MRA upgrades inflatable soft barriers inventory & donates $500 to Roadracing World Action Fund
Denver, CO – This past Saturday, September 12th, a group of dedicated MRA volunteers got together at High Plains Raceway to inventory, inspect, and repair the club’s collection of inflatable soft barriers. The MRA relies on these invaluable safety barriers at many events to give the racers that extra level of safety that only the soft barriers can provide.
The MRA is in possession of 11 sections of soft barriers from a number of sources. Some are on loan from the Roadracing World Action Fund, some are owned by the MRA through the Eugene Bazyl Memorial Fund, and still more comes from Northern Colorado Powersports via a donation. Earlier this year, Race Director Rick Grosse & the MRA Board of Directors decided that the entire inventory needed attention so they came up with a three step plan.
First, Melissa Johnston and Isabelle Caputo initiated, advertised, coordinated, and executed a silent auction with the explicit purpose of raising the funds needed for barrier improvements. Using contacts managed by MRA Public Relations Rider Rep Cindy Wulf, the organizations and individuals listed below donated products and services to ultimately raise $2,730 for the effort.
Second, the MRA contacted Eric Kelcher and Andy Curro, who work closely with the Roadracing World Action Fund, to understand the details of soft barrier repair. As it turns out, shipping inflatable soft barriers is breathtakingly expensive, so the MRA’s Marshal Poet volunteered to become the local expert on all things related to soft barriers by flying out to Curro’s house in Pennsylvania for training. Showing the true comradery that road racing has, Curro invited Poet to stay at his house, provided transportation, and even provided meals all of which saved greatly on Poet’s travel expenses. Poet was trained on barrier repair then tagged along with Kelcher to the CCS races at New Jersey Motorsport Park to learn how they do deployment during a race weekend. We’re really grateful to Eric Kelcher & Andy Curro for their unbelievably valuable training and hospitality.
The third part of the plan came when Poet brought his new knowledge to a group of MRA member volunteers at High Plains Raceway. Last Saturday, the team unpacked, inflated, inspected, and began repairs on as many sections as they could. Poet was invaluable in educating and coaching everyone on the extensive details it takes to manage these safety barriers correctly.
The end result is that the MRA has 3 sections at 100% functionality, 6 more as repairable, and 2 sections candidates for retirement. Poet & the MRA now have a clear picture of what is available for the several MRA tracks and what needs to be done to bring the highest level of safety to the club’s racers.
Since the silent auction fund raiser was such a success and substantial savings were realized on Poet’s travel expenses, the MRA Board decided to donate $500 to the Roadracing World Action Fund in appreciation of the focus RWAF has on road racing safety.
The Motorcycle Roadracing Association is dedicated to promoting safe and competitive motorcycle road racing events for enthusiasts in Colorado and the surrounding area. For more information go to http://www.mra-racing.org/.
MRA Silent Auction Contributors
* 64 Degree Racing
* Woodcraft
* Nytro Automotive
* Pirelli/Motostation
* High Plains Raceway
* Motorcycle Roadracing Association
* Nite Owl Sports Bar And Grill
* Jen & Berries
* Brandon Wren Photography
* Vickery Motorsports
* Ninjatech Motorsports/Danny Anderson
* American Supercamp/Danny Walker
* 64 Degree Racing
* Throttle For Your Bottle
* Pitbull/Jim Brewer
* racers360.com
Soft Barrier Repair & Deployment Training
* Marshal Poet (MRA)
* Eric Kelcher (RWAF & CCS)
* Andy Curro (RWAF)
MRA soft barrier improvement volunteers
* Marshal Poet
* Jim Wilson
* Phil Pleiss
* Rick Grosse
* Tiffany Maestas
* Nyles Gourlie
* Jim Brewer
* Shannon Moham
* Jason Martinez
* Melissa Johnston
* Dakota Bell
* Terri Thompson
* Matt Monks
* Tim David
* Cameron Lee
* Gin Burns
* Shyanne Burns
* Also thank Glenn Conser and Mike Applehans at HPR for letting us use the space at the facility