The road to Optima Challenge 2021

[mike343sharpstick]

SBG, if you are planning to participate in an Optima Event this year, and have not yet entered any events, I suggest you listen to the OSUSC Podcast #123 and contact Adam Hanna as they mention. If you are already signed up, never-mind.

[SuperBuickGuy]

SBG, if you are planning to participate in an Optima Event this year, and have not yet entered any events, I suggest you listen to the OSUSC Podcast #123 and contact Adam Hanna as they mention. If you are already signed up, never-mind.

I signed up for Willow Springs (and confirmed) for May 28/29. I thought I posted who I talked to.... will have to check... but I sent pictures, full description, and unabashed plea to let me run this year - and they said okay....

with that said, what did I miss on the podcast?


The rules actually give you a name and contact if you have any questions (which should be industry standard)....


this is who I talked to
Mike Morrison|Chief of Tech & Road Course Segment Manager
919 Conference Drive, Suite 4-350|Goodlettsville, TN 37072
C: 214-738-6072

[SuperBuickGuy]

my hope is 2 events, both Willow Springs and UMC July 18/19....

[mike343sharpstick]

Good, All but 2 events are sold out at the time of the recording, HOWEVER, if you want to attend a sold out event let them know and typically they will get you in. The review this a bit and talk about why, and who to contact to get on the 'wait-list'.

And if you want to do Road America let me know

[SuperBuickGuy]

Good, All but 2 events are sold out at the time of the recording, HOWEVER, if you want to attend a sold out event let them know and typically they will get you in. The review this a bit and talk about why, and who to contact to get on the 'wait-list'.

And if you want to do Road America let me know

"want" is not the issue.

*edit*
however, that convinced me to sign up for UMC in Salt Lake City in July....


the biggest issue - and what might prevent either, is if the car doesn't run.... it blows up now and that would be the end of it for this year.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'm going to put this here in the Road to Optima, but also cross post it to the project page.

Saturday afternoon, I took the car out - so far, I've been driving like a saint but things happened (things), and I really got on it 4th gear 5600 rpm. On a public highway.... moving on.

I think that before I go racing (not Optima), that I need to spend a lot of time making this thing go through the air better. It feels solid but... I think I'm going to have to do some pretty substantial air management...


*for those who wish to calculate... 3.27 gears, 5600 rpm, 26.5 tire. I was scooting.

[squirrel]

dang, that's as fast as my old chevy gets moving in the 1/4 mile. And I immediately stomp on the brake pedal.

[silver_bullet]

Possibly a pace car front spoiler (1978) and a rear wickerbill for a bit more downforce?
Just remembered how it felt back in the day while riding with my brother in a 1973 Vette when he abruptly let off of the throttle... got real tail happy real quick....

[SuperBuickGuy]

some kind of splitter... funny thing is Optima, in the class I'm running, only allows 'stock' stuff. The cars with wings and splitters are in an unlimited class and are thinly veiled race cars.... some not even veiled

and with that said high speed handling is only 1 of the 5 areas - one that I simply play 'follow the leader' since I'm a novice.

[pdub]

some kind of splitter... funny thing is Optima, in the class I'm running, only allows 'stock' stuff. The cars with wings and splitters are in an unlimited class and are thinly veiled race cars.... some not even veiled

and with that said high speed handling is only 1 of the 5 areas - one that I simply play 'follow the leader' since I'm a novice.

Sooo..."1 of the 5 areas"... Is that laid out, like cones you have to go through at 150 mph? Or are you just on a big road course and high speed handling comes into play simply because it does?

[SuperBuickGuy]

Sooo..."1 of the 5 areas"... Is that laid out, like cones you have to go through at 150 mph? Or are you just on a big road course and high speed handling comes into play simply because it does?

let's see if I remember them
1) autocross
2) braking
3) engineering
4) road drive
5) track... I think run the track and get lap times but for novice, it's the ugly duck and its little ducklings playing 'follow the leader' thus it's just a gold star, not a time in that category.

On the track portion, Randy Probst said they do the 'small track, not the scary big track' ... since there's nothing to hit but sagebrush, out there, not sure what denotes either.

[65RHDEER]

*for those who wish to calculate... 3.27 gears, 5600 rpm, 26.5 tire. I was scooting.

I have the answer in metric, three digits, first one is a two, second one is a one, third seven.28.

I have been faster on a public road, on a Hayabusa, it did it too easy!

[SuperBuickGuy]

I have the answer in metric, three digits, first one is a two, second one is a one, third seven.28.

I have been faster on a public road, on a Hayabusa, it did it too easy!

my 'organ donor' phase of my life had a Honda VFR 750.... fastest I've ever been on wheels.... mph sounds impressive too at those speeds... but no 2 as the first number of that three digit set.... missed it by 3 mph.... then I pulled off the road and shook for 10 minutes... even then I thought that was nuts.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'm going to be exactly where I didn't want to be. A week from Sunday is my first autocross.... supposed to rain between now and then.... how annoying. I guess I don't care that much about getting the car wet (heck, it even has wipers that work).... but this in the rain will be a handful.

[pdub]

I have the answer in metric, three digits, first one is a two, second one is a one, third seven.28.

I have been faster on a public road, on a Hayabusa, it did it too easy!

I have not been that fast on a public road. When I first got Red I had to take him out for a speed run of course. The guy had put brand new tires on Red so he could say Red had brand new tires when he sold him. I never even looked at the tires, all that I knew was that they were "new." I was lucky that wasn't my last ride in Red, at speed he was steering (or vaguely "aiming") like a V bottom motor boat in the wind. When I decided to run him at land speed I knew I had to have speed rated tires so I looked at his tires. They were speed rated T. On that run down the deserted stretch of interstate I had surpassed the speed rating for U.

SBG, I have seen guys in fire breathing pavement shakers run autocross in the rain. They had the slowest time but they had the most fun and they put on by far the best show. Enjoy! Call it honing your driving skills.