Racing Ready

The antithesis to driving/racing -- technology is cool, but no one’s there behind the wheel & pedals.  There’s no personal challenge!  But for full disclosure, here’s what Stanford University is challenging themselves to do -- driverless!

Stanford’s Robotic Audi
To Brave Pikes Peak Without A Driver

The Center for Automotive Research at Stanford has developed a new contender for the Pikes Peak course: A robotic car that drives itself.
(By Christine Blackman, a science-writing intern at the Stanford News Service)

We’ll have to wait till September 2010 to see how this all works out…

Racing Ready is both skeptical & curious -- what do YOU think!

Dan

New Independent AMSOIL Dealership Launched

Racing Ready announces the launch of it’s new Independent AMSOIL Dealership that caters to the needs of the amateur motorsport enthusiast & participant.   We are your synthetic lubrication solution for your motor vehicle.  Be it a racing machine or a daily driver, all vehicles deserve proper lubrication protection.  In addition to the ease of ordering product directly online (& looking up AMSOIL products that are correct for your vehicle’s application), Dan will be taking Racing Ready Synthetics to many of these racing events, car shows & other motorsports enthusiasts venues, offering quality synthetic lubrication products to support the performance goals of amateur motorsport racers.

This sales endeavor is: Racing Ready Synthetics

Dan Scanlon, editor of Racing Ready, promotes, supports & showcases motorsport participants in a variety of competition venues.  These range from spirited local autocross competition, to high performance drivers education (HPDE) events & even road racing competition. Also featured are up & coming talented individuals climbing the challenging ladder of racing involvement.

For more details & answers to your lubrication questions, contact Dan here.  To conveniently order, the Authorized AMSOIL Dealer link is on the left side of this page.

This is the announcement Racing Ready has been alluding to for the last few weeks.  I am looking forward to a variety of promotional opportunities for AMSOIL products.  Please consider these superior & cost effective synthetic lubrication products I offer for sale.

Dan

Over the past 1.5 years, when I’ve researched autocross outside the US, the term Gymkhana has continued to appear in my searches.  Here in the US many have been awestruck by the artistic driving antics of Ken Block.  Well, here in South/Central Texas we’ll finally have a chance to experience & compete in a Gymkhana in person!

Harris Hill Road is inaugurating their 1st Ever H2R Gymkhana.  Here are all the details, provided by Eric Beverding, of H2R:

Gymkhana is a gymnastic test of your driving skills and your car’s  abilities. It’s not so much about speed--imagine stunt driver (you) meets daily driver (your car) in a series of challenging events requiring quick thinking, lots of sudden, simultaneous control inputs and a cool-headed command of situational awareness.  From a standing start to test your best launch through a carve versus slide 180, down to an either or, inside or outside line snap decision, through a 360 degree pivot, then an optional slalom followed by a high-speed lane change and a blind, random asteroid field of mini-cones. Don’t hit those, but a must-topple, late apex murder cone follows, and a downhill, limited adhesion garage parking maneuver requires a full stop, then select reverse and back uphill 100 yards through a coned gate, stop, relaunch, around a gate, miss the garage and take your checkered flag.

Sound easy? Think again. Fun and challenging is the name of the game and by the last run of the day, you and your car will have a closer personal relationship.  Guaranteed.

Cost is $40 for members and $50 for non-members.
All registration is going through Club Registration.net

Eric Beverding
H2R
2840 Harris Hill Rd.
San Marcos, TX 78666
512.692.7190 (Austin)
210.807.4570 (San Antonio)
http://www.harrishillroad.com

Register here:  http://www.clubregistration.net
Login/sign up and select”

• Organization->Race Track
• Club->Harris Hill Road
• Event Type->All

To give you a taste of what maneuvers are used in a Gymkhana event, here’s a video from the UK I’ve posted before.  Talked about ballet on wheels…

Racing Ready will be there to witness this event.  I’ll admit I’m too chicken to compete -- maybe at the next one…

Dan

P.S. -- “Reverse and back uphill 100 yards?!?!?!”  Wow, that’ll be a sight!

This past week I was in the environs of New York City (NYC) & Upstate New York.  Computer access was sparse to non-existent.  Besides, it was good to slide off the grid for awhile.  Needless to say, NYC transit was mostly by subway, with a little bus & gypsy taxi thrown in for spice.  Also, my “dogs” were yelping from SO much walking…  I’ll admit that I’m happy to be home where I can once again drive just about anywhere!

The only real “driving activity” this past week was a 10.5 hour meandering trip from Brooklyn to my parent’s rural town west of Syracuse.  This route was done through the rustic, but pleasantly rolling mountains of the Catskills.  10.5 hours, you say?!?  Well, my brother is the antithesis of my driving style.  I drive to get there, he drives to enjoy the journey & that is we did.  I pride myself as a pretty good navigator.  But with the AAA map we had, plus the distractions of the nice roadside vistas, well, we got lost a few times.  The lost time equivalent may have totaled about 1/2 hour+ of the trip.  My brother’s goal was to avoid the beaten path of 4+ lane highways & he was pretty much successful after escaping the boroughs of NYC.

