Da Groj

August is the month where sane people don't autocross because it's just too damned hot. Then there's the rest of us...

Over the past few years, August has been our time to put on a casual non-points "fun" event. And Steve and I are trying to decide what we want to do. The default is an Enduro, just because they're so easy to do, easy to work, and fun. The down side is that the Enduro format is inherently time inefficient and limits us to 30-40 drivers.

But, here's another idea that has come to me, and I wanted to see how many people would be interested in it. I've heard of variations of it before, but I think this one might be more palatable to a larger group of people:

The NMC* Autocross:
3 timed practice runs in your own car to learn the course and lay down the baseline time for your car.
2 timed "competition runs" in someone else's car chosen at random.
The goal: get as close as possible to (or better than) the car owner's time.

Maybe break up into 2-3 classes based on types of cars, or maybe even just group drivers subjectively based on past performance. (hot shoes, noobs and intermediates... something like that) Can you drive your car faster than someone else? Can you drive THEIR car faster than they did?

This would require that every entrant be willing to let a random driver take two runs in their car.

What do you think? Bad idea? Good idea?

* NMC = Not My Car

Interesting... But not as interesting as an Enduro!!! Love the Enduro's!!! IMHO

I learned it as "SEC" racing - Someone Else's Car. Hah.

I'm down.

First thing that came to mind is--who is going to fit in Greg's car?

AScoda wrote:First thing that came to mind is--who is going to fit in Greg's car?

Might have to make an exception for Greg. Then again... I believe his seat was designed to be a "bolt-in" for a Miata. So, with a few minutes, he could swap seats with another Miata driver if he wanted to. Up to him.

Not so sure swapping the pedal extensions will be as easy...

AScoda wrote:First thing that came to mind is--who is going to fit in Greg's car?

I vote for a Duel type event *words cannot describe the awesome*.. Only because I'm convinced that not everyone is comfortable letting random people drive their car *I wanna have fun, not worry about breaking someones car*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Udd_KERa9c

A Duel is the exact opposite of an Enduro when it comes to "easy to put on".

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Guess I won't be bringing the 1961 Ferrari GT California to this one.

Jeremy wrote:Guess I won't be bringing the 1961 Ferrari GT California to this one.

Then I'm out

Also, anyone with a waist size larger than 36 might have a hard time fitting in some racing seats. I barely fit in Charles's car. I didn't really fit in Drew's car.

This is discrimination against big-boned people.

I probably shouldn't be commenting any way. Because this event does not appeal to me. I have no desire to let a random person drive my car.

Jeremy wrote:I probably shouldn't be commenting any way. Because this event does not appeal to me. I have no desire to let a random person drive my car.

That's valid input.

I agree with Jeremy... many of you I am fine with driving my car, but completely random... no thanks! Enduro it is... ;-)

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Unless a bunch of people chime in saying they want to do this, looks like another idea that's going to "die in committee".

I'm going to miss this event but:

How about a fleet of one day local rental cars? That's the same as "borrowing one" from a fellow racer BUT the insurance stays with the driver who rented it.

Class rules remain no matter what you want to rent just to keep it "fair". I would think the "econoboxes" like Yaris, Fit would be the most fun for everyone and cheapest to rent for one day or the weekend. IROC returns?

It would be like Habib has nerd day at autocross. Greg, et al, can still drive their specialty cars on hard tires in a prepared class.

I'm the guy who couldn't count laps at the last Enduro forcing everyone to do an extra one so what can I say?

Have fun.

Repost: Cut out the ones I didn't like...

Reversible Course Day– 3 runs in one direction, 3 runs in the opposite direction. Sum the best runs each way and that’s your time.

Battle Cross (Battle-X) – An idea Stolen from another club, so it must be good. Two cars run at a time, separated by ½ of the distance of the course. The first one back to their start/finish line wins. 4 runs guaranteed. More runs if you win. Several classes to make it fair. Sorry, No first timers.

Competition Chairman Challenge – Beat the Chairman and get a prize.

Street Tire Day – 2 Second time reduction for street tires. Let’s see if the old rule of thumb is true, that R-compounds are 2 seconds faster. Awards for top adjusted times.

Turbo vs. Normally aspirated Day.

Classic versus Modern – Team event with 15(?) year old plus cars versus less than 15 year old cars.

Whipper Snapper vs. Seasoned Driver Day - Two teams separated by the age of the driver. Probably using 45 as the dividing line.

Classic Car Day – Special day for cars more than 25(?) years old.

USA vs. Japan - Suck it Germany

Sand lot pick-up Teams – Two captains pick teams one driver at a time.

Voting for Enduro! It's not often us AutoX guys get to fine tune lap to lap 4-5 consecutive laps, tweaking each run is a blast! Gotta go with Jeremy, not a fan of handing the keys over....

Good ideas, Jeremy.

Doug, we've done IROC before. I did one once with a rental car and a small group of drivers (like 15 or 20). It was fun, but trying to do it with a larger group seems "risky" to me. The way we did it a few years ago with a "borrowed beater" seems a little better. (we did it in Jeff's old orange automatic 1.6 Miata for those who missed it)

Still leaning towards Enduro. Perhaps with some sort of scoring twist. It really is the ideal event for the heat of August.

Jeremy wrote:
Reversible Course Day– 3 runs in one direction, 3 runs in the opposite direction. Sum the best runs each way and that’s your time.

Battle Cross (Battle-X) – An idea Stolen from another club, so it must be good. Two cars run at a time, separated by ½ of the distance of the course. The first one back to their start/finish line wins. 4 runs guaranteed. More runs if you win. Several classes to make it fair. Sorry, No first timers.

Street Tire Day – 2 Second time reduction for street tires. Let’s see if the old rule of thumb is true, that R-compounds are 2 seconds faster. Awards for top adjusted times.

Whipper Snapper vs. Seasoned Driver Day - Two teams separated by the age of the driver. Probably using 45 as the dividing line.

Sand lot pick-up Teams – Two captains pick teams one driver at a time.

I like the sand lot idea

But I'm down for any of these.

My thoughts on Jeremy's list:
Reversible Course Day– I like this. Definitely do-able.

Battle Cross (Battle-X) – This is the Duel. Done it, it works.

Competition Chairman Challenge – meh

Street Tire Day (2 Second time reduction for street tires) --I don't think we have enough race tire drivers.

Turbo vs. Normally aspirated Day.---Not enough turbo/supercharged drivers.

Classic versus Modern – I think this is do-able.

Whipper Snapper vs. Seasoned Driver Day - Also do-able. Not sure 45 is an even divide. Should be easy enough to figure out the right age though.

Classic Car Day – Not enough old cars.

USA vs. Japan - Suck it Germany--35 Japanese, 16 American, 22 German/British drivers last event. Probably not.

Sand lot pick-up Teams – We did a team event once. It was ok.