tacovini Posted January 11, 2008 Posted January 11, 2008 If anyone's in Dallas this weekend.... What: 5th Annual Texas AI/CMC Banquet Why: Meet the Racers, Awards, Buffet, Videos, 2008 Input, Track time, National CMC Trophy Unveiling/Presentation, etc. Who: Everybody and anybody! When: January 12, 2008. 6pm-10:30pm Where: SpeedZone, Dallas, Texas. www.speedzone.com/dallas Cost: $15/person ($35/person if karting) Dress: Casual or Formal…however you like to receive your award. Tentative Agenda (with a few surprises) 6:00 Welcome & Cocktail Hour (featuring Mid-Atlantic's 2007 Season Video) 6:45 Dinner- “Tailgate Party Dinner†Burgers, Hot Dogs & Fixin’s 7:00 Todd Covini- Host & MC of the Evening- Opening Monologue 7:15 AJ Petersen from PST- Motorsports Seminar- HANS Clinic 7:25 2007 Season Review/ 2008 Season Goals/ Series Admin Reports 7:40 WORLD PREMIERE- 2007 TEXAS AI/CMC SEASON VIDEO!!! 8:30 2007 Texas AI/CMC Awards Ceremony 8:50 National CMC Championship Trophy Unveiling & Presentation 9:00 AI/CMC Championship Karting- 3 round eliminations on slick track 10PM Inaugural AI/CMC Karting Champion Crowned RSVP: tacovini at aol dot com. Please put "RSVP" in subject line.RSVP details needed: 1) Name 2) # of banquet tickets @ $15/ea. 3) # of karting championship entries @ $20/ea 4) Total amount due NOTE- Prepayment preferred ($15 Dinner/ $20 Karting) (Payment instructions to be provided in RSVP response email Price at the door will be $20 Dinner/ $25 Karting ) Evening Highlights: + Texas AI/CMC Championship racecars will be inside the facility for the general public (and the rest of us) to view + Big Screen, Sound System, World Premiere 2007 Season Recap Video + See the unveiling of the World Class National CMC Championship Trophy that Texas AI/CMC commissioned for the series and get presented to our own Texas CMC Champion! (Mr. January) + Complimentary mini-golf for all banquet attendees (for those who think golf is more important than racing) + Over 25 awards and trophies to be presented (including the karting championship award!) + Full cash bar (located just outside our Victory Lane banquet room) + Buckets of beer available at the bar for those who choose to for easy toting into the banquet Regarding the Karting Championship: • Max 14 karts on track at one time on the slick track. • All paid RSVP karting drivers are provided with $25 Play Cards valid for any attraction on site. (Each karting Round cost $7) • Timing & Scoring results will be printed after each round. • Qualifying elimination races to determine championship race grid/order. • Fastest lap time from each round automatically advances to the championship race. • Glenn Landrum will be the Karting Race Director for the evening. (Be nice to him.) OK..OK….I’m Going….what do I need to do???- Make sure you’ve RSVP’d to Todd Covini per the instructions here before the deadline and indicate how many in your party will also be taking the Texas AI/CMC karting championship challenge. Current RSVP attendees are: NAME DINNER KARTING TOTAL PAID Todd Covini 1 1 $35 PAID Al & Becky Fernandez 2 2 $70 Glenn Landrum 3 3 $105 David & Holly Donovan 2 1 $50 Nicholas & Virginia Runyon 2 2 $70 PAID Marshall Mosty 1 1 $35 PAID Misty Cain 1 1 $35 PAID David Francis 1 1 $35 PAID Matt White 1 1 $35 PAID Morgan Dawdy 1 1 $35 PAID AJ Petersen 1 1 $35 James & Kendra Proctor 2 2 $70 PAID Mitch Warren 1 1 $35 PAID Steve Mulder 1 1 $35 PAID Michael Mosty 1 1 $35 PAID Brian & Kyri Calder 2 2 $70 PAID Jeremy Gunter 1 1 $35 PAID Chris & Sharon Lyons 2 2 $70 Richard & Kim Painter 3 3 $105 Jeff & Bev Burch 3 0 $45 PAID Troy Reynolds 1 1 $35 PAID Todd Farley 1 1 $35 PAID Adam Ginsberg 1 1 $35 PAID LiiR 3 3 $105 PAID Mason Melkowits 2 1 $50 Bryan Leinart 2 0 $30 PAID FYI...The following excuses have been banished for 2008: “It’s too far.†“It’s too expensive.†“I’ve been to Dallas too many times this month already.†“My wife has other plans for me.†“It won’t be that fun.†“People I don’t like will be there.†“I wasn’t in the top 5.†"I'll be at an opentrack event all day and I'll be too tired that nite." "I really should be working on the racecar instead of getting to know the people who will finish ahead of me this year." “Gee…I’d love to race in AI/CMC someday, but I still don’t have a car and those guys/gals are just too cool….I don’t think I can hang with them.†"CINCH IT UP!!!" See you there…. Quote
