Well Sebring was one hell of a crazy auto-x...

[Bill]

Didn't end up racing Saturday but I did compete on Sunday. It was pretty damned nice and without a doubt, the longest course I've ever been on. The course was also pretty damned quick with people seeing the top of third, which is pretty damned crazy for a Solo2 event.
Anyways, we all got 3runs in, saw some damned nice Cobra kit cars, and watched while a guy in a stock Miata took everyone to school.
As for my runs, I got close to the time I was expecting but I'm still not quite happy with it. I was definately not expecting to see third gear on my runs and racing through the slaloms with that much speed was far different than any event I've been to so far. That aside though (and course working in 95+ degree weather with no god damned shade for an hour) I'm definately looking forward to the next event.

[group 44]

:oops: Yes Sebring was HOT.I didn't get there till almost 10:00 so I got to walk only about half the corse, not good. My first run was a low 63, to bad I cut off some of the corse I didn't walk. If the miata Bill was talkig about was white, it wasn't near stock, I could hear the blower wine from a mile away. But it was real fast. Some girl in a white boxter who was behind me almost caught me towards the the end of her run :o. This was my second autox and I have a lot to learn. Thanks to all the SCCA folks.

[RoadRacer]

sounds like you guys had a great time. :D

Patrick

[RainmanEK]

too bad i could not of gone? still working on perfecting car to dominate! any who, always next time! i wish they would run the short course though, i know it with my eyes closed! alot of hours on that track! peave, eric

[Zate]

yeah i had a blast.. spectated all weekend.. will run the WRX and new tires next autoX when Leslie is back in town :)..

watching the club racers was a blast too..

[138MustangGT]

I drove on Satruday only. It was too hot and I had too much stuff to do Sunday afternoon, so I left early.

For those who didn't go, I got to drive this cool 1976 Lola T 342. I was slow in it, but damn it was fun missing cones with your helmet! (this was a wingless formula car from back in the day, FYI)

-Shawn

[RoadRacer]

Shawn that sounds bad ass. Do you know the guy that owns it?

Patrick

[lstepnio]

Pictures or Video for those of us that could not attend? Man, it sounds like I missed a good time. :oops:

[138MustangGT]

Yeah, I know the guy pretty well. He's the District Governor for the area covering Ocala to Tallahassee. He let me drive it as a 'thank you' for the works I've done over the past few months (since I didn't have a car to drive).
If he's at the next FSF event, I'll be driving it there as well. HOPEFULLY, though I'll have the Talon finished soon enough to finish the season in SM.


Luke, you have no idea what you missed. OVER A MILE LONG COURSE!!!!
Sunday was so much faster than Saturday from what I saw.
EVERYONE!!! You don't knwo what you missed. Sebring runs like 10mph faster than Gainesville, and is 30% to 50% longer in usable course.

-Shawn

[Leonard]

I loved the course, but...


I do not like the way CFR East puts on the event. It fucking sucked ass. Three heats. Work in one and get two laps in each of the other two. There is no time to relax and spectate or get out of the sun and into the shade. Great course or not, I don't think I'll be going back unless they change their format. I felt like shit all of Saturday night and Sunday because it was way to hot and there was no respite for it all day. They are going to kill somebody if they aren't careful.

Oh yeah, Shawn...... you are henceforth banned as a passenger in my car.

[Bill]

Originally posted by "MinGreyCobra"

I loved the course, but...


I do not like the way CFR East puts on the event. It fucking sucked ass. Three heats. Work in one and get two laps in each of the other two. There is no time to relax and spectate or get out of the sun and into the shade. Great course or not, I don't think I'll be going back unless they change their format. I felt like shit all of Saturday night and Sunday because it was way to hot and there was no respite for it all day. They are going to kill somebody if they aren't careful.

Oh yeah, Shawn...... you are henceforth banned as a passenger in my car.

Couldn't agree more.
Sunday they had STS run ONCE in the first group, then run twice in the second group, and then we had to work the course for the third and final group. I had no time to go get lunch, only ended up running three times, got hotter than hell, and sweated away about half my body weight. What pissed me off more than anything was I got stuck on station two (middle of the course) all by myself. I had cars coming at the same time on both sides of me and there's no way in hell I can keep track of two at the same time. Finally had to bitch on the radio about getting some help. Bleh, they have got to organize it better than that next time.

I'd still go back though. As bad as some points were, the course length and speed made it something that'll draw me there again. I did hear however that Ft. Meyers events are very similar to the Sebring event in length and speed. If that's so, I might have to have a go at one of those upcoming events.

[Zate]

yeah.. i think i am going to try to attend as many events between ft myers and gainsville as i can.. and start trying to get some seat time and experience :)

[138MustangGT]

I couldn't agree more. See, it was after an event last year at VCC that I decided to start running events. At VCC last year the same people were running the event, and each car drove in each heat. They were planning on 4 heats, but it rained a little for each heat and finally poured during the third and not every car got 3 runs in, so NO CLASS GOT POINTS, and hte event was called a practice. BOOOO!!!!

