Solo Plans for nationals?
#1
08-10-2014, 03:46 PM
Plans for nationals?
I was wondering who's going to nationals, and how difficult is it to get there.
Its over 1600 miles to Lincoln from here, 1500 miles down I-80, some people do it in two days of solid driving. Some years someone's organised a transporter and you fly out. That doesn't seem to be happening this year, so we're taking the scenic route passing through Las Vegas, and stopping off at Bryce Canyon in Utah, the Rocky Mountain National park and Denver in Colorado and visiting friends in Kansas City. We're taking a week about doing it, about 2200 miles of driving.
I'm entered in HS, Alex (BAMini) will be co-driving. Cathy is in HSL, we have a spare seat if there are any ladies wanting to give it a try.
I don't have time to dawdle on the way back, so we're shipping the car home and flying. One of the locals has agreed to transport our tires for us, so we're not too packed into the MINI.
Add: I've already got my work assignment, I'm reporting on AS and EP for Sportscar.
Its over 1600 miles to Lincoln from here, 1500 miles down I-80, some people do it in two days of solid driving. Some years someone's organised a transporter and you fly out. That doesn't seem to be happening this year, so we're taking the scenic route passing through Las Vegas, and stopping off at Bryce Canyon in Utah, the Rocky Mountain National park and Denver in Colorado and visiting friends in Kansas City. We're taking a week about doing it, about 2200 miles of driving.
I'm entered in HS, Alex (BAMini) will be co-driving. Cathy is in HSL, we have a spare seat if there are any ladies wanting to give it a try.
I don't have time to dawdle on the way back, so we're shipping the car home and flying. One of the locals has agreed to transport our tires for us, so we're not too packed into the MINI.
Add: I've already got my work assignment, I'm reporting on AS and EP for Sportscar.
Last edited by Btwyx; 08-10-2014 at 04:44 PM.
#2
08-11-2014, 10:13 AM
The wife and I will be there. It's a little over 1200 miles from our house. A friend who is driving a truck out there is trailering the car out for us and his wife is going to co-drive it in STX-L. The wife and I will be driving out with another friend who is going to be co-driving with me in STX. So we'll have 4 people in the car. Dear god I hope something doesn't break! 
We're not doing the Pro Finale so the plan is to get there Sunday and probably leave sometime Wednesday.
We're not doing the Pro Finale so the plan is to get there Sunday and probably leave sometime Wednesday.
#3
08-19-2014, 06:46 AM
sweet.
i'll be arriving wednesday night and leaving friday after my work assignment. it's probably just me but i had difficulty finding the site on my first time at lincoln for spring nats. i expected huge banners, signs, balloons etc. but apparently (at least for spring nats) it's not that big of a deal.
there's two spots that say lincoln air park, with a lot of roads/warehouses blocking the exact direction. good to get there early if you can, esp if you can sign in and walk the course. i just saved the spot i want to enter the site at on google maps. see you there! i fully anticipate dfl
i'll be arriving wednesday night and leaving friday after my work assignment. it's probably just me but i had difficulty finding the site on my first time at lincoln for spring nats. i expected huge banners, signs, balloons etc.
but apparently (at least for spring nats) it's not that big of a deal. there's two spots that say lincoln air park, with a lot of roads/warehouses blocking the exact direction. good to get there early if you can, esp if you can sign in and walk the course. i just saved the spot i want to enter the site at on google maps. see you there! i fully anticipate dfl
#4
10-21-2014, 07:23 PM
My work assignment got published. As I said, I was writing for Sports Car on AS and EP, I downloaded my copy from the SCCA's web site. Most of the words are still mine, the last time I wrote for a magazine the copy got horribly butchered. It did get trimmed down a bit and improved in a few places.
Writing for Sports Car is an interesting work assignment and is not as easy as you might think. You need to cover the heats for both open and ladies classes, so you're working more sessions than most. Then trying to capture all the action in 600 words is difficult. I started writing and found I'd written 900 words and had only covered the open class on day 1. I had to go for much more brevity.
