THSCC Forums

Hello All,
I'm trying to transition to RX VP and wanted to introduce myself to all. With the help of everyone, I'm hoping to help keep the program moving. Charlie, Drew, and Ricky are helping school me in my duties but I have a long way to go. If anyone has comments, advice please don't hesitate to fire them my way.

We're in the planning stage for this year so please sound-off about the program.

Thanks
Charles Lankford
charles@pharma-sys.com

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CLL

La Cucaracha Rojo
150 cc generic motor scooter

Let me know how I can help.

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2004 Subaru Forester XT
1992 Sunburst Mazda Miata
1990 Mazda RX-7 (work in progress)
2000 Xterra SE

rallycross with rally cars,shakedown before sandblast..come on guys it will be fun.

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hey yall,watch this...

Don't forget to mention that we may want to reserve the weekend of Feb 28 - Mar 1 for a school/rallycross if we can secure a site. .... Building suspense and anticipation.
Don't forget to charge those rally car batteries during this frigidly weather.

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1998 BMW Z3
1987 BMW 325is
2000 BMW
1996 F250 Turbo Diesel

The vw has a peculiar problem,that it forgets stuff if hte battery gets too dead.Some things on the engine , go kaput if the thing gets too dead...Recharging it wont help.

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hey yall,watch this...

If you have a slow drain, get a deep cycle battery and keep a trickle charger on it.

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2004 Subaru Forester XT
1992 Sunburst Mazda Miata
1990 Mazda RX-7 (work in progress)
2000 Xterra SE

Brett wrote:
In the past it was smart to pull the battery and store indoor with a charger. Now we'd need to drag cords under the garage door and across the yard to the rally car just so it doesn't loose its mind. How very German.

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1998 BMW Z3
1987 BMW 325is
2000 BMW
1996 F250 Turbo Diesel

I have used a solar cell in my beater car to keep the battery up. I bought it from Harbor Freight or Northern Tool. The beater car did not have any constant drain on the battery except for the radio memory. The solar cell came with a Cig liter plug that plugged into the lighter which was always hot.

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George Bright Member # 141
One of the youngest of the old farts.
Yes I voted against you joining the club.

Thanks for stepping up and volunteering this year! You might want to bring back event chairs to spread some of the workload around; I'd be happy to chair an event.

I've been trying to help with marketing in past years. Let me know once you get the schedule ready, or event the date of the first event, and I can send an announcement to the ad-hoc email list of past participants.

The one process improvement I'd like to see is a dedicated novice/visitor coordinator to encourage novices to ride with experienced drivers, and round up experienced drivers to ride with novices. This person should also encourage visitors to ride-along to try and turn them into drivers.

You might also want to put your contact info on the website-- my phone number is still on the website as the contact for rallyx, and while I don't mind talking to people about the sport, I just had to send them to Charlie most of the time.

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"Build a man a fire and he'll stay warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll stay warm the rest of his life."
'93 Subaru Legacy DIRTBOMB
'98 BMW M3
2013 Rallyx Co-VP

I agree with Michael 100% on the novice coordinator role, and had pretty much planned to spend as much time as possible doing just that. It is a challenge to do that plus normal worker duties, and in the past we've all been too busy (mostly).

And, to add to the thread hijack, we have a Harbor Freight solar panel plugged into the cig lighter, but to no avail. And as I type this I wonder if the lighter is "live" with the switch off.....need to check that, duh!

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1998 BMW Z3
1987 BMW 325is
2000 BMW
1996 F250 Turbo Diesel

Also you might want to coordinate a planning meeting for rallyx and get together everyone who wants to contribute. You could even run a conference call if driving all over is an issue... The goal would be to finalize a plan for 2015 and then divide up the tasks needed to get us on track.

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"Build a man a fire and he'll stay warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll stay warm the rest of his life."
'93 Subaru Legacy DIRTBOMB
'98 BMW M3
2013 Rallyx Co-VP

One more thing that we need to do is emphasize joining THSCC so season points count. Some of our regulars last year never joined (and consequently never participated on the forums).

