Offical One lap 2007 Tampa Racing application

[treekiller]

I brought this up in the other thread so I figured I'd make it offical.

Let me start by explaining, I need at least one capable co-driver, The costs are not a huge issue. you do have to take a week off work and it's 8000 miles of driving in what will amount to ~9 days, and that's without track time. we would leave thursday evening may 3rd and return on the 14th we are allowed 3 drivers with a fourth added at additional expense. which will also act as crew. anyone can drive, if you do the competition sections you need to be licensed as a compeditor, the requirements are very lax however. you will have to pay for your personal entry and equipment but I can afford the rest.

I need SERIOUS applicants to PM me your information, experence bio ETC. I will be feilding the team within 2 weeks (and backups) so we can get our offical application in and start preping.

Allready applied
LOREN

Thanks, Jeff (AKA TK)

[Loren]

Jeff, this is looking very possible for me. I talked to my wife, and looked over the rules on the OLOA website, here are some random musings:

Spousal approval. Check.
SVRA membership funds. Check.
Physical covered by health insurance. Check.
Driving experience. Check.
(It appears that they don't actually require a license. I have plenty of experience and can probably get something from Chin Motorsports stating that they have approved me to run solo at Sebring.)
Helmet. Check.
Driving Suit. Maybe.
(Might be able to borrow one from a friend who recently sold his Spec Miata... otherwise, I may need to buy one... I don't think yours is going to fit me too well!)

Are you sure you really need to bring a trailer? The tire rules don't allow race rubber, and you can only use a total of 6 tires. I'd mount up a fresh set of the best allowed tire (Falken isn't on the list :( ) and call it a day. 8,000 highway miles and a few short track events shouldn't be a problem. (my current set of Azenis has a bunch of city miles, probably 10 autocrosses, and at least 8 HOURS of hot laps at Sebring on them and they're just barely down to the wear bars) If you can fit two spares in the trunk and still have room for some clothes and stuff, I'd consider omitting the trailer. (it would really suck to have a problem with a trailer tire or wheel bearing eat into your limited sleep time during an event like this) Keep it simple.

[mofugga]

from hearing from several past competitors a trailer would be very handy to have. not only can you bring more shit with you but you don't have to completely unpack the car before each event;)

[treekiller]

my Idea behind the trailer WAS to K.I.S.S. I did not consider the bearing failure option. there is not enough room in the trunk for both spares, (not unless we run 205's instead of the maximum 235's) or use the back seat. however I'm sure a thule roof rack would provide adiquate space, and room for a 3rd driver if one is deemed benifical. and could be removed quickly for competition. as for the tires 235/40/17 puts us in rare territory with the yokohama AD07 looking like the ringer. G force KD which I love, will require we run a 225.

which leads me to the following, the turbonetitics kit puts the car square in the 300bhp ~260whp catagory, which is near the max a FWD car can effectivly use. I'm going to decide sometime early next year if it's a viable addition, the money is there it's just a matter of importance and a few hp is low on the importance list.

I like your idea of getting signed off , having a second competition driver will put us in a good position. I'm still going to do enough NASA events between now and then to get my NASA TT license signed off on, and I need the track time anyway.

I have everything else, sans the roof rack. on my short list of items, including lastly a solo-1 legal rollbar (this however elminates the 3rd driver option) all in all it's a $11,000 endeavor worst case, with ZERO sponsor dollars or direct contrubition from you. that's a price I'm willing to live with for the experence.

I was asked at work today to set my goals for 2007 and this was top of the "personal" list, I've been thinking about this since I was a kid, and I kept saying someday, well Now is that someday and I have to do it before I get too old or worse!

whatever you need to start getting on the website as this will be paramount in gathering potential sponsors.

Jeff

[Loren]

Jeff, if you're going to get me some seat time on some of these cool race tracks (Do they allow two drivers to drive in the same event? How does that work? Not a lot of detail on the website.), I'd be happy to provide compensation for that to help defray some of your costs. Unless, of course, you get a sponsor!

If you're calling me "in", I can get started on the website right away. I've just had a few "gotta be done by the end of the month" projects dumped on me, but I can probably still do it justice in my spare time. Send me an email with some photos of you and your car. Bio info on you. A good write up (I can embellish or rewrite, I just need facts) of why you want to do this, when you first heard about it, whatever. And anything else you have. I'll build a website around it. If you have any thoughts for a logo, let me know that, too.

I like the roof rack idea. Was thinking about that last night. Requires more heavy lifting to unload... but no moving parts!

[Loren]

Regarding a sponsor, are you looking for one big sponsor, or perhaps several smaller ones? Not sure I can help with a big one, but I may be able to locate a smaller one. (in addition to the website hosting/development)

[treekiller]

Well I really don't care who the sponsor is, we just can't have any compete with the event sponsors (eg. no discount tire direct) I am budgeting the event with zero sponsor contribution, I feel the more sponsor involvement we have the better chance we have of feilding a compeditive entry. last year 4th overall and Economy class winner was a supercharged Civic SI which I know the Spec V is compeditive against. The V Falls into the economy class with a base MSRP under 20,000 (Just) If we make a list of parts and spares, and I'll prepare offer letters to the diffrent manufacturers of those parts. I have a set of cheap chineese inverted coil overs but I will use whatever is offered, I am not a brand whore.

I have Prepared a couple sponsorship packages before, once you have a nice tight package that you can run off on the color printer in bulk. you shotgun out a bunch. Email is a waste of time, Hardcopy is the only one that gets even remote attention, out of 100 packages if you get 2 responses you should be greatful.

