The LA/OC SCCA CAM autocross thread!

[Chad-1stGen]

Next CalClub Autocross is at Fontanta Sunday 2-19-17

The 2017 Cal Club autocross calendar that has been posted so far is:
AC February 18-19
ET March 18-19
AC April 22-23
AC May 20-21
ET June 10-11
ET July 8-9
ET July 29-30
ET August 19-20
ET September 23-24
AC October 21-22
AC November 11-12
AC December 2-3

Original Post:

I'm hoping to increase interest and participation in the SoCal CAM SCCA autocross events and share event reports all in this thread. Earlier in 2015 I attended my first SCCA autocross with the San Diego Region (SDR) and had a total blast. While I will be focusing on the LA/OC region (Cal Club) in this thread I hope folks closer to San Diego come out too!

The SCCA autocross events welcome all comers with just about any type of car no matter what your driving experience is. Every event has a novice course walk to help you learn what to look for when walking the course and how to drive that particular course. They also have instructors available that will either jump in your car and give you pointers or you can ask them to drive your car and show you what they are trying to explain. Don't shy away because you are worried about your driving or how competitive you are. This happened at my first time attending an SCCA course....
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/11/p11817344312-1.jpg (http://lateapexphoto.com/p439377861/e466fd61f)

Why should you participate in SCCA autocross?
For me the number 1 reason is that the courses are much longer and offer a much larger variety of features compared to the other autocross courses I've attended so they are amazingly fun!!! Some other reasons include:
- Can be a very cheap way to autocross. Last Sunday I ran 8 runs on a super long course that was very high speed and it still took almost a full 60 seconds a run. It cost me $55.
- Less time consuming. Both the LA and San Diego (SDR) regions ensure your run group and work group are always both before or after lunch. So you only need to come for half a day and can get up to 8 runs in.
- Access to practice days on Saturday where you can get 12 runs on these amazing courses for $70
- Monthly events. These regions both run an event every month.
- Finally, I'm hoping to add this as a number 1 item in the future and that is the "people." Right now the San Diego region enjoys a fantastic group of CAM regulars which are great to compete against and hang out with. Most events a BBQ is brought out and some good eats car talk are had by all. If we can come 50% of the way to duplicating the fun the SDR guys have this will be the #1 reason to come out!

In the next post I will outline the logistics of how to attend one of the events and what it is like. In the mean time if you want more info on when LA regional events are happening or other info go here: www.solo2.com and if you want info on the San Diego region go here: http://www.sdr-scca.com/

[Chad-1stGen]

Logistics and cost.
SCCA autocross events are typically held once a month. Saturday is "practice" day and has limited spots. Unless its the off season these spots will be hard to get if you aren't active in the SCCA community. Sunday are "championship" days and are open to everyone with no limit on the number of attendants. Championship days are when points eligible runs take place but you don't have to compete for points to run. The course is changed and usually run in the opposite directly between practice day and championship day so attending a practice day is for general practice, not to give you an advantage via practice on a specific course.

How much does it cost? If you are an SCCA member then the Sunday championship days cost $30 for LA and SDR. For the LA region you want to sign up online by Friday night otherwise you have to sign up onsite and it will cost $40. SDR doesn't do online signups and you just pay your $30 in person the same day as the event. In LA you can purchase x-runs for and additional $25 which will double the number of runs you get but the first half will still be the only ones that count for points.

How much does an SCCA membership cost? If you want to just "try it out" you can buy a weekend membership for $15. If you decide to later purchase a full SCCA membership within 60 days then the $15 weekend membership will be applied against full membership. Full membership costs $65 plus club dues. I honestly can't recall but I either paid the $65 or it might of been $80. You can also get a $15 discount on membership if you use an existing member referral. PM me if you want to use my membership number for the discount.

How many runs do I get? You will get either 3 or 4 championship points runs depending on how many participants attend. When its crowded and during a popular month (summer time at El Toro) you might only get 3. The rest of the time you get 4. Every SDR event I've attended I've received 4 runs. As mentioned above you can purchase extra runs (called X-runs). In LA they cost $25 and double the number of runs you get (if everyone is getting 3 runs you will get 3 more, if everyone is getting 4 runs you will get 4 more. You don't have to work any additional run groups if you purchase x-runs which is great.

