Pittsburgh Chump Cars 10/3/13 - 10/6/13

[Fred32v]

OK, WXO and I have a luxury sweet booked at the swank Beaver Falls Super 8.
The room is reserved for an arrival Thursday evening and departing Sunday.
Walt and I will be arriving Thursday for dinner, on a Carlisle type evening.
We plan to be at the track Friday to help with setup.
Andy will be staying with us a few nights.

Andy and I spent this Friday the 13th at the Pittsburgh Intl Race Coarse.
For Andy and the Saturn 50 Rocket it was t-n-t. I don't know about the track
because I wasn't on it, but I will say all the facilities are brand new. Very nice!

[MostMint]

The track has not been repaved or reworked. I spoke with Huey - one of the corner workers - and he said the track had not been repaved in the 8 years he worked there. He had a lot of other interesting stories about the locals

I learned from Jack - our instructor - that the track was made of some hi tech material with a lot of grip in it. I also learned that some of the curbs are not quite in the right place, and in areas near the track where cars were tending to kick up dust - they have laid down brick pavers which may not have the same grip but do allow you to take a better line. This works well but it is obvious they have a good race surface and that is how it will stay.

Lots of things have been changing around there as new ownership put in a lot of new amenities and are actively working to expand the track. Word is the expansion should be be completed some time later in 2013.

[wxo]

Whoo hooo! Beaver Falls!! Broadway Joe Namath's hometown. This promises to be an exciting Carlisle style weekend with the Tiresmoke gang. What can I bring? BP usually does all the arrangements for food and drinks at Carlisle. Is he coming? There's a Costco at Cranberry where we could load up on snacks and drinks on Thursday afternoon. Are we doing Carlisle-style lunches? Has anyone done any thinking about this?

[Basement Paul]

Most likely if I show up, it will only be for an afternoon or so. Better talk to TireSmoker about bringing the grill....

Good luck!

-BP

[Fred32v]

I have the TireSmoke grill, I'll bring it if we have a cook.
We could grill Friday lunch, and maybe after the Saturday race.
When do the races start and end??

[TireSmoker]

Here's the official race schedule, http://chumpcar.com/register/supplementalrules/87.pdf

Cliffs Notes version:

Friday, gates open at noon. Registration/Tech Inspection/Driver Safety gear inspection from 12pm-6pm. Driver's school 5-5:30pm

Sat & Sun, gates open at 7am, driver's meeting 8-8:20am, cars to grid at 8:50am, racing from 9am-4pm. (note: Sat & Sun are two seperate races)

Sunday only: Awards ceremony at 4:30pm.


Tech inspection should be pretty straightforward. Since we just raced at Nelson 2 months ago, I don't even think we need to re-tech our safety gear, which just leaves the car. I think we have a good handle on this and it would easily allow some Friday night grilling. Plenty of time for some post-race grilling on Saturday, while Sunday will be spent cleaning up and getting home. I'd be happy to grill up burgers/dogs/chicken for anyone who wants them.

Andy -- since the gates dont even open up till noon on Friday, there's no early morning rush to get there, especially if we don't need to tech our gear.

-Dave

[MostMint]

Pitt Race is having a open track day starting at 9 AM on Friday so the gate has to open before noon. ChumpCar may not be there til noon but the gates will be open

Check the calendar: http://www.pittrace.com/events-calendar/2013-10

Presently my plan will be to be there around 9:30 AM Friday with the rental truck full of gear and trailering the car in.

[Basement Paul]

The weather there on Saturday is supposed to be 81 and partly cloudy. Not too shabby for October... I plan to leave home around 7am so I can get there just before the race starts. "It's 30 minutes away. I'll be there in 10."

-BP

[MostMint]

Hopefully it will be a good show. See you there.

[Basement Paul]

I had a great time on Saturday. The facility there is real nice. Seems like a higher HP type track. I took a bunch of pictures and video, but here's a few of my favorite pics.












-BP

[Blue_69_malibu]

Sorry I missed everyone. I was at the nearest Applebees waiting to start a fight with Ricky Bobby.

He never showed.....but someone stenciled a #13 on the side of my Chevelle. Very odd.....

[MostMint]

Many thanks to everyone who showed up to help and support the team!

I learned a lot about racing this weekend. Like how to get a FWD into an all wheel drift, or how to "steer with the throttle", how to accelerate out of a loose condition. I'm not sure why I did not do this well at Nelson - I am reasoning that the lower speeds here on some of the corners really helped.

[TireSmoker]

Here's the video of my contact on Saturday.. or put another way, this is the start of a Pull-A-Part adventure for a new front fender..

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_qeycOt77s[/youtube]

[Fred32v]

For the non-facebook folks, try this.

https://www.facebook.com/MostmintRacing