I think I want to go to the GRM $2017 Challenge as a spectator/volunteer...now what?

This is the magical year I turn half a century in June, and I'm trying to come up/accomplish as many bucket-list items as possible. Reading the newest issue with last year's results, and previous years, I think I want to join in the fun/madness.

No car to enter, just want to "be there". Only very basic mechanical skills, hand me a wrench and say "take that apart", or a can of spray paint and say "go to town", I'm in. Swap tires even, I'm your guy.

Now what? Anyone coming down from Ohio? Not a big fan of flying but never say never...

In reply to Jerry:

You're welcome to join my team:

$2017 S10

If you want to join in on the festivities in the banquet room at the hotel (highly recommended), I'll check in with you when I sign up, so I can add you on the entry form.

I wish I had just come to watch one year before entering. My perfect Challenge visit would start with arriving Wednesday evening. I'd stake out a spot behind the hotel Thursday morning and just watch all the cars as they arrived. I'd stay up to 2am watching the crazies trying to do the parking lot build. Next morning I'd be at the track as the gates opened. Walk the pits looking for a wrench to put in my hand. Probably latch onto a team that really wished I hadn't and stay glued to them the rest of the weekend. Make sure you get banquet tickets so that you can enjoy that part also.

I'll be heading down a couple days early, just in case, from east of Pittsburgh. I'm planning on booking a double room so if someone needed a bed at challenge time it would be available, as I noticed some people scrambling last year.

His class schedule pending, someone from Ohio is riding down with me, but there should be room for more in the challenge car.

It's my first time, so I'll probably just be following other people around trying to make sure I'm doing what I should be when I should be.

Show up, bring beer. Second part optional.

Aussie Steve convinced me to finally go (which I had always wanted to) as crew in 2011. I then returned with him in '12 and '13. For '14 I fielded my own for the first time and then '15 & '16.

This year I have told myself I will be there but not with a car of my own. I then repeatedly contradict myself and cruise CL looking for a "good buy." I then say, "if I find the right car that is pretty ready to go then yeah, I'll bring that."

So, my current level of commitment is "I'll be there."

My advice to anyone is "GO".
As a competitor or as a spectator but until you've been there, you wont really understand it or have a genuine feel for it. The wordsmiths and photogs of the magazine work very hard to capture the "essence" of the event. They capture some but there is more that does not translate to the page.

You can help us if you want to. Or just hang out.

A roll I fell into last year and a roll I want to continue into this year is I sort of become an ambassador to a couple of new, never been, competitors/teams.

I enjoyed that and would like to continue that.

After having met with Duster last year on my travels down I am eager to see what he brings. I expect that I'll be in his wings a little. Distance forbids any real physical help to him before the event but I'll see him when we all get there.

Jerry, I just hit that age miles stone last year too. I hope to see you there and I could be open to the idea of picking you up on the way through if you have no other offers. I suspect that by the end of the day you'll have many offers to choose from.

You can start by commenting on build threads/idea threads with really bad ideas that someone might actually take into consideration. Example: Fly to Seattle the weekend before the event buy a car and drive it to the challenge and win the longest drive/last minute award. Step two is find a way to get to the event. Many if not all teams would welcome you to their crew.

I went for the first time last year, and did a cannonball run from Philly to the challenge after work with "tb" and his Integra, participated in the Ghettocet parking lot build, spent the whole event bouncing between the two afterwards depending on what needed attention (had to fix the Integra a lot more during the event than the car we built overnight!), then another cannonball run home and right back to work on Monday.

I didn't get any sleep, got sunburned, dehydrated, built some dumb stuff, and had a blast. I would absolutely recommend it

too bad you're not in Maryland as I have a stillborn project, with 90% of the parts ready to go, in need of effort and driving.

In reply to captdownshift:

Maryland is not too far. My two previous Challengers came from Florida and Colorado.

Share here or at jwelsh02...yahoo...