This is the published version:
A STREET
A Street looked different this year with the Street/Stock shakeup. The Corvettes moved down from Super Stock and the Honda S2000 CR moved up from B Stock. At least one CR driver wondered if they could compete with the Z06 Corvettes, and the Corvette drivers were debating the merits of the C5 Z06 vs. the C6. A few Mustangs, one with a Cobra badge, and a Porsche Cayman S rounded out the class of 26.
AS ran in the middle of the day, the third heat, on the West Course. Mark Daddio started out with the fastest raw time of the day, but a cone added to his 60.0 left him in fifth place. His subsequent runs were clean but although slower he still claimed FTD at 60.402. Ryan Otis closed out less than a tenth behind. David Green stood on his first run of 60.7, watching Daddio and Otis slip past. Z06 Corvettes held the top three places, while Todd Roberts in his S2000 came next. Roberts looked like he might challenge the dominance of the Corvettes when he had the second- quick time of the second runs, but his third was a DNF. Glen Hernandez’s Corvette also had to stand on its first run, now holding fifth.
Rain was the story on day two’s East Course. It had rained earlier, but was dry when the heat started, about 30 degrees cooler than Thursday, and overcast. The rain started spitting about halfway through the first runs, so despite having a cone, Daddio, with a low number, remained the leader. With his run rain-affected, Otis was 1.9sec slower than Daddio and trailed by 0.032sec. The on-and-off rain reversed for the second runs, it was heaviest for the earlier drivers, but started to dry out for the later and second drivers. Daddio was clean, but 1.4sec slower. Otis was 1.2sec faster but not enough to catch Daddio. Each would stand on their second runs with Otis 0.309sec behind in total.
Most third runs were ruined by heavier rain, but it dried out by the time the second drivers ran, so Hernandez
and Roberts both recorded their best times on their third runs to finish third and fourth overall, Hernandez scoring FTD at 63.637sec. Green got some of the worst of the rain showing lots of wheel spin and tail-out action and dropped to fifth overall.
“Nail biting” was how Daddio described the day. “Ryan and I were both very close to each other...Todd and Glen taking their last dry runs. We couldn’t do anything about it.” It was Daddio’s 11th championship, ranked fourth on the men’s list, and making him only the second person to win in five different categories, and 22 years (ranked eighth) between his first and latest championships.
A STREET LADIES
In the Ladies class, there was a field of seven cars gridded for the fifth heat, but it was a three-way battle between the Corvettes of Carla Russo, Kandy Johnson, and Lacey Otis.
On the West Course, Russo had the fastest time of the day, 63.783 on her final pass. Half a second behind were Otis, standing on her second run, and Johnson. Day two threatened the odd spot of rain, but stayed dry for the fifth heat.
Johnson set fastest East side time, 66.446 on her second run, to take the lead, but Otis’s 66.5 on her third run was enough to reclaim first place by 0.037sec. Russo could only get down to a best of 67.9, falling to third.
Otis was surprised at her victory, thinking if she “finished mid-pack I’d be doing pretty good. There are a lot of really fast ladies in this group.” She’d total 130.759 for the two days. On her third run: “I know Kandy’s really close to me and there’s no reason to hold back. My third run was not pretty. When I came in, I thought I was definitely out of it. Quite surprised. Very happy, but quite surprised.”
E PREPARED
EP was quite a menagerie, six makes and eight models among 15 entrants. The newest car was a 2002 Acura RSX, but the class also included a 1970 Ford Escort RS Mexico and a 1984 Volkswagen Jetta diesel, which laid down a thick smokescreen on every run.
On day one, the runaway leader on the West Course was Christopher Dorsey in his 1987 Toyota Corolla GTS. His first run was the fastest of the day at 54.208. His third run was one thousandth slower. He was confident after the end of the day, as a three-time defending champion. Trailing in Dorsey’s wake were Tim Smith and Rob Heiser sharing a 1986 Civic.
