Cal Club Autocross Forums

Aaron Goldsmith wrote:

Ron Tsumura wrote:

Aaron Goldsmith wrote:SK1 is lookin pretty light, it has 17 entries last event, we have 6 right now.

Holy guacamolie Batman!
SK1 has 16 people pre-registered.
SK2 has 15.
Just think if SK1/2 were national classes?

Then people would find the one car that was the best and it would spec out just like the rest, you'd need to bring a seperate set of street tires shaved to 3/32nds or tow your car to events.

nothing wrong with that

well see i drive my car to and from events. I roll on 175/70R13's when i arrive and unpack my competition street tires from the hatch.

Jonathan Lugod wrote:

nothing wrong with that

well see i drive my car to and from events. I roll on 175/70R13's when i arrive and unpack my competition street tires from the hatch.

As did Max and I in STU. Just making the point, be careful what you wish for cuz it probably isn't entirely what you want.

Aaron Goldsmith wrote:

Jonathan Lugod wrote:

nothing wrong with that

well see i drive my car to and from events. I roll on 175/70R13's when i arrive and unpack my competition street tires from the hatch.

As did Max and I in STU. Just making the point, be careful what you wish for cuz it probably isn't entirely what you want.

true... i wouldn't want to see SK as a national class.

The list has been updated once again. Those of you who were added, please bring payment with you tomorrow.

As of now, the practice is full. If you want in, list your name on this thread. If I get a cancellation, I'll advise you on this thread.

Since it's expected to be wet, I suspect there will be some last minute no shows. Those that have registered here will have first priority on those open spots.

We need to pull out of Saturdays practice event, both Ozzie and myself were unexpectedly ask to work on Saturday. Hope some one can fill the spot. Please shred the check.

Glad someone was able to fill in for me during the Lunch gate time. I hate when it rains on the weekend we run. I always get called in, to measure stream flow at some unstable river/creek site during these events. Thanks Lily and Ron.

you're both very welcome

Three spots are now open for the practice.

Jeff Stuart wrote:Oh, and there's a flash flood warning from 4pm today till late Saturday night, so we may be racing on the banks of Lake Fontana again...

Shouldn't be a problem, as long as it doesn't rain more than last time. I put a slalom along the high water mark in that corner of the lot.

Ron Tsumura wrote: Holy guacamolie Batman!
SK1 has 16 people pre-registered.
SK2 has 15.

Not surprising given the state of our economy and the cost of R comps.

Jonathan Lugod wrote:true... i wouldn't want to see SK as a national class.

Out of curiosity, why? I've never heard a good argument against a national SK class/es, but then again, I haven't put much effort into looking for one. Seems to me it'd be a great way to allow a lot more poeple to participate in national events, and that seems to be the overarching goal that SCCA pays lip servce to.

Kurt Rahn wrote:

Jonathan Lugod wrote:true... i wouldn't want to see SK as a national class.

Out of curiosity, why? I've never heard a good argument against a national SK class/es, but then again, I haven't put much effort into looking for one. Seems to me it'd be a great way to allow a lot more poeple to participate in national events, and that seems to be the overarching goal that SCCA pays lip servce to.

It'll lead to having the best car of the whole class as Aaron has stated. So you'll have two more spec "Stock" classes but on street tires. Not only that but then we would have to rely on some kind of Index for all the individual classes. I'm sure it goes a lot deeper than this. There is already a thread in the SD forum talking about SK1/2 PAX and how some feel is too harsh.

Typically most of those who participate in SK1/2 are underprepared and are not in the search for maximizing their car's potential in regards to setup. It is great to watch however as the drivers down in SD are all around the same talent and car preparation.

It is indeed a good way to boost participation, but i also see SK1/2 as a way of building the drivers skill through competition of their peers to ENCOURAGE moving up to STOCK class. Be it... PAX for street tired stock cars, then moving up to their designated stock class on R comps.

What happened to the event registration option? I went into Axware to change my class, cancelled my old registration, but don't see the button to register for the event anymore.

Greg Peng wrote:What happened to the event registration option? I went into Axware to change my class, cancelled my old registration, but don't see the button to register for the event anymore.

its past due now i believe?

No, online registration closes at 10:00 PM.

I found the post from Lisa Severy with the same issue last event. Turns out I needed to change my time zone setting in Axware.

Have a nice practice tomorrow guys. Eric designed a nice course. Great experience for me helping and watching how it's done. Bring your umbrella/rain poncho we got soaked in the rain.

? At 9:44 am I sent Ron an email saying I could do Saturday gate ?

Had my best day ever at Disneyland in the rain. Park to ourselves. How much can you ride in 9 hours. The key was the right rain clothing. Dress right for hanging out and working and its not that big of drag. The driving in wet is a kick. Especially when its to a deluge which is probably won't be. Light showers and intermittant are a lot of fun to drive because you really can go pretty fast but surface is always changing and its a challenge. Great experience too for street driving. I remember autoxing in the rain as a newbie in my pickup truck and then finding myself in the middle of a freeway pile-up underneath a soon to be jackknifed bigrig. Some how I made it out of that unscathed with some pretty insane moves. Still wonder how much that practice day in the rain improved my survival chances.

Theo Osifeso wrote:Have a nice practice tomorrow guys. Eric designed a nice course. Great experience for me helping and watching how it's done. Bring your umbrella/rain poncho we got soaked in the rain.

not driving? Check out how bad the Hankooks are in the wet!!!

