Weatherly Fall 2022 - The Saab, The Wedding, and The Women

[Mary Anne Fieux]

FALL WEATHERLY HILLCLIMB 2022
CRYSTAL and MATT AND… THE TURNAROUND END OF THE LINE GANG OF WOMEN DRIVERS

(FYI NOTE TO PHA FOLKS: I would have posted this on the PA Hillclimb Facebook group page, but over the years I have personally chosen not to join Facebook. Recently, I begrudgingly started the process to join Facebook. I was blown away by the ID required in order to join. EX: birth certificate, driver’s license, voter registration, and many other very personal items. I found out from others they did not need to provide that information when they joined Facebook years ago. I have chosen not to join Facebook, but would like to share my thoughts about the weekend. Realized the “dead” PHA Forum was the only outlet to share my thoughts on the weekend. This was written shortly after the race. )

It was great to be back driving the 1960 SAAB 93F at the Fall Weatherly Hillclimb 2022. The car ran great on Saturday, but Sunday was a 2-stroke day caused by fouled plugs. It ended up new plugs weren’t the answer since Chuck, my other half, mechanic, and co-driver (not driving at this event since it was his birthday gift to me!) diagnosed new plugs weren’t the only thing needed to make the car run properly. Additional fuel was required since the ratio of oil to fuel in the mix had too much oil which was stuck in the fuel cell foam. Of course, this made no sense to me because the car ran flawlessly on Saturday with the same fuel to oil ratio. Regrettably, the race fuel was left at home due to the car having a full tank and being energy efficient, therefore high MPG.

Now to the important stuff!! There were two fantastic happenings during the weekend, one planned, the other unplanned.

First the planned. The wedding of Crystal Whisler and Matt Hoegg on Saturday evening. Crystal looked beautiful and her nervous giggle was way too cute! Matt had the look of a man seriously in love with a woman he intends to spend the rest of his life with. A couple truly in love and beginning their life together appropriately at the Start Line. Crystal and Matt: START YOUR ENGINES! You have a beautiful life ahead of you with your beautiful family.

The unplanned. Over the course (no pun intended) of the weekend Group 1 had a repetitive occurrence which multiple runs made clear. The “end of the line” at turnaround were women drivers in their respective cars. WOW! A line of women, multiple women, and even more women up the line before the end of the line! The “end of the line gang of women drivers” included Michele Aubele, Adrienne Reed, Donna Robinson, and yours truly. It made my heart sing to see all of the women drivers, but sadly it didn’t help the fouled plugs.

Speaking of women. The following is a list of other women drivers who participated in Fall Weatherly 2022: Emily Oswald, Eli Sharp, Susan Salsburg, Denise Devine, Jody Miller, Crystal Hoegg, Grace Huntzinger, Kristen Israel, and Lauren Feist. I pulled the women’s names from the timing list, I hope no one was overlooked. Apologies in advance if I did. A total of 13 women drivers! Lucky 13!! Yippee! Only the beginning…….. FYI: there were a total of 89 drivers and 2 registered no-shows. 15% of all drivers were women! It wasn’t like that in the beginning when Sue Salsburg and Dave Arron encouraged me to work a corner at Weatherly back in 1980.

This is dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Hoegg, aka Crystal and Matt and the “Group 1 Turnaround End of the Line Gang of Women Drivers”….and all women drivers!