Corey Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 If you are thinking about going, sign up NOW! There are already 1271 entrants, out of 1350 available spots: https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/2018-tire-rack-scca-solo-nationals-lincoln-airpark-national-828885 Cancellation fees before August 13 are only $20, so if you think you're going, sign up now before the spots are gone. Entrants list is here: https://www.motorsportreg.com/index.cfm/event/event.status/uidEvent/CF331522-B0C3-254D-4A0E8088E2E888C5#class1-4A2329FE-D031-DC80-FE79C3F92B5CD59B For those that are debating, this is the largest amateur motorsports event in the world. The scale is staggering, the courses are fun, the competition is intense, and the people are great. It's a bucket-list item if you love autocross. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted July 7, 2018 Author Share Posted July 7, 2018 Nationals has hit their cap of 1350 entrants in just over 4 days. Wow. You can still be put on the waiting list. 1350 idiots that drive to the middle of nowhere for ~6 minutes of track time and many hours of track walking. I think everyone on the waiting list got in last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRS Joe Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 1334 currently. It’s the best solo experience anyone could ever have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted July 7, 2018 Author Share Posted July 7, 2018 5 hours ago, MRS Joe said: 1334 currently. It’s the best solo experience anyone could ever have. Plus 16 karts. Agreed though, it's awesome. Most people that go don't expect to trophy. There are crazy evening parties, big wheel pro solos, etc. I'm boring and skip the evening stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justkickin Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 Chris and I actually got in this time...may have involved some texting on the 6th to make it happen...64 cars in AS alone! So far the second biggest class behind STR at 66 cars. Mark and Briget also registered. My first time going down for Nationals, should be a great time, win, lose or draw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRS Joe Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 5 hours ago, Corey said: Plus 16 karts. Agreed though, it's awesome. Most people that go don't expect to trophy. There are crazy evening parties, big wheel pro solos, etc. I'm boring and skip the evening stuff. Odd that carts get counted seperate. My bad, I figured a few cancellations already went through. If you want to bring your "a game" you stay away from the parties, just go downtown and get a nice dinner and turn in. Nothing nicer then a 6:30am course walk in a cool summer breeze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justkickin Posted July 28, 2018 Share Posted July 28, 2018 So I hear paddock registration opens in a couple days. For those that have been or are going, what is that and what are important considerations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted July 28, 2018 Author Share Posted July 28, 2018 One spot is big enough for two cars. So just pick a spot as close as you can to grid. There's a separate trailer parking area so you're not tripping over your trailer. Last year the map was interactive so you could see where people in your class/region/whatever were. You can park near your hero - or team blenderblaster! If you're leaving the trailer in your paddock spot, you and your codriver can try to get the two spots that span the two rows. (i.e. yours plus the house across the back lane) Then you can drive through and have easy loading/unloading. That's real nice when it's time to leave and there are 1400+ people on the lot. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted August 17, 2018 Author Share Posted August 17, 2018 Run/Work order: https://www.scca.com/downloads/41985-2018-work-run-for-website Drive 1st heat, work 3rd. Not bad, though I'll be on-site a LONG time on day 1 to walk day 2's course after runs are complete. Very nice on Day 2 as I can pack up and go. Well, assuming I don't win a trophy... Course maps: East (plane side) https://www.scca.com/downloads/41986-east West (corn side) https://www.scca.com/downloads/41987-west Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conebasher Posted August 18, 2018 Share Posted August 18, 2018 We drive 3rd heat and work 6th heat The first time they have had 6 heats in a day-it's gonna be a long day. The courses look amazeballs, I hope they drive like they look. I also hope that I will be forced to go to the banquet to accept a trophy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKemp Posted August 18, 2018 Share Posted August 18, 2018 I got my fingers crossed for you Mark and Corey. Best of luck out there 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justkickin Posted August 21, 2018 Share Posted August 21, 2018 We run first and work fifth. Glad we chose to check out the day after competition. Those are going to be long and early days. Looking forward to Vivek's course, not so sure yet about Karen's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted September 1, 2018 Author Share Posted September 1, 2018 (edited) Haha, a small Minnesota club set up the upcoming Nationals courses as local events. The internet is blowing up over it. The club asked SCCA headquarters if it was ok, and they said it was. I bet they're answer will change for next year! Edited September 1, 2018 by Corey 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conebasher Posted September 1, 2018 Share Posted September 1, 2018 Yeh, there are a ton of comments about that online. My feeling is that if I showed up for an event and told me the course was a clone of Nationals, I would run it because they can't possibly replicate the Nationals course. However, after thinking about it, I think it gives a definite advantage because you're much less likely to get lost on the real course, allowing you to attack on run #1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRS Joe Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) On 8/31/2018 at 6:17 PM, Corey said: Haha, a small Minnesota club set up the upcoming Nationals courses as local events. The internet is blowing up over it. The club asked SCCA headquarters if it was ok, and they said it was. I bet they're answer will change for next year! As long as they post up some videos of top drivers..... It never will be identical but still a definite advantage. Did you attend? Edited September 3, 2018 by MRS Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted September 3, 2018 Author Share Posted September 3, 2018 I didn't go. I do think it's an unfair advantage in that you roughly know where the course goes, but it'll never be identical. The forecast is for rain, rain, and rain. Flash-flooding alert yesterday. I wish I was in a Street class car now! