This is my final article for the CVR 2025 DE season, and I have to thank a lot of people, plus our sponsors, for helping us put on a year of great on-track events. Please, as you read this month’s article, think about supporting the sponsors who helped make it possible for us to have such good events this year. They all bring value to our hobby.
If you did only one event or better, multiple events, you always met or saw several members of our DE team, starting with Mark and Susan at the morning registration, our Assistant Track Chair, Todd, at the morning meeting (thanks for the humor), and our Chief Instructor, Chuck, in the classroom. Magnus, our ‘behind the scenes’ Chief of Instructor Development, is at almost every event, both working with our new instructors and having a student in one of the instructed groups. We also had Eric and Mike as our co-Chief Stewards. Most drivers only ‘have to talk to’ the stewards if those drivers aren’t playing nice on track. Luckily, Eric and Mike are great guys to talk to. And, for all of you instructors who selflessly strap yourselves into the passenger seat of a stranger’s car – thank you, thank you, thank you. Extra thanks go to the instructors who came to a DE event without their car, just to help out. And thank you to the numerous people who helped out at tech line, including, but not limited to, Bela, Jr, Jesse, Jason, Dave, and David. If I forgot to mention you, please don’t take it personally – rather, reach out to me and I will include you in my next article. We are all volunteers, and we all just want to have some fun.
Thank you to our DE sponsors:
I would like to start off with EPS (European Performance Specialists). When I first approached Bela two years ago about creating an area in the paddock for the green rungroup drivers (beginners), he was all for it, and the Green Zone has been a great hit with the drivers. Bela and his team are at the track for every DE event to help make the day go flawlessly for the beginners, and oh yeah, they also provide coffee and donuts.
Bobby Fantarella and the team at Elm City Trailer – they sponsored our winter workshop at their facility, where they have everything you need, from accessories or service for the trailer you own, to many styles of a new trailer, open or enclosed. Steve Katz, from OnTrack Insurance, was also a sponsor at the winter workshop, sponsoring food and drinks. Steve also came to our October LRP DE event and gave presentations to the different rungroups on track and trailer insurance. The crew from Speedsport Tuning in Danbury, who are at all of our DE events. Salvio Motorworks in New Britain – they were a sponsor of the t-shirt giveaway at our July DE. Repasi Motorwerks – Jim has been a DE supporter for a few years now, sponsoring the August t-shirts three years in a row, and is now finally a DE participant, along with all of his guys from the shop. All of the above sponsors were also Porsches@TheRock sponsors. When you need service on your car, insurance, or something trailer-related, please contact any of the companies above. And let them know that you appreciate their support of CVR’s DE program.
Thank you to our Porsches@TheRock sponsors. I’ve thanked them in prior articles, but I want to make sure that all of the CVR members know their names and what these sponsors have done to help us hold such a successful event. Our Platinum Elite sponsor was PCAR MARKET. Ian Darcy stepped up to be our premier sponsor, and we appreciate his generosity. Rapasi Motorwerks (mentioned above) and Danbury Porsche were our Platinum sponsors. We are very lucky to have the support from such great Porsche ambassadors. Speedsport Tuning (also mentioned above) was a silver sponsor, providing a LOT of cases of water for the Rock volunteers and for many spectators.
Our 2025 Porsches@TheRock sponsors were (in alphabetical order): Artis Labs (for the simulator you just want to have), Automobile Associates of Canton (love an older 911? This is the place!), Automotive Equipment Solutions (for the lift you just want to have), C&J Paint Protection (put the film on your new car and never worry about the paint being chipped), FCP Euro (also a Monthly Meeting sponsor) with all parts Porsche, Flynn Systems (specializing in bringing 944s back to life), F&W Equipment (for that tractor you just want to have), Ingersoll Auto of Danbury (they displayed trucks for towing your trailer to the track, but they have lots of vehicles, and every now and then, pre-owned Porsches), Legal 1031 (our assistant Track Chair’s company, for all of you that need lawyer advice on real estate), Liqui Moly (for all the fluids you must have for your vehicles), Max BMW (for the bike you just want to have), Negative 109° (for the dry ice cleaning you want for your car or restoration project), Brett Sloan from Sloan Motor Cars (for the new car you want to buy or even the car you want them to sell for you), Soul Performance (for that new exhaust you want to have), Stable Energies (for everything you could want for the track, including a new helmet if you currently have one dated 2015), and Turbo Boof (Jana Brady will be more than happy to talk to you about your 944). Thank you to all of our Rock sponsors. Your sponsorship was key to our success.
Thank you to the Porsches@TheRock volunteers. Allen and Christine were in charge of the front gate, along with Meryl and Lia. Now, I don’t want to get in trouble and miss any names, but the list that I have from Allen F includes the following: Joe #1, Tom, Wayne, Bob #1, Bob #2, Leslie, Allen R, Horatio, Chris, Mark, Joe #2, Norma-Jean, Don, and Ed. Thank you for standing at the entrance for hours, checking in the spectators, passing out the goodie bags, collecting the food donations, and taking care of everything else that had to be handled.
Thank you to the parking volunteers, especially Jeff and Alan, who were there the day before for set-up and then spent all of Saturday on the Midway. Our parking volunteers included (and again, I hope I have everyone listed): Justin, John, Robert, Tim, Connor, Keith, Greg, Jason, and Matt. Thank you to Terrence for volunteering down at Pit In for the DE event.
Thanks to Caroline, Lynn, Jeanette, and Linda for running Parade Lap registration, and the Lapping on the Proving Grounds, to Lisa for running the membership tent, and to Rebekkah for being our “t-shirt” person. You ladies are a great group, and CVR is lucky to have you.
Thanks to Mark & Jeanette and Alan & Caroline for helping Susan & me fill the goodie bags. It took a lot of hours, but the company was fun and the conversation was good. Thank you, for the 3rd year in a row, for your time and effort.
Finally, I once again want to thank John Goetz for his very generous donation to the CVR DE program. John started with CVR DE, way back when, and ‘graduated’ to racing, including the IMSA Carrera Cup Car series. John knows the importance of our hobby and the success of our DE events being crucial to the continuation of the program. With track rental being so expensive, John’s donation was very important to the DE budget. John is a very generous person, and we appreciate him including us with the humanitarian causes that he supports.
Thank you to everyone who came to the Porsches@theRock event. Thank you to all the DE participants throughout the entire 2025 season. Thank you to our club photographers for spending hours at our DE events. In summary, thank you to EVERYONE who helped in one way or another for 2025. Without your support, we could not do what we do. If you would like to help out at an event next year, reach out. We can always use help.
To wrap up our 2025 DE presence, Shelley, Bela, and I went to the Repasi sponsored Porsches & Pints car show, held at the Two Roads Brewery Company parking lot in mid-November. CVR had a tent set up, with Lisa promoting membership. We spoke to many Porsche owners who had no idea CVR existed or what our club does for fun, especially driver education events. Hopefully, some of the people will decide to join CVR and/or check out a track event. Word of mouth is still the best way to get new drivers involved. Tell your friends, talk to a Porsche owner at a random parking lot, or post your track pictures on your social media account. Let everyone know how much fun you have at a DE Event, and convince them to give it a try.
Thank you ALL, for a great DE season. We are going to take a small break, and before you know it, we will be right back at it all again for 2026. Have a great holiday season.
Dave