After considerable thought about the future of Road Racing in the Northwest and the big part that PSRRA plays in that program and it's bright future I have made the decision to resign as President of PSRRA effective October 15^th, 2000. The position as President requires an individual who has a clear vision of the future of Road Racing and how to move into the 21^st century and maintain our present success. The road race program in the Northwest is one largest program in I.K.F.'s Regional Network. No other road race Regional program has 12 races a year at 4 different race tracks. When you consider the weather conditions we must race under our program is still very successful.

To maintain the success and growth there is a need for a person with good management skills and the ability to put together marketing plan that will increase the number of club members, race day workers, and new racers within Region 6. This person needs to have good understanding of go-kart racing in general and not just road racing, because Sprinters and Speedway drivers come to our events…

The fact is that our club is not very large, with less than 60 members. Most are known as good talkers but not workers. The man-hours to put on a road race are mind boggling. There are days when there are more people at the registration table than there are people to do all the other jobs. We have been required to hire corner personnel, tow personnel and scoring personnel. We even pay some one to sell pit passes. With the ever increasing cost of rent of the two tracks we use, there will come a time when we just run out of available racing dollars to put on quality road races in the Northwest.

The recent passing of Rex Hays brings to mind another factor that is facing our region. There is no backup personnel when some one who for so long, did too much because no one would step forward and volunteer to help or to learn so that we always have a backup in all areas of the operation of our club. All of the jobs required to put on a successful race are equally important. The one item we can do nothing about is the clock. At SIR all races are one-day events and when any one task takes longer than planned, we are force to short the scheduled race program. You all know what we will have to cut so that all the races can be run in their entirety…PRACTICE!

Now you all know why the next President needs to have so many more skills than I have. So please nominate a person that will take on the job with energy and dedication to take PSRRA on to greater level of success than we have ever seen.

It's also time to put the club on a quarterly meeting schedule so that the problems are identified early and they can be solved before race day.

Please attend the up coming club meeting and voice your opinions and suggestions for the 2001 racing season.

As this is my last Presidents message, I want to thank each and every one who as a worker, club official, racer or family member who have made kart racing in the Northwest so enjoyable for me. I have enjoyed the last 20 years of my 5 decades of active racing in karts here in the Northwest. It's been a BLAST!

Gene Moon
Puget Sound Road Race Association President

After spending the last season as race director, I have noticed some real problems with the current way our races run. First off there are too few people willing to help out at the track. It takes a minimum of 16 people working at the track to make things flow, currently we have only 8 people willing to help. At this point I would like to say that I am a racer and I would rather be out on the track driving then working Friday night and all day Saturday without even being able to watch the races.

The following are positions that need filling PLEASE HELP. 1) Head flag person. This is an all day job and needs to be someone who has raced in the past. They are responsible for controlling the track, communication with the corner crews and EMT's. 2) Pre tech. This is a morning job that anyone can do. We always have people to help out during the busy times.
3) Scales person. This can be done by any young adult that is responsible. This is an all day job, but can be split up if more then 1 person will volunteer. 4) Tow drivers. This is our hardest position to fill anyone over 16 can do this, and this is something a driver can do as well. It only takes 15 minutes. If I had 6 people willing to do this throughout the day, the hole race day would run smoother. as it is either Myself or Richard has to do this and it slows the hole day down because our other tasks get put on hold. 5) Pit boss. This person controls the Karts moving on and off the track. Again Richard or myself try to do this while we are working else were.

Whenever people take on responsibilities that no one else wants to do, we all suffer because of time loss. If we do not get more help, we will not be able to continue racing at SIR!

Next year expect major changes in registration and scoring. We have been working on a new system that will be up and running prior to our first race in March.

In closing, I have for the most part enjoyed being your Race Director this past year and would do it again next year if you would have me. BUT it is time as club members to step up to the plate and help out.

Daryl E Owens
(425) 742-1460

Don't forget to vote for Jack Lehman for IKF Board of Directors position!!! We need to continue to have a voice from the Northwest to represent our interests! Thanks.

The club meeting has been set for November 2^nd, 2000, at the Pizza Hut on the 186 block and Pacific Highway South (see maps below). The address is 18605 International Blvd. South in Seatac (Across from the Airport Doubletree Hotel, formerly the Red Lion). The meeting and food will start at about 6:30pm. We would like to get an idea of how many people are going to attend, so please email or call me (Thomas Plante) at thomasp1@netzero.net and 206-998-9274 (digital pager), respectively. We have a lot of decisions to make to prepare for the Northwest Conference in Portland later in the year, so please attend!  Thanks.