Hosted by "The Moose"
COTV at the
Big Bear Bash 2013
Hosted by "The Moose"
COTV Goes to the 31st Big Bear Bash
With good memories of the 2012 Bash, a group of 6 COTV cars and couples signed up for this year's event which was held June 28-30 at the Marina Resort and the Robinhood Resort in Big Bear Lake. Everyone was looking forward to a cool weekend in the mountains, especially since the summer heat had hit the Temecula Valley. What a surprise! The temps were in the high 80s and 90s for the whole weekend. Bob and Betty Wells had a reservation at the Marina and were lucky enough to get air conditioning in their room, but the McIntoshs, Kaufmanns, Sommars, Alan Thompson and the Webers had to rough it at the Robinhood with none.
The Webers drove up Thursday afternoon so that Rob would have time to clean the car for the Friday morning car show. The McIntoshs and Alan arrived late morning Friday and the Wells, Kaufmanns and Sommars about mid-day. After our experience last year, the Webers and McIntoshs had talked the event up quite a bit and we were all disappointed (as we are sure Corvettes West was) that the turnout was so much smaller. The Sommars had attended in the past and probably even noticed a more dramatic change. At the peak there used to be 300 cars and 600 people in attendance and this year there were approximately 65 cars. One of the reasons for the light turnout was that the national NCCC rally was on the same weekend. Another was said to be a raise in entry fees, etc. Also, Kumho Tires backed out as a sponsor because they had a larger competing event and that reduced the budget to a great degree. The meals were moved from the large tent to the patio at Nottinghams and that actually worked out well as it was cooler and not as confined as in a tent where the heat would be more noticeable.
The Friday car show had 14 entrants and everyone won something. Rob Weber came second in the stock C6 class, although none of us ever saw the #1 car. The Funkhana was essentially one event – a golf cart “autocross” course with a blindfolded driver and a navigator. Alan, Ken and Jim participated, switching off drivers, unfortunately without great success. The Wells, McIntoshs and Webers opted for an al fresco lunch of hamburgers on the patio. After lunch, the group walked through The Village shopping area, purchased tickets to the Saturday House Tour for Bob and Betty and ice cream for everyone. (The Village seems to have fallen on hard times, as has most of Big Bear Lake, with many closed businesses and more up for sale.) Dinner that evening was a pasta and salad buffet on the patio at Nottinghams with the car show trophies presented.
Saturday was Autocross Day at the airport. Ray, Alan and Rob were signed up to drive, so had breakfast at 6:30 and headed out to “the track” for the 8am drivers' meeting and 8:30am start time. We set up the shade and set out the chairs and then everyone walked the course which was relatively long, with two passes and some confusing turns. Since there was a light turnout for the whole event, there was a relatively light turnout for autocross, 35-40 cars. The first group was All Ladies and Novice Men, which accounted for the majority of cars. This was Ray's first time to drive and after walking the course and doing the “parade lap” he was eager to go. Rob was off first and had a clean run and Ray completed his first round 2 seconds behind. Alan was the last of the class to run. All in all, COTV made a good showing with Ray placing second among the NCCC novice drivers and Rob placing first in his class. Alan did not place, but made a great showing. After the 3 runs in their class, the guys became track workers for the second group, the more seasoned drivers. Now that Rob has won a class in a NCCC sanctioned autocross, he cannot run in novice. Alan had already reached that level when he won his class at the NCCC regional on the Spring Mountain track in April. The Kaufmanns and Sommars joined the rest of us at the track mid-morning and shared the excitement. After the two classes were completed, they offered additional “fun runs” for $1 each and Ray and Rob participated as did Jim. We congratulate him on doing two runs without the benefit of having either walked the course or done a slow lap in advance. His second time was really good. He will be dangerous when he gets his new C-7!
After the racing, we headed back to town for a Mexican lunch, although Alan opted to head home a day early instead. Everyone relaxed for the afternoon and all but the Webers did the parade around the Lake. Bob and Betty had enjoyed their House Tour and then joined the others for the drive. We all met back on the patio at 6:30pm for the Saturday dinner, which consisted of salad, rolls, mashed potatoes, mixed grilled vegetables and either Tri Tip, Chicken or Salmon with an assortment of matching sauces. After the meal was done, they awarded the Funkhana and Autocross prizes and then proceeded with the raffle. The most sought after raffle prize was $1000 in cash provided by Tom Bell Chevrolet, the sponsor for Corvettes West. Diane Sommars won a $50 gift certificate from West Coast Corvettes and Betty Wells won a hat from Hennessey and a large drink cooler on wheels with a wagon-style handle. We are all eager to hear how they got that down the hill and home in a Corvette. Some of the raffle prizes were very large, like the cooler and a pressure washer and a wagon and it made you wonder......what were they thinking?!?!
Sunday departure was on your own schedule. There was a Poker Rally at 8:30am if you wanted to participate. Otherwise, it was back down to the heat of the Temecula Valley.
And the Winners are:
Rob & Daryl
2nd Place Car Show (C6)
Ray
2nd Place Autocross (NCCC Novice)
Rob
1st Place Autocross (Class 1SJ)
Diane
Winner of a $50 Gift Certificate at the Raffle
Betty
Winner of a Rolling Cooler at the Raffle
(But Unfortunately She Had to Take the Bus Home so the Cooler Would Fit in the
Car)
Car Show Pics from Rob & Daryl
Ray Makes a New Friend
Autocross Pics from Rob & Daryl
The Moose Goes Autocrossing with
Ray, Rob, Alan & Jim