DVSVTOA News Archive


April 6th, 2007...New Schedule is up plus exciting news about NJMP!

First things first, if you haven't paid your dues and re-registered for the SVTOA yet, you'd better get on it! You can participate in the SVTOA On-Track event at Summit Point!

Also, you'll notice a new chapter supporter in the Chapter Supporters section of the website! We would like to formally welcome Ellas Automotive & Performance who has graciously stepped up to be a chapter supporter. They are offering a 10% discount off of your entire bill for currently registered SVTOA members. You need to present your card to get the discount. Ellas Automotive is a full service shop and can handle anything from general repairs and maintenance to performance/modification parts installation. Service is fast and professional. They want YOUR business so take advantage of the offer and support those that support you! They are currently working on a website which isn't up yet but as soon as they are ready, we will post the info here for you.We are working out a date in mid-July to have a meet & greet and picnic/BBQ so you all can come down and see the shop and meet the crew.

The new Schedule is up also so check it out! We have a full schedule again this year and there will likely be events added as we go along and feel out the new organization for the recently revamped SVTOA. We are still a functioning chapter and we have a much larger region than we did before. So get the word out that the DVSVTOA is still kicking and we'd love to have all SVTOA members join us in our adventures! We'd like to see all of our "Fast Friends" at the events!

Finally, after all the dust has settled at SVTOA and we have come out with our heads held high, more excellent news comes along! Thunderbolt Raceway is a GO! That's right! New Jersey Motorsports Park was given the green light to break ground and begin construction! It was a bumpy road but thanks to YOUR help...that's right, you folks here in the DVSVTOA with your letter writing and phone calls, you made the difference! New Jersey will finally have a world class venue in NJMP! Our very own Joe Volpe is a great source of information considering his connections with NJMP. We congratulate all those involved who have worked for so long to make this happen and we look forward to supporting the park and it's events in the years to come! Joe has even spoken of the DVSVTOA getting an invite to the kick-off party so you'd better dust off those party clothes! Something tells me this will be a hell of a shindig!

The new forum has gotten a good reception and it seems that most of you like it so we're keeping it! It's been more stable than our last setup and it's easier to maintain when the forum code is updated.

That's all the news that's fit to print right now so until the next update, bye for now! Oh, yeah, I'll be looking for you at the Go Kart Challenge! Just remember guys...and gals! Keep the shiney side up!

March 8th, 2007...Forum Updates and More!

Hey, if you haven't noticed yet, I changed the forum appearance. We had a slight problem that was detailed in the What's New section of the forum. Hope you like it! I do!

Also, I talked about new discounts and support from local businesses previously. Well, we have one deal hashed out but it's waiting for Board of Directors approval. We also need to figure out what kind of support we are going to be getting and if we are tied to a Ford Dealer for our sponsorship. That might affect some deals that are still being worked. Overall though, this current deal is SWEET and there more deals coming down the road so keep your eyes open!

January 2nd, 2007...Renew your membership today!

You should have recently received information regarding SVTOA membership via email. If you haven't, here is the info you need to know! The SVTOA is still here and membership dues are up about $15 dollars a year which honestly isn't that big of a jump. It's not even a 50% increase over previous years. So what you need to do is visit this page and fill out the form and use your Mastercard or Visa card to pay the dues. If you are like me and prefer not to have any credit cards then you can down load this form and mail it in with the instructions on the form. Be sure to give them your original membership number otherwise they will issue you a new one. If you have any problems with the online form, contact the Webmaster. I will also snag and upload a copy of the form to our website and post the link. As always, your chapter leadership is here to help and you can contact them through either the email addresses posted in the Contacts section of the site or just post a question in the Official Chapter Forums. We are looking forward to a bright future in the SVTOA and we hope all of our current members will choose to stick around and support the SVTOA, Ford and the Special Vehicle Team!

You can also find the printable copy of the Membership Form here. We apologize but we cannot help with any problems with the online registration, that is hosted on National's servers and out of our control. However, as always, we remain committed to giving you the best and most secure online experience we can with the DVSVTOA and if you have any problems with either form, do not be afraid to send questions or concerns to the DVSVTOA Webmaster and we will do everything we can to help out.

