Gambler's Edge PIT Rally - Central City, CO (closed highway; Aug 2, 2014)
 

http://pitrally.com

I'm signed up for this... They're closing Central City Parkway all the way to I-70. It's a pretty scenic drive on a nice smooth, wide, highway through the mountains.

Most street cars will be in the Touring class, which is speed-paced for safety. The specific speed hasn't been posted, but it's implied that it will be reasonably high, and there is said to be "fast" option for those who want it.

For proper race cars with a roll cage and log book, driven by drivers with competition licenses, the Competition class gets a big wide-open road and they can go as fast as they want.

Being that I don't have a proper dedicated race car anymore, I'll be in the Touring class in my C6. Should be interesting...

I'm going!!!! Comp class!!!!

How fast is the Touring class allowed to go?

as fast as your skill level is.

Oh crap, I can only drive 25MPH then. :ack:

Website said the final number hasn't been approved, but that it will be in the triple digits.

Derek

Yup. There was also something that suggested there will be "Fast" and "Medium" groups within the Touring class, so that gives me hope that getting impeded wont be too much of an issue...

I deploy in July :( So pissed

I'll pass. I looked hard at this, but even though I track my car it doesn't meet their requirements for the Competition class. I have no interest in driving in a paced Touring class, even at triple digits, since it would cost $350 for a 4 minute or so drive. A track day at HPR costs a lot less and lasts more than 4 minutes.

I am waiting for the approved speed before I apply. Considering I was at 125 cruising to work a few days ago, it would have to be well above that speed before I attend.

Yeah, I had similar reservations, but ultimately I'd rather do it and risk being disappointed that it wasn't far enough over 100 mph for me, than to sit at home and be disappointed because I missed out.

I could go to HPR almost any day of the week, but it's pretty rare to get the opportunity to use a closed road like this, let alone one as sweet as Central City Parkway. Being that it's uphill on a twisty mountain highway, even 100 mph isn't exactly "slow" in these conditions. This isn't an event for people trying to hit their car's top speed... plenty of boring straight roads in eastern Colorado for that.

I opted for the "Fast" group in the Touring class, and I'll be running a bunch of cameras and data, so should be able to show people exactly what it was like...

I'm with you, but I'll probably go watch and blow the $350 in Blackhawk!

After running the 150 mph average class at BBORR for several years (almost 140 miles between 130 and 168) I'm not willing to pay $350 for 7 miles behind a pace car.

Some parts of I-70 between here and Las Vegas last weekend were longer and more fun and there was no entry fee or pace car involved. :D

Rather intriguing. I've craved that road up way more than once. My skills are modest. But good. I'd no doubt lose. And not care. I mean isn't all out how many, most of us have always driven the canyons?

PIT Rally was an awesome drive! Although the Pontiac Solstice pace car limited me to 127 MPH, once I did another run behind one of the full-race Corvette pace cars, we were doing 140 MPH in a few places with some turns at over 120 MPH. Sure, anybody could go faster on I-25 or some other boring flat piece of road, but you'll need a whole lot of car and some balls to catch that pace car on this curvy mountain highway with 1500 ft of elevation climb. My 420+ HP & ft-lbs and street tires were only enough to keep up with the pace he decided to set, and most of the others cars up there were falling back. The views were really incredible too, and it was amazing to blast past spectators at these speeds.

There were various BS speed claims, with some drivers saying they did as high as 190 MPH. Well, I had both GPS and OBD-II data running, both of which showed me doing an actual 140, and I was leaving most of them behind, LOL.

Video:
Not many people can say they intentionally blew by a cop at 140 MPH, full throttle, on the wrong side of the road!
Attachment 48371172

Thanks for posting, looks like it would have been fun. :rock:

Thanks for the post. I was hoping someone would post up results of the Pit Rally. I live in Central City but was unable to attend or participate because of other commitments. It is unusual that our weather is as nice as the weather experienced for the Rally. Were there any mishaps?

No mishaps that I'm aware of... I'm a little surprised they let us go as fast as they did, being that there wasn't any real driver experience required for Touring and the KBPI exposure attracted a certain "type" (let's just say the drivers meeting reeked of Axe Body Spray), but it apparently all worked out.

Yeah cause us 'KBPI' listeners have a "Type" now. :rolleyes:

Yes, there is a certain type who only hears about sanctioned motorsports events from a radio station that focuses on angry-at-the-world music and talking about getting stoned. Plenty of cool people out there too, but the cocky douchebro contingent was definitely represented.