On day two, it was quite wet by the time EP came for its third heat runs on the East Course. The rain didn’t seem to affect Dorsey though. He turned a fast first run (60.8), to briefly be shown 13sec in the lead! He improved slightly (60.6) for his second run, looking very tail happy and was still shown as three seconds ahead. His margin was down to two seconds as he went out for his third run. He wasn’t content to stand on his time, despite the wet conditions, but he spun after two corners and again halfway around the course, taking a DNF but still leading at 114.869.
Smith, running late in the heat when the course had largely dried out, ended up with his third run as the fastest of the day at 60.252. With that, he closed to within 1.644sec. of Dorsey. His co-driver Heiser had to take a very wet third run, leaving him standing on his second run and finishing third overall, 2.6sec behind Smith.
“I love EP,” Dorsey said, taking his fifth championship, fourth in a row.
“I love the diversity that the class has... the best drivers out there...being able to beat these guys this week, just unbelievable, feels great. It’s never easy in this class.” That last run, he said, was “so slick; it didn’t look bad, but the surface was just awful.”
E PREPARED LADIES
EPL had three entrants, but Deanne Caraballo in a 1982 Toyota Starlet ran away with it. She caught three cones on her first West Course run, slowed down enough to be clean on her second run, and posted best time of the day at 56.926 on her third.
Caraballo’s second day had its ups and downs but at least it was dry. She was again showing the fastest time of the day with her second run of 62.151, but on her third the Starlet expired at the far end of the course. It was first pushed out of the way and then the proceedings were interrupted as a truck towed her in. Still, Caraballo won the class overall with a 5.584sec margin at 119.077.
“That’s one for the books,” Caraballo said. “I’ve never been towed off course before.” She said she had to “push start every run. We broke on the Test N Tune course.” And then, “My amazing dad, Dwayne Komush, built a wonderful car. They set it up for me, and his co-driver Howard Wolf coaches me along, gives me all his advice.”
Writing for Sports Car is an interesting work assignment and is not as easy as you might think. You need to cover the heats for both open and ladies classes, so you're working more sessions than most. Then trying to capture all the action in 600 words is difficult. I started writing and found I'd written 900 words and had only covered the open class on day 1. I had to go for much more brevity.
This is the published version:
A STREET
A Street looked different this year with the Street/Stock shakeup. The Corvettes moved down from Super Stock and the Honda S2000 CR moved up from B Stock. At least one CR driver wondered if they could compete with the Z06 Corvettes, and the Corvette drivers were debating the merits of the C5 Z06 vs. the C6. A few Mustangs, one with a Cobra badge, and a Porsche Cayman S rounded out the class of 26.
AS ran in the middle of the day, the third heat, on the West Course. Mark Daddio started out with the fastest raw time of the day, but a cone added to his 60.0 left him in fifth place. His subsequent runs were clean but although slower he still claimed FTD at 60.402. Ryan Otis closed out less than a tenth behind. David Green stood on his first run of 60.7, watching Daddio and Otis slip past. Z06 Corvettes held the top three places, while Todd Roberts in his S2000 came next. Roberts looked like he might challenge the dominance of the Corvettes when he had the second- quick time of the second runs, but his third was a DNF. Glen Hernandez’s Corvette also had to stand on its first run, now holding fifth.
Rain was the story on day two’s East Course. It had rained earlier, but was dry when the heat started, about 30 degrees cooler than Thursday, and overcast. The rain started spitting about halfway through the first runs, so despite having a cone, Daddio, with a low number, remained the leader. With his run rain-affected, Otis was 1.9sec slower than Daddio and trailed by 0.032sec. The on-and-off rain reversed for the second runs, it was heaviest for the earlier drivers, but started to dry out for the later and second drivers. Daddio was clean, but 1.4sec slower. Otis was 1.2sec faster but not enough to catch Daddio. Each would stand on their second runs with Otis 0.309sec behind in total.
Most third runs were ruined by heavier rain, but it dried out by the time the second drivers ran, so Hernandez
and Roberts both recorded their best times on their third runs to finish third and fourth overall, Hernandez scoring FTD at 63.637sec. Green got some of the worst of the rain showing lots of wheel spin and tail-out action and dropped to fifth overall.