Tri-Agan Posted January 11, 2008 Posted January 11, 2008 Sounds like it will be a blast!!! Share some picts after the event. Kent Quote
Tony G Posted January 13, 2008 Posted January 13, 2008 Geez Todd,you could have arranged to have me flown in on the CMC Corp Jet Really, it sounds like a blast, nice job on doing all of this. You guys have fun! Tony Guaglione Quote
jeffburch Posted January 13, 2008 Posted January 13, 2008 Bev's snapshots http://picasaweb.google.com/TexasCMC3/200AICMCBanquet?authkey=nWtO9DVI_uM jb Quote
Keith Posted January 13, 2008 Posted January 13, 2008 OK, where is the teaser video. It's become a tradition of mine to see it every year. Quote
Glenn Posted January 13, 2008 Posted January 13, 2008 from whati understand, the 2007 Texas AI/CMC highlight vid is around 1.5 hours long. those at the banquet last night didnt get to see it all due to its length. thisone may not be able to be hosted due to size. be patient, it will be available soon. Quote
tacovini Posted February 15, 2008 Author Posted February 15, 2008 The video will now be released in March. In the meantime, here's the banquet writeup!!! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The 5th Annual Texas AI/CMC Awards Banquet was held on Saturday January 12, 2007 at Speedzone in Dallas, TX. This was a repeat attempt after the 4th Annual banquet last year at this location was postponed due to an ice storm. Over 60 Texas AI/CMC racers, family and friends were in attendance. The 2007 Texas CMC Championship car of Glenn Landrum was on site for all the public to view just outside our duly decorated banquet room between the kart tracks. Many thanks to LAW Motorsports, Steve Mulder, Al Fernandez and others for arriving early and helping to set up. The AI/CMC crowd started arriving around 5:30 in anticipation of the 6PM showing of the 2007 Mid-Atlantic CMC Season Review video. During this time, Glenn (and others) intently watched the Speedcast coverage of the 2007 CMC race on the big screen TV over the surround sound system. (This motorsports room was going to be perfect for a 5 year celebration of Texas AI/CMC!) Just after 6PM, the tailgate party style food of burgers, hot-dogs and fixin’s arrived (a bit earlier than scheduled) and Todd Covini welcomed the early arrivals to open the food line and begin the Mid-Atlantic video. At ~6:45, Todd introduced Chris Lyons, the Texas AI/CMC treasurer who would come around provide game cards to everyone who pre-paid for the evening as well as collect entries from those who hadn’t. Promptly at 7PM, the host for the evening addressed the full room of Texas racers and welcomed everyone. Todd Covini introduced himself and Al Fernandez, David Donovan and Glenn Landrum (the other series directors) prior to going over the safety procedures for the facility, including emergency exits and restrooms. The agenda for the evening was summarized with a lot to cover in a short amount of time. This year’s banquet represented somewhat of a format change from years past. Our goals for the evening would be primarily made up of FUN: 1) Recognize our racers & families 2) Present our World Premiere 2007 Season Recap Video 3) Inaugural Texas AI/CMC Karting Challenge Todd went on to state that each of our directors had their hand in organizing all aspects the evening’s event and they deserved a round of applause. Al Fernandez reminded Todd that in order to achieve all 3 of our goals for the evening, we needed to stay on schedule and would not be able to discuss 2008 operational items. Tonight, was about fun and reflecting on 2007. In short, Todd went on to state that 5 years ago we held a banquet similar to this except that it was ALL business and minimal “funâ€. Approximately 15 people got together at a small restaurant in College Station at that time to discuss the launch of AI/CMC in Texas. “Now look where we’re at!