THSCC Forums

It was another nice day, kinda hot but not too bad, dustier than I'd hoped for considering the rain on Thursday (I guess we just didn't get that much). I'd gotten a complaint that our events had started running long, and I knew the last event ran long, but I didn't really know if we'd gotten into a pattern of running late, so I thought I'd try to keep an eye on the time this time (comes easily to a codriver ). We got started right on time (a bit early, actually- FCO was 1 minute early by my watch) and finished the morning runs right around 11:30. I'd hoped for a quick turnaround to the afternoon course, but we had some ruts that needed repair, and we couldn't restart until 1:00. We finished up around 2:45, and decided to skip fun runs. Maybe because of that we got some help packing up the bus, and we were ready for awards just after 3.

Attendance wasn't good for this event- only 28 drivers. We had only 31 for the previous one. Any speculation why? Had our events really gotten slow and people were staying away because of that? Just too many events perhaps (between autoX, rallyX, track, etc.)?

That field certainly has an interesting composition. Some places seem to hold up really well, other places have a solid but wearable surface (like the 2 turns in the back of the field), and some just get completely torn up. The right turn on the morning course after passing the worker station on the crossover got really chewed up, and it looked like everyone had a different line through there. Looking at the ruts while walking the afternoon course, you could see where there was a "band" of firmer dirt that sliced through the corner, and this may have contributed to the problem.

Again I liked the courses- fast and fun. Thanks to Kevin and Cosby for all their work setting everything up!

_________________
Carl Fisher

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=4651531

If we'd had the tractor (which was out of service due to coolant problems), we'd have gotten the ruts smoothed out better and quicker, and would have finished up early. A big thanks goes out to everyone who helped out to smooth and fill the ruts with hand tools.

_________________
1988 Plymouth Reliant

I was very sorry to miss it -- why can't I get colds on Monday instead of Friday?

I think it's really hard to convince people to come out in their regular auto-x car because they think they are going to destroy it. This has been talked about to death but I feel it's the primary reason for the low attendance. Even the Subaru crowd has a major challenge getting new people out beyond the regulars. Kevin Allen posted repeatedly to nasioc and didn't get any response. It's frustrating...

--Kevin H.

_________________
2003 WRX (again!)

We had a response with the Sunday event. Several people said they were going to show up and then none of them actually did show.

_________________
2010 Honda Fit Sport
Couple of bicycles

Rallyx is young and it takes awhile to build up the ranks. I also think most people are of the thought that you have to have a powerful 4wd car to do this and have fun. Just not the case, honestly the 60 hp FWD Dirtamster is about as fun to drive as anything. I never thought that until I tried it....

Also, lots in the club AX, and track. I know I havent made all the events just due to the fact that I would like to stay home a bit too. Couple this with deciding between an AX/Track event and a rallyx, rallyx loses everytime. Im sure Im not alone in this.

_________________
02 Focus SVT
STF 9

Oh, forgot to mention that results are up:
http://thscc.com/rallycross/events/

Anyone got pictures? I know I saw Kevin out there. Mike Orth took a few of the afternoon finish, but I haven't seen them yet- I'll keep you posted.

_________________
Carl Fisher

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=4651531

Count me in this club too. I missed the non-points event to attend another auto-x to try and get the CRX sorted out. I missed the last event due to the recovery process from nationals. Well, that and the fact that a tree fell on the MR2 and I haven't had a chance to fix it yet.

Making the last event would be a small miracle at this point. I doubt I'll have a chance to get the MR2 fixed between now and then and the Laser needs tires as well as a few other small bits. I'm very reluctant to rent a ride for various reasons so the prospects aren't looking too good.

I'll probably be back out there next year but that mostly depends on scheduling against various other auto-x's.

Jim

One thing we might could do to attract some of the more casual members or novices is change the "rally" button on the thscc main page to rallycross, especially considering that we haven't had a TSD rally in what? Half a decade?

We also might want to put a couple of pictures on the 'what is rallycross' page, since far more folks have heard of autocross than rallycross. The pictures make it look like the blast it is.

_________________
1988 Plymouth Reliant

I'm getting some photos together for Carl to show to possible future site owners - they could also be put on the website. I have photos from this event (and the last one) but haven't put anything up yet. Too many things to do, and putting pictures up from events has been the lowest priority, but I'll get them up eventually.

