"Setup" on Speed Starts Thursday w/ Autocrosser Mi

Eric Peterson · **Joined:** Mon Sep 01, 2003 10:24 am **Posts:** 494

The second season of "Setup" starts on the Speed Channel Thursday at 8:00 p.m. Chris and I really enjoyed last season's series where west coast autocrosser Ron Bauer came in second. We are even looking more forward to this year's series.

This year Evo Instructor/Owner Mike "Junior" Johnson is on the show. His crew chief is Courtney Cormier from Richmond. Many folks know Court, he's finished 2nd at Nats once or twice and now co-drives with Rod. They should make a great team.

If you are unfamiliar with the premise, they give about 10 different drivers/crews a Solstice GXP and lots of speed parts. They have many races to eliminate drivers. The winner gets $100K and a tryout with a pro road racing team. The series will be 8 or 10 weeks long.

Eric

David Spratte · **Posted:** Wed Feb 20, 2008 5:49 pm

Damn. I might have to actually get cable now.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Wed Feb 20, 2008 6:29 pm

Court's a great guy and a hell of a mechanic/setup guy and obviously, Mike could drive anything fast... this is going to be fun

- AB

Keith Vail · **Posted:** Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:00 pm

This is going to be interesting. I had heard rumors of Mike on the show and I was hoping to see that he was.

DanDurusky · **Joined:** Sun Apr 10, 2005 7:31 pm **Posts:** 686

Also look out for Mike Skeen. Nice guy and real fast. He's only 20 or so and drove in the Koni Challenge at Daytona last month. Races SpecE30, too.

He was my instructor once and riding with him was really really impressive. far and away the most impressive ride i've had.

Chris Halweg · **Posted:** Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:54 pm

I enjoyed last season as well.

Stacy King · **Posted:** Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:33 am

DanDurusky wrote:

Also look out for Mike Skeen. Nice guy and real fast. He's only 20 or so and drove in the Koni Challenge at Daytona last month. Races SpecE30, too.

He was my instructor once and riding him was really really impressive. far and away the most impressive ride i've had.

He's a little older than 20 now... incredible driver... he's instructed for us a few times as a matter of fact (last August at CMP to be precise). I'll definitely be rooting for him ... of course, he's completely mum about what happens on the show, so we'll have to watch to find out. If you've done any Tarheel BMW events you also know Mike's dad, Mark Skeen... they usually share the blue/silver E30 318.

Oh... and Dan... it's riding WITH him!

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:41 am

Stacy King wrote:

Oh... and Dan... it's riding WITH him!

Sounds like Dan may have got some EXTRA instruction.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.... :shock:

DanDurusky · **Joined:** Sun Apr 10, 2005 7:31 pm **Posts:** 686

uh.. wups.

Todd Breakey · **Posted:** Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:53 am

I guess I'm going to have to actually watch the show now. Dammit, now I have a reason to watch NascarTV, er, Speed for something other than sportscar or motorcycle racing!!!! I just hope I don't get sucked into watching Pinks or Superbikes or Drag Queen High or some other "lifestyle" show!!!!!!

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Fri Feb 22, 2008 3:14 pm

ok, so who watched it last night?

Thoughts...

1. What was the deal with the drug sniffing dog? I know this is TV and that they are trying to promote the "bad boy" with "pumped up tattoo covered forearms and dark sunglasses", but I found it insulting. Frankly I would have left that bit on the editing room floor.

2. They could have cut down on the fluff a bit and actually listed names of people. I remember them listing the names at the bottom of the screen of a few people, but if they have twelve teams, they could have listed them all. I assume Courtney is the big blond guy with Junior Johnson? It was kind of confusing about how they asked them to partner drivers up.

3. I assume the on-track action they showed is from this season and it looked to include a handful of metal on metal contact. Which makes me think that it is going to result in someone getting screwed by aggressive or bad driving. I wonder if they will penalize those who use the "chrome horn" to pass?

4. Who is this female co-host and is she there to do anything other than look good? She have any racing background? Danica was a bit dry onair last season, but at least she is a racer.

Overall, it looks like it will be interesting to watch.

Richard

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Fri Feb 22, 2008 3:24 pm

If you lose the race, do you lose your ride?

Stacy King · **Posted:** Fri Feb 22, 2008 3:38 pm

Richard Casto wrote:

4. Who is this female co-host and is she there to do anything other than look good? She have any racing background? Danica was a bit dry onair last season, but at least she is a racer.

Richard

Was the girl last year named Danica? It sure as hell wasn't Danica Patrick.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:06 pm

Stacy King wrote:

Richard Casto wrote:

4. Who is this female co-host and is she there to do anything other than look good? She have any racing background? Danica was a bit dry onair last season, but at least she is a racer.

Richard

Was the girl last year named Danica? It sure as hell wasn't Danica Patrick.

I guess you are right. I could have swore she was on some episodes. But I Googled it and it doesn't show her.

Richard

Keith Vail · **Posted:** Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:09 pm

Richard Casto wrote:

2. They could have cut down on the fluff a bit and actually listed names of people. I remember them listing the names at the bottom of the screen of a few people, but if they have twelve teams, they could have listed them all. I assume Courtney is the big blond guy with Junior Johnson? It was kind of confusing about how they asked them to partner drivers up.

Actually the big blond guy is Kevin Dietz, another autocrosser from the Pacific Northwest. Courtney is the short guy with light colored hair that was shown in several crowd shots along with Mike.

THSCC Forums

"Setup" on Speed Starts Thursday w/ Autocrosser Mi

Who is online