The road to Optima Challenge 2021

[squirrel]

I guess you only need one spare wheel bearing, then!

pros for driving it to the event: more seat time, more shakedown time, motivation to make the car reliable

I've driven to/from Drag Week about half the time, and always made it home. There might be more of a chance to damage the car on a road course, though.

The side pipes would be a bitch, though. That's a lot of miles of loud.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Your plan is spot on, you will do ok, as your car is a good package for that series. Be prepared to see some stupid fast cars, the reason they are fast is due to years of development, so it will take time to get the car in the top third of the field from a new build.
Murphy's law, take the car on a trailer so your car won't break,
The single best thing you can do, which you have planned is time in the car! I'm sure you will do some adjustments on the suspension, and your brain to get the car's behavior figured out.

Also, find a place to practice the speed-stop challenge. It's WAAAY more difficult than it looks!
Take some spare parts so you're not sidelined for an easy fix, like a coil, vavle cover gaskets, wheel bearings, etc.

The satisfaction of completing the event is worth the effort, and the door stickers peel right off and make great garage decorations that you will love to look at for years.
If I were closer I'd lend a hand, please keep us posted.

as I said before... as long as I am not an utter fool (meaning, have practiced, and stay out of the way of the fast ones)... it's all good. I have low expectations as far as finishing anywhere but last (though above the DNFs).... that said, I finish last, have a blast, make new friends that's a full win to me.... winning is cool, but having fun is more important to me (which is what I mean about not slowing the fast ones down).

Thankfully there are few adjustments to make.... alignment is about it

Braking has always been an issue for me - but in part because I haven't run the same car twice.... having a car (hopefully) will help in this area.

I agree about the breakage - If I hauled my '40 to the trail, it wouldn't be down right now.... if I ever do drag week or rocky mountain race week, whatever I drive will be driven there and back... in this case, what hearing I have left would be ended (which is, actually, a bit of a concern because there are db limits at some of the tracks).

That said, my first chance to drive this on a track is on the 7th of March - I probably will drive there (and back - presuming I get the wiper issue fixed....)

I think stickers on street cars is a bit over the top, but stickers on a race car that is driven on the street.... that's cool.

I imagine if this goes far enough that I could be in your area at some point.... problem is the comment that the inspector made "you should be good for this year" I won't build another car to stay in the series.... that said, I may flip to the Wilwood Corvette challenge in 2022.


fun fact about wheel bearings.... they're all the same part number (front/back/right/left)...

[SuperBuickGuy]

School me on 3.2a race suits.... guess I need to get firesuited up (even in novice class)....
some data points: I'm rarely cold (think - guy in shorts while it's snowing), I'm not a onesie wearer (however, if there is an advantage to them - I'm all ears)....

that said, preliminary review says suits start at about $300 and go up from there.... what makes the price difference? (not whether it's worth it, far more basic).

[SuperBuickGuy]

yeah. It would be a breeze...

the older I get the greater the distance that exists between 'can' and 'should'

[Captain]

Dan.........
I didn't mean for anyone to take the last part seriously......, sorry to hurt any inspectors feelings, just meant it as Race Day Fun.
But everything before was meant to be good advice....

[DanStokes]

Bet the Javelin was a hit! At least in LSR we love to see something "different".

Dan

[mike343sharpstick]

Your plan is spot on, you will do ok, as your car is a good package for that series. Be prepared to see some stupid fast cars, the reason they are fast is due to years of development, so it will take time to get the car in the top third of the field from a new build.
Murphy's law, take the car on a trailer so your car won't break,
The single best thing you can do, which you have planned is time in the car! I'm sure you will do some adjustments on the suspension, and your brain to get the car's behavior figured out.

Also, find a place to practice the speed-stop challenge. It's WAAAY more difficult than it looks!
Take some spare parts so you're not sidelined for an easy fix, like a coil, vavle cover gaskets, wheel bearings, etc.

The satisfaction of completing the event is worth the effort, and the door stickers peel right off and make great garage decorations that you will love to look at for years.
If I were closer I'd lend a hand, please keep us posted.

[DanStokes]

Good Luck,
God's Speed,
and Perseverance !!!

Race Tech Inspection Experience.......
Be Polite, AND OFFER NOTHING UNLESS ASKED! Don't Confess to Sins that they might not have seen, and if did, and forgot later looking for other things.........
And if something isn't right, Be Polite, ask for a variance, or what can be corrected by race time.....or of course, the Ol' "I heard your daughter needs Dental Braces, here's a little bit to put a Smile on her Face" slipping him a Benjamin or two........

That'll get you tossed out on your head at Bonneville. Don't bribe the inspectors just work with them.. Their goal is not to keep you from running but to get you home in one piece at the end of the meet.

Dan

[squirrel]

1100 miles one way. That would be a long drive in the Corvette....

yeah. It would be a breeze...

[pdub]

SBG, I've done some brief searching on the Optima Challenge and haven't learned enough. I saw one thing that said rally/road course/autocross. What genre will you be competing in?

[pdub]

As long as you don't have to sticker it all up.

"Have to?" Guilty:



I'll add the numbers on the side windows and the windshield for ECTA and keep those on there to go to Daytona and they'll add some more to the sides and the front and ... whore. I had the ECTA class/numbers on the side windows when I went to autocross and the announcer kept saying he thought it was a drag racing car. I didn't correct him, Red did just about as well in the cones as a funny car would but that was all the driver at fault.

[Monster]

Subscribed to your epic adventure.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I hope you can make it happen, sounds like a great adventure!

How far from likely is it that you could drive the car to the event? That seems to really add to the adventure....and staying in dive motels is all part of the fun

1100 miles one way. That would be a long drive in the Corvette....

[squirrel]

I hope you can make it happen, sounds like a great adventure!

How far from likely is it that you could drive the car to the event? That seems to really add to the adventure....and staying in dive motels is all part of the fun

[tommmmy]

Looks sooo sexy! What's your opinion about casinos? I think if you play wisely you will never get in trouble with it. And of course you have to gamble only at tested online casinos such as online casino river cree https://rivercreetickets.com/. I play there for a long time already and definitely can say it's a legit service which takes care of his members. Follow the link I left to read more about it and register if you would like to.