Back by popular demand, the SCOA is planning our 2nd Annual event July 24th-25th. The event will be held at GingerMan Raceway in South Haven Michigan. South Haven is located on the Eastern Shore of Lake Michigan, about 40 miles north of the Michigan/Indiana state line. The area is beautiful, and the town of South Haven offers lots of shopping fun for the rest of the family.

Point your web browser to www.gingermanraceway.com for more information about the track. The site also has links for the town of South Haven, local hotels and other area information. Watch your April VENOM for host hotel information.

We will be holding an Open Track event all day Saturday and Sunday. Lunch will be catered on both days for an additional fee. Track concessions will be open too. In between the track action, there will be an SCOA sponsored SVT Cobra Car Show, starting Saturday afternoon at 5 PM. Yes, Saturday afternoon. That should give everyone a chance to enjoy full track time Saturday and Sunday. The show setup will end at 5:30 PM, with judging shortly thereafter. Show classes include 93-98 Stock, 93-98 Modified, 99+ Stock, 99+ Modified and a Track-Only class. The Track-Only class was a big hit at SCOA-1, and will be open to cars participating in SaturdayÕs Open Track. No cleaning is allowed for this class! Run 'Em and Park 'Em is the philosophy of this class.

A BBQ will commence Saturday evening at the track with burgers and all the fixin's for an additional fee. That way you can stay at the track, enjoy the car show and have dinner with all the gang. Once it gets dark, we are going to enjoy "Movies Under the Stars" to top off the evening. It should be a great time. Sunday activities will be strictly Open Track.

Instructors will be available for those of you who have never attended an Open Track event. Your car will need to pass a basic safety inspection (tires in good condition, all lugs on, operable seatbelt, battery securely mounted, firm brake pedal and other minor items). SA-95 or better rated helmets are mandatory. One time on the track is all it takes to become a track addict. You can go as fast as you are comfortable, in a controlled environment with passing allowed at certain locations on the track. If you are a first-timer, give me (Tom Shepherd) a call at 956-687-5766 to discuss what is involved.

Like SCOA-1, the club will produce a limited run of event T-shirts. You can guarantee yours by making sure you pre-order on the registration form. Any extras will be available at the event. In addition to the T-shirts, commemorative SCOA-2 dash plaques are planned for event participants. And, of course, all of the normal SCOA merchandise will be available for purchase at the event too.

For those of you wanting to get a little extra track time, you can run the Friday test and tune session. The first cars exit the false grid at 5 PM and run until dark for only $50! This is outside of our event, but you are welcome to show up. To participate, you need to pay the track that afternoon. There is no pre-registration for Friday track time. If SCOA-1 was any indicator, there will be a number of members showing up early to get some extra seat time on Friday and to get set up for Saturday. I will be running Friday.

There is a registration form in this months issue of VENOM, as well as here on the website. If you are planning on attending, you need to get your registration in immediately. A MAXIMUM OF 80 CARS PER DAY will be allowed on track, so don't delay and risk losing out on track time. I have already heard from close to 20 members who plan on attending, and that doesn't include the drivers from the SVTOA chapter.

We hope to see all of the SCOA-1 attendees back at SCOA-2, and if you couldn't make the first event, now is the time to start. Based on the enthusiasm we are getting from members, this is going to be an annual event from now on. So, don't sit on the sidelines, read about it and think about going someday. The only way to truly enjoy these cars to the fullest is to attend an event with other enthusiastic owners like you. I guarantee you will meet other owners that enjoy their car as much as you and, more importantly, you will leave with some great friendships made from people just like you from all over the country. See you at SCOA-2.

For those that didn't get to attend SCOA-1, the SCOA still has merchandise left. We have T-shirts in S-XL for $15 post paid. We also have a limited supply of ball caps for $20 post paid. A free dash plaque will be included with each order. To order, send a check payable to SCOA to PO Box 720129, McAllen, TX 78504

Additional Information, and a list of attendees can be found on the SCOA BBS in this forum.