Reply With QuoteI'll be there, another day up at o'dark-thirty.
7am it is! See you there.
I'm excited it's only 10 minutes from my house. Heh
SOLD: 91 Mazda Miata "Grand Sport" - FM V-Maxx coilovers, FM sways, Hard Dog roll bar, stock 1.6L running strong, 15" Star Specs, 96 Grand Sport paint
- 85 GMC S15 Jimmy "the Tyclone" - LT1 350ci V8, AWD, Typhoon interior, 18" C5 wheels, 96 Grand Sport paint
I'll be there, another day up at o'dark-thirty.
1990 Miata (was Mariner Blue) - Before/After
If you have to ask why, you won't understand the answer.
Had a good time at TMS today, and still had time to watch the Cowboys. Oh well, one out of two ain't bad!
My times are still decreasing every course, but still with a big difference in times between the first and last run, I'm far from consistent. Didn't help much that my BumbleBee started choking on run #4, sigh.
1990 Miata (was Mariner Blue) - Before/After
If you have to ask why, you won't understand the answer.
Full Event Results:
http://www.autocross.com/tr/modules/...dex.php?id=113
PAX Results:
http://www.autocross.com/tr/modules/...dex.php?id=114
So, I need a question answered.
Do people want to continue to have the Road Course autoX??
The Road Course rental is over $1,000 more than the Bus Lot. The admin side of doing the Road Course is a "major pain-in-the-rear"! Our Saftey Steward(s) want to get rid of the event all togteher.
Last edited by autoxmax; 10-18-2010 at 07:59 AM.
Brad, any chance to have something similar at MSR or Eagles Canyon? Personally the last couple years road course event is fun, but there simply are too many entrants and the day takes a long time. Last year (or maybe the year before) there were, what, 200 entrants?
Since you asked, I would take the bus lot over the road course in a heartbeat. The road course is different, but what it takesOriginally Posted by autoxmax
to make it AX safe sucks the fun out of it.
This year was under 125 entrants and they day went smooth lots of cone calls but all in all a fun day!
I enjoy going inside TMS for the road course event!
The Road course is one of the highlights of the year for me. I agree that its a long day, but I love it. I would understand if we kept the number of runs down to 3 at this event in the interest of time, but I still think its worth the time/effort.
Polished Turd Racing
Mick wrote: "I think Jerrett is the best autocrosser I have ever seen naked."
We had 107 entries this year. We gave 5 runs. Last timed run was at 3:40pm.
One of the reasons that Texas Region Solo is able to continue the TMS road course event, is that we have previous "event history" at the site. The division Saftey Steward & the current Motorsports Insurance of SCCA want to see "event history" for such events that take place on road courses. Infact a "re-certification" of our event had to take place before SCCA would sanction the event this year. This is the day & age of insurance companies being beyond nervous about motorsports events!
On a finacial standpoint, MSR & Eagle Canyon are certainly not cheap either.
I like the Road Course event, but I would be just as happy at Loan Star Park, or Mineral Wells, and maybe Paris, but I have not run Paris yet. I have had more than my fill of the Bus Lot this year, but Bus Lot is still a good site.
I like the atmosphere of the road course event but i feel the way the courses are laid out makes it more dangerous then it would be to just drive on the road course without cones. I would rather see the road course event kept but the courses left more open. Yes the power cars will have an advantage, but I think it would be safer and still fun.
While there are quite a few people that would argree with you on this subject, the problem boils down to allowed speeds under insurance coverage. Almost all of the autocross clubs have specified speed ranges in their insurance coverage.
I have run the bus lot a ton this year, and it has its drawbacks (long drive, limited grip), but it offers a good size for course variety and excellent facilities. It is my current favorite of the available "regular" sites. I'm happy to drive the extra 20-25 minutes instead of using Pennington, which is just sooo short and design-limited. I'd still take Pennington over MW any day, as MW is just too hard on tires, no matter how awesome the size and lack of noise /traffic/obstacle restrictions are. I'll still do a couple of MW events each year, but not many.
Lone Star is a good surface and the undulations make it unique and fun, but I worry that the obstacles make the course options pretty limited. Hopefully the designers will see some more possiblities over time. I live 20 minutes from LSP, yet I'd make the drive to TMS.