Keep watching for updates because Atco Raceway and Old Bridge Township Raceway have new schedules up. There will also be much more information about the new track in Millville and since we now have the go ahead from national, we will be hacking out a schedule of events for the DVSVTOA shortly. We will also be introducing new banafits packages from local vendors and service shops for you to take advantage of. All will be posted in due time so check back often. Don't forget that you also have an active forum to participate in and as always, any content you would like to add to the site is more them welcomed and completely encouraged! So we'll see you soon and remember, this is the best place for chapter members to get info about the DVSVTOA and the SVTOA in general!

December 8th, 2006...The SVTOA is here to stay and the DVSVTOA is alive and kicking!!!

Well, hey there! It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, for obvious reasons, the future of the SVTOA has been in doubt. Through much deliberation though, it has been decided that your Board of Directors for the Delaware Valley SVTOA has unanimously decided to remain committed to the DVSVTOA club with or without SVTOA support. So even if SVTOA goes into the dumper, never to resurface, DVSVTOA will still be here. Thankfully though, it doesn't seem that it will be coming to that! The are rumors flying everywhere but one thing that is consistient is that the SVTOA is alive, not necessarily well but still kicking. All we have to do is wait for the announcement of the restructured organization to be released. Until then, we sit tight and it's business as usual.

As for what the direction of the DVSVTOA is, that is still in the works. It was a sad day when our friend and dealer advisor Gary Ley passed away. He is already sorely missed. However, Holman Ford remains committed to the SVTOA and is, like the rest of us, waiting for word of the restruturing. It is also worth noting that since the restructuring, we have understandably lost quite a few chapters in the SVTOA and this, by default, expands our regional coverage by quite a bit. Because of this, we are looking to expand our activities to a wider area. We are looking into quite a few things including an amateur points series for SVT vehicles sponsored by the DVSVTOA at our local tracks. We are also looking at expanding our reach with creative solutions to chapter leadership, sponsorship and new member recruitment. We are also in the process of working out deals for you, the members, at several local businesses for many discounts and services that would be of value to you. As they become available, the discounts and terms will be detailed here on the website. There will be changes and as we get the details sorted out, things will be updated to reflect and report those changes.

We are also looking in to several options for getting some more DVSVTOA gear in your hands. While it is nice to have the luxury of dealer sponsored, chapter based paraphernalia, it can be a burden on the dealer if requests become too numerous and expensive. So we are looking into options for you to be able to buy DVSVTOA and hopefully SVTOA based merchandise for a reasonable cost. If we can work out a deal, you would be able to purchase badged mechandise and any proceeds made would go towards supporting the chapter. So keep an eye out for new mechandise that you can buy to show your colors and promote the chapter and the SVTOA!

Also of note, Joe Volpe has informed us of progress on New Jersey Motorsports Park. Apparently, the NJ Senate finance committee agreed to hear the bill and present it for a committee vote. For those of you that sent in your support to your senators and assemblymen, your help is greatly appreciated. Sen. Asselta and Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew presented the bill, explained the details, and answered questions from the committee. In the end, they voted unanimously in favor of this legislation and it will go to the Senate floor where it is expected to pass. Once this bill passes, there isn't much standing in the way of this happening. This pretty much means that Southern NJ is getting it's own, world class, racing venue. It will be open to the public and once it is, the DVSVTOA chapter will be petitioning relentlessly to have an SVTOA On-Track event hosted at the track...provide the On-Track program survives.

Don't forget about the JDM Dyno Tune Day is this Saturday! All the spaces are full but if you wanted to show up and support the chapter that is just fine. JDM is open for business and while the shop and dyno room will be tied up for the event, you can still purchase and order parts and merchandise from JDM. So please, support our valued chapter supporter! Even if it's just a T-shirt or windshield banner, the support is appreciated!

Big changes are coming, many are already here and the future is bright but it can be even brighter! Watch both this site and the SVTOA main sight for the latest and greatest news! As soon as we hear of some news, we'll get it posted here. Don't lose faith now, remain involved because both the SVTOA and the DVSVTOA are here to stay and it's going to be one hell of a ride!

