PHA News December 2020

[gdh57]

The following message from Rich Rock was emailed to the PHA mailing list. If you have not already signed up for the mailing list, you can do so on the PHA website, or by clicking on http://pahillclimb.org/pha-email-sign-up/.

Grace
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Season's greetings to everyone, I hope you're all enjoying the holiday season as much as possible.

I've been wanting to give an update for at least a few weeks, but it's taken until very recently for some things to get figured out and control of the PHA email list transferred. This is gonna be a bit long, but please stick with me.

As most of you probably know, Nelson Kase passed away on October 28, after suffering a massive heart attack several days prior. There was no public viewing or service, but the current plan is to do something to honor him at individual PHA events this coming season.

Nelson did an incredible amount of work for PHA, so it’s not unexpected that it'll take more than one person to replace him. Steve Lewis has volunteered to give up driving and assume the responsibility for running timing. Think about how awesome and selfless that is. Steve has demonstrated not only an interest, but also an aptitude for what it takes to do the job, so we'll be in good hands there. A big THANK YOU Steve and Nancy! Grace has volunteered to handle the website, reserved numbers list, and PHA mailing list, as well as help Steve learn the timing systems. THANK YOU, Grace!

Rick has spent several weeks cleaning out Nelson's house, and has identified and set aside anything related to BMR and/or PHA. Rick will continue to help with timing setup, etc. just as he's been doing for years. THANK YOU, Rick!

All of them will welcome help, so if you are willing, please let them know.

On December 20, we met at the garage (can you say "garage mahal") at Steve and Nancy's house. Steve had moved the timing trailer from CJ's to his house, cleaned it out, and started doing some maintenance/upgrade work on it. Rick brought all the stuff he had gathered up, Grace brought the equipment she had, and we were able to sort it all out, do some testing, and come up with a plan we are all confident in.

The recent PHA meeting was held on Zoom on December 5, with the required quorum of Region Reps in attendance. We didn't have access to the PHA email list at that time, but we did what we could to get the word out well in advance. Messages were posted on the PHA Forum and Facebook. Region reps and Hillclimb Associations were notified by email (which included a copy of the agenda), and I sent out an email blast to the BMR email list. I understand that others were notified privately.

The meeting was scheduled to start at 6pm, but we waited until closer to 6:30 to accommodate latecomers. We ended up with about 38 participants, a little better than average for a PHA meeting. The meeting followed the same format as usual. Only general topics are on the agenda (to make it easier for last-minute ideas to be considered), and it's basically the same for all meetings. Things like Treasurer's Report, Schedule/Event updates, Timing, Website, Supps/Classes, New Business, Banquet, have been on every Agenda for several years.

A proposal was made to make a change to the Street Mod Category by creating a PHA Supplemental Class for rear-wheel drive Street Mod cars. The change would not alter the rules for AWD Street Mod cars or for any other car eligible for SM. It would simply allow RWD cars a place to compete with cars of similar design, in the same way SMF already does. Discussion of the proposal was primarily around clarifying exact wording and eligibility. It was recommended the class be designated SMR. Once the discussion ended a vote was taken. About 38 people in the meeting and not one dissenting voice, so it passed without objection.

We have the largest, most successful hillclimb series in the country. Year after year, our events draw numbers other events can only dream about, so having lots of classes seems to be a feature, not a flaw.

If you have any suggestions about how to make things even better, please come to a meeting, reach out to your region reps, or contact me or one of the PHA officers. Contact info for the officers is on the PHA website.

SCCA recently announced that the fees they charge for events, such as sanction, insurance, etc. for 2021 will remain the same as they were in 2020. PHA assessment fees will also remain unchanged. That's good news for all of us. Event registration fees are determined by the host regions or Hillclimb Associations, and I know they all strive to keep them as low as they possibly can.

Summit Point recently sent contracts for the 2021 Jefferson and Shenandoah events and there is a rather large increase in the track rental fees that will likely result in a $20-25 increase in entry fees in 2021. The increase is not unexpected, and I've been talking about this for years. However, we're still getting a nice discount because of our long-term history with the track, so it could be worse.

That's all for now, except to say that I'm more than happy to discuss any PHA matters with you. My contact Info is on the PHA website. And now that we have the PHA email list under control again, you can expect updates more frequently.

Thanks everyone, and once again, a big thanks to Steve and Nancy Lewis, Grace Huntzinger, and Rick Kase!

Rest in peace Nelson. Thank you. We’re going to do our best…

Rich