FAST Autocross - SUNDAY, Apr 22 - Dunnellon

[Native]

I went ahead and signed up.

[Loren]

I went ahead and signed up.

[Blue_Heron]

I went ahead and signed up.

Me too.

[Jamie]

You know your audience. Only old farts are in SCCA and PCA.

I'm in both FAST and SCCA. But I'm breaking in a new driver, and I already spend a lot of time at Brooksville...missed the SCCA event at OCCC, so it's time for a change of venue.

Besides, Philip's the toughest ES/S4 competition in the state right now, and I owe Ben a whuppin' for last weekend....

[Loren]

I'm not seeing Ron and Matt registered yet, either. (cue the Jeapardy theme)

I've made some happy changes to the car this week. Really looking forward to testing them at this event!

[CaptainSquirts]

Registered. Never been to Dunnellon and it's been I dunno, almost a year since a Classic event. Will be good to see how the helper springs feel.

[Jamie]

Well, at least S4 is only a third of the grid now. But I still only count a half-dozen FAST regulars going to the CFR event at Brooksville, which means there are a whole lot of people sleeping in or something.

[Loren]

We're spoiled. We have had the luxury of having several autocross sites within an hour of Tampa/St Pete, and people are reluctant to drive an extra hour. I get it. But, we HAVE to keep any site that is available to us "viable", and that means using it.

There's going to come a day when, likely with no notice at all, our Brooksville airstrip is going to be put on long-term lease (I doubt that the county would ever sell it) for some industrial purpose and become unavailable to us. This is the eventuality that we must always be prepared for. This is why we do events at place like Tampa Greyhound and Dunnellon.

In the 15 years that I've been autocrossing in this area, I've seen access come and go to: SPC in St. Pete, Tampa Fairgrounds, Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Tampa Bay Downs, Zephyrhills Airport, and (more or less) Derby Lanes on Gandy. That's SIX autocross sites that have become unavailable in just 15 years. This is why we seek out new sites, and why we beg for you to support those new sites. To keep autocross alive in our area, we have to do it.

[mymomswagon]

I went ahead and signed up.

I'll bring the car.

Looks like no gofers for corner captains

[Native]

I went ahead and signed up.

I'll bring the car.

We got fresh meats?

[AScoda]

people are reluctant to drive an extra hour.

It's not even that for most peeps. It's about an hour and 30 minutes from central Tampa.

[twistedwankel]

Maybe it's because the FL xcross season is so long? AND FL is so long and skinny? When I used to only have a mid- April to mid -Nov season I'd travel to all the surrounding States of OH which meant PA, MI, IN, KY, IN nearly every weekend of the spring, summer and fall. One gets pretty good if one runs almost every weekend at a different venue. But one has to be prepared to drive 3-4 hours sometimes one way and rent a motel for a weekend event. One eventually starts to smell like their race tires in the back seat until they finally spring for a rig with a trailer.

In Tampa, FL it takes 3 hours to go up or down to GA or Ft Meyers and 1.5hrs to go sideways to Orlando. I think it was 5-6 hours to Miami for me which means an overnite and it's hot down there.

Not a lot of people seem to be into national and Regional autocross like I used to be. It's cool to have friends in many States and see other cities.

It's closer to Dunellon than it is to Tavares/Martin for me which is little more than the SPC police training size pavement and only 4-5 runs. Go figure. One would think with the extended new pavement and a zillion runs more folks would head up there on I-75 Sunday. But maybe most folks aren't really all that competitive yet especially in the bigger classes. They don't "get" that practice makes perfect.

[CaptainSquirts]

people are reluctant to drive an extra hour.

It's not even that for most peeps. It's about an hour and 30 minutes from central Tampa.

For some reason when fast started using the site google maps told me it took 2 hours to get there. It's been a while since I looked but now it says 1 hour 30 minutes. I'll take it I guess.

[Loren]

For some reason when fast started using the site google maps told me it took 2 hours to get there. It's been a while since I looked but now it says 1 hour 30 minutes. I'll take it I guess.

Traffic. Google maps estimates time based on current traffic. So, it depends on what day & time you checked.

I get bitten by this sometimes. I like to plan routes for my driving lessons. And sometimes I'm doing that at 2am... there's no traffic. And then the lesson is at 5pm, and the time is all wrong.

[Native]

I can say with at least a little confidence that the gate at Dunnellon is is just about 70-80 minutes from the gate at Brooksville. Prolly a little quicker without a trailer. If that tidbit is of any value...

[ctsteege]

I just joined in on the S4 fun. Looks like a fun track!!!

[mymomswagon]

I went ahead and signed up.

I'll bring the car.

We got fresh meats?

meeting Carl Thurs

[Native]

...then Loren and Soroya better prepare for a much smaller margin of victory!
oh yeah... I said it...

[Loren]

...then Loren and Soroya better prepare for a much smaller margin of victory!
oh yeah... I said it...

I can accept a smaller margin of victory. A win is a win!

[CaptainSquirts]