Parking lot races

[jayhawk]

Something Sammy said in the introduction thread may deserve more flushing out-- just for fun. "He was a heck of a driver" I had a buddy who raced a modified MGB-GT and he did pretty well overall in SCCA races. After one of his races we neophytes who often played wanna be racers on freeway on ramps and curvy backroads were invited to take a couple of runs on the course. At the time I had a '90 Jetta GLI that handled pretty well-- but I had no real experience. I had a great time rippin', screeching, smoking and sliding around the course and learned that the car was far more comptetent than I was. After about 8 of us finished our runs all smiley and excited, one of the old masters did a demo run for all of us on the "techniques" of racing in tight courses. He did it with his tow car--- a '72 chevy pickup. And he beat us all with hardly a squeak, slide or smoke. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Any of you with LBC parking lot race stories?

 

[trboost]

A couple of years ago my wife bought me my best B-day present ever, a three day driving class with Racing Adventures. We went to the Vegas track in Pahrump NV. The cars were spec Cobras with Ford 5.0's & street tires. These cars were not blistering fast but more than enough to get in trouble.
Before we got to drive the course the instructor piled 6 guy's in to a mini van for a tour of the track. So far, all was cool. Then he decides to take us on a full speed pass describing braking , turn-in & exit skills. Personally I think he just wanted to see grown men wet their pants !! I'm not sure any of my lap times beat his in the mini van, with six guys !!! I know for a fact the mini van was a rental , so take note never to buy this type of car from a Vegas lot, it could be the one he beat the ☼☼☼☼ out of.
The course & the cars tought me so much more than I thought I knew , it was totaly enlightening.
At the end of the three day event one of the students who brought his M5 to the course was alowed to do a few hot laps with his car. I was so wizzed I didn't have my car, that would have been the best ending to an already amazing weekend.

 

[Guest]

We used to participate in autocross in the 70s and the rules then (as they probably are now)were you were dumped in a class according to what, if any, mods you made to your car. So changing carbs might send you into a class against a fully race prepared 240Z. They were very strict about that and racing a stock car was the best way to compete if you had any racing skills. Otherwise you were thrown up against the pros. Tired of being outclassed or outraced, one fellow finally figured a way to win his class. After his performance, they change the rules. He showed up in a cement mixer. Didn't even flatten one cone. darn that guy could drive!

Bill

 

[sammyb]

My favorite autocross moment came the one time my wife decided to come out and watch me race. I suggested that she might want to ride shotgun with me on my first run (Houston region gives four runs.)

She held it together extremely well as I launched my '99 Corvette (top down, of course) at full throttle, then around the first road corner, slipping through the cones...then the 100-degree slow corner.

I get around the corner, ease on the throttle, then floor it as I get completely straight...

...all of a sudden the car swerves violently into the infield, rear end coming around. Now, I always raced in "Competitive Mode" for Active Handling, which means no traction control and yaw control in a reduced setting. Under no circumstances should the car spin like that.

I look at the driver information center and it says "Active Handling Warming-up." Okay -- essentially the Active Handling malfunctioned and sent me into a spin -- that makes you feel safe at 75mph on the freeway /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif!!!

As I'm pulling the car back on the track, my wife giggles and says "I married a nut."

Luckily, a) I didn't miss a gate, so I still didn't DNF that run (in over 50 autocross runs, I've never DNFed.) b)I won a first place trophy that day, since my other runs were really fast.

But...She never rode with me again

 

[Simon TR4a]

I haven't tried Solo 2, but have done Solo 1 for 7 years.
Over that time my TR4a has beaten a number of potentially faster cars driven by novices, including a 4.6 litre Mustang, a supercharged new MINI, and even an Acura NSX.
But I must admit I have also been beaten recently by a well-driven Hyundai Accent, stock except for wheels and tyres!
The driver does make the difference!
Simon, embarrassed!

