October 19, 1999
Dear FM Racers:
The Buttonwillow double race weekend had perfect weather, clear and 80°, with only a light breeze. Joey Hand looked likely to clinch the West division of the Star Mazda Series as he turned the pole-winning qualifying times for both races and led the first 20 of 21 laps both days. Nevertheless, Jeff Bucknum finished 1st and 3rd in the two races, and closed upon the points leader to take the championship fight to his recent home town – Las Vegas. See Jane Anderson’s race report and the attached points summary for the details.
Las Vegas, as you all should know by now, is the new site of our season finale and awards banquet. Please double check that your hotel accommodations at the Orleans, or wherever you choose, are confirmed. SEMA show week has most of the reasonably-priced rooms filled. Do not procrastinate. Let us know if you need help. Orleans reservations – 800/675-3267. Make sure you identify yourself as with the Star Mazda Series to get a room from our block reservation. Otherwise, the hotel is overbooked. The banquet will be at the Orleans.
The Las Vegas schedule and entry form are enclosed. If you sent in an entry for San Diego, you are entered for Las Vegas. Thursday, October 28th, is available for testing on the 2.25 mile road course. Contact the Speedway (702-632-8264), Kari Wright to arrange for the test. You can set up your equipment on Wednesday, the 27th, and the track will let you leave it through the race.
All arrangements are in place for the awards banquet. Please RSVP as soon as possible, so we can confirm the dinner count to the caterer. We got a great room and a super menu. It should be a memorable evening.
The Hanalei has been very understanding about moving the San Diego reservations to February. They do need to know the exact dates you need rooms, if you are going to the 2000 season opener for ALMS and the Star Mazda Series. Please call Anna Cooper at 800-700-3328. This hotel is very close to the track and the rates are discounted for our group. The hotel has moved the block of reservations on hand for November’s race weekend, to February’s race weekend dates, but they need you to confirm, or they may have different dates than you may want. Please call the hotel before the end of October and let them know your intentions.
The Runoffs raised a new FM issue on which SCCA has now ruled. It has to do with CV boots. All four CV boots on FMs must be the "bellows" type that come on the car. Two FMs lost their qualifying times for having "aero boots" installed. Make sure yours are correct.
We expect to have the 2000 schedule completed soon. It looks like we will continue to expand our involvement with Professional Sports Car and the American Le Mans Series next year. We are working with your survey responses and negotiating with SCCA regions and track promoters to try to deliver the maximum value to Star FM owners and Series competitors. We will keep you posted.
See you at the races!
Sincerely,
Gary Rodrigues