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THE worst autox experience I've ever had. The course was like a 1/2-scale "nationals" style course. Looked like somebody took a course design from a huge lot & scaled it down to fit a lot 1/2 the size. Not good. I was mostly at the BOTTOM of second gear in the 2.5RS. It was also very choppy (I tried my best, but I just couldn't get it to flow). Then towards the end, they threw together a figure-8 before the finish. EVERYBODY got lost in it - well, okay not everybody, a few people somehow found their way through it, but most of them were going, like, 10mph (a few were very fast!). I got lost in it on every run. And I really don't suck at looking ahead - plus I had driven the course in my head like 10 times & never DNF'ed. Oh, and did I mention it was raining the whole time? And that Christine & I drove 2 hours to get there? Most of the THSCC people left early. We all had 2 more runs left in the afternoon, but it really wasn't worth sticking around. We had a somewhat decent meal at Applebee's & headed home.

So if you ever think about bitching about a THSCC autox, just keep your mouth closed, because you really don't know how good you have it! (But if Rockingham doesn't turn out better than this course, somebody's getting kicked in the nuts. )

On the bright side, I wasn't riding with Kevin Butler when a drug addict with no insurance hit him head-on & totalled his Miata. He's bruised up, but going to be okay - he actually showed up at the event during my run group with his arm in a sling. So compared to his day, I don't feel so bad about mine. I hope most people had a better time today than we all did!

I'm going to go break some stuff now...

I was getting reports of the demise of the autox on my way back from Pennslyvania. Yes the course was bad when it was designed but my opinion was IGNORED. They were bound and damn determined to have the "figure 8" on the small lot. I thought it would be confusing too....

There are still a few growing pains to go thru with the group. We have one in particular that thinks he's in Topeka at every event and that "This is how they do it at Nationals, and this and that and this" and the course designer had never autoxed till today (hes a roadracer).

Please bear with us, we would have had a backup computer if I hadnt had been out of town. As for the rain.... no help there

No one has a greater appreciation of Tarheel than I do after helping out with SCCA. There is alot of BS that can happen that doesnt at THSCC events. Im proud to be a THSCC member!

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STF 9

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"Never let life be shaped by fear of its end"

No, you're a towel!

Kevin you left out the timing and scoring problems associated with our timing equipment being lodged in the footwell of that totalled Miata. GD that was a pain in the ass. That really went from a well planned event to a worst case senario in about 1/2 an hour.

I thought the course sucked too, but I did get to drive an M3 on it. So that was kinda cool.

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2006 Civic Si - #24 HS for 2015

2005 GMC Sierra
1991 318is Garage Ornament

This proves that you need seasoned citizens in your club. Without our experienced people (Art) we would have been sunk at Danville.

BTW - Art, did I thank you for making the book sheets happen in Danville? You really saved our ass!!!!!

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Todd Breakey
STS 42 - 1992 Sunburst Miata
Dammit!
"You souldn't play leap frog with a porcupine. You might get hurt." - Eliza

Before this gets out of hand and I start to hear Queen playing "We Are The Champions" in the background. Kevin, you and I spoke at the event and you know my feelings on the layout. I can appreciate the fact that you had a crappy time. Quite honestly I'm surprised that you had a decent meal at Applebee's, especially the New Bern franchise.
Ryan, I don't know who THEY are but WE saw it coming and WE should have stopped it.
Rob, I don't recall you being at any of the planning meetings. I do recall you being at the site the day that the course was layed out. If you weren't then maybe you should have been.
I think that us Coastal people need to stop airing our dirty laundry on Tarheel's forum. What purpose does it serve?
For anyone else who wasn't at the event and has something to add, of course you're free to do so. But first ask yourself these few questions. Have you ever been at a event when there was timing problems?
I have. Have you ever been at an event that it rained so hard that conditions were miserable or worse , the event had to be canceled? I have, Dinnwiddie 2003 and Laurenburgh 2002 after a three and a half hour drive, 2 days of leave from work, one night stay in the thriving metropolis of laurenburgh and two hours standing in the pouring rain working the course until the event was canceled and never got a run. Course design I'll give you that one, although some havebeen better than others. But then again Tarheel has been around for decades, we're a year old. I'm not ready to jump ship. Has anyone been at an event where a friend who also happened to be the head of scoring and registration, was almost killed in a head on collision on the way to that event? I think I might have you there. It kind of brings things back into perspective. We're all basically just a bunch of people who have a similar interest. We love to drive.
I apologize to the competitors who were at the event. We had a lot of things go bad but we moved on. In the end, we did what we love to do.
I won't apologize to those who weren't at the event. Your comments fall on deaf ears. So you can save them. I too am a proud member of the Tarheel family (a distant cousin) and I along with some others are just trying to use our Tarheel experiences to spread our love for the sport to a new group of people who have a similar interest.
Sincerely,
Reverend Vern Geddings
Autoevangelist

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2003 Matrix XRS notaminivan
2004 Subaru WRX #38
2000 Rally Focus
2007 Honda NFR S2000

Yeah, I left out the timing problems, but that was out of anybody's control. And I think that the officers handled it beautifully! I did my part by standing there for ~ an hour and a half in the rain with my stopwatch to help the competitors get a somewhat accurate measure of their performance, and I appreciate whoever did the same for me during my sorry driving display. I just wish I had remembered to stop by and pick up my stopwatch before taking off!