Wait, what is this "work" you mentioned? The day is typically devided up into 3 "run groups" before lunch and 3 after lunch. All of your runs will occur in one run group and you will work one run group. This gets some flack from some people but its not that bad and it gives you a close up view of the action. Even better, if your work session is before your run session you can get a great view of the line being taken by the fast guys in your area of the track. Most LA events and all of the SDR events I've attended have local FSAE college students who will work your session if you pay them. Think it costs $20.

Where is it located? Most months the LA events are located at Fontana in the large squarish parking lot accross from the cart track. This lot is much larger than the ones used for the other autocross events you may have seen there (NMCA, Speedventures, Optima USCA, etc.). This means much larger courses! :) During the summer months the LA region has run in Orange County at El Toro. It remains to be seen if we will get to run there in 2016 as there isn't much runway left.

How do I score points for the annual championship If you want to make a run for the season's points in your class you must purchase a points card for the calendar year. LA it costs $25. SDR it costs $30 but only costs $10 to renew in subsequent years. I just purchased my LA points card so I really hope some of you show up and give me some competition!

Wait, I only get 3-4 runs (6-8 if I buy x-runs)? I don't want to waste my day for that. Good news, you don't have to. Both the LA and SDR regions make it so you do all your runs and work assignments in the first half or 2nd half of the day. Last Sunday I was at Fontana just over 4 hours and got my 8 runs and was ready to head home before noon!

[Chad-1stGen]

Did I mention these events are fun?

SDR knows how to have a good time. Here are the pits from one of the many events I attended this year.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/06/19108897-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/11/cam20lined20up_zpsttvadshm-1.jpg

And video from one of the fun SDR courses!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ch2WkVcA96U

[Chad-1stGen]

Finally, Here is my quick event report from this past Sunday's outing to Fontana. Seeing some interest from Sal, Efrain and Greg motivated me to create this thread and hopefully get some interest for the 2016 season!

Report
Given my last minute announcement we had a great turnout this past Sunday of CAM cars at the SCCA autocross with 5 of us competing.

Greg even chanced driving Scar in the rain to come out. As he told me himself, it isn't a trailer queen! Efrain came out in his sweet yellow 69. Sal came out to get some payback on me in his twin red 68 Camaro and Kevin was there in his Chevelle.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Scar is one sweet machine. The pain on it is beautiful and it was getting a ton of attention from the rest of the SCCA autocrossers!

It was a great day. Three of us bought x-runs and so we got 8 runs on a super long and fast course, worked our session and were in and out in just over 4 hours and it cost me $55 (I have an SCCA membership). I love all kinds of performance driving but SCCA autocrosses are quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Greg took some time to figure out the course but by the time he got into the x-runs he was laying down some sweet times and had the fastest time of the 5 of us. Here are the results:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2015/11/CSCC20SCCA2011161520results_zpsnqwwgn6h-1.jpg

My consolation prize was that with Greg initially getting lost on the course I took the "win" in the points runs :)

Here is video of this awesome course. ignore the out of sync g-meter.

http://youtu.be/ffgRIoLlVuM

I bought my 2016 points card to make a run at CAM T. Who is gonna help make it a competition??

[Chad-1stGen]

The 2016 CalClub AutoClub / Fontana SCCA Autocross dates are up!

January 16-17
February 20-21
April 23-24
May 14-15
October 22-23
November 12-13
December 3-4

El Toro dates for the summer months are expected to be released within the week. Calling out my future CAM-T competitors now! Lets do this!

PS where are all the SoCal CAM competitors? This thread is lonely!

[Tomswheels]

Chad do the Cal Club guys have a similar "club" system like we do in San Diego? Is the points card for a year end trophy for CAM? How many events do you have to make to qualify? Looking forward to you making enough SD events to qualify for the year end big trophy in San Diego this year...

[nokones]

Yes, Cal Club requires a points card. You have to have a Points Card even at your first event that you sign up is their last event of the year and even if you are fun running only for no points. The first year you can buy a Points Card without designating one of the the sub- clubs (i.e. GRA). Also, you will need to pick your permanent points card number when you purchase your points card and that number will be your car number.

If my memory serves me right, wait until after the first of the year to buy your points card so that you're not buying a 2015 points card. I think they still offer their points card online.

[Protour_Pinto]

PS where are all the SoCal CAM competitors? This thread is lonely!

I plan on attending a few meets as a spectator until I get the Mullet Truck on the road.

