Tampa Bay QMRA

Tampa Bay Quarter Midget Racing Association is affiliated with Quarter Midgets of America, a youth racing organization for kids 5 to 16 years old. We race two Sundays a month with the gates opening at 9:00 am at Ambassador Racing School located in Balm, Fl. Admission is FREE! Visitors are always WELCOME!

The Charity Race is coming soon! Saturday September, 6 our quarter midget drivers will be racing for a young man named Heath Sammons. Heath is the son of Manatee County Sheriff's Lieutenant/Bomb Commander Gary Sammons. Heath has osteosarcoma and it has now spread to his lungs. Heath's condition has been deemed inoperable and he has become chemo resistant. Heath's parents are doing all they can to keep thier son alive and have turned to alternative medications which are not covered by insurance and as we all know is very expensive. You can visit www.Heathsupdate.blogspot.com to learn more on Heath's condition. There is a fund called Heath Sammons Medical Fund at Manatee River Community Bank which is where the proceeds will go. We are hoping that Heath will feel up to coming to the event and meeting the kids and dropping the first green flag of the day! Registration fees for the event will be $30 per car and don't forget this is a double points race! I will let you know if we are going to still do the covered dish soon. This will be an awards race! Let's make this an awesome race and raise some money for Heath.

If you would like to sponsor trophies for this event please contact kelli at kellimarie02@verizon.net.

Keep your thoughts and prayers with the Hammond family. We will miss Woody cheering on the drivers!

Thank you to Larry Jones Trucking, LLC for sponsoring the trophies for the June 8th race!

The TBQMRA would like to thank Goodson Farms for donating the strawberries for our Second Annual Strawberry Classic. The club had a great turn out with some awesome driving. We are looking forward to a great 2008 Race Season!

We want to let you know about some new tech policies we are implementing this year.

PRE-TECH INSPECTION
We will have a pre-tech inspection each week where we will do some basic safety checks on each car every race day. Please bring your car to the tech area at the South end of the starting grid before pushing off for practice in the morning. Please be prepared to start the car as we will be checking the kill switch among other things. We will issue a colored sticker that we will initial and date to indicate that your car has passed pre-tech for that day. Please do not go out to practice without passing pre-tech.

PUMP-AROUND FUELING
We are implementing a new "pump-around" fueling process this year. Handlers will be required to bring one gallon of fuel for each car that will be racing that day. All fuel will be dumped into a common barrel and all cars will be fueled from that barrel for heat races and feature races. World Formula will not use separate fuel, and will fuel from the same barrel. Please bring your fuel to the pre-tech inspection. If you forget to bring fuel, you can pay a $5 per gallon fee instead. A pre-tech sticker will not be issued without the fuel dumped or fee paid. (Proceeds from the gas fee will go to the club.)

The fuel barrel will be located near the starting grid and you will be required to fuel immediately before each heat race and feature race. Your fuel tank must be emptied and fuel line disconnected prior to fueling and you will not be allowed to take your car away from the starting grid after fueling. You will not be required to drain the carburator bowl, unless you do not intend to take hot laps before the race. You should use your own fuel for practice.

FEATURE TOP-FINISHERS TECH INSPECTION
Each race day in the driver/handler meeting the tech director will announce how many cars should report to the tech area immediately following the feature race. After weighing the car and driver, the handler must immediately bring the car to the tech area at the South end of the starting grid and leave the car. Failure to immediately bring the car to the tech area or modifying the car in any way will result in a DQ for the day. The tech team will inspect the cars in the order that the feature races were run. We will call you to the tech area when we are ready to begin the tech inspection. No more than two members of the team may be at the car during tech inspection. Absolutely no-one other than that car's team members may be in the vicinity of the car being inspected.

Thank you for your attention and cooperation. Please see Scot Durocher (Tech Director) or Clare DeBoef (Tech Assistant) if you have any questions

The TBQMRA would like to again thank Brian and Flo McConnell for their dedication to the TBQMRA. We would like to thank Zack for being the best flagman that most of have known at Tampa and for coming back again next year! Also, the girls in the scoring tower, Gina, Flo and Dawn thanks for the great job yall do!

At this years banquet we recognized Nicholas Hernandez as a retiring driver. Nick has run with as a quarter midget racer with Tampa since 2000 when he was five years old. Anybody that has gotten the pleasure to know Nick knows that he is an all around great kid. Nick is very personable and fun to be around. We will miss him on race days and hope he comes to visit every now and then. Wherever Nick's future takes him he is sure to Shine!

For the first time the TBQMRA recognized an outstanding driver volunteer. The award this year went to Devin Shane Patt for his outstanding assistance and good example for the drivers of the TBQMRA. Devin was constantly helping out wherever needed, whether on test drive day, up in the tower running errands or collecting rumble strips. Thank you Devin for your great efforts.

There have been a few incidents this year with helmets flying off during impact.    Please pass this excerpt from the Snell standard to all the members of your clubs:

The Snell Foundation recommends the simple, straightforward procedure recommended to consumers by most helmet manufacturers:



Position the helmet on your head so that it sits low on your forehead; if you can't see the edge of the brim at the extreme upper range of your vision, the helmet is probably out of place. Adjust the retention system so that when in use, it will hold the helmet firmly in place. This positioning and adjusting should be repeated to obtain the very best result possible. The procedure initially may be time consuming. Take the time.



Try to remove the helmet without undoing the retention system closures. If the helmet comes off or shifts over your eyes, readjust and try again. If no adjustment seems to work, this helmet is not for you; try another.



This procedure is also the basis of the test for helmet stability described in this Standard. This test performs the same steps but uses standard headforms. However, you must still perform this procedure for yourself when buying a helmet and every time you wear a helmet. Only in this way will you be able to make all the proper adjustments to get the best fit possible. Furthermore, your test on your own head will be an improvement on ours; you will determine whether the helmet is appropriate for you personally.

Regards,

Curtis Pepe

QMA NSD

We are still taking donations for electronic scoring. We would like to thank the families that have donated for their generous donation towards the system. please if anyone else is interested in helping out contact kelli at kellimarie02@verizon.net .

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