This run twice shit was kinda pissing me off, too. It REALLY wreaked havoc on the two driver cars.

They DO have nice equipment though, nice radios, nice tents, nice TIMING TRAILER!!!! damn them and their expensive shit.

I much prefer running in Gainesville, and even prefer FSF(site and all) to the way they run things. I'd rather run on shabby asphalt and gravel than at NICE Sebring with their craptastic way of running things.
MY OTHEREST GRIPE!!! the way they handled criticism...
I mention some safety issues with their traffic controllers, who were directing cars into each other!! There were some other things I pointed out and they just blew me off. Maybe they assumed I had no idea what I was talking about since I looked younger than their normal staff. That's all I can think of as to why they would completely blow me off, but it's still not an excuse. If you find a safety problem and report it and get ignored, that's just ridiculous.
FYI- traffic stopped being a problem once some West Coast drivers were working the staging lanes.

I bitch alot when no one listens. And remember, if you find something on the West Coast that is FUBAR... PLEASE TELL SOMEONE! BITCH GROAN COMPLAIN until it is fixed. That's the way it's gotta be.

Sebring (the site) was still awesome.
-Shawn

[CivEk4]

I was very disappointed in the way things were run. First of all I was expecting 4 runs for $30 but instead they decided at the last minute to change it to 3 runs for the same price which IMO was a rip off. If I would've known about this in advance or before paying registration I would've left right then, but instead they mislead us up until it was too late. I also was very unhappy with the attitude of the people in charge who got a very snotty attitude when a few people mentioned certain things that were not right and their answer was "because I said so" everytime with no explanation as to why. I will never run at Sebring again if the East Coast people are running it. I have only run one West Coast event at FSF about 8 months ago and I liked the way they had organization and were very clear about what was going on and kept the confusion to a minimum. I usually run at BCC and VCC which are both run by East Coast and both are usually small events on small lots, they cannot handle larger events on larger venues worth a shit, they failed miserably and will never see me attend a large event of theirs again. I ended up leaving after my 2nd run because I was so furious with the way things were going and the heat was kicking my ass, and I did not want the whole day to be wasted. On a lighter note though it was really nice towing my car down w/ my new tow vehicle, it made the day much easier being able to just load the car on the trailer instead of slaving in the hot sun changing out tires. Oh yeah, also that yellow Civic H/B turbo was amazing, I could not believe it was sticking so damn good and running so damn fast, I was very impressed with it.

James
97'Civic H/B
#97 Solo 2 SM

[Billy]

Originally posted by "lstepnio"

Pictures or Video for those of us that could not attend? Man, it sounds like I missed a good time. :oops:

I've got some video from both Saturday and Sunday. It's not digital, but if anyone can help out with getting it on the board......cool. It's not the best, it was such a long course it made it hard to get close shots or sometimes even see the car running.

[138MustangGT]

I hope someone can get you the help you need to post the video.
I'd love to see it.

and i'm glad I;m not the only one who recognized their shitty attitude. I'll forward our complaints to the SoloII chairman. If you desire anonymity I will make sure they are only recognized as my own gripes.

why? i don't care what they think of me, I already have my connections within the SCCA... and i'll be leaving in February (hopefully to Pensacola).

-Shawn

[Leonard]

Feel free to make my gripes my own. 1 voice will be ignored, but if we all whine and moan... maybe, they'll throw us some cheese...

[taka86fc]

It was very fast cource. I usually beat the car at 1st and 2nd gear. I learnt little bit of high speed handling this time.

[Opie]

MY OTHEREST GRIPE!!! the way they handled criticism...
I mention some safety issues with their traffic controllers, who were directing cars into each other!! There were some other things I pointed out and they just blew me off. Maybe they assumed I had no idea what I was talking about since I looked younger than their normal staff. That's all I can think of as to why they would completely blow me off, but it's still not an excuse. If you find a safety problem and report it and get ignored, that's just ridiculous.


I know how you feel, at the last VCC event I commented to the safety steward that on particular part of the course was to close to the curbs to run karts. I even showed him the run in the rulebook regarding "imovable objects" & "acceptable kart courses". He looked at me like I didn't know a dipstick from a fishing rod and said it looked fine to him! Geez, thanks for listening buddy. West Coast just doesn't have the "feel" of the East Coast events, to much superiority complex going on.

[138MustangGT]

A-MEN BROTHER!

I PREFER when people tell me what's FUBAR so I can try to make it better, I'm always learning.

I guess that weekend I learned what NOT to be like, and the type of people to NOT make Chiefs/Stewards...

-Shawn

[azhrei_fje]

Well, well.

Okay, your voices have been heard.

I, too, that Sebring management was pretty bad. I'm working on ways to fix that in a manner that won't get me castrated by the rest of the club officials. It'll happen, just hold on a little while. In the future, central area events will be run the same as west coast events.