[Chad-1stGen]

Chad do the Cal Club guys have a similar "club" system like we do in San Diego? Is the points card for a year end trophy for CAM? How many events do you have to make to qualify? Looking forward to you making enough SD events to qualify for the year end big trophy in San Diego this year...

Hi Tom. Here is the answer I got when I asked your question on the LAR forums.

In San Diego points earned aside, you must attend 2/3ds of all events to qualify for year end trophy.
Then they remove the lowest points to nominilize to those 2/3rd of events (rounded up).
In LA you must attend 1/2 of all events. A sliding scale then determines the number of drops based upon the total number of events held.

Example: Lets say 11 events held for the year in each region.
In SD you must attend a minimum of 8 events, and only your best 8 events will be tallied for the year end total.
In LA you must attend a minimum of 6 events, but only you best 8 events will be scored.

Attend 7 events in SD and accumulate enough point to win your class... sorry charlie, you did not attend the minimum number of events. That guy you slaughtered every event, who attended 8 events... but had less points, wins the jacket.
Attend 7 events in LA, and still accumulate the most points... you win your class.
Attend 6 events... and still pull off a class smack down in LA... you win your class
Attend 5 events in LA... no participatory trophy given. :-)

Other than that differences are minor.
SD uses a straight % of class winner (points are tight)
LA used a multiplier (points spreads are larger)
Ultimate difference, winners in SD often win my tenths of points. In LA by ten's of points.
Where this plays out in LA... tenth of a sec win on 30 sec courses have more weight than a tenth of a sec win on 60sec course.
In SD points a win by a tenth... is a tenth, be it a 30 sec course or a 120 sec course.

[Chad-1stGen]

Yes, Cal Club requires a points card. You have to have a Points Card even at your first event that you sign up is their last event of the year and even if you are fun running only for no points. The first year you can buy a Points Card without designating one of the the sub- clubs (i.e. GRA). Also, you will need to pick your permanent points card number when you purchase your points card and that number will be your car number.

If my memory serves me right, wait until after the first of the year to buy your points card so that you're not buying a 2015 points card. I think they still offer their points card online.

How come more than 6 of us were able to participate with CalClub this year with no points card? I attended 4 events with CalClub this year with no points card. It also doesn't make sense to say a points card is required when they have the whole 6xx number policy for those without a points card.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point about a points card being required?

[nokones]

Sounds like the points card rule is not being enforced like it use to be. I never agreed with the rule I just wanted to run the event. I remember on occasion I would borrow a ride I still had to buy points card for that year even if it was the last event. I just looked up the rule and the rule is still there in the supps. Oh well, don't say anything.

[Chad-1stGen]

SoCal has no off season! First SCCA event for the LA region is this coming weekend. I can't make this one but I'm hoping we get some more CAM competitors showing up this year and making a battle for season points.

Sign up here.

https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/autocross-sunday-1-hosted-by-eboard-auto-club-speedway-scca-socal-solo-ii-122502#.VpP2L_krKUk

[Chad-1stGen]

One week from today is the next Cal Club autocross at Fontana! Who is in?

Here is video of my best run from the great time I had today with the San Diego crew.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3QML0zIbHY

[SSLance]

I have GOT to get me one of those remote microphones for my GoPro!!

[Chad-1stGen]

I have GOT to get me one of those remote microphones for my GoPro!!

Sometimes messing with all the gopro/camera/phone stuff gets annoying but it sure is fun to relive the glory when you get home and be able to share it so yeah the new mic really improved the videos.

[Chad-1stGen]

Another Sunday, another great day of autocrossing!

Yesterday marked the 2nd monthly CalClub autocross and my first time making it out. We had 7 CAM cars show up and as a reward everyone got to drive an amazing course and eat the free donuts I brought!

CAM C - Matt A. in his late model mustang that he calls "the rental car."

CAM S - Jane T. in her 64 Corvette (Scarlet)
CAM S - Greg T. in his 65 Corvette (Scar)

CAM T - Efrain D. in his 69 Camaro
CAM T - Ron M. in his 69 Camaro (making his SCCA debut!)
CAM T - Kevin R. in his 65 Chevelle
CAM T - Myself in the 68 Camaro

The weather was beautiful low 80's SoCal day, perfect for autocrossing.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/02/Gregs20pits_zpsbcwqzx5o-1.jpg

The course yesterday was HUGE (times of almost a minute and a half)! The 2nd biggest course I've done and one of the big reasons I love going to the SoCal SCCA events. Both the CalClub region and San Diego region consistently create one minute plus courses with a lot of variety.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

With such a long course DNF's were in vogue, though I think at least one or two of them were bad calls but everyone ran their best time without a DNF so it was all good.

