ITD Midget
Driven by Will and Bill Perry
Two Wins clinch another ECR Championship

ITC Honda Civic 
Driven by Vesa Silegren and Carl Blevins
Two thirds for this weekend.  
Second in ECR Series

Going into the last Endurance Championship Racing Series weekend of the year Will Perry's entry of Carl Blevin's Honda CRX was in second place in the points. David Stubblefield's entry of the MG Midget was in first but only by 3 points.

The CRX had Carl and Vesa Silegren sharing driver duties, and Will and Bill Perry co-drove the Midget. Art Thompson was crew chief (all Chief/no Indian crew).

Will started in the Midget, with Bill finishing. After a suspension overhaul the Midget was handling like an absolute little pig in Saturday's race. It corded two tires in the 1-1/2 hour event, but finished unopposed in ITD.

Vesa started the CRX and soon was involved in a three-way battle with two other Hondas for the ITC lead. He got some good drafting experience, with several trips to first - then back to third - then back to first. Late in the race Carl lost a lens from his glasses. This caused him to go off into the sand bank at turn 4 (this is Carl's story and he is sticking to it). The pit stop to check over the car dropped him from second to third, where he finished.

On Sunday, the Midget handled great after corner weight adjustments. It qualified well and finished unopposed in class and a fine 8th overall in a field of ITB, ITC, ITD, and SSB & SSC cars.

Vesa again started and got right back into the three-way battle for first overall as the ITB cars dropped back or dropped out. After Carl got in after the pit stop, the battle resumed. A few laps from the end, Carl attempted another of several passes for the lead. This time it failed and contact took off all three leaders at turn one. From my view, following them on the front straight, I saw them all go off into a huge cloud of sand. One at a time they drove out of the cloud. After the brilliant "glasses broke" excuse on Saturday, Carl didn't even try for an excuse this time. The CRX again finished third in class and third overall.

The 1999 Endurance Championship Racing series ended with the Midget taking first place in ITD again (four years in a row) with Bill & Will Perry and Brian Stubblefield driving. The Rivergate Honda took second (provisional) in ITC in the year-long championship, with Will, Carl and Vesa sharing driving duties.

November 10, 1999

Roebling Road, SIC -- September 26, 1999

Both Carl Blevins and Vesa Silegren qualified for an invitation to the SARRC Invitational Championship, and attended. Carl went in as second place in the ITC class points.

Vesa qualified first in class, and Carl fourth. Vesa led the whole race, and finished with a four second lead. But he didn't win! About lap four he was caught passing under a yellow flag. A Neon ahead of Vesa braked so sharply when he saw the yellow that Vesa swerved around him without seeing the flag. He received a 10 second penalty, and with the very close field this put him back to a fourth place. This moved Carl forward to a third place finish. Carl finished second in the final SARRC Championship points. Vesa finished 5th in points.

Harvey Templeton Club Racer of the Year Points:
	Total	Best 6 & Championship Points
Carl Blevins	272	134
Will Perry	179	117
Vesa Silegren	96	96
Jamie Blair	75	75
Brian Stubblefield	64	64
Bill Perry	59	59

September 30, 1999
Photos added October 6, 1999

Road Atlanta Pro IT, SARRC, SARRC -- Labor Day Weekend 1999

Chattanooga Region workers for this "Worker Appreciation" weekend were David Marino - Tech, Jamie Hamilton both Registration and Timing & Scoring, and Dave Hester, Flagging & Communications. Only Gail Perry was full time crew for this race.

Carl, Will and Vesa Silegren took down their ITC Hondas for this busy weekend. Will qualified first in the ProIT and held on to win. This lets him repeat as yearlong champion in ITC in the cash-paying series.

In Sunday's SARRC, Carl and Vesa qualified second and third in a competitive field of 13 ITC cars. Bill qualified Will's car in seventh, in his first attempt at racing a front wheel drive car. (Who ever thought up this business of racing a car that pulls rather than pushes anyway!) Vesa had the lead early, then was back as far as sixth. He then pulled back through the pack and took his first win! With his rookie "X" still on the car and on old Yokohama tires. Carl finished second to Vesa! Bill finished sixth. The crew was freaked out with excitement.