Nissan and Nismo allready have precident for one lap entries.

apparently the entrants are showered with so much swag that it easally eclipses the $2500 per car entry.

as for who drives which event, I figured the compeditor would rotate based on who was fresher on that given day. (not the person who drove through the night)

and of course your "in" I couldn't imagine anyone I would rather have, at least it will assure that "Duck" brand tape products are on board.

JL

[Loren]

Rock on, Jeff! I'll bring the baling wire and genuine Duck tape!

I just wanted to be sure you weren't seeking an "exclusive" sponsor. I'll leak some word. For smaller non-automotive sponsors, do you think something like $500 for a square foot of space on each side of the car would be sufficient? (they provide the decal)

[treekiller]

that sounds reasonable, I say start a paypal account with the website name we can both contribute to it, as can outsiders. (We will hit up Tampa racing too) the paypal money market is as good an intrest rate as any other investment grade MM account. we could even sell space on the car online. My best Guesstimates put the saleable space on the car @ 132 ft2, subtract the required decals leaves you with ~100 ft2 you need 25% sales penetration to net $12,500 in funds. I'd love a 4 sided image of the vehicle where you can click on your space and buy it online. but that's a little outragous. I am setteling on my new condo on monday if I have anything left over I'll start moving it into the paypal account.

JL

[Loren]

Get me some photos of your car, I can at least quadrant off some areas to show folks what space we're looking to sell. Both sides, front and back, with as clear a background as you can get... we'll leave the roof for the General Lee style Confederate flag. (or the roof rack, whichever is more convenient)

[Ender.]

Sounds like a lot of fun gentlemen! Be sure to post up the website with everything b/c I would love to follow this.

Goodluck to both of you!

[jlude90]

that website confuses me, i'd like to participate, maybe just as a driver or driving the follow car and trailer if thats what your thinking, i'm not sure

but i don't get that schedule

anyways, my classes end on the 7th, but i could probably get out sooner, like, take my exams earlier, but i'm thinkin it says on the site dates as like, may 4th, but i'm not sure

lemme know, i don't have alot of experience, but i can turn a wrench and drive a car, and i can take pictures too, so lemme know please, and if not, i'll root for you guys

[Loren]

You're right, the website is lacking in many ways.

But, I do know that there is no "follow car". No support vehicles. In the spirit of the original "Cannonball run", the intent is that you must make this journey with nothing more than what you can fit in your competition vehicle.

[jlude90]

ok, gotcha, well, i can still drive the long hauls and y'all can nap up, and if not, then i can just stink up the car more

[Loren]

That's all up to Jeff, he's da man. Seems like that's what we'll need, though. Someone to take some "point A to point B" driving load.

As for stinking up the car... I'm really hoping Jeff decides to quit smoking between now and then!

[treekiller]

I don't smoke in the car, although long boring drives might make me start. I love Lorens Idea of the "dukes" theme. I'm torn, I don't need a Roll Bar to compete however I would like one. the issue there becomes the inability to have that 3rd point to point driver. and the added weight not adding any performance. keep in the loop, if we decide to go cageless there should be room for the 3rd driver, it will cost you $150 in membership fee and you'll need to cover your personal expenses. but the event is covered, and you would need to know well in advance if you would be able to take the exams well in advance. I'm not waiting for anyone when it's time to go, there is bound to be unforseen problems and you need to be early (rally speak) to acomidate the ineavatable, there is no missing the start after you have thousands invested.

[mofugga]

you do realize that civic si was a full honda backed program, the car was nowhere near stock & it had professional drivers? stock to stock yeah, a nissan might be comparative but umm, not to that car at all. either way, one lap is on my list of things to do so i wish you best of luck.

[jlude90]

that still didn't answer my question, whats the start date?

and are you sayin i need like my hotel fees and stuff, food and whatnot

[treekiller]

you do realize that civic si was a full honda backed program, the car was nowhere near stock & it had professional drivers? stock to stock yeah, a nissan might be comparative but umm, not to that car at all. either way, one lap is on my list of things to do so i wish you best of luck.


Your Right it was about 240whp and had a pretty agressive suspension setup, (swapped out each day for the event) I can make the Horsepower that's easy, the turbo kit can put me in the 250-260 whp range, and torque I have it ALL over a k20SC however Mouton suspension that might be a little harder to get. but a good set of coil overs should be 95% of their performance, plus I actually understand how to tune a car, as for driving, a time trial is just that, A professional race driver does not have THAT much advantage over a privateer, unlike a real road race where budget determines how deep you are willing to carry a pass.

[Loren]

Jlude, the schedule on the website is clear, though poorly formatted. Registration for the event is May 4, 2007 at 8:00am.

[BeQuietAndDrive]

Okay, I would LOVE to join in on this.

My finals week for exams is April 28th to May 4th, so I think I woudl be in the clear there unless my very exam fell on the last day, but it's always possibel I could take it early. My racing experience is limited to some autocross but like Jlude, I can turn a wrench, drive, support, etc etc. I could probably support myself financially along the trip, I don't think that'd be a problem. I'm very, very interested.

Question, is it 2500 dollars whatever PER PERSON to enter? or is that per team, which you would cover?

[mofugga]

this just in, there's an "economy car" being built to win the overall title. so far it looks/sounds pretty damn sick (read fast)

[treekiller]

link? perhaps a class change to alt fuel is required. E85 anyone

[mofugga]

no link