TOPEKA or Bust

crazy eddie · Post by **crazy eddie** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 4:41 am

Getting red eye to head for the big show.
Meeting the All Mighty Chrisinator at 7AM.
We have 33 cars in FSP this year.
Hope we represent OMR well in the National spotlight.
Please send us your good luck, we will need all the help we can get.
Chris and I are both taking cameras, so hope to have some photos posted after Saturday when we return.

Take care and have a great week y'all !!!

Import Specialist Racer · Post by **Import Specialist Racer** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 7:02 am

Good Luck to you guys!!!! Bring back a T or several!!!

Its going to be crowded big time. less room than Forbes (I was at the practice).

Perspective = 600-700 car running per-day on 2 courses and all trailers and stuff there.

Post by **JimR** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:30 am

Good luck everyone.

I caught some vacation, so I will be roving around HPT on Friday. I'll miss FSP, but I'll see the Thursday-Friday group run.

crazy eddie · Post by **crazy eddie** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 2:49 pm

{slinks back home with his tail between his legs}

OUCH. We ended up with 35 competitors in FSP this year up from 26 last year (I believe).

Tuesday: We awoke to rain that stayed long enough to screw up the 1st heat runs on the West Course. Not ever setting a tire on the surface and being combined with water proved to be a real bear. If drift points were awarded Chris would have done very well.

Wednesday: Dry track. Woot !!! However the East course is stretchedout and designed for lots of GO with some rather inconvient STOP mixed in. Chris and I both noticed the presence of sand on the surface which explained alot of why we still slipping and sliding. Guess we know now why the winners were using 13X8 rims wrapped in 50 series Rs or 15X9s wrapped in 275/35/15s.

Overall Chris placed 25th of 35 cars and I did an embarassing 33 of 35.
I took 90+ pics that I will get some of the betters ones posted later this evening. I also have the course maps in case J or Jim want to use a modfied version of the East Course for the Oct. AX.

PS: Weight proved also to be a factor since we were all weighed after the runs we found out that our cars need diets too. Cavalier - 2500 something and the Civic 2322. A Rabbit floated across the scales at 1616 with the same size engine. I wonder why I couldn't keep up. LOL.

budweeks · Post by **budweeks** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 5:04 pm

Chris and Ed

Kudos to you guys for going to nats and giving it your best. I'm proud to have you represent OMR. It is indeed a learning process....but all part of life.

My first year at nats I was back in the pack too. (At nationals you are just about always in some pack.) And this was after having had fantasies (Ha Ha) of winning. I felt embarassed (no reason to, that's just my stuff), but it did encourage me to keep trying.

Looking foward to seeing your pics.

Bud

Import Specialist Racer · Post by **Import Specialist Racer** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:19 pm

You guys did pretty well. Here is my first days experience in STX I coned all runs

on east ran 2, 45.9's wich if clean was good for 10th. So I sucked

I knew one guy that walked the wrong course for the first day in FSP and he coned all runs on both days. Ouch, I have 2 more firends that coned all runs. So im staying away from those coneheads.

Saw Mark as he was in same heat but didnt see how he faired.

crazy eddie · Post by **crazy eddie** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 7:31 pm

crazy eddie · Post by **crazy eddie** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 7:44 pm

Import Specilist Racer wrote:You guys did pretty well. Here is my first days experience in STX I coned all runs on east ran 2, 45.9's wich if clean was good for 10th. So I sucked I knew one guy that walked the wrong course for the first day in FSP and he coned all runs on both days. Ouch, I have 2 more firends that coned all runs. So im staying away from those coneheads.

Saw Mark as he was in same heat but didnt see how he faired.

Luckily I was clean all 6 runs. Thought I hit one on my last run of Day One but it wasn't recorded. I guess there was a bright side to my dismal performance. hehehe. I will definitely make the Test'n'Tune next time to see what the surface is like before driving it blind.

BTW here are the course layouts. According to my trip meter, they were both 1 mile in length. Chris and I drove the West Course in the rain. Not fun. I wonder if J and/or Jim might consider modifying the East Course to fit the OMR lot.

Here is the aerial view posted on the SCCA site.

Import Specialist Racer · Post by **Import Specialist Racer** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:29 am

A BIG congrads to Mark on his first ever Trophy and 4 place over all in a very tough ESP class. This is very sweet for OMR for sure. He has the hardware to prove. Kick-ass job Mark!!!!!!!

FYI my second day was a bunch better. started out in 25th of 33 cars Because of dirty first day runs) and had 3rd fastest time in class and ended up 15th. I was an inch of a podium spot. Oh well, there is next year.

I assume Mark will be back next year.

Post by **JimR** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 7:49 pm

Mark with fourth in ESP is an excellent result. From the last year of PAX results, that is no surprise. Opie was just a couple of tenths out of a trophy, which is no small feat, either.

I know the Madarash and Jorgensen cars have some serious money in them, and probably never get street driven to events like Mark's T/A. That speaks even higher of the driver.

ESP was running the West course on Friday, which was impossible to photograph well with my old camera because of no close spectator access and having to shoot into the sun. I did catch some Heat 5 grid pics:

I was going to compete this year, but my Dad's mini-stroke came at a bad time, and I had to help him out some. He's okay now, but it pushed my timing/funding certainty back to the last minute.

On the plus side, it meant I could stay out as late Thursday as I wanted with my autocross buddies, newly befriended and old. Not everything in Kansas is flat.

Import Specialist Racer · Post by **Import Specialist Racer** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 8:03 am

The placement of grid in this deal was not good. As we are used to we can see the runs from grid. At this venue we couldn't with out walking, running or riding a bike to the course. That threw me off first day. At least on second day I was grid-ed right behind Mark and Opie which was cool. HPT is just to small. SCCA is looking at a 6 day event if it grows more.

Thanks for the grid shot.

markyf · Post by **markyf** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 9:17 pm

Thanks, guys. It was great fun. I have been well back in the pack before and it's humbling. I think this was my 4th trip to Nationals. I thought I was going to blow it this year when both days I needed great 3rd runs to have a chance. This time my prayers were answered. Of course I can't be satisfied. I wanted 3rd! I was something like .16 seconds back from 3rd, so it could have happened if my foot didn't hang up on the bottom of the brake pedal on the last corner on my last run. If, If, If ...
I could have just as easily been 5th or 6th as 5th was only .050 sec behind me and 6th was another .049 secs back. It was close!
If my memory is good, Bud Weeks has trophied at Nationals in the past.
Opie had some problems this year on the first day and coned out his good runs. The second day he set the 3rd fastest time in class.
We got lucky with perfect weather on Thursday and Friday.
They weighed all the cars after the 1st days runs. My hog weighed 3636 lbs, Opie was at about 3120, the top 2 finishers in ESP were both at about 3110 lbs.

RacinAlt · Post by **RacinAlt** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 11:00 pm

Maybe if you don't east between, oh lets say now and the nationals next year you could get closer on weight.

crazy eddie · Post by **crazy eddie** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 5:54 am

WTG Mark and Opie !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not eat for a year, shoot that means I should have stopped like in High school to get to my class' weight. LOL

Well here is where I finished up my week's racing.

budweeks · Post by **budweeks** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 2:55 pm

Congrats Mark and Opie,

When you run against the best in the nation you find out how good you really are.

Ed, I didn't know you were moonlighting as a NASCAR pit crew member!

Bud

Ozark Mountain Region SCCA

TOPEKA or Bust

TOPEKA or Bust

Way to go!

Nationals

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