In CAMT Efrain came out of the gate swinging and jumped into the lead in the first set of runs and kept that position for the first 3 of 4 competition runs. It wasn't until the 4th run that I managed to leapfrog him into 1st. In CAMS, Greg ran the fastest time of any of the CAM cars during the competition runs. Everyone loved Greg's car, including the announcer. Matt was up against another late model Mustang in CAM C who was on the RE71 tires and ultimately Matt wasn't able to catch him.

Here are the Official Results for the CAM cars as well as the X-runs that we did later.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/02/Calclub202211620results_zpssezpdt1x-1.jpg

And here is a video of my 77.8 second x-run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mWYh6edRqg

And one final pic Ron took in the hot pits.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/02/Rons20pic_zpswevh5xt6-1.jpg

Thanks everyone for coming out! Hopefully, I see you again plus some of the other local autocrossers at future CalClub events.

PS. this is the same lot the CAM Challenge will be held in April so as you can see the courses possible in this lot are awesome!

The next CalClub autocross is at El Toro Sunday 3/20/16 El Toro is super convenient for us OC dwellers and El Toro has been one of the best autocross venues in the country with amazing grip on the concrete runways.

[Chad-1stGen]

Bump. I'm hoping to see some new CAM T cars come out. El Toro is a fantastic location too!

[struck by Lightning]

Bump. I'm hoping to see some new CAM T cars come out. El Toro is a fantastic location too!

Would love to join you guys at El Toro but I'll be at the GG's in Pleasanton. We'll see you SoCal folks at the CAM Challenge.
.

[Chad-1stGen]

The next two weekends have SCCA autocross in Fontana!

This weekend (4/23-24) is the next monthly CalClub autocross and because it is competing with a national event the attendance is low. You can still get in on practice Saturday and 4 competition runs Sunday should be a shoe in. This is also another chance to practice on the same lot and surface as the CAM event the following weekend. I will be there both Saturday and Sunday.

The following weekend (4/30-5/1) is the California CAM challenge. As of this posting we have 48 CAM cars registered with the splits between CAM T/S/C being fairly even so each class is going to have some great competition! I'll also be at this event and am helping volunteer too. If you don't have a CAM eligible car you can still come out and run the same number of runs at a discounted price in exchange for helping with an extra work assignment on Sunday.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/04/CA20CAM20challenge_zpsdncfkjt0-1.jpg

[Chad-1stGen]

Okay, I've been slacking on keeping this thread updated. However, there has been plenty of SCCA autocrossing going on in SoCal!

Since my last update I've attended:
CAM Challenge 4/30-5/1
CalClub SCCA practice day 5/14
San Diego SCCA autocross 5/15
San Diego SCCA autocross 6/5

CAM Challenge West
I was pretty stoked with the turnout at the CAM challenge. CAMT was the largest group of the three classes with 25 cars that competed! You can check out the results of Saturday here: http://cdn.growassets.net/user_files/scca/downloads/000/014/684/2016_CAM_Challenge_Saturday_Final_Results.pdf?1462 135938

The Sunday shootout results are here:
http://www.scca.com/events/1982796-2016-california-cam-challenge

Some pics I found someone took of some of the CAM challenge:
http://hotrodhotel.net/media-2/scca-cam-challenge-aaa-speedway/nggallery/page/1

You Sunday shootout finalists here:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Brett with the 99 Mustang on the left was the overall shootout winner.
Mary Pozzi was the Saturday CAMT winner.

[Chad-1stGen]

CalClub Practice day 5/14
I'm definitely digging going to these SCCA practice days. I get a good number of laps (usually at least 12 laps) and so far folks have been super friendly, so I've gotten some great ride along instruction and gotten to ride in some pretty sweet cars too.

Michael and I have hit a few of these events together now.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/06/8709449970D54A9EB4E8A450728340C1_zpsm3mt-1.jpg

The below pic sequence is pretty cool. I had someone riding along multiple laps with me and they kept yelling at me for lifting at a kink in what was otherwise a straight away. This is the result of not lifting. Car whipped around faster than I knew what to do with!
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/06/3B808103A6B340BDA78B16EE46C8E4FA_zpsjakl-1.jpg

[Chad-1stGen]

San Diego SCCA autocross 5/15

I believe this was a record turnout for CAMT or at least a record turn out for a CAM event that I've attended. We had 16 drivers in CAMT which is awesome for a Sunday SCCA championship day! Despite the course being on the SE lot it was actually a lot of fun.

