$2000 Challenge 2019 - Feedback, Praise, and Suggestions

So it's over....and it was Awesome!

Seriously, this event went great, and I don't think we as a team had any real complaints.  Even the weather cooperated, and we all know how Florida weather can be.

The Autocross was GREAT - seriously, use the 2 grid thing next year.  We never had any problems getting into gird, there were plenty of workers and they were Always paying attention to what was going on.  It was always super clear to see how many cars were in grid, who was lined up to run, and who was waiting for Pro drivers. Huge improvement over previous years.

The fact that we got fun-runs was AMAZING.  We needed to strategize and only have on driver for our 3 runs to make them count, so being able to have other teammates drive the car later on for fun was great, it really added some "fun" to that portion of the event.  I think the grid setup, set number of Pro and Team runs counting, and then fun-runs is a great recipe.

Drag racing setup was good too, an hour for the serious guys to run in one lane, and then opening all the lanes up to get the rest of the cars through efficiently seemed to work great. No complaints there.

Overall we had a lot of fun and can't wait for next year!

Suggestions:

-Make the Daily Driver class a combination of the side-Gastro class - meaning 250+ TR tires, but mandate full interior, working lights, radio, heater/blower, glass, wipers etc.  the rest of the Challenge rules apply (recoup, safety tires etc).  I think it's cool to give those kind of cars a "home" without having to have a side-class that has it's own confusing rules.  We had a lot of fun in our Daily Driver car.

-The GRM staff was rocking the whole event, you guys were short staffed and still made it happen.  I would see if you can have a "Ambassador" there as a go-to person - that way if any Competitor has a questions on classing, a complaint, a "need" they are the person to go to, so the others aren't bombarded with questions while they desperately try to run the event. Staffing is hard, we know (I think I bothered every GRM staff member at some point with a question).

That's it....we love the event!

I second all of the original post.

Even the Judging seemed to go smoothly this year (maybe we need to put a hard stop on the judging every year for someone catching a flight).

In reply to stafford1500 :

I think they have a hard stop at 2pm on judging - then the Round Table discussion.

Circuit_Motorsports said:

In reply to stafford1500 :

I think they have a hard stop at 2pm on judging - then the Round Table discussion.

The usual schedule is to try to get all the cars done around 2PM. This year two of the judges had to leave for a flight and there was no way to fill in for them if it ran long.

Having the preset questions for those not ready to free-style the presentation was a help. Toward the end we (the judges) were getting really good at starting to walk even if the presenter was still going.

3 minutes is not a lot of time to cover the intricacies of these builds, so they have to be focused on the most important parts. Also, don't bounce around if there are multiple areas to cover, move in one direction.

Agreed on the autocross and drag format. Despite the record number of entrants, that went extremely smoothly. 

I like how everything was on the website, but I got spotty cell service in the paddock. So having a giant poster with everything listed out near the registration tent would be helpful too.

I love John Welsh's idea of hosting a public car show concurrently with Concours. Cars and coffee style, let them all park outside, Challenge cars in the pavilion like usual, but now with more exposure. Maybe that's just too many rando's walking around though.

I want to say thanks to the whole staff for putting on a great event.The autocross grid layout worked well, and I think it was mentioned that because it worked so well that the amount of runs allowed could be looked at and possibly increased for next year while still having time for fun runs. JG designed a great course that was challenging to drive but easy to navigate, and the drag racing portion seemed to go smoothly as well. Lastly, the staff seemed invested in making sure everyone was having fun; I definitely had fun, and everyone was super welcoming.

maschinenbau said:

Agreed on the autocross and drag format. Despite the record number of entrants, that went extremely smoothly. 

I like how everything was on the website, but I got spotty cell service in the paddock. So having a giant poster with everything listed out near the registration tent would be helpful too.

I love John Welsh's idea of hosting a public car show concurrently with Concours. Cars and coffee style, let them all park outside, Challenge cars in the pavilion like usual, but now with more exposure. Maybe that's just too many rando's walking around though.

That sounds like an insurance nightmare. 

