I signed up for this months ago and it's coming up quick. I'll be racing the vette since the TA would be pretty silly to put on an autocross....even though it adorns a bunch of UMI goodies.
I heard Scott (Bonzo) was going but anyone else? If so, when are you heading out and what hotel will you be staying?
I am still unsure of my actual work schedule for that weekend. if I am off from work, I will go..which means booking a hotel at the very last moment! (yikes)
I do want to go and thrash on the car; all is depending on work related scheduling though
I am still unsure of my actual work schedule for that weekend. if I am off from work, I will go..which means booking a hotel at the very last moment! (yikes)
I do want to go and thrash on the car; all is depending on work related scheduling though
My wife may or may not go. If she doesn't, I will have a separate queen bed available at the recommended hotel if you want to join.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ar0ck
Sold out as of this afternoon. Looks like a good time. Im definitely up to run another auto-x event in the future!
Sign up for the wait list. I expect with the number of people coming, there will be those that can't make it.
When are you folks heading out? Hopefully the weather cooperates better than the current forecast but should be fun. Makes me wish I had a pop up tent though just in case to avoid roasting. I will be bringing the truck/trailer should anyone need to stash stuff at the track vs hauling things back and forth to and from the hotel.
How did it go? Saw a few posts on the gram, but curious to hear how that track looks.
The event went very well! We dodged the rain which was pretty amazing as they were calling for scattered thunderstorms Thurs-Sat. I'm still recovering a bit from the weekend but the NJFBOA crew did well and brought home running cars. I may still be shook from the ride along with Brian Finch in his 71 Camaro....
The track was pretty cool and well setup. The UMI team did a really good job organizing the event and keeping the cars racing. They plan to improve the track each year which is nice to see. My only gripe was the gravel road all the way to the track (maybe 3/4 of a mile?). Asphalt is expensive so not like I blame them for holding off on doing that.
Everyone was really easy going and it was great seeing very unique cars with a lot of talented drivers.
I'll get pics and video posted/linked when I have some time.
I'm always curious how tracks are modified from ovals to road courses. Scares the heck out of me racing so close to a wall.
There is only one real spot you can run into issues with the wall. The course was well laid out and the cones were placed strategically so it would keep you away from the guardrails.
The one spot where folks had trouble (including me) was the end of the course which had a small kink at the end to avoid too high of speed. It ended up getting the cars loose though since your corner carving on a straight banked surface. One nice 4th gen camaro kissed the wall as he spun out and took out the metal stairway. Others were lucky and just got a some grass on their wheels and brownies in their pants. On my first run, I got big time loose at that part and panic steered successfully....although I did smack the wiper stalk in the process. I'm pretty confident I have in-car footage of that.... haha.
There is only one real spot you can run into issues with the wall. The course was well laid out and the cones were placed strategically so it would keep you away from the guardrails.
The one spot where folks had trouble (including me) was the end of the course which had a small kink at the end to avoid too high of speed. It ended up getting the cars loose though since your corner carving on a straight banked surface. One nice 4th gen camaro kissed the wall as he spun out and took out the metal stairway. Others were lucky and just got a some grass on their wheels and brownies in their pants. On my first run, I got big time loose at that part and panic steered successfully....although I did smack the wiper stalk in the process. I'm pretty confident I have in-car footage of that.... haha.
Lol I would love to see that. Thankfully that worked out well for you!
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Originally Posted by LS1ow
Except Jersey mike, great kid, but the way he looks at me makes me feel like im in danger
Finally had a moment to give the event a bit more context.
The event was primarily Friday and Saturday however there was a walk the track with Sam Strano/Brian Finch at 5PM on Thursday. I was happy I came in the day prior and basically relaxed around the hotel for the most part until the show was started.
The walk was helpful as coming in cold would have been pretty interesting. UMI provided a solid dinner Thursday evening which was very tasty (beers too!).
A little bit of rain came through Thursday night but not much. The Z got unloaded and we all headed back to the hotel for a bit of drinking.
Beers were consumed that evening before heading to bed for the start of the event the following day. The group headed out in the AM and headed to the track which was only about 15 mins away from the hotel.
Putting it lightly, there were just so many nice and well put together cars. It was pretty amazing watching the old metal hustle around the auto x way better than I thought they could. There was a ton of driver talent in the group as well. It was a pretty humbling experience after I compared my times with others. The driving style is very different than anything I've done before. You need to be aggressive at all times, find the optimum line and position your car in just the right spot to give you the opportunity to use the throttle.