I've gone down the last four years, always as a spectator. It's my annual mini-vacation now. Stay at the hotel, buy the ticket for the BBQ and banquet, bring a cooler of your favourite beverages and just hang out. I leave Michigan on the Wednesday morning and make it to south of Atlanta. I stay at the same hotel and eat at the same Mexican restaurant in Locust Grove. Thursday I continue to Gainesville , arriving around lunch time. There will already be cars and crews there. Crack open a beer and get to know folks. It's a great time. Friday and Saturday at the track, banquet Saturday night, and then early departure Sunday for a bonsai trip back to Michigan. Don't miss it !!
I drive right down I-75, so you should have a three hour shorter commute than me. You could be home by 8 o'clock Sunday night.

DeadSkunk wrote: I've gone down the last four years, always as a spectator. It's my annual mini-vacation now. Stay at the hotel, buy the ticket for the BBQ and banquet, bring a cooler of your favourite beverages and just hang out. I leave Michigan on the Wednesday morning and make it to south of Atlanta. I stay at the same hotel and eat at the same Mexican restaurant in Locust Grove. Thursday I continue to Gainesville , arriving around lunch time. There will already be cars and crews there. Crack open a beer and get to know folks. It's a great time. Friday and Saturday at the track, banquet Saturday night, and then early departure Sunday for a bonsai trip back to Michigan. Don't miss it !! I drive right down I-75, so you should have a three hour shorter commute than me. You could be home by 8 o'clock Sunday night.

My kind of a roadtrip!

Come on down and, yes, you'll stay busy.

In reply to NOHOME:
You need to come down ,too !

I strongly recommend staying in the host hotel.

Others are cheaper, but you will miss 50% of what's going on.

In reply to eastsidemav:

I think I'm down for that. Sign me up for whatever I/we need. Hopefully you're staying at the host hotel? I'm in for $ for the room/gas/food. It sounds like I'll help you do whatever, and wander the crowd seeing who else needs low-end grunt work. We'll talk at the SCCA awards banquet next weekend.

Jerry,

Of course you can join us if it works for you, not stepping on Mav's toes the choice is always yours.

Steve

Jerry wrote: In reply to eastsidemav: I think I'm down for that. Sign me up for whatever I/we need. Hopefully you're staying at the host hotel? I'm in for $ for the room/gas/food. It sounds like I'll help you do whatever, and wander the crowd seeing who else needs low-end grunt work. We'll talk at the SCCA awards banquet next weekend.

Sounds like a plan. I won't be sending in my entry until after then, anyway. I still need to double check with a few other people to see if they want me to list them on my entry, or if they plan to field their own car.

I am also thinking that 2017 will be a spectator/volunteer year for me. While I really want to bring the (fixed) Acura back, there are some really compelling reasons not to.

Helping others is fun! Everyone should do it sometime. I remember one year I counted something like 7 different teams that I helped out and I even played a small part in winning the party. Last year I would't have made it work without help from a like minded stranger...

I will book a double bed room so if anyone is short on time or cash they can crash with me and will rent a practical car in case anyone needs a lift or help running errands.

We all think about working on cars, but a great way to volunteer at the Challenge is as a corner worker. The staff appreciates it. I worked 3 shifts last year.

Next year, if I feel able to work more than 1 shift, I will seek out a 1 man team, and offer to do his shift as a corner worker. He's got enough to do under the hood just keeping the car running.

In reply to SVreX:

Plus, corner working is the best spot to spectate from.

Ok, ok, please don't ban me. I know corner working is not spectating.

SVreX wrote: We all think about working on cars, but a great way to volunteer at the Challenge is as a corner worker. The staff appreciates it. I worked 3 shifts last year. Next year, if I feel able to work more than 1 shift, I will seek out a 1 man team, and offer to do his shift as a corner worker. He's got enough to do under the hood just keeping the car running.

Truth!

I was basically just the truck driver to get the car to and from the Challenge in $2011, so I spent most of the afternoon out on the course shagging cones and dodging flying wheels. Bring sunscreen and your floppy hat, but you'll get the best view of all the cars!

I didn't think about working the courses. I'm in for that as well!