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1998 BMW Z3
1987 BMW 325is
2000 BMW
1996 F250 Turbo Diesel

Guys,
I agree with Michael with all of his points. We do need a meeting to discuss the plan for Rally Cross in 2015. There's a lot of work that we need to do and I'm totally green. (translates to I don't know what I'm doing.....) Does anyone have suggestions for a date/time? I'm booked on the next six 6 Wednesdays and out of town on Jan 26-Jan 30. and weekend of Feb 8.

I also agree that we need a novice/visitor coordinator.

We need an alternative timing system to free us from the scheduling constraints for the Autocross program. (Fortunately they are very active but our program suffers because of the availability of finite resources.)

Several of us need to get a class on set-up and operation of the reregistration, event management and timer system(s) so we can take some heat off of the peeps who know how to use them. (I know Brett Murphy has asked and I need one as well. Others may also want to learn how to use them.)

We need to confirm the bus driver for all of our events this season. Hopefully, Ricky will still be available and willing to do this. I'm sure I can manage it on occasion as well.

We need to coordinate announcements of our events to other organizations, media, etc. to maximize interest in participating.

We need to coordinate pictures/videos at events and the postings there-of on the NET to generate interest.

Maybe we can generate interest in the joining the THSCC by offering discounts to members much like the Autocross group does.

Finally, Michael and Sebastian have both expressed willingness to Chair events this year. I, for one, welcome both to do so and ask other interested parties to volunteer as well.



Tentative schedule so far:

Feb 28 (Sat) – Novice School – Wilson – Site secured – Bus driver not secured - I can Chair this event with someone’s help

Mar 1 (Sun) – Rally-X #1 – Wilson – Site secured – Bus driver not secured – I can Chair this event with someone’s help

Apr 4 (Sat) – Rally-X #2 – VIR – Site not yet secured – Bus driver not secured – Chair not secured
In conjunction with VIR track day if we can get discount. Otherwise we may want move it to Apr 12 if available. Meeting with VIR later this month to finalize.

May 17 (Sun) – Rally-X #3 – Wilson – Site secured – Bus driver not secured – Chair not secured
Scheduling conflict with Auto-X event in Danville. May need to either cancel or come up with innovative timing solution. (Stop watches and time slips?????) Weekend before is Mother’s Day weekend after is Memorial Day. Wilson may not be available for Memorial Day.

Jun 21 (Sun) – Rally-X #4 – Fayetteville – Site not yet secured – Bus driver not secured – Chair not secured

Jul 19 (Sun) – Rally-X #5 – – VIR – Site not yet secured – Bus driver not secured – I can Chair this event with someone’s help
Meeting with VIR later this month to finalize.

Aug 16 (Sun) – Rally-X #6 – Wilson – Site secured – Bus driver not secured – Chair not secured

Sep 12 (Sat) – Rally-X #7 – VIR – Site not yet secured – Bus driver not secured – Chair not secured
In conjunction with VIR track day. Meeting with VIR later this month to finalize. We could schedule this for the week after (Sep 20 (Sun)) but that is the weekend for NASA 2015 Black River Stages, Harrisville, NY.

Oct 16 (Sun) – Rally-X #8 – Wilson – Site secured – Bus driver not secured – Chair not secured

Do we want to schedule a Rally-X in November?

Thanks guys!

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CLL

La Cucaracha Rojo
150 cc generic motor scooter

A meeting would be great; I'm free pretty much anytime. It would probably be easier to host a Google hangout for this event since we're spread out geographically, but I'd be willing to drive if not.

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"Build a man a fire and he'll stay warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll stay warm the rest of his life."
'93 Subaru Legacy DIRTBOMB
'98 BMW M3
2013 Rallyx Co-VP

I've said we can use the Radware office (8000 Regency Park, Cary) after hours for training. I just need to know when's good for those who want to be there.

I'm not sure what you mean w.r.t. autox? There are two timers, so that's not a problem. However, both groups use every available cone.

As long as there's no lemons/chump conflicts, I'll be available to bring the bus. I'll mooch a co-drive from whatever's there. (we're working out the kinks with the sentra we've had for 3 years -- automatic and 3rd doesn't work, gas tank full of many non-gas things...)