QMA Board Conference Call Minutes
August 21, 1997 8:00pm EST
Conference call started at 8:00pm EST with all board
members except for Mike and Dick present.
Eastern Grands
It was brought up that after the problems we had
with hardships this year especially revolving around members who
attended the Eastern Grands, that a new system for hardships should
be discussed. Harold and Steve felt that an alternative was to
eliminate hardships completely - if a driver does not attend
a regional and the states race, he or she will not be able to
attend the Grands. Denise suggested that we go the other way.
There are some drivers with valid hardships. She stated that
she felt an earlier idea mentioned by Karen was a better way to
go - Allow all hardships to attend the Grands, regardless of
reason. The fee would be raised to anywhere between $100 and
$250. QMA would still get $50, but the club holding the states
race would receive the rest of the money. This would make up
for the money lost by the club by not having a driver attend
and who doesn't spend at least $100 going to a states race.
Western Grands
Dick Silva's resignation letter came up while discussing
the Western Grands. Due to the other nature of the letter, several
technical items were discussed. Karen brought up that Dave did
a wonderful job at both grands so far with tech. He worked very
hard to keep everything going properly. Harold brought up that
at the last national meeting, the Board of Directors and the Regional
Directors voted to have the technical committee attend the national
meeting and all of the Grand to allow for consistency during tech.
Karen said that she felt the tech committee was not working as
a team like it should.
Pidge stated that we will need a new tech director.
Regional Directors will be asked to submit resumes of qualified
candidates to Denise.
Dirt Grands
Pidge and Harold will be arriving Wednesday. Steve
and Dave will be arriving Friday. Rick will be arriving Wednesday.
Mike, Karen and Denise will not be attending. Kathy Kostic and
Rose Ruzic will be running the tower.
Harold said that we need to re-evaluate the dates
for the Dirt Grands. It is becoming a very big event and may
soon warrant a whole week to run it. Also, some drivers go back
to school before Labor Day and it is very hard for families to
be able to run the Dirt Grands.
Pidge said that the computer program was finished.
Karen and he will be looking at the program with the programmer
later this week. A disk will be sent to Denise with instructions
on how to install it.
Because of the recent Honda tech problem in Florida,
QMA is sending a tech person to Florida to look at the Hondas.
QMA will be paying for half of the bill and the Mid-Florida QMA
will be paying for the other half. Region 13 does not have a
Regional tech person right now.
Pidge asked the Board to consider appointing Rick
Eads as National Flagman. In additionto flagging at the Grands,
he will help to rewrite the flagging procedures and he will be
the flagger of choice at any large sanctioned event. He may possibly
need one or two other people on his committee to help him write
the procedures. The Board seemed in agreement, however no formal
vote was taken.
Page Two
Minutes of 8/21/97
Region 1 and 12 will be holding Regional Director
elections early due to the loss of their presently elected Regional
Directors. Regional Directors will be notified with details.
Denise announced that she had been in contact with
Al Hanson and the Oswego club in Fulton, New York, and that club
will be up and running as of September 1, 1997. Their first
show is scheduled for September 7, 1997. Tenatively, Pidge, Steve
and Denise are attending.
Pidge received a certified letter from a member of
Region 11. It complained of unsportsmanlike behavior happening
at the track. Pidge spoke to Mark Kostic and got a larger picture
of the situation. Mark will speak to the member.
Pidge received a letter of protest from a Region
12 member about an incident at the Western Grands. His car was
not sealed after timing and since he went straight to the A Main,
it was not discovered until after he finished 2nd in
the A Main. He wants to receive a duplicate second place award,
stating he did not feel that this was his fault. Steve stated
that at every handler's meeting it was announced that your car
and engine were your responsibility and you should make sure all
seals were there. The consensus of the Board was that the award
should not be reinstated. Pidge will send the member a letter.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:06 EST
Recorded and submitted by Denise Schlegel, QMA Secretary
Additional Note to Regional Directors
As you read previously, Dick Silva resigned as National Tech Director. Please send resumes of qualified candidates to me as quickly as possible. Thanks for your help.
-Denise