As for missing events to have some time off from racing, I will miss an autox looooonnnng before I'll miss a rallyx. And I know of a few others who feel the same. (right, just a FEW )

I've pretty much given up on the nabisco (Subaru) crowd - they all thought rallycrossing was a great idea before we started actually doing it, and now they always have excuses. It's gotten to the point that for this event, the only people who responded to the announcement were Keith, Cosby and Brian. There might be a new guy once in awhile that could become interested, but I'm not going to expect much.

Right now I feel about rallycross the way I felt about autox when I first joined this club - if I could compete in one every weekend, or at least every other weekend, it would be a wonderful thing. I don't feel that way about autox anymore - it's fun to go out & play, but it's just not as fun as it used to be now that we have rallyx. I see myself eventually owning a rally car, with which I'll compete in stage rallies a few times each year, and rallycrosses in between. I'll probably still go to a few autoxes each year, but it's gotten to the point that an autox is time and money that I could spend playing in the dirt.

And yes, Anders (if you're reading this) I know that money spent on an 06 STi is money that could be spent on a rally car... That's one reason I'm still trying to make up my mind.

Right now I would miss a rallycross to go to an autocross only because the development and tuning on my miata and my driving is more important. I am planning on running Divisional events and Prosolos next year with attendance at nationals in 07 hopefully. After that I will probably switch to rallying as it is huge fun and I will be sick of autocross in a couple years.

_________________
2010 Honda Fit Sport
Couple of bicycles

I'm just coming to grips with the fact that I was driving a genuine Mike Whitney-prepared BMW, but managed to lose to a 1988 Reliant wagon and also a 1976 Pinto Runabout. When I drove the Dirtmaster 1600 last winter, I figured there was hope: All I had to do was learn to apply random steering inputs precisely 3.14 or 5.02 seconds ahead of the intended direction change, just like Charlie, and all would be well.

Now Mike's 325E is another matter altogether: I may as well have been shouting navigational orders in pig Latin at the deranged monkeys who hijacked the steering rack. That said, I would like to try my hand at rallycrossing the 325E again. Somehow, playing toss and catch me if you can with that car has got to pay off in better car control skills.

As far as attendance... if we have enough folks to man the course and cover expenses (I realize both were marginal yesterday), why do we want more entries? Am I sounding like Ron Spencer? In fact, why isn't Ron coming out?

Finally, what does "cadmia" mean? I found references to zinc oxide on the web, but nothing that works in the context of the amusing event description.

Maybe it's our offensive dash plaques keeping people away?



That, by the way, is the funniest dash plaque I have ever seen. Bravo.

_________________
Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

As always, definitely a fun time. We need to put a big hand out to Joe as well for this event. Believe it or not, he did more than I did this time.

This seems to have been the first event at Kevin's that we had in a long time that got severly rutted. Also can't explain the lack of attendance, unless it is with the conflicting event's elsewhere. I've got a solid interest in RallyX this year with a foot in AutoX. The Sanford event is probably going to be the deciding factor for me as to whether or not I focus on AutoX next year. The 2 events that I've been to gave me a different rush that I just completely enjoyed. Regardless, I've got the "new" Sentra (which as Vincent pointed out, I need to name) that I'll be running in SU2 next year. So I've got at least one more full year of RallyX to do. The change in cars is basically to just change the feel. Being able to tap the brake and drift through a corner with the right exit angle is exhilerating, but being able to yank on the e-brake and slide as if you don't know what you are doing is awesome!!

Something else that I've noticed with the Subaru crowd. Not only are they all talk and no show There seems to be something about central NC that has all the owner's in some sort of mightier than though attitude. Down south in Florida, and further North and West, you will find a larger number of Subaru's competing and having fun than you will 2WD. I think we just need to find a way to adjust their attitude.

Oh yeah. Afterthought.

I really wanna protest that cone! That's just not right.

At least it wasn't a DNF, AND it helped Steve out. Your welcome Steve.

I agree that this a major part of low attendance. I agree with what others have said that we (THSCC) have so many events that a lot of people just don't have the time or $$$ to do them all.

I'm fortunate that I own 1/5 of a car that we have a ball with at Rally-X and aren't worried about breaking it. Even though we aren't worried about breaking it, we still don't consider it a "beater". If it breaks we don't get to play so we do "care" if it breaks! We aren't out much if it does though. People w/o a "disposable" car really can't justify the risk. I completly understand that, but there are other very inexpensive options IMO.

I'm also lucky that I have the time and the $$$ right now to afford to do all of our THSCC events. This season I've only missed our Roebling track event. If GA wasn't so dang far away I would have made that one too. I understand that some don't have the time that I do.

_________________
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)