Everybody who was in a position of authority that I talked to was very friendly and overall they seemed like a good group. Other than the horribly tight and confusing course design, the only complaint I can make is the "no umbrellas while course working" rule. You might want to get them to rethink that one.

Oh, and about the Applebee's - I said decent, not good!

Was yours the watch with no string on it?? If so I threw it in the spare battery box that we have. So I can get it returned to you.

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2006 Civic Si - #24 HS for 2015

2005 GMC Sierra
1991 318is Garage Ornament

Just remember every club can have a bad day. I'm sad to hear that the coastal event had so many issues. Sounds mostly like a case of bad doo doo happening to good people. It can be a real character test when a day like that happens but it from what I've heard the folks running the event did the best they could with what they had. I've heard that the other coastal events have gone really well so I'm sure this event was just a bump in the road and their next event will go much smoother.

If you down east guys could just learn to not wreck your cars on the way to and from the events you would probably enjoy autocrossing a lot more.

If it makes you feel any better the SCCA National Tour in DC this weekend had so many timer issues during the 1st day that an event that had first car off at 9:00am finished up after 8:00pm. Yes, that is 11 hours of autocross fun. Bad days happen even to the folks who get paid to run events. Oh and in case you are curious their problems were all related to a loose connection/fuse under the timing table that would blip the power to the JA circuits box making it reinitialize. It took them 3/4 of the day to find that since it would only blip when the person running timing would set their foot in a certain position.

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OK so I'm back in. Now which tire should I buy??

Amen Reverend!!! I can not believe people would bash fellow THSCC members that are working their tail off trying to get an organization up and going on the coast. I know what an established 40 year old organization goes through to put events on. I can only imagine what effort it takes for a new organization to get up and going.

THSCC is not prefect. It has had its share of lousy course designs, timer issues and weather issues. In the the four or five years I have been a member, I can not recall all three coming together in one event such as the Coastal group had. I hope it never happens. Watch, with all the chest thumping, it will happen at Rockingham.

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

I'm not bashing the club, just conveying how badly the course sucked & that overall it was not a good day to drive 4 hours round trip for an autox.

I heard all about it when I designed a shitty course at RBC last year, and you know what? I didn't make the same mistake the next time. If you really want to learn from your mistakes, you need to know how badly you've effed up.

Here are my thoughts on the event.

Weather - I hate rain and should have checked the forecast and stayed home. Totally my fault on that one. Their "No umbrella Rule" for the course workers was stupid, plain and simple.

Timing - A result of just plain old bad luck. Poor Kevin B. seems to have had more than his share lately though. The only one to blame would be that crack-head who totalled Kevin's car. I just came to this event for seat time so it didn't matter much to me that stopwatches were used.

Course Layout - Two words...It sucked. Tight wasn't the word. Even in the Miata it was painful in spots. I doubt that even Jim P. would have liked it. I should have brought the tape measure to see if the 15 ft minimum gate width was observed. They must have used every cone they had. I saw many veterans get lost (including me) so the newbies didn't have a chance. The figure eight...OMG that was a cluster - - - k right from the start. I heard Vern and Ryan say two weeks ago that it was a bad idea, and it was. It wasn't marked correctly, and I'm not sure if I ever did it right.

The course problem in fact was avoidable as I understand it. According to Ryan this group has a Course Nazi and he is the problem. Why do so many people say "they do it like this at Nationals"? Is there a desperate need to get everyone ready for a National event? If the site won't lend itself to a design of this type then don't try it !!!!!!! If they ditch this guy (hint, hint) I think things will run much better.

In summary I'm not bitchin' at any of the folks like Rob and Vern who worked to do the best job they could with what they had to work with. Some of the problems were due to the political SCCA bullsh*t that they have to deal with, and we as independants do not...thank GOD. They do have people like Ryan who have good ideas, which could help their events much better...BUT... if they won't listen then it doesn't matter. From what I understand the best way to get an idea shot down is to say "Tarheel does it this way". 40 years of experience (with plenty of trail and error I'm sure) doesn't count for much with these guys I guess.

BTW, the meal at Applebee's wasn't good either. Like I said when you guys asked Kevin..."it wouldn't be my first choice".

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

Vincent, you just got to work, didn't you. Shawn and Jim, I appreciate the encouragement. Vincent and Kevin, we appreciate your imput on the course design. Kevin, I understand that Rob is working on getting your stopwatch back. Ryan, Rob and myself have corresponded with each other and we're taking care of our business.

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2003 Matrix XRS notaminivan
2004 Subaru WRX #38
2000 Rally Focus
2007 Honda NFR S2000

I'm not familiar with the event organizers, so typically how long before times get posted? Glad (kind of) to hear that a lot of folks had trouble seeing the course. I though it was just me having problems.

I discovered one good thing about driving in the rain...my sudden/jerky movements get smoothed out when the course is wet

[quote="Chris Landi"]I'm not familiar with the event organizers, so typically how long before times get posted? [\quote]

I took one heat an put it into Excel last night, Kevin and Rob have the other two heats and should have them together today. Im gonna try and help Kevin sort the results tonight, so MAYBE tomorrow, definitely by the end of the week. Dont expect to see PAX results unless Kevin is better than I am at Excel, but who knows. PAX sux anyway

If we had been able to use the AXWare timer, they would be posted already.

I would also like to say thanks for keeping this thread a POSITIVE as possible. We can only correct our mistakes if we know what they are.

This may be bad timing but..... Our next event is at Twin Rivers yet again July 11th!

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