February 10th, 2006...Website Update, Mad Mountaineers and a Man With A Plan!!!!

Happy New Year to all you SVTOA friends out there! Ah! Smell that? The sweet smell of success! Yes, the SVTOA, although it was in doubt, is back this year for all you speed freaks to get your seat time at the track! We are very glad here at the DVSVTOA to see that Ford has decided not to drop total support of the SVTOA and we are very thankful to all those involved at the National level to keep things running! It's looking to be a great year ahead both nationally and locally! Speaking of which, we have a ton of new stuff to check out, see and do! So read up and get the skinny! Hope you saved some vacation time, I know I did! So here's the deal!

First things first, Herb Sharp, the man with the plan, got us the 2006 DVSVTOA schedule and it is posted right where it should be, on the schedule section of the site. There are more events planned this year and judging by the turnout for the first meeting, we'll have more participants too! I know we have picked up some members from some distant locales so if this is your first time visiting the site, this is the place for all the news that is fit to print. We average about 4-6 official meetings per year aside from the impropmtu meetings at the events. No one is expected to make all events but we'd like to see everyone come out to as many events as possible. Without your involvement, it just ain't quite as fun! So if you can't make a meeting or event, you can always come here and get the deal on either the news section of the main page or in the DVSVTOA forums. So check out the schedule, mark down your calendar and start begging your bosses (at work AND at home) to let you snag some vacation and head on out with your Fast Friends!

There is a Go-Kart challenge coming up at Arnold's Karting Center on the 25th. We are going late in the afternoon, official time is 6pm but hey, if you want to get there early and get a few "practice" runs in first, I won't tell anyone! We'd like to see as many people out as we can get. If we get enough members, we can fill out a run group all to ourselves and we won't have to deal with the "amateurs" running into walls and each other and killing the run. So come on out, bring the family if you like and have some fun with some wheel to wheel racing!

Speaking of racing, Mountaineer Madness is scheduled for May 5th - 7th this year and it's at Summit Point again. Last year's event got rave reviews and was one of the favorites, despite the weather. It's shaping up to be another good event this year. However, due to Ford's financial position and the need to cut costs, they had to cut funding back for the SVTOA On-Track events. That unfortunatly means that more cost will be passed on to members. Don't worry though, at the new rates for the weekend, it's still a smokin' deal! So go check out the info at SVTOA Eastern Region Forum and if you need the registration form, you can get it here: Mountaineer Madness 2006 Registration Form. We'd like to see you out there because the more people we get, the more fun the event is and the more impact we make on the club to show there is interest and this is a worthwhile investment for Ford.

That's all the news fit to print for now! As always, we are looking for members interested in helping out in any respect. Also, if you have an idea, suggestion or content for our little corner of cyberspace here, send it along to the

October 24th, 2005...DVSVTOA Dyno Tune Day at JDM

We have a big event coming up folks! On November 26th, 2005 we have managed to wrangle a good treat for you! We are having a Dyno Tune Day at JDM Engineering in Freehold, NJ. We've been there before for two very successful Dyno Days in the past. We obviously left a good impression because we have been able to keep coming back. This is spectacular now though because if you check out the flyer, you will see some excellent deals that JDM Engineering is offering the club for that day. You can find the flyer here. We hope to see you all there! Check out the forums for the latest and greatest info and the flyer has lots of contact info too. This is shaping up to be a really great event so show your support for the chapter and lets get out there and have some fun!

Given our good relationship with JDM Engineering, some may have noticed posts in the forums about JDM Day at Englishtown. Just wanted to let those who were not in on the skinny know that JDM Day's racing events have been post-poned to November 4th, 2005. Rain dates are a pain! Don't be shy about hanging out with the JDM guys. This is not a customer appreciation day. JDm gets access to the track for a day of run what ya brung, guaranteed track time racing! It's a great chance for a newbie to get some seat time and for you hardcore racers to lay down some test time! So if you were unable to make the first two postponed dates, you get a chance to still participate!

