sytyguy
Moderated User
First off, let me express my utmost appreciation for Tom (Sportmachines), his crew, Renz and Morgan for all they did for the event. From registration to the raffle to the awards to making a Plan B and C and D when needed due to weather, NATS went as well as it could have IMO. :tup:
Next, let me thank Wayne Walter, Adam Ribakoff, Ian Turgeon, Jonathan Pope, Eric Manfra, Rodney Bird, Jason Granger, and anyone else (sorry if I missed you) who helped with the autocross. Despite what eventually happened, I was very happy with how things turned out and we were able to get in over 100 runs in total before being shut down. Especially want to thank Eric (had the idea of autocrossing at the hotel in the first place), Wayne (got the cones for us), Ian (ran the starting tent and got pics of everyone), and Pope (tallied scores as I called them out). Without y'all's help, we would have been sitting in the parking lot instead of racing on it. :tup:
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Autocross recap
The initial plan (for those who don't know) was to have the autoX in the circle track at Beech Bend. Sadly, weather dictated otherwise, and the track was closed until that evening. Expecting that we wouldn't be able to autox at all, we got a little bummed until Eric (BigSmoosh) suggested that we ask the hotel if we can autoX in the parking lot. We quickly came up with a little plan, I poured on some Southern Charm with the receptionist, and low and behold, they agreed to let us do it (after the receptionist had conferred with the manager). We quickly got to work moving trailers and trucks out of the way to make room. We set out cones, set up the timing equipment, and did some safety check runs. Once the bulk of the group got back from the Fun Center, we got started and were putting out about 2 runs per minute, so things were moving quickly.
Then it all came to a halt. The Holiday Inn Banquet Center Manager (Mitch) spoke with me and expressed concerns (from the Hotel President) about speed, tire marks, and insurance. All three of these things were points I brought up when we initially asked to do it, so I was a little confused as to the concern. Nonetheless, Mitch was very nice and apologetic (as was I) and we agreed to shut down the event for the sake of the hotel. Harmon's full-redneck run was the last of the day, but prior to that we managed to get in over 70 timed runs. :tup:
So, who did what on course? Well, unfortunately we were unable to structure the runs as I had desired, mostly because I thought we'd have plenty of time. So, some people got 4-5 runs while others got 2-3, and we were unable to run the rental showdown at all. So, we decided to give Jeff Ziembicki (ziembic) the rental award since he brought the Dodge Avenger and let us hoon the piss out of it for a while. For the other awards, we let the numbers do the talking. Here they be.....
*If we didn't catch who you were, we listed the license plate or type of vehicle. If you recognize your ride, let us know and we'll update the list with your username. *
So, as you can see, the fastest time of the day was put down by Syclone Rob with a 23.845. The most improved driver was 92typhoon937, shaving nearly 4.5 seconds off from his first run to his third run. I have trophies for the two of you that I'll try to get in the mail ASAP.
All in all, everything was a blast. We had the core group (FAST/GAST/Rodney/Morgan/BigSmoosh/etc...) together for lots of parking lot fun and as always, we sat around and drank and laughed a lot. And while Warren was not present he was probably the most looked at individual there (it's a long story that take two shorter stories and plugs them together with one overlapping the other).
Next, let me thank Wayne Walter, Adam Ribakoff, Ian Turgeon, Jonathan Pope, Eric Manfra, Rodney Bird, Jason Granger, and anyone else (sorry if I missed you) who helped with the autocross. Despite what eventually happened, I was very happy with how things turned out and we were able to get in over 100 runs in total before being shut down. Especially want to thank Eric (had the idea of autocrossing at the hotel in the first place), Wayne (got the cones for us), Ian (ran the starting tent and got pics of everyone), and Pope (tallied scores as I called them out). Without y'all's help, we would have been sitting in the parking lot instead of racing on it. :tup:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Autocross recap
The initial plan (for those who don't know) was to have the autoX in the circle track at Beech Bend. Sadly, weather dictated otherwise, and the track was closed until that evening. Expecting that we wouldn't be able to autox at all, we got a little bummed until Eric (BigSmoosh) suggested that we ask the hotel if we can autoX in the parking lot. We quickly came up with a little plan, I poured on some Southern Charm with the receptionist, and low and behold, they agreed to let us do it (after the receptionist had conferred with the manager). We quickly got to work moving trailers and trucks out of the way to make room. We set out cones, set up the timing equipment, and did some safety check runs. Once the bulk of the group got back from the Fun Center, we got started and were putting out about 2 runs per minute, so things were moving quickly.
Then it all came to a halt. The Holiday Inn Banquet Center Manager (Mitch) spoke with me and expressed concerns (from the Hotel President) about speed, tire marks, and insurance. All three of these things were points I brought up when we initially asked to do it, so I was a little confused as to the concern. Nonetheless, Mitch was very nice and apologetic (as was I) and we agreed to shut down the event for the sake of the hotel. Harmon's full-redneck run was the last of the day, but prior to that we managed to get in over 70 timed runs. :tup:
So, who did what on course? Well, unfortunately we were unable to structure the runs as I had desired, mostly because I thought we'd have plenty of time. So, some people got 4-5 runs while others got 2-3, and we were unable to run the rental showdown at all. So, we decided to give Jeff Ziembicki (ziembic) the rental award since he brought the Dodge Avenger and let us hoon the piss out of it for a while. For the other awards, we let the numbers do the talking. Here they be.....
*If we didn't catch who you were, we listed the license plate or type of vehicle. If you recognize your ride, let us know and we'll update the list with your username. *
So, as you can see, the fastest time of the day was put down by Syclone Rob with a 23.845. The most improved driver was 92typhoon937, shaving nearly 4.5 seconds off from his first run to his third run. I have trophies for the two of you that I'll try to get in the mail ASAP.
All in all, everything was a blast. We had the core group (FAST/GAST/Rodney/Morgan/BigSmoosh/etc...) together for lots of parking lot fun and as always, we sat around and drank and laughed a lot. And while Warren was not present he was probably the most looked at individual there (it's a long story that take two shorter stories and plugs them together with one overlapping the other).
