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    Results 1 to 9 of 9
    1. #1
      Join Date
      Nov 2012
      Posts
      296
      Country Flag: United States

      Quick Intro and Recap on the CAM Challenge Fontana, CA event this weekend



      CAM Challenge Intro and Quick Recap of Day 1
      Written by Brandy Phillips
      Photos by Brandy Phillips



      The CAM Challenge is a fairly new event in the pro-touring community. SCCA’s introduced a new group called CAM back
      in 2014, mainly focusing on American muscle. This helped encourage more pro-touring members get involved with SCCA
      throughout the last couple years. Drivers like Mary Pozzi, Mike Maier, Brian Hobaugh are some of the original SCCA
      members from our pro-touring community, but those like Richard Truijllo, Ian Sakurai and Mike Young are all regulars in
      the current SCCA scene. With more drivers participating in SCCA autocross events, it is only a matter of time before
      SCCA will start offering more and more for the pro-touring enthusiasts.






      Since the CAM Challenge is still new, the details, class categorization and rules are still in the process of being modified.
      This event will be a learning curve for many including event organizers and racers. Though the event itself is only three
      years old, SCCA has deep racing roots that have helped form and modifying the rules and layout of this weekend’s CAM
      Challenge.






      The CAM Challenge is a three day event, though most drivers will not participate in all three days. Friday morning started
      with an EVO driving school. Though the school is not part of the CAM Challenge, racers could still register for that event,
      getting some seat time with instructor Mary Pozzi before race day.






      At 11:00 the track officially opened for test and tune runs. Anyone registered for the event had the opportunity to come
      out and shake down their vehicle before Saturday’s official laps, though an additional fee was required. Four test laps
      cost a driver $10.






      In my case, I was able to make about a dozen laps for $30, dialing in the truck for the type of surface conditions as well
      as making minor adjustments for a larger track setup. If a driver has the chance to play hooky from work for the day, this
      could be a very valuable opportunity before Saturday.






      Registration was also open as well as a end-of-day track walk. Though I had registered for the event itself, SCCA still
      requires a membership in order to run in their events. Honestly, it wasn’t a big deal since a weekend membership cost me
      $15. Driver’s who are not SCCA member also have the opportunity to purchase an annual SCCA membership. This is
      probably the best option if you plan to do multiple SCCA events throughout the year.






      Test and tune ended at 3pm so officials could begin setting up the larger autocross course for the weekend. During this
      time registration and tech were open. Once the cones were reorganized, a test car was sent to make sure that the track
      would accommodate all sizes of vehicles racing Saturday. Once the test car was done, the course was open for track
      walks for the remainder of the evening.






      Like all SCCA events, participants have the opportunity to race three laps during two sessions throughout Saturday.
      Drivers are divided into their classes CAM-S, CAM-T and CAM-C. When a driver is not racing around the autocross or
      sitting in the staging area, they are working the course, which is a typical SCCA routine. My theory is that there’s no one
      better to work the course than those who race and respect it for what it is.






      Saturday brings official timing. Drivers will arrive early for prep, course walk and drivers meeting. Course walk will open
      at 8:15am allowing only 15 minutes for drivers to go over anything they missed on Friday. A driver’s meeting is scheduled
      for 8:30 before the track goes hot at 9am.






      Saturday will most likely go by extremely quick. With only six runs, drivers will be focused on making those six runs
      count. Once all three groups have run two sessions, the track is closed and everyone is invited to join in on an event/
      award dinner at a local Mexican restaurant.






      Though the overall awards are given Sunday after the shootout, the CAM Challenge also hands out awards on Saturday
      during the dinner gathering. This is the first year that the CAM Challenge will be holding a dinner Saturday evening.
      Honestly, I think this is what will set this event apart from most others if they continue to do this dinner at each CAM
      Challenge event.






      Once Sunday comes, times start all over, though the track layout will be the exact same as it was on Saturday. With most
      SCCA events, the track layout will change. When I heard that the track would stay the same throughout the entire
      weekend, I was curious to why this had changed from the long-standing SCCA tradition.






      Since the CAM series is new, there is a lot of room for growth. Growth happens by encouraging new people to not only
      try an SCCA event, but continue to come back again and again. Many of the CAM drivers this weekend have originated
      from Goodguys, NMCA Hotchkis Autocross and other local autocross events. Raleigh, who is in charge of the CAM
      Challenge this weekend, explained that he wants every participant to walk away with something this weekend, even if
      they do not win. By keeping the track the same both days, drivers can hopefully improve their laps each time out and
      leave on Sunday feeling like they have accomplished something. When Raleigh put it this way, I was overly impressed
      by the amount of consideration and thought he had put into these new SCCA participants. His goal is to grow the series
      and by thinking about the new guys, he is most likely going to succeed.






