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Kumho Tires Grassroots Motorsports $2009 Challenge

Oct. 8-Oct. 10 – Gainesville Raceway – Gainesville, FL

view video A $2009 Challenge Message from Jay Leno

After planning to take Horace Greeley’s advice and go west for the Kumho Tires Grassroots Motorsports $2009 Challenge, we decided we love our East Coast competitors too much to leave.

Which means we’re heading to Gainesville again. Let the East Coast cheering commence, and plan on bringing your Challenge competitor to Gainesville Raceway Oct. 8-10.

As in past years, the 10th annual GRM Challenge is making you stick to a small $2009 budget—an increase of one dolllar for the year. Watch this space for entry forms and details as they develop.

And if you’re on the West Coast, we haven’t forgotten about you either. Make sure to check out the all-new Grassroots Motorsports Grand Challenge 2009.

Planning to enter?

Since this is an editorial function, we need some information on you and your car. Therefore, we need for you to complete the information and budget sheets before you begin your runs. The completed sheets MUST be handed to the GRM staff at registration. Any photos from the build-up of the car would be appreciated, too.    Remember: The point of the $2009 Challenge is to have some fun and make an interesting story for our readers. We hope you visit the event with the same lighthearted view that we have.

Please feel free to ask any staff member at the event any questions you may have.  Note: The GRM staff will not be able to supply event photographs to participants or return any build and budget sheets or receipts.

Wristbands will be distributed to all paid entrants and guests. The wristbands MUST be worn at all times from this point forward. They are waterproof. 

Autocross

Cars will be teched by GRM and Gainesville Raceway staff. Cars must meet all NHRA rules for bracket-type racing (see www.NHRA.com for more details). In addition, all cars must pass a basic SCCA Solo or NASA Autocross safety inspection where they will check items such as factory seat belts, battery tie-down strap, throttle return spring and lug nuts (see www.SCCA.com).

The first car off will be shortly after 10 a.m. There will be a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of five (5) timed runs per car.  Small “dots” will be placed on each starting car’s windshield to indicate a timed run. Cars with more than five dots will not be allowed to complete any more runs. 

We will randomly assign your entry to either Heat 1 or Heat 2. Heat 1 will autocross in the morning (9 a.m.-12 p.m.) and get concours judged in the afternoon. Heat 2 will autocross in the afternoon (1-4 p.m.) and get concours judged in the morning. Should we have inclement weather, this schedule can change.

Like any typical SCCA Solo event, only the fastest timed run counts. There will be expert drivers on hand if you’d like them to drive your car. Their runs count toward your five total runs.

We will be asking for course workers throughout the day.  The more volunteers that we get, the smoother this event will run. Get the best seats in the house for watching the autocross!

Drags

The drag racing portion of the event will be run as a time trial. We should have cars on track by 9 a.m. We have the strip rented until 5 p.m. All you need to do is hand in your best time slip by the end of the day to our registration table.

There will be several staging lines for cars. Cars that have not taken any runs will be in staging line 1, cars that have taken more than one run will be in the next staging line. If the competitors limit their runs to 5 passes, the event will run smoother and more efficiently. 

Cars that weren’t concours judged on Friday should be judged on Saturday.

If there is inclement weather, the drag racing portion of the event may be cancelled. The results would then just count the autocross and concours portions of the event.

Scoring

$2009 Challenge Scoring The dynamic score from the challenge will be scored by adding the competitor’s fastest drag time and their fastest autocross time together. This will give their “dynamic time”

The lowest dynamic time worth 100 points. Points for second and subsequent places are determined by dividing the winning time by each other time, then multipled by 100.

For example, if the winning combined dynamic time is 74.2 seconds, and second place is 75.0 seconds, the 74.2 driver receives 100 points while second place gets 98.9 points (74.2/75.0=.989 x 100 = 98.9).

Concours scoring is based upon the car’s score in each of 4 categories: Engine, Interior, Exterior and Overall Appearance. Each category has a maximum of 25 points, for a total concours score of 100. The “overall appearance” portion of the total concours score is used to judge effort and creativity.

The concours is worth 1/4 of the dynamic score in the total scoring and is therefore divided by 4 before being added to the other score.

Adding the competitor’s dynamic time to their concours score/4 will give the competitor their total score. A maximum of 125 points is available.

Awards:

  • First, second and third overall 
  • First, second and third fastest drag times
  • First, second and third best autocross times 
  • First, second and third best concours scores 
  • Most spectacular failure 
  • Garret Jenkins Memorial Best Engineered
  • Phil Kime Memorial Spirit of the Event 
  • Highest finishing car under $1000 
  • Highest finishing classic car (pre-1973, unless car in same basic form was available later)
  • Editors’ choice 
  • First “perfect” or best reaction time at the drags
  • Best underhood detailing 
  • Best visual package 
  • Challengers’ Choice (voted on by the competitors)
  • Best attempt to persuade concours judges 
  • Worst attempt persuade concours judges 
  • Top-finishing Locost or Kit Type Car. Must be road-worthy and will be scored as an exhibition for the purpose of the rest of the results.
  • Longest drive  (a competitor must drive the entire way in their car, not tow it) 
  • Top-finishing team 

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