Jonathan Lugod wrote:

Theo Osifeso wrote:Have a nice practice tomorrow guys. Eric designed a nice course. Great experience for me helping and watching how it's done. Bring your umbrella/rain poncho we got soaked in the rain.

not driving? Check out how bad the Hankooks are in the wet!!!

Are they bad in the wet? The one research I didn't do is wet performance I somehow forgot that it does rain in California

Theo Osifeso wrote:

Jonathan Lugod wrote:

Theo Osifeso wrote:Have a nice practice tomorrow guys. Eric designed a nice course. Great experience for me helping and watching how it's done. Bring your umbrella/rain poncho we got soaked in the rain.

not driving? Check out how bad the Hankooks are in the wet!!!

Are they bad in the wet? The one research I didn't do is wet performance I somehow forgot that it does rain in California

They are pretty bad from my experience. And this was with about 7/32nd of tire. Still fun to find the limit tho.

Jonathan Lugod wrote:It'll lead to having the best car of the whole class as Aaron has stated. So you'll have two more spec "Stock" classes but on street tires.

Here's the reason that won't happen: as opposed to other classes, the PAX for each class changes each year, so while a Mini Cooper S may be the "it" car one year, the next it's mid-pack after taking it in the pants on PAX. SK is the only place (nationally) where PAX would actually matter across classes.

Jonathan Lugod wrote:Not only that but then we would have to rely on some kind of Index for all the individual classes. I'm sure it goes a lot deeper than this.

What's the problem with the way we do it: use the stock class PAX, then apply a single universal SK index afterwards? Doesn't seem all that complicated to me.

Jonathan Lugod wrote:There is already a thread in the SD forum talking about SK1/2 PAX and how some feel is too harsh.

I haven't read the thread, but it seems to me that's a local issue. Whatever additional index a region wants to assign to street tired stock classes is up to the region. If they don't like it, they can change it. In a national event, the SK PAX is irrelevant to anyone except the SK classes. Also, keep in mind that this is the same region that felt so threatened by the FJs they wouldn't let them run until this year.

Jonathan Lugod wrote:Typically most of those who participate in SK1/2 are underprepared and are not in the search for maximizing their car's potential in regards to setup.

So the cars that aren't fully prepped get spanked. Different from other classes how? I agree that the local SK classes are entry-level classes in general, but the top tier of SK in CalClub are pretty good drivers. At a national event, I think in most cases you'd see the same level of prep and caliber of driver as any other class. BTW, what's wrong with entry level? Everyone was a noob at some point.

Jonathan Lugod wrote:It is indeed a good way to boost participation, but i also see SK1/2 as a way of building the drivers skill through competition of their peers to ENCOURAGE moving up to STOCK class. Be it... PAX for street tired stock cars, then moving up to their designated stock class on R comps.

Given the cost of R comps and how quickly Minis go thru them, I'm personally very unlikely to go to the stock classes. More likely to do what I'm doing and co-drive something else. So where do these improved drivers go once they're good enough to compete nationally if they don't have the means to fork out that kind of money, but still want to be challenged? I can think of a lot of people who don't have the means to buy 2-3 sets of r-comps at $1200-2000 a pop, but are still really good drivers. More importantly, how would a national SK class have an adverse impact on you personally? Is it something that would have a direct negative impact, or is it just something that annoys you? Remember that as an ST(S) driver, before your class was recognized nationally (and still today, even) people opposed it. If their opposition held up, what would you be driving?

I do think it would be interesting...kinda wondering what to do if I run the pro. Sounds like I'll be co driving something if I can pick up a ride or see if someone has some r comps laying around I can thrash for an event. In either case, I'd like to run and be competitive but slicks aren't cheap and I have a particular issue with transporting them. Can't drive on em and can't put them in the trunk.

On another thought, what's to stop already nationally competitive or semi competitive people in the current stock classes from throwing on street tires for another go at the new class? Granted the indexes get you (as it did me last month...DS has it goooood!). But also wouldn't you think that the event entries would double just from SK? So many cars vying for it and such low price points would indicate it would be an easy target for many. Almost too easy. I have often wondered if the prestige in players who have money is why SCCA has prevented the existence of SK nationally. Money pays the bills, so the saying goes. So it makes sense the business follows it to stay alive. It also has the effect of purifying the national level so that people who aren't serious won't come and are kept in the regional levels. Not saying these are great or fair reasons but I could see it from a business and marketing perspective.

I'd love a SK Class, considering it's something I'm used to. However as it was said before I don't know if it would pan out anything like our regional classes. Something tells me the odds of winning it would be pretty slim depending on the size of the field. Which I anticipate would be much larger than most of the regular stock classes combined, even if the "golden fleece" is discovered before the PAX changes.
My .02. Posted via phone, hence the typos.

Eric Clements wrote:

Jeff Stuart wrote:Oh, and there's a flash flood warning from 4pm today till late Saturday night, so we may be racing on the banks of Lake Fontana again...

Shouldn't be a problem, as long as it doesn't rain more than last time. I put a slalom along the high water mark in that corner of the lot.

Lake Fontanna's water level should back to healthy reserve status by the looks of the water level at our house.

We have a pretty new set of 225 710's mounted on oem '99 NB wheels ... not that new but they've always been tightly wrapped in black plastic bags. Karen was saving them for track days ... but not sure that's going to still happen, ie. perhaps those tires could be available for the ProSolo ... which we won't be doing. Long Beach GP instead.