Just in case you haven't heard yet. Martin Sports Car Club is holding it's regular November event this Saturday at the Gainesville Raceway's practice road course behind the drag strip. We had our October event this past Saturday and turn out was very low. We need more people to show up this weekend. We are also sponsoring the State Championships event at the same location on Sunday. So if you've ever raced with MSCC before you know we put on a good event. Come on out this weekend and help us out.

For more details visit our website.

Jim, Jason, Patrick, ... come on out. You might even be able to convince me to let you have a crack at the SS on new race rubber if you are worried about your own car.

Email me. chjesthe@cfl.rr.com

 

IF you guys can make it out go for it.

Its great fun well worth the trip and money. These events are probably as good as it gets for amatuer racing. Of all the stuff I have been in, this is probably one of the most exciting.

But not sure I will have the new car by then.

 

How much does something like this cost to do? I am definitely interested. What time does everything start on saturday? Would I have to be a member of a particular club to race my car? Would I get pretty embaressed by running my stock suspension Z28 out there? If it isn't too expensive and I am allowed to run my car, you can pretty much count me in.....please just give me any more info on this.
Thanks,
-Dan

 

DanB - You won't be embarassed in your stock Z, I'll make sure of it!

I'd like to take the Honda out there and see what it can do. it's got a bit of body roll(needs new shocks and springs) but it should still be fun

I'd like to know how much it is too. And what time to get out there(maybe I can just follow you Chuck?). Anyway, hope i can make it, sounds like alot of fun!

 

i'd be up for it if it were a bit of a shorter drive.

 

Ah come on Jeff! Just come up on Friday and stay at my place. I'm sure Jen wouldn't mind. We can even go trick ot treating. lol We can put on women's clothes and go as queer eye for the straight guy. LOL Maybe not.

Anyway, on to the details.

- No you don't have to be a member of any clubs.
- No you won't be embarrassed in whatever you bring. I started in the light blue 87 Civic 4 door that Camride DESTROYED up North. j/k That thing was already a pos. Beginners are always grouped together in their own class anyway.
- It costs $40 to run at Gainesville. It's usually $25 in Tavares but we have to pay around $1500 to rent the road course. Contrary to the way it looks on the surface, we price the events just to break even. We rarely profit much at all.
- We were wanting to get last Saturday's event started by 9:00 but due to low turnout we held registration open pretty late. But to be realistic, you should leave by 5:00 just to be sure of getting there by 8:00. It sounds bad but with the time change it'll feel like you're leaving at 6:00. You miss all the traffic that way too. The alternative would be to get a hotel closer up that way.
- Anyone is more than welcome to follow me or even ride together if necessary. I plan on leaving at 5:00 again this Saturday. It took 2 hours 30 minutes to get there last weekend driving slow and I stopped for gas, video tape at WalMart and a bite to eat in Gainesville.
- You have to sign in by 8:00 and go through tech inspection by 8:30. Driver's meeting (manditory) is at 8:30 with the first car starting by 9:00 hopefully. Of course last week we held registration open until after 9:00 but you can't count on that happening again. You can also save time by preregistering and paying via Paypalhere. You don't have to pay to preregister but it holds your spot in case we hit our max entries limit.

Things to bring...
- Chair
- Cooler (drinks have been donated but people get stingey sometimes and swipe 3 or 4 for their ride home).
- Make sure all your lug nuts are there and that your battery is secure and not wobbling.
- Clean all the loose projectiles from inside the car. They WILL fly. Ask me about the golf ***** sometime. Funny...
- Something for lunch. I might be able to drag my grill up there and fix some burgers and dogs if there's enough interest and I can convince the wife to go. She has to drive the pickup to carry my tires anyway (hopefully).

 

Ok...well count me in. I will more than likely drive up friday night and stay with a buddy in Gainsville. How late do these things usually run? I would have to be back in Orlando no later than 5 pm. Is that going to be a problem?

 

That could be a problem. It all depends on how many people are there. The event will go until 5:00 for sure. We rent the track (and personnel) until then. But most likely we'll finish around 3:00 or so and have a couple hours of fun runs. I would request a work assignment in the second round so that you'll be all done by around noon or 1:00. If we stick to the same schedule as last week, beginners make all of their runs in the first group, then work the course in the 3rd group. But we are usually pretty accomidating for people if they ask nice.

 

Damn, won't be able to make it, I don't have an extra $40 sitting around anywhere unfortunatly I will definetly go sometime in the future though. And sorry about detroying your first autocross car Chuck, I swear I didn't mean to!

 

Just as a tease and hopefully some inspiration to get more people to come here are a couple of pics of the Trans Am on course last Saturday. These were taken by a club member who was set up his laptop and photo printer. You could buy the images and / or have him print a photo on the spot. All for a nominal fee of course.

 

I would love to go ....BUT I HAVE TO WORK this SAT....

Cough...

Cough....


I am I getting sick.

 

Sorry Chuck but this Saturday is bad for me as I already have someplace to be that day. If something comes up I will try to make it out.

IMO part of the reason turnout was low is because MSCC has already run Gainsville once (or twice?) this year. IMO its fine once a year but anymore than that its not worth it. Its twice as far away, and twice as expensive for about the same amount of seat time as regular autocross.

I'm not complaining, just trying to offer some constructive critcism.

Good Luck!

 

Thanks for coming out Dan. I hope you had a good time. I think you did. Hopefully you made it back early enough. We usually get things started a lot earlier than we did Saturday.

Next month's event... I rent a go kart from Nick @ Speedquest!

 

I should have gone out... Dan said that tech wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

 

The only car that I've ever seen NOT pass tech was a Subaru with no doors, windshield, dash or interior. It would have passed but it was missing a couple lug nuts. The studs were broke off otherwise they could have put some on and been fine.

Just make sure that the battery is secure and the lug nuts are there and you'll be fine.


BTW - I forgot to mention...


Congratulations Dan on winning Novice Class your first time out. Awesome job.