<CORSA Chapters> DMM Award

[Robert Marlow]

Bruce, you expressed what I was thinking, and you expressed it more 
eloquently, diplomatically, and honestly than I could.

--Bob

Bruce Schug wrote:
> Upon hearing of this motion, my first reaction was to suggest it be  
> tabled for a year. My reasoning for this was because I presumed this  
> motion was the result of Donna Mae's recent death. Often times, upon a  
> death, someone suggests something like this. I don't think it's wise  
> to make commitments soon after a death. Sometimes this is referred to  
> as a "knee-jerk reaction" to the loss. It's usually better to wait a  
> year, then re-visit the suggestion.
>
> After hearing that the motion has been in the works for some time, I  
> realized this was not the case. Nonetheless, her death is recent and  
> may cloud the judgement of some. For this reason, I think the matter  
> should be tabled for one year.
>
> Understanding that the rules need to be reprinted and others may not  
> agree with me, I will make further comments on the issue.
>
> I agree with those who have suggested the elimination of ladies  
> classes in the autocross. I have never understood why women couldn't  
> compete with men in an autocross. I don't see any reason why a woman  
> can't drive a car as fast as a man in this type of race. Some comment  
> that they feel as though women won't enter if they have to compete  
> against the men. They just seem to feel more comfortable in their own  
> class (where there's little or no competition). I would remind you  
> that these rules are primarily for the national or international  
> convention events. As such, I don't think the rules need to cater to  
> novices or those who aren't comfortable competing against others,  
> regardless of their sex, or other factors. Convention events should be  
> national championship-calibre events. If someone isn't comfortable  
> competing at this level, then they shouldn't. Lady's classes can  
> always be added to the class listings for club events, if the  
> organizers wish.
>
> We have had several woman compete in our autocross, "Corvairs in the  
> Curves", which we have run 19 times in 21 years. Several times we have  
> had a special award for the fastest woman. This has been well- 
> received. The only question has been whether it should be a pure  
> fastest time or fastest as a percentage of the winning men's time.  
> Note that we don't have classes at our autocross. We concentrate on  
> having fun, not on splitting hairs, although I would not suggest this  
> for a convention.
>
> Some will wonder what a discussion of eliminating lady's classes has  
> to do with the motion at hand. The answer is that perhaps nothing  
> would honor Donna Mae more than to level the playing field and  
> eliminate the lady's classes to put CORSA autocross rules in the same  
> class as the rules that Donna Mae raced under. Let woman compete  
> directly against the men, as Donna Mae did.
>
> Some have referred to this as a "sticker" placed on the award. The  
> award has been presented as a metal plate, not a sticker; big  
> difference in the level of quality here.
>
> I do have some concerns about this whole thing. First, I do not  
> pretend to be an expert on Donna Mae Mims and her accomplishments. I  
> never met her or spoke with her. But since her death I have read  
> several articles about her which reviewed her accomplishments and  
> racing experiences. What struck me about reading these, and watching  
> the excellent Racer's Reunion video, was that her experiences with  
> Corvairs did not seem to be her primary racing experiences. She was in  
> a pink Corvette, not a Corvair, in the funeral home. Most of the  
> conversation about her racing seems to center around her Corvettes and  
> her Bugeye Sprite, not a Corvair. Her pink car was a Sprite, not a  
> Corvair. I understand she worked for Yenko and several Corvair guys  
> dealt with her and so forth, but this is how I see it. Again, my  
> judgement may be flawed here as I admit to not being a racing historian.
>
> What I'm suggesting is that maybe Donna Mae meant more to Corvair  
> people than Corvairs did to her. Then again, even if this is true,  
> except for Yenko, Cole, and Mitchell, who was more significant to the  
> Corvair? Fitch? Fiore? Langworth? Maybe, at least in regard to racing,  
> Donna Mae is the most significant person we have to choose from.  
> Denise McCluggage is another woman racer who comes to mind, but she  
> certainly drove lots of other cars and didn't seem to have any  
> affinity for Corvairs.
>
> I think that if folks still want to go forward with this award it  
> would make an excellent award for the fastest woman driver at a  
> convention. What is the significants of tying this into the IS cars?  
> And why were the FC's not included? Yes, I know she didn't race an FC.  
> She didn't race an IS car either.
>
> If the board goes ahead with this it wouldn't upset me. I've won three  
> first place IS-3 awards. They look pretty good on my wall just as they  
> are. I think that if they had this small pink plate people would  
> wonder what it meant. Does it mean I beat all the women in my class? I  
> just don't see much of a tie-in. Donna Mae didn't race an IS-type car.  
> Did she drive a Corvair on the street? It sounds to me as though she  
> drove a Corvette. She raced a competition-type Corvair not an IS  
> Corvair.
>
> Maybe this award should go to the fastest vintage-type Corvair, the  
> winner of CC-V. If there's a good Specialty or CC car at a convention,  
> the CC-V car isn't going to win FTD. This will usually be the case.  
> This would be an opportunity to award something special to a vintage  
> racer, a car like Donna Mae drove, back in the day, who can't really  
> win against a good CC or Specialty car for FTD.
>
>
>
>
> On Oct 27, 2009, at 9:09 AM, Brian wrote:
>
>   
>> Rather than put some small pink sticker on some class awards--do it  
>> up right.  Develop a DMM award to recognize the best overall  
>> performance by a woman during the convention. Points could be given  
>> for particpation and performance.  This might get more women to  
>> drive in events. If that seems too hard then have some other  
>> criteria to recognize a woman of the year type achievement.   
>> Innovative thinking is needed!
>>
>>