†exclaimed Todd to the ~60 people applauding in the “Victory Circle†room at Speedzone. Todd went on to list some of our accomplishments since that inaugural season including the Yahoo forum, to the current website…a great communication tool! 7 car fields to nearly 30 car fields! A national presence on websites, forums, magazines and amongst other NASA regions! Information broadcasts, dyno decals and other trend setting standards! Not to mention…a National CMC Championship and a strong AI showing at the Mid-Ohio Nationals this year!!! All this growth wasn’t without some pain. As expected, we did go thru some growing pains in governance, on-track body contact and other challenges. Seeing the amount of rookies here tonight and the growth we’ve seen this year is proof positive that we’ve gotten past all of that! Racers will come and go from the series, but the model is working on a go forward basis! Todd went on to introduce two of Texas AI/CMC’s biggest supporters and give them the floor. At 7:15, Robert Boudreaux from Argent Lab radios welcomed the crowd and gave some background to his communications company. In addition, “Boudy†went on to discuss developments in the Information Broadcast nationwide. He went on to mention that any drivers participating in the TWS enduro in April will be provided with an Argent Lab at no cost to the racers. Lastly, Robert announced that Argent Labs would be providing 5 broadcast radios as part of prizes for the evening! Winner of the first radio was David Love, whose car # was closest to the random # one of the wives in the crowd selected between 1-100. Next up, Todd introduced AJ Petersen from PST Performance before stepping out of the room to attend to other business. AJ fired up his laptop and linked into the overhead projector to present a very professional Powerpoint presentation of an overview of PST background, products & services. AJ went over the new in-house shock dyno services as well as present some new developments from HANS and the products they make. (This presentation is available upon request. Send and email Todd or AJ.) In ending, PST has committed support to the series for another year and we all look forward to working with them. (Editor’s note- It was reported that Elvis was in the building for the last slide of AJ’s presentation which somewhat distracted the crowd.) At approximately 7:40, a fat Elvis Presley dressed in white, bedazzled jumpsuit with cape and glasses got in front of the crowd and brought a little bit of Hollywood to the introduction of this year’s World Premiere Video. Elvis handed the stage over to Executive Producer & Director David Donovan who stated that the video was in the final editing stages and we would show the hour-long draft this evening, however the final product would not be out until next month. David promised a copy of the DVD to each of our season points accumulators once again to a round of applause and with that….the video began. The crowd oooh’d and aaaah’d and was very vocal as each of the segments highlighted our racers and put them on the silver screen. Almost immediately after the video began, Elvis left the building. At approximately 8:30, the video was stopped just short of an awesome season slide show which showed family highlights from races, events and Nationals. Al Fernandez announced a 10 minute bio-break prior to a group photo outside by Glenn’s racecar. Pictures were taken of all racers past, present and future as well as a shot with only the 2007 points accumulating racers. A “goofy pic†was also requested by Todd Covini, however results indicate that they look the same as all the other shots. <> Once back inside, the 2007 awards ceremony was about to begin. The room went silent at 9:40, as Todd Covini began the proceedings with a comment that tonight’s awards go out to the families of our racers for without their support, many of our racers wouldn’t be here. As such, it was very fitting to begin with the 2007 AI/CMC Wife of the Year. “It was a 3 way tie this year for the wife who supported her husband thru thick & thin. Stood by her man no matter how difficult he may be.†The 3rd runner up was not present, however a brief explanation of the effort she exhibited from taking tire temps, to sweeping the paddock area, to vacuuming the race car…all while minding two Toddlers!!!†If this runner-up would be a hand-down winner if she made every event with that level of support! Elizabeth Wirtz was our first runner-up for Wife of the Year. The next runner-up for Wife of the Year showed endless patience and support for her man. Travelled with him far and near and was always there to help work on the car for Glenn Landrum. Of course, our other runner-up for Wife of the Year went to…Mitch Warren. Your winner clearly went to Tami Landrum who made it out to all the events and truly supported Glenn in all the areas above and then some. With that, the following awards were given out with a brief summary of the recipient’s accomplishments. (Note- NASA Texas will issue actual trophies at their awards presentation at the first event of 2008.) 