. According to his mother-in-law, Kim
he's going to be recovering at the hospital for the next
2-3 days.
Take
a moment to call or stop by he really appreciated all the
support after the last surgery.
St
Jude Medical Center
101
East Valencia Mesa Drive
Fullerton, CA 92835
714-871-3280
Visiting Hours 11am - 8pm
Get
well soon Frank our results page has room for some more
wins!
August 4, 2004
A
huge thank you to
High Rev Photography and
XYZ Productions for showing off their latest racing
footage at last nights meeting. These guys do fantastic
work and make our members racecars look great!
High
Rev is offering a 10% discount to FAIR members, tell them
who you are when placing an order.
July 18, 2004
How
lucky can a kid be? Not only does Daniel Folts have the
coolest parents, a class 9 championship and more trophies
than he can count, he gets to drive his dad’s dragster
too!
Back
in the 80’s, before Daniel was born, his dad Dave Folts
and his buddy Tom Schuh campaigned a VW powered dragster
to quite a few records for top speed and low E.T. Those
records withstood several attempts over the years as the
dragster sat in storage and Dave concentrated on his
business Dave Folts Transmissions.
Through Daniels suggestions the spare chassis was built
into the car pictured here complete with a monster Pauter
Machine turbocharged engine developing over 800hp.
The
NHRA has rules for cars quicker than 9.99 seconds in the
quarter mile; first you must pass a physical exam, then
demonstrate car control with a series of ¼, ½ and full
track passes and then have 2 NHRA licensed drivers sign
your application. Guess which 2 licensed drivers proudly
signed Daniels application? His dad Dave and long time
friend Tom Schuh.
This
photo is from a full pass of 7.52 seconds @ 186mph!
July 8, 2004
Last
nights meeting was one of the best meetings this year; the
usual cast of characters, plus 15 new faces! A few where
racers, crew members or people wanting to get involved in
desert racing. If you're going to the desert why just
stand around watching or helping a single entry team? A
typical FAIR supported race is 8+ cars, so there is always
something happening in a pit.
So
far FAIR has 11 committed racers for the upcoming
MORE Freedom 250 a night race with light trailers at
each pit. Interested? You don't have to be a professional
wrench for pit crew work, we can always use spotters,
timing and scoring people and drivers to transport tires
and equipment out to the pits. The next club meeting is on
July 21st bring the family out to a race and get
involved!
On
the same subject, planning has started for this years
SCORE Baja 1000, a race from Ensenada to La Paz.
Mickey Thompson Tires and Yokohama Tires have inquired
about pit support for their racers in addition to their
own programs. With an expected 15+ club racers this race
is sure to be an adventure! Lodging is in the works for
both ends of the peninsula, we're shooting for 6 full
service pits and crew members will be paid for their
efforts, more details to follow.
2
new ideas came up last night; a blood donation drive and
an OHV registration event. Both need some planning so
watch the calendar for upcoming dates.
2
FAIR members have new websites; bookmark them and support
your friends.
Bill Markel
David Sexson
Comments and questions are always welcome,
click here
June 29, 2004
The
Silver Dollar, urban myth or legend? You may have heard
the stories, a small bar on the way to
Ridgecrest,
CA
- cold refreshments, tasty food and dollar bills hanging
from the ceiling? If you're traveling up US 395 stop in
and enjoy the hospitality!
685
Highway 395 Red Mountain, CA 93558
June 28, 2004
Tom
Ridings debuted his new transporter at Vegas to Reno over
the weekend.