It's also getting to that time of year. There will be a new schedule coming out soon so keep an eye out for frequent updates. They usually come more often in the winter so look for fun events like outings at Arnold's Karting Center and other events from other supporting clubs. The last scheduled event is JDM Dyno Tune Day on the 26th so if you are looking to get some input into next year's scheduel of events, post in the forums or show up at the JDM event and let us know what you would like to see the club do. Remember guys, it's your club too!

Membership is, was and always will be a big deal for us. The more active members getting involved the more fun it can be! So if you have a "fast friend" that is on the fence, kick 'em on over and bring 'em with you! Show them how much fun we have! It only gets better with more people!

One last item. Winter time is a great time to get some go-fast goodies installed or as a holiday gift! Don't forget that you not only get discounts through the national SVTOA offices but a few local places offer discounts. Don't forget that when you or a loved one is shopping for parts that you get these discounts and the merchants want you to use them! There are lots of good parts out there that will make you an even faster friend! So don't forget to support the SVTOA sponsors. Alot of the freebies and events that get put on get a good deal of support from these sponsors so help 'em out and send a little business thier way if you are in the market!

August 9th, 2005...Website issues

Sorry for the down time folks, we had a problem with the server. It is still unclear what occurred but some data was rendered corrupt. I tried to recover most of it from backup this morning but unfortunaly, I lost the news archives backups and some of the older posts in the forums were gone, I could not even access the Lounge forum and had to remove it and rebuild it completely. Everything in that forum was unfortunatly lost except for stickies because they were recovered from the forum backup. Again, I apologize for the down time and once I know more about what happened, I will share the info. I am reluctant to say that the site was "hacked" but there was some access to the server that our website resides on that was not authorized and it seems to have caused many problems for other sites. We got off lucky only losing a portion of the forums and our news archive.

June 30th, 2005...FAST Motorsports Dyno Day and CDML

An update at last! Well, from what it sounds like, the FAST Motorsports Dyno Day was a hit! I wouldn't know, I didn't get there until about 2pm. If anyone wants to do a write up, send it our way and we'll get it published! We have one stinkin' video of Fast Freddy on a 1/4 mile run on the Dyno. That can be found in the Photos section under FAST_CDML Photos. We are still looking for articles and photos for not only the CDML event and FAST Motorsports but pretty much any event. We know you guys show up, we see you there! Give us an article! Don't post it in the forums, send it in an email so we have a formatted text document to put up! It's your club too ya know!

We would like to thank the various sponsors of the day including FAST motorsports, Lilliston Ford for thier generous hospitality again, South Jersey Mustang Club and Corvettes Unlimited for supporting the Cruise Down Memory Lane. More info on any of the above mentioned entities can be found in the Chapter Supporters section of the website.

Also, on Tuesday, June 28th, we had the SVTOA at Atco day. Your illustrious webmaster did not get to attend because he had to work. Whomever went, let us know and give us some info. I would dig around on Atco's site but to get photos of the members that were there, we'd have to pay for the pictures and that is just not in the budget currently.

The next event on the schedule is the July 17th Road Rally and chapter picnic. The rally will wind through some picturesque areas of central Jersey and end up at historic Washington's Crossing State Park. Good fun, food and friends are what is on the agenda for the day so bring the family out, take a tour of some forgotten backroads of NJ and spend the day with the SVTOA!

February 24th, 2005...'05 Go-Kart Challenge results are in!!!

The results are in and it's official, the DVSVTOA took top honors overall but there looks to have been some stiff competition from neighboring clubs! Were YOU there? If so, check out where you are in the standings! A special thanks to those DVSVTOA members who came out to support the chapter!

A quick message about the forums. Unfortunatly, due to the high number of "guest" posters not leaving thier names or signing up for an account it has become confusing when trying to determine who said what, when and where. To alleviate the confusion and any issues that might arise, we have removed free guest posting from the forum functionality. We'd like to know who our guests are so don't worry, sign-up for your free, spam-free forum account! We're proud of our little corner of the Internet here at DVSVTOA and we appreciate any fast friends who want to stop by and say hi! So stop on in and drop us a line!