RD in SD

I just registered. Anyone else going? If so I will take all the advice I can get.

flash911

Pretty sure I'm heading up there w my buddy Matt. Much to do yet but hopefully seeya there...

RD in SD

Yes my list is very long about 15 items on it now. Including trying to figure out why my ABS does not work when I get no codes or light. Don't really want to hit the wall at 150 MPH becasue my brakes don't work right.
Good luck with getting it ready.

Also I see you are from Sherman Oaks I am from San Diego maybe we can get the So Cal guys together for the road trip. I am pulling mine as my racing seats do not work very well for a long drive like that.

PM me if interested.

chetly

I'll be there helping out a couple friends of mine. One in a c5z, the other in a 63 Ford Falcon.

flash911

RD we're driving up Thursday. I'll be towing, Matt driving his Ferd. Matt's coming from SD, so once we're registered I'll PM you.

^ Yeah yeah we know. Mike Maier crew chief, lol

RD in SD

What tires are you guys running?

flash911

I've got Falken 615s and Matt's running Hankook RS3s.

383

This looks like it could be a ton of fun! I think Im going to try to make an east coast event one of these days

chetly

Nope, Mike Maier isnt running OUSCI this year. Ill be helping Brian Hobaugh and another friend Craig.

flash911

...didn't Brian say he's running his Camaro?

I'm just teasing you Chetly.

chetly

I think after last weekend at Camarillo he changed his mind.

smellya

I have thought about it. I just don't want to spend the money on tires I will use for pretty much only this event. So I go back and forth on it.

klodkrawler05

I ran the MIS and Pittsburgh events last year as well as the finale in Vegas. I'd be happy to try to answer any questions you might have about the events.

I will say make sure your brakes are up to snuff! these events give you so much seat time in 1 weekend you'll easily go through more brakes than you have at nearly any other event. Overall they're a great fun mix of auto-x, road course and cruise all in 1 weekend with some of the coolest people around! Relax, enjoy and don't be afraid to ask for help!

IMO one of the coolest parts about running at an event like this is how many people from within the industry are on hand. Have a question about a good starting pressure for your BFG Rivals? ask the bfg rep directly! have a question about compound selection for your brakes? stop by and talk to the Wilwood folks.

Best of luck! I'll be following along with the events online as we've still got 3-4 months before the events head closer to MI

troyguitar

How much time do you get on the road course?

(in other words, do you need to have been the the track before to actually be competitive?)

I'm thinking about going to the NCM event partly because no one will have more than 1 year of experience on that track so it will be a more level playing field.

chetly

3-4 20 minute sessions. They will put you in a class depending on how much seat time you have on a track regardless of the track. If they see that you talked your way up into a class they don't feel you belong in, they will move you down. It's entirely their call. Unless your in the "pro" class, you have no chance of winning, your there to have fun and provide more cars for tv coverage. Jimi Days words, not mine.

klodkrawler05

False, I won the Pittsburgh under 3k class and earned an invite to Vegas in my z06 running in the beginner class That said you are there to have fun as Jimi said and beating guys like Danny Popp, Kyle Tucker and Brian Hobaugh is nearly impossible so just enjoy the ride!

As Chetly said 3-4 sessions, Many of the folks I talked to at each event where just seeing the track for their first time so I don't think you'll be on terribly un-even footing!

That said if you have any track/HPDE experience or run a few events a year I'd at least get the gear required and run in intermediate.

Beginner group allows NO passing at all, anywhere. They try to mitigate this by starting cars in order of fastest to slowest but on a fast HP favoring track like Pittsburgh it only takes 1-2 laps before the fastest beginners have caught back up to the slowest beginners, you aren't allowed to pass them so now you either have to slow wayyyyy down for a lap to try to build up enough gap to put in another fast lap or you have to pull off the track and have the track workers (who to their credit did an awesome job!) put you back on track somewhere with more space.

I ran intermediate in Las Vegas and that went much better, thanks to starting fastest to slowest you still rarely need to pass/get passed but you can if needed! Keep in mind everything from 45hp beetles to 1200hp lamborghini's show up to these events so running in a class with no passing will likely end in frustration

troyguitar

FWIW I wasn't asking as a beginner, I just have not been to NCM track yet and wondered if the optima event alone would allow enough track time to get a fast lap. (answer appears to be no, at least I cannot master a track like that in only 3-4 sessions)

klodkrawler05

I wasn't assuming you were a beginner I was commenting on that with regards to choosing a road course class for the USCA.

I'd still say give it a shot! as you mentioned, NCM has only been around for a year so nobody will have a ton of seat time on the course, plus its worth factoring in how many people actually travel around with the series, I would bet at any given USCA event at least 2/3 of the people are seeing that specific road course for the first time. Sure 3-4 sessions isn't enough to dial in a track and run your fastest ultimate lap ever but most of the other people are dealing with learning that specific track for the first time as well.

Think of it like a faster/funner version of auto-x you get 3-4 chances to run a fast lap on a course you've never seen before.

edit: I think thats why guys who are good at auto-x tend to do so well at these events 2/3 of the performance points are scored on autocross and speed stop (which uses mostly autocross skills) the other 1/3 of the points are scored by running on a new to you road course so you need to call upon your auto-x skills to memorize a new course as quickly as possible.

troyguitar

I agree that it's heavily geared toward autox guys which is the exact opposite of my experience (years of karts, hundreds/thousands of laps on some tracks, I'm a slow learner), so I basically have no chance of winning overall - but I figure if I can get at least one weekend of practice in at NCM before June I might have a non-zero chance of winning the road course section or at least offering a challenge for the autox guys.

I actually know Road America pretty well but that's a big HP track so that 1200 hp lambo will smoke me regardless

klodkrawler05

The RS motors guys call RA home as well so I look for them to pretty much clean up every single class they enter at that event!