On Monday, Will, Carl & Vesa qualified first, second and third. A fast VW Rabbit worked his way into second with Vesa third and Carl fourth. During a full course yellow late in the race, I told Vesa on the radio to pass the Rabbit on the restart. He replied "10-4" and Carl (playing Elmer Fudd) said "Kill the Wabbit". On restart, Vesa immediately took the Rabbit (I love drivers that pass the competition upon radio directions - he did the same thing at Sebring). Will lead until near the end, then Carl took the lead (with help from his friends) to finish first with Will running so far up his tailpipe that I expected it to choke out Carl's engine. Vesa took third. 

Three Rivergate Racing Hondas, three first places (one each for Will, Vesa & Carl) and a 1,2 and a 1, 2, 3. (And no dented sheet metal) It can't get better. And in a very large, competitive field. How did this happen? By luck - the kind of luck that happens when your competition overdrives or under prepares his car.

Road America, Regional -- August 22, 1999

Jamie Blair took the Honda out to race in a field of four ITC cars - and got it dented badly. On the pace lap the track got oiled causing a smash up before the green flag fell. Jamie had to make a quick trip to the pits to have loose parts jerked off and an application of racer tape. He started last but pulled back to finish second.

Roebling Road, ECR & SARRC -- August 21-22, 1999

Carl Blevins took down his ITC Honda CRX and Bill Perry the ITD MG Midget. In the ECR, Will Perry started the CRX and got into a 35 minute long battle for the lead with two other fast cars/skilled drivers. In-car tapes show the lead changing about 20 times!! One of this lead pack was Christine Shaw, the most skilled lady driver I have shared the track with since the 1970's. Keep an eye out for big things from Christine. In all of this tight racing there was no sheet metal contact. Great fun. Then Will came in and fueled the CRX and changed a tire (No Crew). Carl went out to finish the race. But he got T-boned by a car out of control - it was crossing the track at 80 MPH. Carl came to the pits for a look over and was sent back out to finish in a badly smashed car. He finished third.

Bill started the Midget and drove for just over an hour, turning it over to Will after he cooled down from driving, then servicing, the CRX. They finished first unopposed in class.

Carl finished second of 8 cars in a rather unsatisfying SARRC race. For the first 10 laps an SSB car screwed up the battle among the top three ITC cars. Soon after the SSB car spun off, a tremendous thunderstorm hit, shortening the race. This left Carl second in a race he should have won.

Blackhawk Farms Regional -- August 14-15, 1999

In Jamie Blair's own words:

"Well, I finally did it. I took my first road racing first place this past Sunday at Blackhawk Farms!! I also had my first paint swapping incident (actually my first and second) as well. I qualified third out of five for the race, passed the second place car early, then went on the hunt for first. I passed the first place Datsun 510 on the front straight with little drama (he actually thought I was an ITA car and waved me by). Well, after I passed him he realized I was a C car. He tried a really stupid bonsai move turning onto the front straight (I beat him to the apex......he tried to out brake me and ended up using my car to point his car in the right direction). Well, I got p.. and as a result got more aggressive than usual. We went side by side into turn two with him crowding me to the inside. Well, I didn't back down until the last possible second and ended up with my right front tire caving in his left rear quarter panel. Minimal damage to my car.....just some tire scuffmarks and a couple really small dents that I won't bother fooling with. His car came out on the bad end of the deal. Oh well, I still finished the day with a first place trophy!! Pretty awesome adrenaline rush too I must say!!!!"

September 11, 1999

Road America Regional -- August 1, 1999

Jamie Blair took his ITC Honda to this race at Road America. In a field of seven he finished third - a fine result for his first look at the long, complex course.

Road Atlanta SARRC, ProIT, ECR -- July 31-August 1, 1999

Art Thompson and David Stubblefield served as Rivergate Racing crew chiefs at the HOT, busy weekend at Road Hotlanta. Crewing were Scott and Jennifer Dobler, Susan Stubblefield, Gail Perry, George Lewis, Ken Hurt and Jamie Hamilton - a big crew but in the record setting heat we couldn't have done without them all. Our thermometer showed 110 degrees in the shade at the start of the Saturday afternoon Enduro. Official temp was 112 degrees at Sound Control, with track temp reported as 142 degrees. In similar heat at the previous weekend's TransAm, 14 people required medical treatment for the heat, with four transported to the hospital.