I did note a number of times that these meandering mountain trails called county roads would have made for some nice, long fun runs of enthusiasts driving.  But not so in the conditions we plodded through.  Most of the way was clear, but there was some slush (dirty, not quite melted snow) to contend with & the grit of muddy cinders & sand that had been put down previously to aid in frozen traction.  Our weather conditions were mostly sunny & just below freezing – just fine for this not-in-a-hurry trip.

Many may think that I write to encourage driving enthusiastically most of the time.  In this case, this state-traversing trip actually felt like it went by quickly & pleasantly.  The key here was conversation of the brotherly sort.  We had not seen each other for a few years & the trip served as a great backdrop to our conversation.  Also, my brother having an available AWD Subaru was reassuring…

I got my fill of scenic route driving, for a while, but Racing Ready recognizes other therapeutic reasons for sharing the road.

Dan

This weekend (January 30-31, 2010) will be the 48th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.  This motorsports event always seems to inaugurate the racing season, getting the racing ball rolling, so to speak.

Below is a related, useful & interesting “things to do” collection came across my e-mail, from this site.  These activities would surely keep you busy for the entire 24 hours!  I thought it would help inspire the racing gears in your head to start whirring…

DAYTONA BEACH, FL. – Below is a compilation of suggested activities and events at the highly-anticipated 48th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. You can make race weekend plans with like-minded fans in “The Garage Connection” forum on the GRAND-AM Community.

1. Take a walk through the Rolex Series garage and see the teams working on the cars and photograph a few of the drivers.
2. Stop by the vendor area to get a look at the latest in motorsports books, posters and apparel. Be sure to visit the GRAND-AM souvenir trailer to look at the slot cars and die-cast cars. It’s a great opportunity to get a t-shirt of your favorite driver, or perhaps a GRAND-AM sweat shirt if it gets chilly during the evening.
3. Visit the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge garage to see the many new cars that will be racing this season.
4. For a special treat, join the Champion’s Club inside the Daytona 500 Club, and enjoy either a two-day or four-day exclusive package for VIP treatment throughout the Rolex 24.
5. Get your picture taken for free with a Daytona Prototype and the Rolex 24 At Daytona trophy in Gatorade Victory Lane.
6. Walk the infield of the circuit during Thursday night practice to find your favorite viewing locations for the race.
7. Stop by the Rolex 24 Heritage Exhibition to celebrate cars made famous in past runnings of the Rolex 24. Also tour the Goodyear Legends of Racing display honoring sports car, stock car and motorcycle competitors who made history at Daytona. Then watch the cars on track Saturday morning’s Rolex 24 Heritage Exhibition and re-live the history of the Rolex 24.
8. Visit the Grassroots Motorsports tent, try your hand at slot car racing or tackle a racing simulator.
9. Visit Daytona 500 Experience to see Lyn St. James’ new Women in the Winners Circle exhibit.
10. Run in Saturday morning’s Daytona 5K – one lap of the road circuit – so you can tell your friends you raced on the same course that was used in the Rolex 24. You might get the opportunity to rub elbows with a few of the crewmen or drivers along the way! Another option is walking the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
11. Don’t miss Saturday’s giant autograph session in the Sprint FANZONE. You will be hard pressed to find another place in the world where the greatest drivers are all signing autographs at the same time.
12. Visit the grid prior to the race to see the cars up close and crews make final preparations in the pits.
13. Stand or sit in the infield trioval grass to watch all of the drivers cross the stage in driver introductions.
14. Find a seat in the grandstands overlooking turn one for an overview of all of the action early in the race. Then, move to the center of the grandstands to watch the action in the pits for a round or two of pit stops.
15. Stop by the Fresh From Florida Activity Zone to sample the Chili Cookoff – then vote for your favorite!
16. Visit the Wine and Cheese party and taste a variety of cheeses while sampling a few exquisite wines while the sports cars buzz in the background.
17. Go to the infield to sit in the grandstand by the East Horseshoe to see the drivers tackle the challenging turn up close.
18. Sit high in the grandstand near the West Horseshoe to be able to see the drivers tackle the infield, and then turn around to see them transition to the banking.
19. Visit the infield carnival and take a spin on the largest Ferris Wheel on the East Coast. Watch the race from 150 feet above the action! Other amusement/carnival rides will be available, too.
20. Find a seat high in the main grandstands to watch the sun come up and the race transition from night into morning.
21. For a really unique view of the action, purchase a parasail ride on Lake Lloyd. Visit the Centurion Boats pier located behind the Camping World Center.
22. Enjoy Uncle Robbie’s Breakfast Garage to fuel up for the exciting climax of the Rolex 24.
23. Head to your favorite viewing location to enjoy the final thrilling laps of the Rolex 24 and watch another chapter of history being made in America’s premier sports car race!
24. Head to Gatorade Victory Lane to view the pageantry of the Rolex 24 post-race Gatorade Victory Lane ceremonies.

