Has anyone done this event? I'm thinking about the 120mph class, ~maybe faster. I forget, I think the car is good till 125 with no roll bar at this event?? Anyway, any feedback appreciated. I'm concerned about hitting turns at 120 that are too tight or wearing out my tires too quick. Anyone with experience on the 318 or 278 roadways? Are the bends tight? Is this a fun race or what???


Thanks.

 

I guess i'll be the first. I've heard good and bad, but mostly the latter of the two. You have to have a ton of safety equipment to get into anything above the 95 mph class, and once you do, you share the road with a bunch of rice rockets with rollcages . It's rather big among the younger crowd, ie teens and early college, so typically you're running with cars of much less capability than our vettes. It's up to you, but from what i've seen, it's no gumball rally. If i could do it my way, i'd have driver qualifications as the qualifiers, not safety mods. Let us know how it goes

 

I had an ex g/f who's dad ran his 92 Viper in it back around 94 or so. He said it was a great time. I don't know if he ever did it again though because that's about the time the g/f became an ex.

 

427,
It is a blast, with a pure stock Vette you can average 120 with helmet, gloves, fire extingusher. Add a harness bar and 5 point harness's, cheap(under $100) fire suit you can average 150 with a top speed of 168. the sky is the limit from there. See my sig the Blue Car is my Open Road Racer. As for concern about how fast to run. At 125 average 145 top speed, I felt like rolldown the windows and turn on the music. The second race I was in the 145 average and 168 top speed class. Now that got my attention. This is kind of spendy to do, but how much will you spend for a weekend away to like Vegas or most fun spots.
There are some rules to be aware of. The first race you are limited to 125 (145 top speed) as the highest average you can run. You have to go to rookie school in Vegas to qualify. This is easy and just a formality.
There is another group that runs Open Road Races. See:

www.openroadracing.com

They are a little easier to get started with. They hold rookie school on the actual race roads in each town. This involves 3-4 runs for 10 miles each at speed with a veteran driver on the course. So no extra trip to Vegas then 5 hrs to Ely where the Silver State is run. The last one of the season with this group is Aug 28th in Battle Mountian, NV. This is the longest of all the Open Road Races at 130 miles. Most are between 85 and 90 miles.
Another thing to keep in mind is that this is more than just a race. There is a fun and crazy group that enter these events. There is a core group that races all these events. It is 3-4 days of fun not just the race.
Also to get started in this you can save some money by going to the sites and getting on the message boards. Introduce yourself ask if you can borrow a suit usally one of the veterans will load an old one too you. I know I have a number of times. If you have more questions feel free to PM me. At these races the more the merrier.

SFengineer,
I don't know who you talked to but the field is maybe 20% riceburners. Vettes are the most represented car, lots of Porsches, vipers, some Mustangs, few exotics, and many others. The others include ex-NASCARS, a 190mph Corvar, 180+ mph, a 29 Ford pick-up truck. I have seen a 232mph Vette and a 218 Camaro. This is not a kids sport too expensive for that

Jeffy'

 

Looks like my side my have been judgemental. Last year in college a "racing team" of civics and probes were advertising it pretty heavily and sent of few of their "top racers". I helped a few of them welding a backyard customs roll cage even. They came back with wild stories and pics of a bunch of other ricers they hung out with, but that may have been the 20% you spoke of. One of them went off the road and damaged his car pretty badly

 

Never been, but sure would like to do it some day. It sounds like a great time.