The Fun Factor
By Paula Loftin

Here we are again, at that sad moment when we bid a fond farewell to the racing season, and begin the long, dark months of dreaming! Or working on our cars, or finding other car related activities to help maintain our sanity, or working and saving up our money so we can have a lovely, long racing season NEXT year! Anyway, while there are still a few events to go before it’s all over, it’s at this time of year that I realize how quickly time passes…at least as far as the racing season goes, and that all that fun is just about over for a while. The off season seems oh so much longer, doesn’t it? Whatever else you may do at this time of the year, it is a great time to reflect on what car sports mean to us, and the biggest thing is FUN!

I can’t count the number of times I’ve come off the autocross course/hill/track in past years and had a conversation something like this:

Observer: “How’d it go out there?”
Me: “Ok, I guess, but I could have gone faster…” (or made fewer mistakes, or blah, blah, blah…)
Observer: “Well, you had fun, didn’t you?”
Me: “Of course! That’s the name of the game!” (but it would be MORE fun if I was faster!)…

This past season I had to ask myself, REALLY??? And I began thinking about how lucky I am to be able to participate in such an incredible sport. And yes, it IS fun to go fast, but this year, I decided to focus on OTHER aspects of the sport that are also fun. For instance, it’s incredibly fun to realize that I hardly get lost on course anymore like I used to. In my early years of auto-crossing, that was the major thing I thought about… just don’t get lost! Now, when I walk the course, I can think about more than just the path I must follow. It is a much more engaging activity, and way more fun.

It’s more fun now that I know my cars better, and can think ahead about what I might want to do at a specific point on the course. I have more of a “feel” that allows me to assess what’s going on with the vehicle, and make appropriate adjustments on the fly to improve during the run, and from one run to the next. Just don’t be too hung up not making mistakes… they WILL happen! Use them to improve your performance. Besides, playing it safe is definitely NOT fun...

Challenging yourself is fun! A few years ago, I decided that I had to be more aggressive and focused while driving. My motto then was “no Sunday driving” … and it helped! But over time, the motto has morphed into a more driver-like mantra “all gas or all brake...NO coasting” … and that really changed the way I felt behind the wheel. FUN!

At my level of driving, my ideas about fun are still pretty much on the rudiments of the sport… the folks who have had the good fortune to have ten or twenty years of experience behind them find fun in other ways, I am sure! But I think we all share the thrill of pushing ourselves and our machines to the limits, according to our skill level and nerve, so in that regard, we all find the sport great fun.

One of the most important factors that makes auto sports so much fun is the folks we do it with! It is a social sport. It is inclusive and supportive. When done right, it provides an opportunity for personal growth. Yes, it is competitive, but anyone can participate at whatever level they are comfortable, and they will find a community of people who will offer support, advice, and encouragement.

As we while away the hours between now and next season, I just want to say to you all, thanks for the FUN! Let’s go after it again next year! -- Paula

Belated Evo Thank You
By Paula Loftin

This year, on May 18th and 19th, EESCC once again sponsored an Evolution High Performance Driving School, and I am mortified that I haven’t taken the time to recap the event and extend my thanks to the folks who helped make it possible until now…

We were back at Sanderson Field in Shelton, Washington. Three instructors were from previous years… Tom Kotzian, who has been with us every year, Danny Gross, and Brian Flanagan, who had been with us for the past two years, and Doug Rowse, who joined us for the first time this year. The instructor team was excellent and did a wonderful job of meeting each driver where they were and helping them move forward.

This was my third year participating in the school, and it was the magic “third time is a charm” experience! Had I heard the instructions and participated in the exercises in previous years? Yes! But this time, I FINALLY internalized the concept of “looking ahead” … in a way that made me realize that you are doing so much more than LOOKING ahead...more to the point, you are PLANNING where to put the car and getting the job done efficiently so driving faster and more accurately is much more likely to occur. Of course, every driver came to their own personal learning points…such is the beauty of Evo, and it is why I will continue to encourage anyone interested in improving their driving skills to consider participating in one of our schools. No matter what your current level of experience and skill may be, you will come away with information and skills that will make a difference in your driving. We had a mix of students of varying experience levels, as usual, and a mix of students who were taking the school for the first time, along with those of us who had taken the school twice, or even three times. We enjoyed great weather for the most part, with one rather exciting exception. The short version is: nice, warm day, nice, warm pavement, sudden downpour of drenching rain, rising steam creating a thick fog bank that basically obscured the course for several runs… this was one time when looking ahead didn’t really help that much! We just kept on driving! The rain stopped, the air cleared, and we all had a good laugh!