June 25, 2004
Adventure
1ad·ven·ture
Pronunciation:
&d-'ven-ch&r
Function: noun
1 a : an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown
risks b : the encountering of risks <the spirit of
adventure>
2 : an exciting or remarkable experience
3 : an enterprise involving financial risk
Point to point races; for the loser, a long day with a bad
headache, for the winner, a perfect day when everything
goes just right. Stories from the last weekend in June are
the kind that get you strange looks from a non racer, like
the ones that say you're full of it. Chase trucks loaded
with race fuel flying up highway 95 approaching triple
digits, or side by side, on a dirt road when one drops a
wheel over the edge. A flawless pit stop for fuel that in
your head lasts forever, but the stopwatch only reads 25
seconds. Seeing the smiles of friends from previous
adventures, in the middle of nowhere. Driving late into
the night with two drivers who you personally admire,
listening to their stories in silence and the sudden
eruption of laughter when one exposes his posterior out
the window to a fellow competitor. Leading the race
overall by four and a half minutes until the ignition
starts acting up, finishing first in class and 9th
overall. Vegas to Reno, the Silver State adventure.
Scott Steinberger Trophy Truck 1st
place - 9th overall
Dale
Ebberts Class 1 12th
place - 13th overall
Brian Parkhouse Class 1 13th
place - 14th overall
Bob
Steinberger Sportsman 1st
place - 50th overall
David Sexson ½-1600 3rd
place - 52nd overall
Special thanks to Lenny Holder for posting the real time
positions and results on
www.race-deZert.com
Full
race details and stories at the next meeting on
July 7th.
June 22, 2004
The
old 2 race same day syndrome is upon us again. BITD Vegas
to Reno and the MDR 400 are falling on the same weekend,
June 25-27th. For the MDR race we have 1 club member
racing - Mark Gonzalez. V2R has 5 - Scott Steinberger,
Dale Ebberts, Brian Parkhouse, David Sexson and the
“Weatherman” Bob Steinberger. Bill Markel had to withdraw
his class 1 entry because of a team member illness.
Mark
is a new member who joined at the MORE Kartek 300 then
took the class 1 win in his Ford Ranger. Mark also helped
out at the Baja 500 a few weeks ago. He’s a class act,
hard core racer, a super nice guy and he works with beer
systems for a living!
www.wcbrewcrew.com
For
those seeking a bigger adventure, this weekend Vegas to
Reno is the race to attend. Billed as the longest off road
race in the USA, this is a really exciting race to chase.
No sitting around in pit all day, you’re on the move,
hustling up the 95 to the next pit! When you add our list
of colorful racers to it, you’re guaranteed some great
bench racing stories!
# 7
looking for its first win, 2 brand new V8 powered class 1
cars, a new ½-1600 car and an icon of the sport going for
his 3rd straight win, another Hollywood movie
script in the making?
June 3, 2004
A
regular scheduled meeting, a few new visitors and a cow
girl? Our Vice-President Chris Bowman recently had his
53rd birthday, which was somehow overlooked? We fixed
that,
happy birthday Chris!
April 27, 2004
We're going home! We just signed a contract to have our
meetings at the Fullerton Radisson through the end of
2004. It seems the first and third Wednesdays of each
month the hotel was empty. We got our old rate and they
got us back. The next meeting is
May 5th, with Vice-President Chris Bowman presiding.
April 22, 2004
Saturday May 22nd the club will have another work party.
This is a mandatory event for all club racers.
Every car owner or a representative from each team must
attend. Racers not attending risk non support at future
races.
Things start off @
9:00am
with lunch to follow.
map /
questions?
April 15, 2004
The
April 7th meeting was 50 / 50 good and not so good…….it’s
always good to see the wife’s of members at a meeting,
ladies thank you for attending. The food was great,
service perfect, separate checks worked out fine, and when
the meeting was finished, very few people left. On the
other hand; it was dark, noisy and there was not enough
parking. What a difference from the daytime crowd to the
night time scene. We’re back at the Legion Hall for the
next meeting April 21st.
April 2, 2004
A
race of a different kind, the one to find a cure. The
National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Orange Count chapter
is hosting a 5 & 10k walk at Salt Creek Beach on April
17th.
Approximately 400,000 Americans acknowledge having MS.
Most
people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and
50, although rare individuals as young as 2 and as old as
75 have developed it.
Symptoms of MS are unpredictable, vary from person to
person, and from time to time in the same person.
The
son of one of our members has MS. The off-road community
has always pulled together in times of need or loss, being
proactive on this disease we can help find a cure.