Most autocrosses have some kind of separate novice meeting/walkthrough/whatever? Maybe a veteran Challenger can volunteer each year for the job, and similar to the pro drivers, get them a special t-shirt so they’ll be easy to pick out of the crowd? Though they might need a shirt for Thurs/Fri/Sat. 

I would like to echo the sentiments of the previous posts.  The autocross and the drag portion were spot on.

One thing I was talking to a few fellow competitors about is starting the banquet at 6 instead of 7.  The 4 hour gap between leaving the track and the start of the banquet is a bit long if you have already checked out of the hotel.

Great job GRM as always.

In reply to pimpm3 :

Then we would get more pool side time before getting kicked out. 

Is there a thread with all the builds on here this year? I couldn't find it. So many cool looking cars I have not seen :(

Pete Gossett said:

Most autocrosses have some kind of separate novice meeting/walkthrough/whatever? Maybe a veteran Challenger can volunteer each year for the job, and similar to the pro drivers, get them a special t-shirt so they’ll be easy to pick out of the crowd? Though they might need a shirt for Thurs/Fri/Sat. 

Ooooooo, I LOVE giving novice walkthroughs. If I could attend all my local events I'd be the rookie chief in a heartbeat. 

In reply to Pete Gossett :

Not a terrible idea but...it would need to be setup in a way to start way before the drivers meeting.  Getting the Autocross started right on time was crucial to it running smoothly and with plenty of time to spare.  Mucking it up with a bunch of N00bs on course for over an hour would suck for everyone.

Everyone needs to remember, the event running smooth with everything that has to happen is a lot of work for the GRM guys, continuing to add more stuff to their plate is asking for issues at some point.

This was my first year and I asked the staff a ton of questions about simple logistics. It would have been great to have 3-4 people walking around with t-shirts identifying them as noob-wranglers. I'm not sure that a course walk through would be necessary-just veterans who didn't bring a car but are familiar with the schedule/layout of the event itself. 

The challenge is really friendly and welcoming. I wouldn't be surprised if it evolves into more of a DIY festival in the future-more groups bringing free food, more guys bringing their musical instruments, and more veterans showing up without a car just to have a good time and  help other teams compete.

Thought the event was great. Grid was the best it has been in years. 
 

I kind of want to bring a car, maybe slightly over budget, that anyone can make fun runs in to get a chance to run at the autocross or drag strip. A surprising number of entrants have either rarely autocrossed or drag raced. 

Andy Neuman said:

Thought the event was great. Grid was the best it has been in years. 
 

I kind of want to bring a car, maybe slightly over budget, that anyone can make fun runs in to get a chance to run at the autocross or drag strip. A surprising number of entrants have either rarely autocrossed or drag raced. 

An instructor mobile, with a volunteer instructor (designated n00b wrangler) for fun runs and such would be fantastic. 

maschinenbau said:

I love John Welsh's idea of hosting a public car show concurrently with Concours. Cars and coffee style, let them all park outside, Challenge cars in the pavilion like usual, but now with more exposure. Maybe that's just too many rando's walking around though.

If I ever get the datsun finished, I'd like to bring it to the challenge to show it off, even though I'm over budget.  Begging to be in the exhibition class is something I could try, but a public car show would provide another option.

Course was awesome and the fun runs at the end made my day. Great job on everything!  6 o'clock banquet gets my vote too.  

A-x - it was great.  Need a pit parking director  

Drags - Appreciated the drag lane tremendously. One request, extent time to 1 hour 15 minutes. Need the time to turn the vehicle around and the extra 15 would allow for the fastest run to be made in that window.  Fastest runs will typically be the third tun. Suggest starting at 5:45 and run the format to 7:00. That would allow more time for pics to be taken with better lighting.  Set a time for the relocation of the pits from one end to the other. 

Concour - need about 4 minutes. Park top  (5) A-x together and top (5) Drag cars together. 

Mndsm said:

Andy Neuman said:

Thought the event was great. Grid was the best it has been in years. 
 