      Sunday’s schedule is slightly different than Saturday. Drivers only have three runs in the morning. Each of these runs will
      count toward their overall time. This overall time will then dictate if a driver will move on to the final shootout later that
      afternoon. As of Friday, the plan was to take the top eight drivers from each class and move them into the final shootout
      to battle for the overall win. Though registration was closed some time ago, walk-in competitors are still able to register
      the day of the event. Depending on the amount of total participants in each class, the number of drivers that move on to
      the shootout may change come Sunday.






      Overall I am extremely excited to see how the weekend will play out. As I took a walk around the course, it was a little
      intimidating. It has been a very long time since I participated in an SCCA event. Honestly I do not remember the types
      of track layouts, but one thing is for sure, this one is not going to be easy. I was able to complete a rough sketch of the
      course, which I will add in my final recap (please forgive my drawing when I do). Let’s just say this: it’s very technical,
      it’s going to be very fast and hopefully I won’t get lost.






      So that’s it. If anyone has questions about the CAM Challenge or how to participate in any of the other events across the
      country, please do not hesitate to pm me or email me at [email protected]. I look forward to sharing my newbie
      experience with all of you after this weekend and I wish all the competitors the best of luck over the next two days.
      Brandy Morrow Phillips
      Site Contributor

      WWW.PRO-TOURING.COM

      Follow me for the latest event news on Pro-Touring.com

    2. #2
      Join Date
      Aug 2012
      Location
      Peoria, AZ
      Posts
      1,758
      Country Flag: United States
      Thanks for the intro to the even Brandy, have fun out there today! I bet you enjoy getting into second gear out on track in your truck!!
      Lance
      1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car

    3. #3
      Join Date
      Mar 2010
      Location
      Gilbert Az
      Posts
      8
      Country Flag: United States
      Great intro Brandy. I really want to do one of these events, hopefully sometime in the near future. Good luck and hope you have a blast

    4. #4
      Join Date
      Aug 2012
      Location
      Peoria, AZ
      Posts
      1,758
      Country Flag: United States
      Hope it drys out for the drivers as early as possible today...

      Lance
      1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car


    5. #5
      Join Date
      Dec 2012
      Location
      Maryland
      Posts
      50
      Country Flag: United States
      That's a nice intro, Brandy. Do you have any other insight now that you've run the event? I'm running the CAM East for the first time this year.
      Mike
      1981 Camaro
      Follow on Instagram @conekiller81

      SCCA Susquehanna Region CAM-T Champion - 2014, 2015
      SCCA Washington DC Region CAM Champion - 2015
      Carlisle GM Nationals Autocross Shootout Winner - 2016, 2018

    6. #6
      Join Date
      Sep 2012
      Location
      San Diego
      Posts
      264
      Country Flag: United States
      I ran at this event. It was great. Fist off, the sportsmanship of the competitors was great. Tom and Richard of the San Diego Cam group bought and grilled pollo asada for every body there on saturday.
      I got a total of 15 runs in over the 3 days. Friday they had test and tune runs. I bought 4 of them. Then we got 6 runs on saturday. It was raining in the morning for the first 3 runs and dried out for the 3 afternoon runs. SCCA put on a trophy dinner that night. Then on sunday we did some sort of match race run off. We got 3 qualifying runs then the top 16 were paired off to run 2 back to back runs and the winner moves on. My last run was my fastest by a large amount and I was only 4 tenths off of the monster 69 camaro I had paired up against.

      Here is that last fastest run!



      Here is my first run. I was surprised by how slippery the rain made it and may have uttered a profanity!


      Heres a rear view that just lets you hear the sweet roar of a v8 on the autocross
      71 maverick.
      71 comet in build process.
      i work at Current Auto Performance www.currentautoperformance.com. i also build the differentials for San Diego Gear and Axle.

    7. #7
      Join Date
      May 2016
      Location
      Sacramento, CA
      Posts
      1
      Country Flag: United States
      Well would you look at that...it's me!

    8. #8
      Join Date
      Mar 2013
      Location
      Oakdale, Ca.
      Posts
      192
      Country Flag: United States
      Quote Originally Posted by TheGoldenGoose View Post
      Well would you look at that...it's me!
      Hi Matt,

      That is a cool picture of your Bird! It was good talking to you again and I'll email the spring information to you soon.

      George


      George Dias
      1973 Camaro
      2002 SVT Lightning
      2003 Z06 Corvette

      2015 Truckin Throwdown Champion http://www.trucktrend.com/events/tru...by-ebc-brakes/

    9. #9
      Join Date
      Mar 2013
      Location
      Oakdale, Ca.
      Posts
      192
      Country Flag: United States
      IMO, the event was a huge success. It was well organized and the dinner afterwards was the best I have ever attended following an event. Thank you to Raleigh and the SCCA team for supporting the CAM cars.

      A big Thanks to the San Diego SCCA folks for allowing me to join their camp over the weekend and for the awesome chicken lunch! You guys do it up right!

      George


      George Dias
      1973 Camaro
      2002 SVT Lightning
      2003 Z06 Corvette

      2015 Truckin Throwdown Champion http://www.trucktrend.com/events/tru...by-ebc-brakes/





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