Racing Ready also has many things to do.  I’ll be out of pocket for the next few days.  Expect light blog posting here – thanks!

Dan

This past Saturday, a coworker (Jason) & I, went up to Harris Hill Road (H2R) in his Mazdaspeed3 to see the goings on at a The Drivers Edge (TDE) 2-day school.  We got there at 8am & they had already started the initial drivers’ meeting.  I don’t know how many drivers has signed up, maybe 50 to 60 or more.  All I know is that the main gathering area of Harris Hill Road’s Club house was full!

This was Jason’s first visit to H2R.  It was The Drivers Edge’s second HPDE event at H2R (their first event took place last May).  I introduced Jason to all sorts of people & showed him all around.  We were both there in observation (“sponge”) mode.  So, in addition to reviewing all the cool more-than-street, almost & real racing cars there, we had the great opportunity to sit in on a few of the good training sessions.

TDE divides it’s students into green, blue, yellow & red categories, in that order, from entry level to advanced.  Unlike the other Texas road tracks TDE teaches at, no novices are allowed at H2R.  That’s how technical their course is.  Therefore, those who were in the green group were not true novices – they already had some track/HPDE event experience.

Unfortunately for Rick Schwalenberg, The Drivers Edge President & founder, he had previously broken his ankle in 2 places.  He was on the mend & not able to get around very well.  Fortunately for me, I was able to get some good semi-one-on-one time with him, as he was somewhat confined to the class room for most of the morning  track sessions.  We got some refreshing insight from him and the other instructors in the classroom.

Here’s what Rick said about the challenges of the Harris Hill Road club track:

I learn most tracks in about 3 laps; H2R took me a half day!

I shared with Rick that Bo Rivers (H2R owner/creator) had explained to me his track is even more technical in the CCW direction & doesn’t flow as smoothly, i.e., it’s that much more challenging!

By lunch we were able to get in “parade laps”.  I accompanied Jason driving his upgraded Mazdaspeed3 (almost 300WHP!).  He got in 5 laps & I was able to put in 1 lap, learning such a different car feel of FWD on-track, versus the RWD of Karlino on track 7 days prior…I gave Karlino the day off & rode up with Jason (thanks dude!).

There was a very nice silver Datsun 240Z, that was clean & looked like a “sleeper” racer.  That is to say, it looked pretty stock, but the owner had completely rebuilt a new motor, fully upgraded suspension, brakes & exhaust.  Unfortunately, after the warm up parade lap the car broke (no idea what happened).  This is not the way you want to come off the track!

I can’t justifiably explain all the concepts & knowledge that was shared in the training sessions.  I DID begin to learn a lot of new concepts & reinforced others.  The advanced class was very interesting, with explanations of car attitude, how & why to settle the car in preparation for the next corner approach to the apex, & so on.  At this H2R track, all but 2 of the 11 turns are of the late apex variety & many are off camber.  It’s a thinking man’s track…

Tracks drives the car, cars don’t drive tracks.

That is, the track course layout dictates how you will drive the track’s best line.

Racing Ready enjoyed this day as a laid back learning event.  I was also good to share all this knowledge with a friend.

Dan

Say Goodbye to Old Man Winter!

Yes, this is a blatant copy & paste promotion from my e-mail.  But, I know this would be of interest to many of you out there, wanting the clear out the winter non-racing cobwebs!

Apex Driving Academy announces our Spring Track Event on Sunday, March 21, 2010 at MotorSport Ranch in Cresson, Texas on the 1.7 mile CCW track.  Come join us to say “goodbye” to Old Man Winter, and “hello” to a season of fun!!

This BYOC (bring your own car) program includes classroom instruction and up to two and a-half hours of track time. This is a great value and some of the most fun motorsports enthusiasts can have, and still be legal!!

Don’t miss out! Space is limited so enroll today.

Sign up online or if you have a gift certificate to use, please give us a call at 469-236-0940.

See you on track day!

Thank you,

Miss Claire
Apex Driving Academy
Phone: 469-236-0940

Here is some additional Helpful Links Apex refers to:

• Apex FAQ
• Insurance for HPDE
• Tech Sheet (Required)
• More Information
• MotorSport Ranch

If you’re wondering (like I did) what “the 1.7 mile CCW track” is referring to, the answer, my friend, is found in the graphic below:

Racing Ready again emphasizes the need to improve your driving ability first, before furthering equipment upgrades.  In other words, invest in your racing self first!

Dan