Tarheel'ers at the Dixie Tour

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

To protect the names of the innocent I will leave the names out. The wife portion of an anonymous couple who was driving at the Tour (in the same class, but in different cars - i.e., not Bernie & Gwen) told her husband that after she beat him on Day #1 that he'd have to wear her pink t-shirt Solo Pro t-shirt on Day #2. Anonymous husband agreed on the condition that she drive "commando" on Day #2 if she was the slower of the two on Day #1.

Cold and windy conditions, as well as objections from her car owner prevented the bet from being fulfilled. Anyway, her nickname for the weekend (Doe) is short for Commando. This is what happens when competitors get sleep deprived for a variety of reasons :-)

Anyway, the course was a blast. My hands were shaking after each run. It was extremely hard to put in a fast and clean run as there were lots of cones. There were many "thread the needle" sections which made for tough but challenging driving. That was the first tour I've run in several years and I really enjoyed it, even though I never put a really good run together. The getting home at 3:15 a.m. part after getting about 4 hours sleep the night before was a little rough.

Anonymous Husband

JamesShort · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:53 am

So is there anything stopping a person from running a class that their car is legal for if there is a less competitive class for you to run (and be legal in)? This is in reference to ST*: ie. car that is legal for ST but running in STU ?

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:54 am

JamesShort wrote:

So is there anything stopping a person from running a class that their car is legal for if there is a less competitive class for you to run (and be legal in)? This is in reference to ST*: ie. car that is legal for ST but running in STU ?

Nope. Legal is legal. You see ST cars running in STX quite often.

--Donnie

JamesShort · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:56 am

Donnie Barnes wrote:

JamesShort wrote:

So is there anything stopping a person from running a class that their car is legal for if there is a less competitive class for you to run (and be legal in)? This is in reference to ST*: ie. car that is legal for ST but running in STU ?

Nope. Legal is legal. You see ST cars running in STX quite often.

--Donnie

To avoid those pesky 89 Civics I presume

.

I should rephrase what I said....ST is NOT a less competitive class than some of the higher ST*. You know what I meant

.

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:58 am

JamesShort wrote:

To avoid those pesky 89 Civics I presume

.

Usually to put four drivers in the same car (four male drivers, typically). But I believe STX competition has been light enough before that a top driver in an ST car jumped in there and won it, too. But that would be *in* an 89 Civic, not "because" of an 89 Civic.

--Donnie

JamesShort · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 10:06 am

Just noticed that the Neon SRT4 must have got dropped from DS to GS for 2010.

Anyway, on topic, congrats to those Tarheel-ers (is that ok Donnie?

) that went to compete. Couple trophies I see.

Keith Vail · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 10:07 am

The problem with said driver is not that he ran in STU instead of ST. It is that he constantly talks up how fast he is but then he runs against some good ST Civics and is 2-3 seconds slower than them and instantly blames his car for being off the pace. So he saw STU was weak at Dixie and decided he would try and win some money by running there.

JamesShort wrote:

So is there anything stopping a person from running a class that their car is legal for if there is a less competitive class for you to run (and be legal in)? This is in reference to ST*: ie. car that is legal for ST but running in STU ?

Chris Peterson · **Joined:** Tue Sep 16, 2003 9:02 am **Posts:** 243

Things I learned this weekend:
1. There is a 2nd rev limiter on Keith's S2000 (who knew???)
2. If you're gonna drive your car through a fence, be sure to cover it in vinyl first
4. Coning out on day 1 sucks
5. Don't make bets with your spouse.
6.. ETA - TURN OFF TRACTION CONTROL!!!!!

Despite temps that were significantly lower than predicted, the weekend was a BLAST. Running in open class was fun - and a bit challenging. On the up side, there was no pressure and I could focus on ramping up my aggression. On the down side, more aggression = more cones. :cry:

I learned a lot and am ready to do it all again.....well....maybe after a bit more sleep.