 

[trrdster2000]

In about 1975 I was going for the 4th Championship in my class in the Greensboro area SCCA in Solo 2. Well me and a guy in a Ford Pinto were about as close as can be, I was in a Cortina '67, blueprinted and balanced everything. After 2 runs we were going to be tied for the points for the year, so on the final run we swoped cars just for the giggle and he won by .002 second. That's what I call fun, but now you have to spend the college fund just to be competiteve. Wayne

 

[Trevor Triumph]

Sometime in 1975 we were autocrossing our '73 Opel Manta at a NOVR event at Wheeling Downs in Wheeling, WV. At that time, I think, women could drive for free but were put in a separate class and then indexed. One sunday afternoon Donna Mae Mimms showed up to show the country boys and girls how to autocross. Donna was driving a Honda Civic. Our tech inspector noticed that ther were tennis balls in the coil springs. I guess that was a way to stiffen the suspension? My wife beat the woman by several seconds that day. My wife is a heck of a driver. T.T.

 

[sammyb]

Autocross is a bunch of fun, especially in Houston, where they used to race most of the time at a 3/4 mile road course, which was subdivided with cones.

One time we raced at the Police Academy, and there was a smaller turnout, so we got to do untimed fun runs at the end. I guy that started racing the same time I did and I got to be pretty good buddies by then. He raced a '99 Miata, and I had ridden shotgun with him (and he in my '99 Corvette) many times. Ol' Mike got the nickname "The Spin Doctor" because he had a habit of spinning the Miata pushing it too much.

Well, in the fun run, I decided we should swap cars. Mike took my C5 and ran pretty conservatively, but extremely respectable in terms of overall pace. I don't think he wanted to damage the car by pushing it (especially with me riding shotgun.)

I got into his Miata, and really pushed it. I was making fantastic time! The last corner was a decreasing radius turn leading towards the timing light. The car was so well balanced -- four-wheel-drifting -- I gave a little more corner input to make the angle and the car rotated perfectly...

...then next thing I knew, the car was pointed the wrong direction.

Mike turns to me as I'm going for reverse and blurts "see!!! it's not just me!!!!"

I thought about going through the finish gate in reverse, which is the true hallmark of a crazed autocrosser, but as I recall, someone had already done it once that day (spinning the same way!)

Wow -- it's been two years since I've autocrossed (went out with the Olympia Corvette club and won my class.) But it has been five years since I really did it on a regular and somewhat competitive basis.

 

[aeronca65t]

Around two years ago, I ran the Miata in a local SCCA autocross. I hadn't run any of these events in a while.
I felt pretty good about the time I ran.
Then a guy in a six cylinder '64 Plymouth Valiant made a run and beat me (he beat most everyone else too).
What I had forgotten is that autocross is not (generally) about the "best racing line" but really "the shortest distance between two points". The Valiant driver was a great example of that concept.

By the way, we also called these events "gymkhanas" and "field trials". My favorite autocross venue (in the early '70s) was the runways at McGuire Air Force Base (where faster cars could easily best 100 MPH).

For some really dreadful pictures of my early autocross days, go here:

https://npmccabe.tripod.com/spridget.html

 

[trboost]

Areonca,
No one can accuse you of being a later starter ! Great pics & descriptions, makes us all go back in time. Did you ever do any lap time at Bridgehamton ?

 

[gjh2007]

Re: Parking lot races-Is the Bridge a parking lot?

Since Areonca got us a little off subject I thought I'd chime in with some of my fond memories of running as a pit member for a '71 MK III highly modified "F" production Spit on Long Island. I worked at a BAP/Geon foreign parts place during HS & College in 75-77' where I got the LBC bug, although we didn't call them that. WE ran a spit that was quite competitive with full SCCCA race motor from I think it was a guy named Bob Collier. We had the entire nose acid dipped over at Grumman aerospace (your tax dollars at work!) Minilties, Full slicks & 3" straight exhaust. I remember we had the bridges of the bottom of the SU carbs cut out & a race cam that needed to idle at 2000rpm. Attached is a photo of the motley crew.

Even at the time a car prepared like this wasn't super expensive.

I belonged to the SSSCC&BDS SOuth Shore Sports Car Club & Beer Drinking Society & The Long Island Triumph Assoc.

Working at a foreign auto store didn't hurt any either as I was exposed all day to many cool cars from Ferrari's, Triumph 2000 roadsters, etc.

We used to Gymkhana at Mitchell field on the actual runway that Lindberg took off from for his flight to Europe.
I spent many fun weekends at the Bridge as a pit crew member or flagger. Did a few races at Briar in NH which was perfect for the LBC,like a slot car track; the Vettes used to burn up their brakes there with all the tight curves.

Anyhow just reminiscing, I've got a bunch of photos, but this was one I had scanned that I like.