Entered in the Enduro were Vesa Silegren's ITC Civic, Carl Blevins' ITC CRX, and Bill Perry's ITD MG Midget. Vesa soloed in his car, Will Perry co-drove the CRX and Brian Stubblefield co-drove the Midget. At the pit stop the cars didn't require much attention, but Jennifer put ice vests on the drivers getting in and icy towels on the drivers getting out. Ice was as necessary as gasoline to completing this race. Vesa lost an extra minute on this stop to get cooled down and re-hydrated, but he was able to make it to the end. So did his car despite burning the tip off a spark plug.

In his first race since driving school Vesa finished sixth in a field of 10 ITC cars. Will and Carl finished second in ITC and were closing on the leader at the end. Brian and Bill won ITD un-opposed.

Will borrowed Carl's CRX for the ProIT race Sunday. (Will's CRX is still in parts from his wreck.) Will qualified first and moved out for a 20 second lead at the finish. This increases his lead in the ProIT points race.

Carl qualified first in a field of 9 ITC cars in the SARRC race with Vesa qualifying third. Carl raced hard to stay in the front, frequently running door-to-door (with a little space) with the ITC competition. At the end he had a four second lead. This is two SARRC wins in two races for Carl, with no finish worse than third in his ten races this year!

Vesa finished fourth, right on the bumper of the third place car. His speed had improved as the race went on - and in a racecar that still had on its "training wheels". On a racer this means junkyard wheels with outdated race tires - something cheap to run while the driver is learning.

We were very pleased that the Pod was able to take 3 firsts and a second place. But the way it was accomplished was very pleasing too, with all the Chattanooga Region members looking after one another to be sure we all made it through the dangerous heat.

Harvey Templeton Club Racer of the Year Points:
	Total	Best 6
Carl Blevins	167	111
Will Perry	114	110
Brian Stubblefield	64	64
Jamie Blair	43	43
Vesa Silegren	35	35
Bill Perry	30	30

The following article was printed in the September/October 1999 issue (page 7) of Grassroots Motorsports magazine in the "supplementals" column:

A similar article was printed in the August, 1999 issue of Racer magazine in their "In the News" column.

Members of the Chattanooga Region certainly wish to add our best wishes for Harvey Templeton on his 90th birthday. We admire him for his abilities as a driver, car designer and constructor - a rare combination - and as a classic gentleman.

August 8, 1999

Sebring School -- July 10-11, 1999

Vesa Silegren took his ITC Honda Civic down to attend this Driving School with Bill Perry as crew. Both car and driver did everything asked of them, and did it well. Vesa completed every lap available to him and turned in good times. He made a pass in the last corner to take second place in the five-lap school race. Considering his experience racing shifter carts in Sweden and his performance at this school, the Chief Instructor waived the requirement for Vesa to attend a second school. He will be doing his first race weekend July 31 at Road Atlanta.

Blackhawk Farms -- July 4, 1999

Jamie Blair took the CRX Honda to his first race since moving north, and since getting the "built" engine. He finished second in a field of four ITC cars. Not bad for his first time to see the track and racing on an engine not fully broken in yet.

Memphis Motorsports Park -- June 19-20, 1999

Brian Stubblefield in the ITC (normally ITD when not raced in Memphis) MG Midget and Carl Blevins in the ITC CRX represented our region at Memphis Motorsports Park. On Saturday Brian took fourth of the 6 ITC cars. Carl took the lead in the class three times, over Gareth Rebstock, one of the top ITC drivers in the nation. Unfortunately, on the only lap that counts in the long run, Carl was second.

On Sunday, Brian again took fourth place in the underpowered Midget. But he was able to race and swap positions with a Mazda RX7.

Carl was tied up in a good race for second late in the race Sunday. But he skidded in oil, puked by a BMW, causing him to finish third.

Harvey Templeton Club Racer of the Year Points:
	Total Points	Best Six
Carl Blevins	125	100
Will Perry	75	75
Brian Stubblefield	52	52
Jamie Blair	29	29
Bill Perry	15	15
Vesa Silegren	10	10

July 15, 1999

Older Road Race Reports

Red Sand in My Shoes Timetable for the Beginning Racer
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Updated November 17, 1999