Every year that we have run the school I have had a list of folks to thank, and this year is no exception. The difference was that there were fewer club members who were actually attending the school, so I had fewer people to lean on as I was planning the event. Fortunately, several members stepped up to help… and I am forever in their debt… I had been cruising along on autopilot, doing what I usually do to get the event going, and hadn’t really thought about the logistics of how the days would go when we were actually on site. Fortunately, Bonnie Mueller and Licia Schultz knew I would need a staff up there to run the event, and said they would join me! Whew! Alan Bowers and Dana Zimmer also donated their time and expertise, and Mary Richardson not only decided to participate, but hauled up our pop-ups and other necessary items, so we were able to put on an excellent event once again. BIG THANK YOU to Bonnie, Licia, Alan, Dana and Mary! I also want to thank two organizations who help us with equipment and support. Like last year, the Washington Viper Club provided us with fire extinguishers, cones, and flags, and the Boeing Employees Autosports Club provided us with the timing equipment. This is the second year these groups have helped us out, and we are fortunate to have their support!

I am already looking ahead to next year’s school. Please stay tuned for information about participating, as will as an invitation to come up to help us continue to provide this valuable learning experience.
Paula

I became involved in car racing events in 1964, starting with Autocross, then Solo I, and later Regional SCCA events in the Mid-Atlantic Region. While going to these races I met many of the local and regional drivers. This was at a time when SCCA regional racing was still fairly low dollar compared to national class events. At that time, it was not unusual to have a well-known driver and team parked in the next pit area to you. Paul Newman was just starting to drive in North East Regional races. He was easy to talk to and became an outstanding driver over a short period of time. Having a good bankroll also helped buy good cars and crew as he progressed.

One of the top SCCA Mid-Atlantic drivers was Bob Tullius, based in Fairfax, Va. Bob was a talented and very competitive driver and prepared his cars so that they seldom, if ever, broke down during a race, campaigning a 1961 Triumph TR-3 successfully the very first year, placing first and second in every race. In 1962 he persuaded Triumph to provide him with a TR-4 to race. He started winning regional and then national events competing with other “sponsored” drivers. In 1965 he formed Group 44 Racing Team and made agreements with Quaker State Oil Co. as sponsor. Bob and Group 44 continued to win races and Triumph continued to provide new cars each new model change. Bob and I became friends and one day at his immaculately clean workshop, over coffee, Bob told me he was about to ask Quaker State to replace his old tractor-trailer with a new rig to haul his race cars around the country. At this time, I was working in sales with International Harvester, selling large commercial trucks. Bob asked if I could get him a good deal on an International TransStar truck for Group 44 to pull a new semi-trailer. It would also get some good PR for International Harvester.

I contacted my District Manager and within a few weeks a special deal was worked out with Quaker State to buy the truck through me as the local salesman.

Aside from looking great, the truck was set up to be fast. The most powerful diesel engine available was spec’d, with gear ratios, oversize wheels and tires to allow the lightly loaded truck combination to travel at very high speeds. The trailer was very light as well, but strong enough to manage the elevator inside which helped stack 4 race cars in the rear and contain a very useable workshop in the front with storage for spare parts and tires. As with everything else Group 44 did, it was always neat as a pin.

They were stopped one night by a local Sherriff outside Atlanta while coming home from a race at Daytona and clocked by radar at 110mph. I was very proud of that truck and it got me a few perks with Group 44 as I was always admitted into their pit area at the races. I was also presented with a Group 44 hat which I wore proudly when at the races.

In 1984, British Leyland, who produced Triumph, MG and Jaguar, provided Group 44 with a XJR Jaguar car with a 12 cylinder, 500HP engine to race at the famous 12hour race at Le Mans, France. After 291 laps, the transmission failed and they had to drop out of the race.

Bob and went on to win international races for several more years until he retired from racing. He moved from Virginia to Sebring Florida, living at the famous racecourse there. Over a period of years, he bought several old US Air Force airplanes and also a P-51 Mustang airplane which he flew in various airshows for several years.

Bob was a true competitor never giving an inch but always a gentleman. He loved speed, competing early in his life on motorcycles, then sports cars and finally airplanes. Bob passed away in 2023 at age 93.

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