Grab
your best, least oil stained F.A.I.R. shirt, the family
and friends and join us for a scenic walk in
Laguna Beach.
New men's, ladies and children's shirts will be available
the morning of the walk or at our next meeting April 7th.
Proudly wear you blue!
March 25, 2004
Christopher Reece, the drummer for Social Distortion has
invited the club to have our meetings at his new
restaurant, Pike, in Long Beach, just down the road from
PCI Race Radios. Christopher is a huge racing fan, the
atmosphere is very lively, the food is incredible and
Coors Light is on tap, what more could you ask for? April
7th @
8:00pm
is our next meeting.
Pike
1836
East 4th Street
Long
Beach,
CA
90802
562.437.4453
map
March 20, 2004
Mickey Thompson Tires - Tire Test Day
What
happens when two guys watching a class 7 truck test in
Barstow, CA start kicking around some ideas? Women oil
wrestling or a wet t-shirt contest at main pit? No, that
won’t work because of the dust, but an open tire test and
a barbeque lunch? Bring the family, test some tires, and
have some lunch without the pressure that comes with a
race weekend, yes that could be done.
What
two guys? Tom Moxley, a tire specialist from Mickey
Thompson Tires and Tom Sobray, the President of F.A.I.R.
“Tom Moxley and I were just thinking out loud while Jim
Fay’s 7 truck was running some laps. The test ended early
with the truck on its roof, wearing another manufactures
tires, but the idea was born, and we ran with it.”
After a quick phone call to Mike Ahrens from the BLM and
we were given the green light - if we kept it small. Word
of mouth and a few emails later we had 19 confirmed
racecars and growing. It was apparent we had to keep the
test low profile or the BLM might show up with silver
bracelets looking for a guy named Tom!
A
quick glance at a calendar and the tire test was set for
the same day as the Jack Waldron memorial desert clean up,
the week before the MORE Balls Out 250.
With
a start time of high noon; you’d figure show up a little
early, set a few things up and wait for the racecars to
trickle in. Wrong! When the Mickey Thompson transported
rolled in at 11:00am, a dozen or so racecars were waiting
for tires. “I maybe said 3 words to Tom during the first 2
hours, it was that busy” said Tom Sobray, “ The line of
wheels waiting to be mounted made me do a double take,
there where that many.”
With
tire testing well under way, F.A.I.R.’s master chef’s
started preparing lunch. Mike Long brought out his 1
million BTU grill, Frank Orozco and Todd “Toad” Huffaker
took turns dropping burgers, dogs and sausages in the dirt
with junior chef assistance from Ian Longo. A quote from
Frank, “What’s a little dirt on your burger, we’re in the
desert.” With the crowd moving over to the bbq, it gave
the tire mounting crew some time to catch up.
“I
lost count of how many tires we mounted today, it was non
stop” said Tom Moxley “Desert racing is so competitive;
racers are always looking for that extra edge to help them
win. The idea for this test was for racers to be able to
try different tires and sizes back to back, to find that
edge.”
“Mickey Thompson Tires has a large assortment of tires and
compounds to choose from along with a very generous
contingency program, paying $500.00 for a class win, $250
for second and $150.00 for third,” said Tom Sobray. “To be
eligible for the program, you have to start the race on
Mickey Thompson Tires and have a MT decal on both sides of
the car, it’s that simple” added Tom Moxley
F.A.I.R. had a very strong year in 2003; we supported 167
racers at 19 events, winning 20 races and earning 101 top
5’s. Our top notch pit support helped our members win 9
class championships including the overall wins in both
SCORE and MORE. “I want to keep that momentum going. If
our members can find a little more speed or durability
with the Mickey Thompson tires that may help us with even
better results in 2004,” added Tom Sobray.
F.A.I.R. Vice-President, Chris Bowman has been a strong
supporter of Mickey Thompson Tires for 3+ years now;
winning the 2003 MDR class 5 championship on MT tires.
“When you’re racing someone like George Sealy, if you
flat, you just lost the race. With the MT tires, I can
focus more on my driving to s | 
