Carousel@Shenandoah Circuit, WV

OK, I'm off to Summit Point, West Virginia for the Vintage Racer Group (VRG) Fall Celebration.
We'll be running on the new Shenandoah Circuit which has a copy of the famous Nurburgring Carousel built into it (see below).

There's rain forecast (about 30% chance). Nothing like racing in the rain in an open car! Oh well.....

My Sony digi-camera is an the fritz, but luckily, it's part of a recall, so I've sent it back. I may still be able to get some pictures with my other cheapie digi-camera, but they wont be as nice. The VRG folks usually post some good pics on their site anyway, so it may not matter.
Pictures of my last VRG event can be found ~HERE~ ....see you next week!

Shenandoah Circuit Carousel (taken at a NASA event):

Aero......

""""""""copy of the famous Nurburgring Carousel """"""

Is that CONCRETE I see?

""""Nothing like racing in the rain """ ON CONCRETE?????

surely thats a single file deal thru there.....I wouldnt want to get into trouble tying to pass.....up high...nowhere to go and getting high sided on that top burm? Seems like what I would define as "problematic" ...you have fun!!

Looks like one of those little orange Hot-Wheels tracks my brother used to have.

I hate carousels to start with.....That thing looks ridiculous.

I know the SCCA didn't approve that course for club racing, I'm betting it is for that turn. Someone will try to make a pass there and when they do, it's not going to be pretty. Now on the other hand if it's going through without the worry of passing or being pass, it looks like fun.

New Pics-Carousel@Shenandoah Circuit, WV

OK, here's some pictures and videos taken at the Shenandoah Circuit at Summit Point on Sept 30 and Oct 1. Vintage Racer Group (VRG) is a great club and they did an excellent job. During the lunch break, they gave "enthusiastic" laps in the race cars that had passenger seats (Linda got a fast ride in an MGA....she hesitated at the Hemi-Allard). I took our Ford minivan tow-vehicle around too...*real interesting* in the carousel!

The shorter video file is in the rain and shows a Lotus Seven and Bugeye leading me. The Bugeye spins (I did the same thing three laps before). Sorry for the crappy image quality...it's partly due to the rain but also the 1984 VHS analog camcorder that has a lot of race-miles (and other adventures) on it.

The longer video shows a race start. A SAAB Sonnet (with the roof removed) starts from the back and quickly gets past me and others.
Most of the video shows me dicing with an Austin Healey Sebring Sprite that was once owned by Graham Hill...the car is a real Sebring Sprite and not a replica, but it has a 1275 (instead of the correct 948). A 948 Lotus Seven is leading us. Eventually, I got by both them, but just barely.

The carousel is sort of wild. It's concrete and is pretty slippy in the wet. In the dry, I was taking it fast enough to be hanging the tail out while I was in it. The carousel is decreasing radius and the transition into it and out of it is *interesting*.
The club (VRG) mandated a no-passing zone before the carousel, and everyone behaved themselves.Vintage guys use a 13/13 rule that keeps things a bit more calm than regular club racing.

Our club (EMRA) does not use the carousel....we take an alternate arrangement that skips past it (because we'd prefer to race the entire track and not have a single-file deal). The SCCA has proposed the same thing but I don't think they've run there yet (except Solo events).I actually participated in the first race ever held at this track (and I got to sign a fancy plaque that is on display at the SP business office).

Shorter (rainy) Video with Bugeye Spin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG2GYk206Fo

Longer Video following Sebring Sprite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5xjOTvRh5w

And here's some images and a link to more images from the SAAB Sonnet owner:

Pictures Link:
https://www.at-speed.com/galleries/vintage/2006/09-30-06/index.html


Pictures from the Link above:

Re: New Pics-Carousel@Shenandoah Circuit, WV

Thanks for sharing, Nial. Really like the 2nd vid, that S Sprite was a tough one to pass.....

Re: New Pics-Carousel@Shenandoah Circuit, WV

Wow, in the rain video, I can't believe the Lotus just stopped in front of you when the Bugeye spun, an overeaction for sure, you did a good job not to pack his hockey box, the Lotus driver owes you a few cold ones for sure.

Re: New Pics-Carousel@Shenandoah Circuit, WV

Yeah, but he was good about it.
He came right up to me afterwards and told me that he may have over done the stopping at that point.
By the way, he is original owner of the car and looked old enough to be my Grand Dad. As long as they don't get to funky, I'm glad to see the "seniors" out racing (I'm not that far away from being a senior myself!) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Re: New Pics-Carousel@Shenandoah Circuit, WV

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, but he was good about it.
He came right up to me afterwards and told me that he may have over done the stopping at that point.
By the way, he is original owner of the car and looked old enough to be my Grand Dad. As long as they don't get to funky, I'm glad to see the "seniors" out racing (I'm not that far away from being a senior myself!) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Randy Canfield is who amazes me, Randy whoops some young boy butt with no signs of slowing down, I've also got another buddy, Tony Drum, old yes, slow no. There are some fast old koggrers out there racing. I guess speed keeps you young /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re: New Pics-Carousel@Shenandoah Circuit, WV

OK--I need some help here and since I can't view the clips that Nial has posted I guess it is racing related: Whenever I post on You-Tube links I get the following message:

"Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Macromedia's Flash Player. Click here to get the latest flash player."

Well, I already have downloaded the "latest" Flash Player update but still get the message so I guess I am asking how I "turn on" Java Script? Any help will be appreciated--if you want to send me an email with instructions and not clog up the BCF that will be fine--my email address is: awgertoo@aol.com.

Re: New Pics-Carousel@Shenandoah Circuit, WV

You might need to enable and or install the latest Java runtime libraries, since installing Flash Player doesn't work.

The other thing to check is to enable Java Script in your browser. For Internet Explorer:

- Open I.E.
- Click on "Tools" (along the top).
- Select "Internet Options"
- Click on the "Security" tab
- Scroll down to the section "Scripting"
- Scroll down to the sub-section "Scripting of Java Applets"
- Set this to "Prompt" to be on the "safe" side of things or "Enable".

It's possible that you might need to get Java runtime libraries from Java.com. Ever since Sun won it's law suit against Micrsoft over "Java Technologies" Microsoft has had to remove support for its own "MSVM". Hence websites are switching to Sun's Java, and people have to download and install Java to get a lot of Java based content to function properly.

Re: New Pics-Carousel@Shenandoah Circuit, WV

Thanks Ralph--I'll try your suggestions right now.