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magner Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, Corey said: I didn't go. I do think it's an unfair advantage in that you roughly know where the course goes, but it'll never be identical. The forecast is for rain, rain, and rain. Flash-flooding alert yesterday. I wish I was in a Street class car now! Good news is you now know your rain tires are worth a few seconds in pouring conditions! Tim and Chris are on fresh full tread RE71R's, hopefully that gives them a leg up on the guys running wider Rivals which are not a good rain tire. Good luck all! Edited September 3, 2018 by Magner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted September 4, 2018 Author Share Posted September 4, 2018 Live results: http://sololive.scca.com Tim and Chris run in AS first thing today and Wednesday morning. Mark and Bridget run 5th heat today/Wednesday in EM. I'm 1st heat Thu/Fri. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted September 5, 2018 Author Share Posted September 5, 2018 I came down early just to watch day 1. Rain! There were 3" deep rivers on course early in the morning. Bow wakes were knocking over cones - and they do count. Tim and Chris got hooped by it. Mark and Bridget's early runs were a struggle but it dried enough for them to place nicely on day 1. Mark has a serious chance at his first national title! Go Mark! Cam-T and CP cars are awesome to watch! I think I got cancer just smelling the exhaust/rubber. SM cars are almost as awesome, but my enthusiasm was tempered by watching Hyman's GTR scatter a driveshaft and some other parts right in front of me. The dry carbon trunk did feel and look exceedingly nice as I helped push it off course with ominous knocking noises underneath. :/ In sad news, a Corvette spun through the East course finish and managed to hit a couple cars in grid. I didn't see it, but heard that it was pretty bad for the cars but no or minor injuries. This kind of thing doesn't normally happen at AutoX, let alone Nationals. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted September 6, 2018 Author Share Posted September 6, 2018 Wow, what a fun course! Shaky hands after every run, getting the courage to trust the grip of the car in the fast sweepers. The course has a few spots that intentionally break the normal rule of taking the shortest line. You can, but it kills you on the next few corners. I never got out of my second gear, whereas I'm using all 4 gears locally. Wild! I'm sitting 5th after day 1: http://sololive.scca.com/CM.php There is some rain in the forecast, but I'm hoping that we don't get anything like the rain the rest of the Winnipeggers did. This should be an exciting battle tomorrow morning with so many people so close together! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cboettch Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 Awesome Corey! Good luck tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRS Joe Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 I was updating chris as I kept hitting refresh on the live results! Great tight battle, looking forward to monitoring your progress tomorrow. Great job Mark and Bridget, best result yet. Glad everyone had fun, hope everyone bought or had rain gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted September 6, 2018 Author Share Posted September 6, 2018 My first run was a DNF as I had a brain fart about which turn was where. Full throttle into a decreasing radius? Sure, why not? LOL! Look ahead folks. I have to add that if you have even a mild interest in autocross, Nationals is on your bucket list even if you don't know it. I'm currently watching a Corvette and 911 battle in SSR, cool DSP BMWs and RX8s, and thundering pony cars in STP. Add in great announcing so you know who's moving to what spot and it's a great show. Everyone is friendly and helpful like a local event. Oh yeah, you get to drive stupidly fun courses too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Eh. Posted September 6, 2018 Share Posted September 6, 2018 Good luck everyone. Paint some red and white on those podiums! BTW, I heard Trump removed the tariffs on the top positions hardware so no fear ... go for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted September 7, 2018 Author Share Posted September 7, 2018 Here's my in-car from the West course: (uploading now) I'm trying an external microphone on the air cleaner. I think it's much better than the usual buzzing body panels from the internal GoPro mic. The whistling/whooshing noise is the throttle butterflies at part throttle, which is kind of interesting to hear how often I pull out of the throttle part-way to tighten my line. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 I struggled to look ahead enough today and couldn't keep up with the fast guys. Bummer, but I held on to 7th and picked up a trophy. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magner Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 Congrats Corey! Thanks for keeping us up to date all week! Have a safe trip home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 Here's my day 2. Frustrated to be 2 seconds off the leaders, but I see many mistakes in this video that all add up: That was a really fun but challenging course. A number of decreasing radius sweepers into precision sections. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 For interest's sake, here are the two fastest runs in class, unfortunately both had a cone so they're unofficial. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conebasher Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 (edited) My favorite Nationals so far, out of 11 visits. Why? Because the car was working so well that I didn't have to spend all my time testing and tuning and could take in the fun stuff like Tacos & Talent and the party at the Canadian Embassy (tent, but it's sovereign Canadian territory) where free craft beer flowed like water. I have always had good results in the rain so I may be one of the few people who was looking forward to it. My hunch was right, I beat Jeff K by 5 seconds on a very rainy Day 1 and he made a good comeback on a dry day 2 but I still managed 3rd. I would have done better but I played it too conservative on Day 1 and didn't execute properly on Day 2. There were a lot of stories from this years Nationals (crashes, possible cheating, racing after dark, near misses, deep water) and I'm glad I was there for it. The Pink Panther is going to come back even stronger next year. Here's a video from Nationals 2018 Nationals https://youtu.be/zd8ic1v1YQg Edited September 9, 2018 by conebasher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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