My first time.......On concrete

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I braved absurd heat, monsoon rains, and the worst roads in southern Ohio to get here, but I'm in Wilmington Ohio this weekend for the SCCA Championship Tour autocross. It's my first National event and it's a little intimidating, the site is HUGE and the course looks to be ridiculously fast. It's a concrete airfield and just as big and flat as you could ask for.

Brittany the CSPish miata got some new stickers so she looks more official

My competition has me by about 30-40 hp so I don't have high hopes of anything but a low finish but it should be a lot of fun. Something like 350 drivers and some serious hardware.

Nice! Have fun!

What did the article here say recently- be smooth and look ahead?

R-compounds on concrete are incredibly grippy, don't be afraid to overcook a few corners on your first run just to find out where the new limit is. Good luck!

So jealous - wanted to get El Rabbitto out for that event! You have home court advantage so best of luck.

You should be gridded next to Danny and Mike in the 50/150. Be sure to introduce yourself to them and hammer them with any questions you might have. They're two of the nicest guys in the business.

In reply to Claff:

I was. We had a blast, drove fast (I drove sort of fast) and the Danny, Mike, and I went to lunch.

Very hot out there today, like 92-94 degrees hot!

Danny Pop designed the course and it's wide open and FAST. Unfortunately it means my car either spends too long on the rev limiter (7200rpm/58mph) or shift awkwardly to third.

In reply to KyAllroad:

I was hitting my 2nd gear limited 4 times on my last run. For me that's 68mph. Good enough for 2nd in STF today. Chris in the civic was stupid fast and left us in the dust.

You did a hell of a job today Bobzilla. Go look at where you are on Pax, smack dab in the middle of a bunch of past National Championship trophy winners. Good luck tomorrow.

KyAllroad, I did my first national event last year and finished about where you are. It's super humbling but at the same time it's a great experience. The other great thing is that assuming the weather holds up you're going to drop a bunch of time tomorrow and feel awesome.

Everyday is a new day at a national tour. Yesterday I kicked ass. Today I sucked ass. As the French say "sailor vee"

Made it home at just after midnight. Of course because of family scheduling and whatnot I had to stop in Cinci for a shower and visit to the casino (ick). Utterly destroyed today, sunburned, blistered feet, brain in a fog.

Bobzilla, it was good to meet you and put a face to the name

I did better on my second day and was pleasingly close to the times of some friends, but the competition in CSP at this level is......wow.

I'm glad I did it and went to see part of the greater autocross world but I don't think I'll be doing so again any time soon. Too expensive and time consuming to prove to myself and the world that I'm too down on funds and talent to be competitive.

My goal was to show that the Forte is competitive against the other cars in the class and see if I could get a tire warmer at Nats. I did the first part on Saturday and then threw it away Sunday. So frustrating.

And your face, I remember.... name not so much. I'm sooooo bad at the name thing.

I'm glad you made the venture up to the great concrete expanse! It was certainly a fun weekend.

I was in 6th out of 23 in STR Saturday, only .250 off the leader. Saturday I had the raw time to stay in 6th, but cone trouble dropped me down to 10th. Either way it was fun and I was stoked to be so close to the leaders in a car that is not the one to have and underprepped at that.

Hey Bob, sorry I didn't get the chance to see you there, but I was watching the results. Great job on Saturday!

I've only raced at Wilington once, a few weeks ago for a 2-day event between SCCA and another group using the parking lot. I've spectated once on the air pad, some day I hope to try it out. (Although with Amazon buying the place the location is in jeopardy next year.)

Spoolpigeon wrote: I'm glad you made the venture up to the great concrete expanse! It was certainly a fun weekend. I was in 6th out of 23 in STR Saturday, only .250 off the leader. Saturday I had the raw time to stay in 6th, but cone trouble dropped me down to 10th. Either way it was fun and I was stoked to be so close to the leaders in a car that is not the one to have and underprepped at that. Hey Bob, sorry I didn't get the chance to see you there, but I was watching the results. Great job on Saturday!

I thought I saw your car on Sunday but wasn't sure...

Anyone going to the Pro Solo up there this weekend? I'll be there doing STR S2000 stuff... poorly.

I'll be there in my brother's nearly-identical-to-mine-but-not-quite STS Miata. I hope to be about a second behind Mr. Wagstaff as usual but that might be 3rd, that might be 14th. This friggin' class.

RedGT wrote: I'll be there in my brother's nearly-identical-to-mine-but-not-quite STS Miata. I hope to be about a second behind Mr. Wagstaff as usual but that might be 3rd, that might be 14th. This friggin' class.

You won't get any sympathy from me over here in STR. I am slow as hell compared to the top guys.

In reply to Harvey:

I'll be there driving a friend's ES mr2.

I am to Danny Popp as Turtle is to Rabbit.

pinchvalve wrote: I am to Danny Popp as Turtle is to Rabbit.

Then that makes me the rock the turtle is stepping on.

pinchvalve wrote: I am to Danny Popp as Turtle is to Rabbit.

Were you there too? First car off in HS?

KyAllroad wrote: <img src="" /> I braved absurd heat, monsoon rains, and the worst roads in southern Ohio to get here, but I'm in Wilmington Ohio this weekend for the SCCA Championship Tour autocross. It's my first National event and it's a little intimidating, the site is HUGE and the course looks to be ridiculously fast. It's a concrete airfield and just as big and flat as you could ask for. Brittany the CSPish miata got some new stickers so she looks more official My competition has me by about 30-40 hp so I don't have high hopes of anything but a low finish but it should be a lot of fun. Something like 350 drivers and some serious hardware.

I was just there for the Wilmington mile.....didnt know they had other events there. Let me know the next time you go.

RedGT wrote: I'll be there in my brother's nearly-identical-to-mine-but-not-quite STS Miata. I hope to be about a second behind Mr. Wagstaff as usual but that might be 3rd, that might be 14th. This friggin' class.

I'll be there in my STS Miata. I hope to be about a second behind Mr. Shea as usual but that might be 15th, that might be 21st.