The white Miata belongs to Bob Palmblad. It is supercharged -- that was the whine you heard. Bob is a great driver in just about anything, but he was having an off-day at Sebring. :-(

The yellow Civic belongs to Mark and Wendi Allen. They were the first husband-wife team to win the National Championship in their respective classes in the same year in the same car! Mark acts as driving instructor for Evolution Driving School, and he was there when I took the school. I don't like Mark much at all, but I've got to admit that some of his advice has made me a better autox'er.

The open wheel Ford that Shawn drove belongs to Ron Alcorns, but it was brought to the site by Dave Welsh. Dave is an ex-Solo Chairman and really has a heart for this stuff. He almost single-handedly ran about a half-dozen autox events at UF last year. That's a sh*tload of work!

The Sebring course was not a very good SoloII course in terms of speed. My Supra (automatic) got into 3rd gear, and I don't need to shift out of 2nd until I hit the rev limiter at 85mph. That's not a SoloII course!

In addition, the cost of the site was so prohibitive that we will not likely be going back there again unless the cost can be brought down. However, there are currently plans being made for something similar to happen at Daytona next April. It will likely be in part of the new renovated infield, but the details won't be worked out for another couple months. Then you'll see notes in the Checker (if you get our moenthly newsletter because you signed up as a CFR member).

Btw, Gainesville this weekend is a two-day event. Registration closes today. The entry fee covers both days of autocrossing, 3 runs each day. Tech can be done Friday night at the event hotel or Saturday morning at the event site, and it only needs to be done once for the entire weekend. Check out the information on the web at http://www.sedivsolo2.com/ -- lunch will be provided both days, there are cash prizes, and it promises to be a LOT of fun with a lot of great cars to check out! It is a DIVISIONAL event and that means that it will run very similarly to a national-level event. Be aware that they are going to be strict about things you might not think are important. The goal is to teach people how to act when they attend a national event, as well as to provide an increased level of competition. (I'm probably going to get my butt kicked!) If you want to see a tricked out Civic, get a look at Mike King's Street Modified car. If you want to see a $100k+ car be autocrossed, check out Phil Currin's old Corvette -- this car has won national racing events. The web site I mentioned has an entry list where you can see who has registered and what vehicle they're planning to run.

I think that's it. Oh, btw, thanks for the kudos on how the west coast does things. Those kinds of notes are part of the reason why your event officials are willing to put all this time and effort into it.

See ya in July back at the fairgrounds! (Oops, no I won't. I'm attending the Cleveland Grand Prix that weekend. My brother got crew passes. And his contact will be driving the pace car, so there's a good chance we'll be in it!)

[0HP930]

Hmm, a $100K+ old vette? Are we talking one of the old aluminum framed "ultra-lite" racing vettes from the 60s?

:?

[Lola56]

Phil Currin has been autocrossing and racing vettes for over 30 years. In 1974 he won the IMSA GTO championship.

The $100K vette is question is a 1963 split window vette, that has run the 24 hours of LeMans, and is the car that Phil won the 74 championship in.

In addition, Phil is a several time National Solo 2 champion in his 72 in BSP.

Phil lives in Gainesville and is running this 63 vette in Solo events and vintage events this year.

[138MustangGT]

You mispelled his name... it's "FAST Phil Currin" :wink:
but I had NO CLUE he lived in Gainesville?!?!

Leonard... there will be a Mustang at the divisionals event for you to finally compare yourself to... too bad.

lola56... who are you? have we met? this is Shawn from Gainesville.

-Shawn

[Lola56]

Shawn

I don't believe that we have met.

By the way, was that you who drive my blue Lola at Sebring two weeks ago?

Please don't tell Fast Phil that I misspelled his name. When I call him on the phone he answers "Fast Phil." I respond by saying "slow Dave here."

See ya this weekend.

Dave

[138MustangGT]

heh heh heh
I was pretty damn sure I knew who I was talking... I just wanted to make sure.

Is there anything I can do to help you get the cars ready for this weekend? OH, and did the red one finally run correctly after we cleaned/beat on the fuel pump?

oh, if you need it, my email is GvilleCFRSCCA@AOL.COM or nukewaste@prodigy.net (you've received emails from the latter one before)

I'll get back to you later!
-Shawn

[Lola56]

Shawn

Thanks for the offer. I had both cars out of the trailer today and pressure washed them. It's been a while since they had a bath. I also wanted to clean up the right rear brake. I pulled the plugs on the red one, they looked good, and adjusted the valves while I was at it.

I still had a stumble on Sunday at Sebring. It was alot better than Saturday. When I was tossing the car around in the slaloms it seemed to stumble a bit. I took the tops of the carbs off last week to check for silt and trash, found nothing. The filters in the carbs looked good too. The float level seems to be okay. So, if it acts up this weekend I'll be looking for a new fuel pump. I didn't like what we say when we took it apart at Sebring.