West of the Rockies!!!
I grew up in various eastern seaboard states, spent most of my working years in the mid-west, and am now “retired” to the mountain west. With each move you are faced with lots of new terminology both regional and local. Zone 9 PCA covers both sides of the Rocky Mountain range from the Bonneville Salt Flats to the West and the Colorado Plains to the East. From North to South, our regions span from the Idaho to the Mexico border. The spine down the middle of much of the zone is the Rocky Mountains. Coloradoans along the east edge of the Rockies say they live on the “front range”. But here in Salt Lake City we say that we live along the “Wasatch front”- the west side of the local Wasatch Range. Oddly, those living on the east side, deeper into the rockies, refer to their location as the “Wasatch back”. This month’s “In the Zone” is all about the Wasatch front, my local turf, and home to the only region in the zone to be completely located west of the Rockies.
Spats of winter weather have continued to tease the arrival of spring here in Utah. Our first off-road tour of 2019, was changed to a paved road tour due to roads not yet open due to conditions. I guess the good news is that lots more participants joined the tour with their low clearance Porsches. Called the “Pony Express Tour”, members of IRPCA made stops at various points along the original Pony Express route. The tour finished up at the Bonneville Brewery just south of the famous lake- in a town called “Tooele”. Remember I mentioned the local terminology. Well Tooele is found just west of the Oquirrh Mountains. Yeah…just try to pronounce either one these. Here’s a tutorial. Tooele = too-ill’-ah. Oquirrh = Oak’-er! Welcome to the Wasatch Front!
We got lucky on May 3 and 4, with our first track days at Utah Motorsports Campus. PERFECT weather! We were delighted to welcome drivers from Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, COLORADO, and even as far as Mexico City! We had lots of new first time PCA members, several of which are hooked and heading down the slippery slope. If you are reading this and you are from east, or south of the rockies, we really want you guys to come have some fun at UMC (formerly known as Miller Motorsports Park). It’s a fantastic facility with four track configurations, ranging from 2.1 to over 4 miles. Great facilities, with grandstands and rental day garages. If you’ve not come this direction for a track event, please consider joining us in the future. Our calendar can be found at www.irpca.org.
I’ve learned in traveling throughout the zone that we have stellar Porsche dealerships wherever I go. The Intermountain region is no different. We get fantastic support from both dealers in the region- Porsche of Lehi and Porsche Salt Lake City. So while I’m focused on my “home” region this month, I want to call your attention to the current issue of Panorama (#746). There’s a special 3 page article on Larry Moulton and Randy Yates. Larry and Randy are Porsche Master Technicians who collectively share 88 years of employment at Porsche Salt Lake City. Larry, at 74 years of age and with 53 years with the dealer, was recently awarded the “Technician Tenure Award” at a special ceremony. The award was presented personally by Klaus Zellmer, president and CEO, of Porsche Cars North America. A special IRPCA Cars and Coffee is being organized here in early June to allow club members to also recognize Larry for his tenure and accomplishments. I expect that many of our long time PCA members will have some fun stories to tell about their interactions over the years. Congratulations to Larry and Randy for their tenure working on Porsche Cars, and also to Porsche Salt Lake City, for being THAT kind of employer!
Up next month- “South of the Rockies”- a focus on the lower third of the zone.