JamesFeinberg · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:02 am

There was a Subaru 2.5RS who jumped from ST to STU this weekend just to get away from the Civics to ensure himself a better shot at a trophy and possible contingency money. I can't say I blame him as that is just part of the game. (<edit> Keith summing up what I was saying. It never helps to start a post, hop on an hour-long conference call and then finish it.)

Anyway, congratulations to all the Tarheel members who made the trek down to Dixie! It was awesome to see Gwen and Bernie out there and it sounds like they had a great time.

Thanks again to all that helped put on the TnT in Laurinburg. It was a great venue to shake down the rebuilt version of the Integra and while Spratte and I feel like we are learning to drive it again after all the changes, it is definitely working very well out of the box.

Jim

Gwen Habenicht · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:08 am

Bernie and I had a great time. While niether of us drove to our potential, we now have our first tour under our belts. Now we know how grid, impound, run/work order, etc work. Concerns about those things were greater, for me anyway, than running. As it turns out, Tours are much less hectic than local events in that regard. You just have to be there when you're supposed to be.
300+ drivers all walking the coure in the dark, by the way, on Friday evening was pretty overwhelming. Things looked better on Sat morning in the light. Then Sat night and Sunday morning walks were pretty much in the dark due to the time change. All part of the Tour flavor this time.
The 2 courses were a blast, fast, like some of our more recent Sanford courses.
The rain for the school and T&T made getting a feel for the surface a wash. (Sorry for the pun.) Sunday, it was much colder than expected and we were sacrificing our coats as tire warmers. Anything for the cause. HS was first both days. Bernie & I both had spins on our first runs-as did many others, actually, but we still had fun on course. Thanks to all our friends who gave us words of incouragement, and continually pointed us in the right direction all weekend.
We're still driving home presently, after stopping for a good night's sleep.
The best part of the whole weekend was just how much fun we had, and how much we laughed.

David Spratte · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:17 am

Very fun, if exhausting, weekend of National Tour shenanigans. DS continues to be a dog fight and it's better that way. I'm mostly happy with how I drove—finished P2 for the day yesterday but not by nearly enough to move up. Biggest thing was getting out there and getting a decent first run (on cold damn tires Sunday).

Always more to work on as a driver.

Glad that the water turned out to be fine for Gwen and Bernie. It's really just a big local event with drivers from all over. Some fast. Some not as.

¡Viva las margaritas de Texas!

Once I dig out I'll try and get some video up.

Gwen Habenicht · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:26 am

Don't let Chris fool you. She was smoking fast!
I was really glad I ran in open too. I had no expectations of placing, but thought it would be the best opportunity to learn the most, as well as meet the most H stockers. It was a good choice.We met a lot of folks.
Yestyerday, I was working the sweeper when Eric came through on his second run. As he came out of the sweeper all I could see was this huge smile on his face, I just thought that was cool.

Keith Vail · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:34 am

Chris Peterson wrote:

1. There is a 2nd rev limiter on Keith's S2000 (who knew???)

I did get a laugh out of that one. Between the traction control needing to be turned off and the hard limiter that Honda so thoughtfully decided to put on the S2000. You seemed to be completely thrown. I hope you had fun and enjoyed the car.

Chuck Frank · **Posted:** Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:45 am

Sorry we couldn't be there (Dman ACC didn't you read the SCCA Ax schedule when you scheduled your little tournament??? :roll:

)
We got hooked on National events at our first one, Of course it happened to be the last Peavey sponsored tour, THOSE people really knew how to throw a party!!!!
Aside: I wonder how many people will actually run the new AS at future events, or was the class reorganization a mistake or???

Chris Peterson · **Joined:** Tue Sep 16, 2003 9:02 am **Posts:** 243

Kieth - I was seriously thrown day 1. Day 2, I was ready - even if I did forget that damn traction control on the first run. :oops:

After a taste of the luxury that is Chicane Silver with red leather seats and hoop speakers, how can I ever go back to Silverstone? Thanks again for letting me jump in the car at the last minute. Being able to run heads up with the great competition really made for an awesome learning experience and a fantastic weekend.

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