2007 Wife of the Year (runner-up) Elizabeth Wirtz 2007 Wife of the Year (runner-up) Mitch Warren 2007 Wife of the Year Tami Landrum 2007 CMC-2 Rookie of the Year (sort of) Bryan Leinart 2007 CMC Most Improved Steve Mulder 2007 AI Most Improved Frank Robertson 2007 Race Director of the Year Clifton Winkleman 2007 AIX 5th Place Team Cooke/Melkowitz 2007 AIX 4th Place Team Warhorse 2007 AIX 3rd Place Skip Smith 2007 AIX 2nd Place Team Love in it Racing 2007 AIX Champion (9 wins/ 4 poles) Matt White 2007 AI 5th Place Marshall Mosty 2007 AI 4th Place Frank Robertson 2007 AI 3rd Place David Kersch 2007 AI 2nd Place & Rookie of the Year Misty Cain 2007 AI Champion (11 wins/ 9 poles) David Donovan 2007 CMC-2 Champion (8 wins/ 4 poles) Mitch Warren 2007 CMC 5th Place Team TacoNandez 2007 CMC 4th Place Michael Mosty 2007 CMC 3rd Place Team Dawdy/ Reuth 2007 CMC 2nd Place & Rookie of the Year James Proctor 2007 CMC Champion (10 wins/ 6 poles) Glenn Landrum Each Champion was presented with the perpetual trophy for their series with the updated champion’s name. Mitch Warren was presented with a “new†CMC-2 perpetual trophy commensurate with the competition he was faced with during the season. This by no means takes away from his championship but served as a placeholder for the future trophy for this class. Al Fernandez then introduced the 2007 CMC National Champion Jeff Burch and asked him to come to the front of the room. Coincidentally, Al began to unveil the large box which was covered in tablecloth and Texas flag. Fernandez went into the background of the commissioning of the trophy and thanked Mitch Warren and Adam Ginsberg’s contributions toward the final product. The trophy was presented and held up for all to view. Many thanks to the men & women of Texas AI/CMC for commissioning this trophy for the series to enjoy for many years to come. With the trophy celebrations complete, Glenn Landrum explained the rules for the Inaugural Texas AI/CMC Karting Challenge. Due to the high # of entrants, our champions would be declared by fastest time on the Slick Track. Entrants could do laps as many times as they wish between 9:30 to 11PM and the fastest man and women would be crowned at the conclusion of the evening. Over 45 karting racers made their way to the slick track and raced hard in the bitter cold 40 degree nite. Many proved their racing prowess on track and many laughs were had. Corey Reuth and Leah Cooke were the Champions of the evening with fastest times of the nite. For their accomplishments they will be awarded with Argent Lab radios at Round 1 of the 2008 Season. In addition, the AI/CMC Champion was awarded a karting trophy commissioned and built by Glenn Landrum especially for the evening. The working kart can be displayed on any desktop with working wheels! Here are the final results from the Inaugural Karting event: Corey Reuth 16.717 Al Fernandez 17.091 Marshall Mosty 17.150 Jeremy Gunter 17.169 Todd Farley 17.191 James Proctor 17.271 Mason Melkowits 17.337 Brian Calder 17.361 Leah Cooke 17.369 Michael Mosty 17.466 Morgan Dawdy 17.481 Matt White 17.523 Mitch Warren 17.600 David Donovan 17.603 Virginia Runyon 17.696 Daron Cooke 17.700 Holly Donovan 17.743 Troy Reynolds 17.784 David Love 17.814 Amber Love 17.880 Kim Painter 17.901 Nick Runyon 17.963 Kyri Calder 17.991 Kendra Proctor 18.054 Damian Reuth 18.149 Jordan Boudreaux 18.206 Steve Mulder 18.257 Robert Boudreaux 18.262 Jason Love 18.367 Kara Reuth 18.527 Kathren Reuth 18.686 Chris Lyons 18.858 Richard Painter 18.879 Lisa “Reuth†18.912 David Francis 19.061 Glenn Landrum 19.237 Dare Reuth 19.296 AJ Petersen 19.398 Becky Fernandez 19.732 Tami Landrum 19.911 The event began to wrap up after 11PM with final karting times being recorded. Our karting champions (male & female) were crowned and all said good nite and good bye to another great season of Texas AI/CMC racing! David Francis was our official photographer for the event here are a few pics: http://s237.photobucket.com/albums/ff9/nasaphoto/2007%20Banquet/ Respectfully, Your Series Directors Todd Covini Al Fernandez Glenn Landrum David Donovan Quote
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