Aero, thanks for the memories.

 

[Rabid_Dolphin]

Re: Parking lot races-Is the Bridge a parking lot?

I'd like to get into some SCCA racing, but I just hate the way it beats on the car so much. When I drag race, the engine is only under heavy load for 11 or 12 seconds. SCCA would rag the motor for at least a minute, not to mention all the other components that would get a work out. Maintenance, Maintenance, Maintenance! Looks like loads of fun, though.

 

[sammyb]

Re: Parking lot races-Is the Bridge a parking lot?

All I can say, Aeronca,is "GREAT HAIR!" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Actually, I LOVE the pictures. It's rare to find people who actually still have their racing pictures.

These are two of my favorite racing pix -- the first (a two-shot sequence) is my first day on the track, with my sister-in-law riding shotgun (she got out after that run and nearly threw-up.) The second is from SOVREN vintage races about five years ago at Seattle International Raceways, with an Alfa looping it under full throttle going into the front straight.

 

[aeronca65t]

Re: Parking lot races-Is the Bridge a parking lot?

trboost:
Aeronca......Did you ever do any lap time at Bridgehamton ?
Yes: It's still my favorite track, though it is gone. My laps times were around 2 min 30 seconds (slow) and my colllege roommate (in a 1300 Spitfire) turned about the same times.
These links are to pictures of me at Bridghampton around '73:
https://npmccabe.tripod.com/emra_sprite_bridge_73_a.jpg
https://npmccabe.tripod.com/emra_sprite_bridge_73_b.jpg
https://npmccabe.tripod.com/emra_sprite_bridge_73_c.jpg
Good info about Bridgehampton at these links:
https://www.fdfoto.com/ssscbds/photos.html
https://www.savethebridge.org/modules.php?name=History

gjh:
I belonged to the SSSCC&BDS SOuth Shore Sports Car Club & Beer Drinking Society
That club is still around and I'm good friends with a lot of the members. The club merged with a bunch of other clubs to form "EMRA", but the individual clubs still retain their seperate identities.
Good info here:
https://www.fdfoto.com/ssscbds/
Also: great picture of the race Spit...I have a number of random shots like that that I'd like to scan (if I ever get organized).
We used to Gymkhana at Mitchell field on the actual runway that Lindberg took off from for his flight to Europe.
They just started doing this again as part of the re-created vintage Vanderbilt Cup event. EMRA holds the rights to the name "Vanderbilt Cup" , so we supported it. I ran my Spridget this event (Fall'04). Links:
https://npmccabe.tripod.com/vanderbilt04.html
https://www.psccny.com/gallery/vanderbilt2004
By the way, I used to go to a BAP/Geon place (in Fairfield, NJ?) for all my Sprite/Mini stuff.

sammyb:
All I can say, Aeronca,is "GREAT HAIR!"
HaHa. As Arlo Guthrie says, "I'm not proud!".
You know, my best friend saw that picture and said the exact same thing (I included it to show that we didn't wear helmets at the events back then).
Nice spin-shot of the ALFA Spider. I owned one of those for a very short time.

 

[gjh2007]

Re: Parking lot races-Is the Bridge a parking lot?

I belonged to the SSSCC&BDS SOuth Shore Sports Car Club & Beer Drinking Society
That club is still around and I'm good friends with a lot of the members. The club merged with a bunch of other clubs to form "EMRA", but the individual clubs still retain their separate identities.

Is Joe Benkle still around?
By the way, I used to go to a BAP/Geon place (in Fairfield, NJ?) for all my Sprite/Mini stuff.

My store was in Hempstead, NY

Thanks for the great links, I'm going to pull out some of my old photos scan & send to the Bridge web page!
Lots of fun, too bad I can't take my 12 yr old son to a place like that now!

 

[gjh2007]

Re: Parking lot races-Is the Bridge a parking lot?

Aero:

You got me going on the Bridge & I cam across some disturbing photos of what is left of that great old track.

Click the attachment to see aerial photos from 2001 taken by NYS. I haven't been out the Hamptons in 10 yrs, but have heard about the desire to build a golf course. With the beautiful vista & prices of land it's amazing it took so long to develop.

Being in Civil Engineering; I'm a Land Surveyor I understand the pressures of development, but hate to see this happen to a great old site.