Brian Finch told us yesterday to go hard and find the limit on the first run vs walking up to it as the day goes on. I took that advise but perhaps a bit too well as my first run was a total mess. Normally the Z does OK with low speed traction but I was pretty heavy with the throttle and each time I tried to accelerate hard, the back end would step out. I overcooked a few corners as well and towards the end of the run, I got the back end very loose and did some panic steering (See wiper blades going a mile a minute). I kept it all together but the time clearly reflected my deficits.
Brian Finch and Sam Strano (along with other UMI guys) were giving ride alongs throughout the day. I took the opportunity to jump into Brian's 71 Camaro to "learn something". Suffice to say, I don't think I learned a damn thing haha. I was in a 5 pt harness but the seat was pretty stock so there was no bolstering to be found. My concern was that I would be flopping into Brian causing him to make a mistake, get frustrated, or stab me with his shift lever. I held on to the door pull with my other arm on the roll bar. The ride was absolutely wild. Brian is extremely talented and the best way I can describe the run is controlled chaos. Brian slid the car around to get the right positioning for the next turn, hit the throttle in just the right spot and simply made the car dance. After the run, I was giggling like I was on some good drugs.
My next runs would continue to improve but I seemed to nab a cone here or there which was frustrating. I was beginning to use the throttle more progressively as the torque from the LT4 is nothing to sneeze at in the lower rpms. My best run from the day was a 47.1 which wasn't too bad considering I started with a 52.x my first time out. For reference though, Finch and Strano were running low 43's/42's haha.
UMI served lunch which was a nice break. By the end of the day, I was heavily dehydrated and my arm muscles were locking up a little bit which made driving more interesting. Although it was very warm/humid, the rain never came and it was a great first day.
We headed back to the hotel, got a nice shower and prepared for the cruise to the UMI facility for a tour and dinner. When I popped outside, this really cool Caddy Limo greeted us.
We arrived at UMI and quickly filled the parking lot with all of the nice cars.
The shop tour was cool but I was not impressed that I would have to wait until Monday to order parts.....
UMI served us dinner as we got to view all of their projects in their workshop. Finch and Strano were swapping their worn out tires for a fresh set in preparation for the next day.
Saturday came went pretty quickly. Folks got another 4 runs with the first three counting towards potential trophy positions. I had high aspirations that mayyyyybe I could get to 4th place but I couldn't put together the magical clean run. I did improve my time by about a half second from the prior day.
Many other racers continued to improve their times as well however one driver did manage to hit the wall on the oval. The car was a 4th gen SS and as he hit the "kink" coming to the finish, he lost control and the back end came around hitting the wall with the back passenger rear bumper. He also managed to side swipe the metal stairs that allowed people to get from the track into the grand stands. It was quite a sight but the car wasn't too bad and driver was OK.
I believe the C6Z below was the quickest car around the track sans Strano and Finch whose times didn't count.
I have over 120 images in the photobucket link below if you want to go through them. There were just so many nice cars.
After the day of racing was done, I loaded the Z back on the trailer in prep for an early departure the next day. UMI opened the track to the public so they could bring their cars out to hold a mini car show. It wasn't so mini....
I then jumped into Bonzo's Camaro where we headed back to the hotel. Worth noting, Scott's Camaro rides really well and it was good insight into what I can expect from my Dad's TA when it gets its new suspension goodies.
All showered up once again, we headed to dinner at a local place called Denny's (no not the grand slam place). This joint had 40+ burger selections and was just damn delicious. Saw this on the wall. Reminded me of the movie "The Great Outdoors" with John Candy.
The group then headed back to the hotel for you guessed it, more beverages. I held on until about 1AM before I called myself a bitch and headed in for some rest. Another successful and fun day. Even the car and myself were intact too!!
The following day we all got a late start. We grabbed breakfast and headed to get the cars/trailers. The travel back was pretty uneventful and the Dmax averaged 16.6 mpg with a 70+ mph cruise speed up and down the long hills. I'm very happy I went with the diesel as it was just effortless.
I'm sure I'm missing a number of funny/interesting details but in short, the UMI folks did a fantastic job organizing the event and I would def go back next year. I asked myself why I would drive 8+ hrs round trip to do some autox and this event answered the question.
Next year I should bring the bird and really embarrass myself.
Here's (a different) Brian's recap that sounds about right. I updated it as I saw fit lol
Quote:
Well, I had just spent the last 15 minutes typing out a recap of my weekend at the UMI Performance Autocross Challenge only to have facebook wipe it away when I tried to upload the pic!! So F it.......here is my recap......I broke.........I fixed.......I drove 200 280 miles.....drank.....ate.......slept......raced.... ..drank.......ate......drank......slept.....raced. ....raced more..... placed 5Th 16th out of 22.....drank......ate......drank.......drank more.....slept......drove 200 280 miles......hate need to lower my seats! The End