I guess this discussion comes-up every year, and every site has its pros/cons. I am hopeful that clubs will make use of the new Paris option so that 3 or 4 good events will happen there each year, and other clubs will try not to get Pennington-obsessed. One of my favorite things about autox is the variety of courses/venues. I hope the Road course lives-on.
Polished Turd Racing
Mick wrote: "I think Jerrett is the best autocrosser I have ever seen naked."
That is something I had not realized. I thought the course this time was better from last years, but when the sweepers get those awkward gates that force you to drive over the camber changes it is dangerous.
Either way I still enjoy it, I just know it is the one event where I have to convince myself to not try and drive quickly because the risk is not worth the reward for me.
Glad to hear someone excited on the Paris, TX site idea. As a matter of fact...
There areTexas Region plans in the works for the new Paris site as we speak!
More to come on that subject... hopefully in the not too distant future!!
I could do without the Road Course event. Yep, it's unique and some of our members get excited about driving on a road course. However, it's also full of compromises and safety concerns. IMO if folks want to race on a road course they should try a DE, open track event, etc. This is SCCA Solo and it would be great if we ran on as many courses as possible that are representative of what we'd see at the National level. :)
David Smart
Mazda MX5 Club - STR 194
This!
Stuart F. Maxcy
STR 82
NC Miata
I enjoy the road course event. I wasn't able to make it this year due to a schedule conflict, bit I hope it's still around next season.
David and Stuart, if you guys want to practice for Lincoln go run at the Annex. I'm glad we have such a wide variety of venues and event styles here in DFW. Most regions would be happy to have just one of our sites (well, maybe not Pennington...)
Iain
"We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
/soap box
Honestly I like running on the road course. It is fast, you actually get some semi-constant radius turns, it is easy on tires, and you get a lot of practice at slalom's. Sure the variety of some courses isn't there but it has it's own challenges. As for the extra cost, it is still cheaper than doing a HPDE or Driver's Edge. In terms of entry and maintenance. For those of us that don't want to, or can't, take the plunge into these types of events the Road Course auto-x is one of our few chances to actually be on a real course. Anyway, long paragraph shorter, I enjoy running it.
The idea of a Paris auto-x doesn't really excite me much as it takes me nearly an hour just to get to Plano. It would almost have to be a hotel stay for me to go. Maybe if there were a divisional or something along those lines there that requires a couple of days investment, I could justify it a bit more.
/end soap box
I enjoyed the event yesterday. Fun course, flowed well, speeds were actually a bit slower than I remember from last year. Here is my fastest clean run of the day:
Looks like tire class is going to be another fun finish. Last year going into the last event Sam Mauro, Hal Collins, and I were all tied in points for 2nd place. For all of the races through the year, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th would be determined by one event. In the end 2nd was taken by Sam. Hal, 1.07 seconds behind him for 3rd. I was .038 seconds behind Hal for 4th. For us to run all of those events in the season and three places to all come down to one event seemed crazy to me.
Well, guess what folks. It has happened again. By my unofficial points tally there is a three way tie for 2nd place. Brian Buchanan, Michael Cobb, and Walter DelRio will all three be battling it out at our final event of the season. It promises to be another exciting finish to the season!
Below is my very unofficial points tally for tire class. Green cells mean that a driver is currently eligible for a trophy. To be eligible you must have half the points of first place and have attended at least 5 event's for the season in that class.
2008 S2000 CR Yellow
2012 GLK350 Silver
2009 Yamaha FZ6R --- For sale
Sold - Mugen Civic Si Fiji Blue Sold - Civic Si Coupe Nighthawk Black
Sold - Kawasaki Ninja 250R Blue Sold - 2003 SVT Focus Silver
I think this was my 4th or 5th time at the infield and this one was was the best (so far). 5 runs made it worthwhile. I did not care for the larger crowds and 3 runs in the past and if it stayed that way I would have stopped going. I know the lower turnouts are not financially the best for the club, but we do pay a bit more to help ofset it. The restrictions on novices is a good thing for safety (and crowd control) and if the safety guys want to eliminate it altogether, they will likely just keep slowing down the course even more. That being said, the safety guys are usually right and I appreciate them looking out for us.
Seems like the course is pretty spectator friendly and the only downside for me (as long as we keep 4 runs min.) is the Nascar noise, which must be a pain for the radio guys in the corners. Overall, if we can keep attendance down, I'd vote to keep it.
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