MWHC Tuner Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 As many of you may have read, the Hyper-fest event was at Beaver Run over the weekend. With Honda Challenge, Spec Miata and Legends cars as race classes, there was also Hyper drives and students there with their own cars. The paddock area was split in half, with show and shine guys in the south area, and the racers and instructors in the north section. On sunday, when we gridded up for the Honda Challenge race (4:45 pm), we were paddock'd next to race control/tech area/nasa registration..it was a busy area for all the drivers meetings and such. Cobetto Racing had their big race trailer there will all the event necessities and a canopy and scales for tech, plus all the drivers meetings were held there. We were paddocked right next to them. Upon returning from the Honda Challenge race, we noticed our alluminum jack had been stolen! It is a Longacre unit, (Bruenhozel built) 6 pump, worth over 600 dollars. It was missing the carrying handle, but does have indentifying marks on it. Whoever it was, knew that we had to leave for the honda challenge race, and waited till just the right time to rip it off...in 30 years of racing I have never had a thing stolen....untill the Hyperfest....so for all of you out there, just remember that when the spectators are invited into the paddock area, watch out...we don't have an enclosed trailer so securing it wasn't an option during the race. We had lots of expensive tools and things in the same area, but nothing else was taken, just the jack...so please be on the lookout in the Virginia region or HPDE's in the near future...we will watch Ebay as well..it has the red LONGACRE printing on the side of the jack, with grip tape on the handle, and there are painted marks on the jack to locate it under the car (a depth guage). Track security was notified, but no luck...people were leaving to go home at 6 O'clock so it was tough to search while the paddock was clearing out. I used that jack everyday in my shop for servicing cars, as my new shop in Medina ohio doesn't have a lift yet...so it really hurts to have my jack stolen. Not only that, but I used the standard 70 lb steel unit from Wal-Mart for 6 years to get my business going...and this stolen jack was a reward to myself for being successful and working my ass off my those 6 years to afford such a nice piece of equipment. So it was not "just a jack" and I am not rich, where I can just go get another one tommorrow. We figured it is someone who saw the jack over the weekend, and new that when I grided my crx for the honda challenge race and with everyone pinned the fence (back to the paddock area) for the start of the race, it was the perfect time...It was someone who knew the schedule, and knew all about the jack. With lots of out of state participants there, we feel it was someone who lived far from Ohio where we wouldn't see it ever again, and security and the police confered with that theroy... It was impossible for my only crew member (my wife) to watch the area as we had our 3 year old son with us and he was hell on wheels the entire afternoon. My wife said she heard the gravel being dragged as we were being gridded, but she wasn't able to go look, and then my son ran around the side of a motor home that was parked next to us, and might have scared off the villian, that is why nothing else was taken. So paddocking all the Honda challenge guys together meant a cleared paddock for a thief, as everyone was at the grid or the fence at the same time.... so somebody knew the schedule and what would happen when we gridded up and the race started....the spectators were few and far between at 5 pm on Sunday evening. The part that really sucks ass it that the Cobetto racing trailer next to us had the same jack, just sitting out in the open just like we did and after mine got stolen, theirs was still sitting out in the open and everytime I looked around while loading up, I saw it...O the pain and anger... What a lame finish to an otherwise great event put on by Chris Cobetto and the Virginia guys from Hyper Fest! A special thanks to those of you who helped us scour the paddock area after the race in search of the missing jack... I doubt after this issue that we will attend another event at Beaver Run, due to the lack of security and lack of fencing to contain the area. People were allowed access to any area with out proper credentials, and they could just drive their car or truck right up to any paddock spot and rip off anything and security wouldn't have known....such as our case... So beware if you go to beaver run... they need to fence stuff in like at mid ohio where it is a contained area and you can't just drive any car in there with out credentials or a security man/woman there to deny people access.... Thanks for reading this post...and we hope the jack can be located in the future.. A reward is being offered in the amount of 100 bucks to information leading to the return of my jack. Please email me with any information. http://www.longacreracing.com/catalog/item.asp?id=161&catid=6 The above link is close to what it what looks like, but the jacking pad is the old style with a square pad, not a round one, and the printing on the side is larger and in red and covers the side of the jack completely. chris stiffler #21 Crx (H4) black/yellow/red Medina, Ohio http://www.streetntrackautosports.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanElam Posted May 19, 2003 Share Posted May 19, 2003 Chris- I left a message for you on your voice mail. I think I have your jack. The tech people borrowed mine and said it was at the Cobetto trailer (next to you). I will go to the trailer after work, but my guess is that I have yours. We're never had any problems with stuff getting stolen at NASA. Now to figure out where mine is...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWHC Tuner Posted May 19, 2003 Author Share Posted May 19, 2003 Dan- There was a similar jack to mine still sitting outside of the Cobetto's trailer when I left last night...maybe it was yours because, nobody seemed to be loading up in the trailer, while all the other stuff got loaded? My guess is that Chris has it in his trailer. It could have been a simple switch seeing how my jack was real close to the tech area? I think your jack might have been taken into the Cobetto racing trailer when no one claimed it at the end of the day??? But I did have 5 people come up to me and ask me if that jack was mine cause it is so similar. I called you back, and left you a message.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWHC Tuner Posted May 19, 2003 Author Share Posted May 19, 2003 thanks Dan for calling me back...yahoo. now I can get back to work and I will attend the next Honda Challenge event if I still have my car. It has been up for sale for about 2 weeks and one guy is serious about the purchase of the car. count on me being there if I still have the car though. Thanks to all who read this thread. chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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