“Nail biting” was how Daddio described the day. “Ryan and I were both very close to each other...Todd and Glen taking their last dry runs. We couldn’t do anything about it.” It was Daddio’s 11th championship, ranked fourth on the men’s list, and making him only the second person to win in five different categories, and 22 years (ranked eighth) between his first and latest championships.
A STREET LADIES
In the Ladies class, there was a field of seven cars gridded for the fifth heat, but it was a three-way battle between the Corvettes of Carla Russo, Kandy Johnson, and Lacey Otis.
On the West Course, Russo had the fastest time of the day, 63.783 on her final pass. Half a second behind were Otis, standing on her second run, and Johnson. Day two threatened the odd spot of rain, but stayed dry for the fifth heat.
Johnson set fastest East side time, 66.446 on her second run, to take the lead, but Otis’s 66.5 on her third run was enough to reclaim first place by 0.037sec. Russo could only get down to a best of 67.9, falling to third.
Otis was surprised at her victory, thinking if she “finished mid-pack I’d be doing pretty good. There are a lot of really fast ladies in this group.” She’d total 130.759 for the two days. On her third run: “I know Kandy’s really close to me and there’s no reason to hold back. My third run was not pretty. When I came in, I thought I was definitely out of it. Quite surprised. Very happy, but quite surprised.”
E PREPARED
EP was quite a menagerie, six makes and eight models among 15 entrants. The newest car was a 2002 Acura RSX, but the class also included a 1970 Ford Escort RS Mexico and a 1984 Volkswagen Jetta diesel, which laid down a thick smokescreen on every run.
On day one, the runaway leader on the West Course was Christopher Dorsey in his 1987 Toyota Corolla GTS. His first run was the fastest of the day at 54.208. His third run was one thousandth slower. He was confident after the end of the day, as a three-time defending champion. Trailing in Dorsey’s wake were Tim Smith and Rob Heiser sharing a 1986 Civic.
On day two, it was quite wet by the time EP came for its third heat runs on the East Course. The rain didn’t seem to affect Dorsey though. He turned a fast first run (60.8), to briefly be shown 13sec in the lead! He improved slightly (60.6) for his second run, looking very tail happy and was still shown as three seconds ahead. His margin was down to two seconds as he went out for his third run. He wasn’t content to stand on his time, despite the wet conditions, but he spun after two corners and again halfway around the course, taking a DNF but still leading at 114.869.
Smith, running late in the heat when the course had largely dried out, ended up with his third run as the fastest of the day at 60.252. With that, he closed to within 1.644sec. of Dorsey. His co-driver Heiser had to take a very wet third run, leaving him standing on his second run and finishing third overall, 2.6sec behind Smith.
“I love EP,” Dorsey said, taking his fifth championship, fourth in a row.
“I love the diversity that the class has... the best drivers out there...being able to beat these guys this week, just unbelievable, feels great. It’s never easy in this class.” That last run, he said, was “so slick; it didn’t look bad, but the surface was just awful.”
E PREPARED LADIES
EPL had three entrants, but Deanne Caraballo in a 1982 Toyota Starlet ran away with it. She caught three cones on her first West Course run, slowed down enough to be clean on her second run, and posted best time of the day at 56.926 on her third.
Caraballo’s second day had its ups and downs but at least it was dry. She was again showing the fastest time of the day with her second run of 62.151, but on her third the Starlet expired at the far end of the course. It was first pushed out of the way and then the proceedings were interrupted as a truck towed her in. Still, Caraballo won the class overall with a 5.584sec margin at 119.077.
“That’s one for the books,” Caraballo said. “I’ve never been towed off course before.” She said she had to “push start every run. We broke on the Test N Tune course.” And then, “My amazing dad, Dwayne Komush, built a wonderful car. They set it up for me, and his co-driver Howard Wolf coaches me along, gives me all his advice.”
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