I kind of want to bring a car, maybe slightly over budget, that anyone can make fun runs in to get a chance to run at the autocross or drag strip. A surprising number of entrants have either rarely autocrossed or drag raced. 

An instructor mobile, with a volunteer instructor (designated n00b wrangler) for fun runs and such would be fantastic. 

Are y'all thinking auto, or stick?

wheels777 said:

A-x - it was great.  Need a pit parking director  

Drags - Appreciated the drag lane tremendously. One request, extent time to 1 hour 15 minutes. Need the time to turn the vehicle around and the extra 15 would allow for the fastest run to be made in that window.  Fastest runs will typically be the third tun. Suggest starting at 5:45 and run the format to 7:00. That would allow more time for pics to be taken with better lighting.  Set a time for the relocation of the pits from one end to the other. 

Concour - need about 4 minutes. Park top  (5) A-x together and top (5) Drag cars together. 

I agree with all of these things...and maybe concours top 5 cars last.

Overall, it's the best, most well organized, and efficiently run Challenge I've ever attended.

Even with a seemingly smaller number of staff members per competitor, there was ALWAYS someone from the staff around to answer my dumb questions, and in a helpful, friendly manner.

Auto-x staging was brilliant, and there was almost never a time when we were stuck in a huge line letting tires get cold (except for right before our last run with a long corner worker change.) ATL SCCA used to do "on the fly" corner worker change, which was really fast & efficient. Just food for thought.

Seperate drag lanes was an awesome idea.

Concours was night & day; no longer having to stand in line in the sun with the car for 2 hours or more, pushing the car every few minutes, already exhausted from auto-x. The "take the 12" thing is BRILLIANT.

Great job to everyone involved!!! We had a 6 hour ride to discuss how we berked ourselves in the concours. Looking forward to next year!!!

In reply to CrustyRedXpress :

I kinda think this is an excellent idea.  I vote that veterans who have a good feel for the flow of the event who don't bring something and wish to be deemed "Rookie Ambassador" and give them a bright <insert not pro driver clored shirt here> shirt and know that if you walk up to them they will be able to answer or direct you to where you need to be

Having brought a team to the Challenge for the first time, with my only experience being last years PLB, I can only say things went very well. We have four drivers that had never been on an autocross course and they we all treated with respect and I didn't hear anyone complaining about them taking too long. Some help with newbies is always good, but I did find if I had a question asking almost anyone that had been there before had an answer or could point me in the right direction.

We liked the setup for the autoX as anytime we wanted to run the wait was not that long, had a couple of times we had to wait for the pro driver we wanted, but that was on us as there were other drivers that could have taken the car if we needed them to. I can say much about the drags since we only made two passes and were asked to wait to make our last one (in case we oiled down the track and we completely understood). It did look like cars had about as many opportunities to run as they wanted.

Concourse was hard to get everything in under the 3 min time frame, especially since we had 5 different people presenting. I wanted each of the boys on our team to talk about an aspect of the car they worked on and learned something new. We talked about next year  rehearsing the concourse portion more so that we could tighten up the presentation and show off the innovation we have planned. We talk about an elevator speech in business, being able to communicate your business in 30 seconds, this was good practice for everyone to go through.

Overall I thought the event was very well run especially for the limited amount of staff they have to pull it off.

I've been trying to make it to the challenge for 10 years, but this was ultimately my first time. There's some things I would've done differently with the knowledge I have now, but the event itself was everything I wanted it to be and more. Rock on to everybody that was part of the event in any way.

pimpm3 said:

I would like to echo the sentiments of the previous posts.  The autocross and the drag portion were spot on.

One thing I was talking to a few fellow competitors about is starting the banquet at 6 instead of 7.  The 4 hour gap between leaving the track and the start of the banquet is a bit long if you have already checked out of the hotel.

Great job GRM as always.

+1

Great job GRM.

Banquet at 6 would be great if it works logistically. Mrs AAZCD and I had banquet tickets, but we had been staying with family an hour away. After the driver's Town Hall Meeting, we sat in the car trying to answer the question of what to do for the next 4 hours. In the end, the answer was take 4 hours off of our 17 hour drive home.