With 16 drivers plus family and friends we had plenty of bench racing and good eats happening in the pits.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/06/FBC9A4769943408F966438DDA7522DF1_zpsezq4-1.jpg

This is the closest finish I've ever had. Richard, gave me a run for my money! We also got to do fun runs at this event. I did 6 more runs for $10 and dropped another second off my best time.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/06/3BC1954732084328AD04FD5D00EBB2AC_zpsvrs5-1.jpg

[Chad-1stGen]

And another San Diego SCCA autocross yesterday, 6/5

We had another great turn out with 11 drivers yesterday. The course was very tight and favored grip and nimbleness far more than horsepower! Maybe due to the fact that there was a Bernie Sanders rally happening at the stadium that day we were limited to a smaller area than normal. We were also treated to rally goers just walking across the middle of the course...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/06/F4D1C426C9454BBEB9D7397BEF23F302_zpshrz3-1.jpg

CAMT cars everywhere in the hot pits!
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/06/2C1F4AA04815440C98DA00B5FCC74132_zps9cib-1.jpg

With my 6 thousandths of a second win the event before I was watching Richard closely this event. I was the 2nd one up so after finishing my fourth and final run I got to watch the other 9 CAMT drivers try to take out my best 56.2 time. Richard was struggling to get a clean run but I saw him come across the lights on his last run with a 55.7 and I felt the taste of defeat! Sadly, the run was a DNF.

Kevin with his big Chevelle swapped to new tires and lower control arms and was back at this event with a vengeance. His last run was his best and jumped him into 2nd overall, which is the best finish I've seen him do at an event! Bry also hit the podium at this event.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/06/ECEF018C7C6043329BC72A0C0C3A33DE_zpsukyw-1.jpg

This weekend (6/11-12) is the next SCCA socal autocross and it is at El Toro! El Toro is one of the funnest places to autocross in socal!
Sign up here: http://solo2.motorsportreg.com/

[Chad-1stGen]

Another great SCCA outing this past weekend with Cal Club. Man I love running at El Toro. Since I drive about 90 miles to get to the San Diego events and 60+ miles to get to the Fontana events it sure is nice having an event less than 20 miles away but even better are the big and fast courses they can make at El Toro. There aren't other places in SoCal that allow these types of courses.

I went to the practice day on Saturday and the Championship day on Sunday. Sunday was originally going to have 6 drivers in 5 cars in CAMT but Efrain discovered a wiring harness gremlin that morning and Evan's crew chief and partner in crime had a family issue crop up so they both weren't able to run. Efrain came out and got to see some of the action though. Overall we had a good mix of all three classes of CAM cars with a total of 13 drivers.

A buddy brought his Daytona replica and ran CAMS with it for his first ever autocross. He has wheel to wheel racing experience on the road course so it was fun seeing his first time on the autocross course.

The old school muscle at the event.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Andrew with the 69 Camaro was trying his first SCCA course ever. He had previously done GoodGuys and Hotchkis. My wife also drove for only her second time ever autocrossing.

Some of the CAMC cars
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/06/452C158862554320A0FA0975E4A466DE_zpsdzo8-1.jpg

And the times for the three CAM classes.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/06/9F06D0CD7BFE484396D679510C38AF14_zpsozst-1.jpeg

The CAMT and CAMS crew just couldn't hang with the CAMC guys. Despite a first place finish in CAMT I couldn't help but feel I wa off pace compared to where I usually run against the CalClub CAMC cars. My wife was pretty happy to be in the same realm of times as the novice CAMT and CAMS drivers. Andrew had a 68 second run per the digital clock on his 3rd run but the announcers claimed he needed to do a rerun which he didn't hear and so he didn't get an official 3rd timed run.

I didn't get a pic of his vette but Tom drove up from San Diego and was even nice enough to let Richard codrive when Richard's ignition switch in his 68 Vette went out. I haven't heard how Tom feels about Richard beating him in his own car though... :warning:

The next Cal Club event is 7/10 and the next SDR event is 6/26!

[kjchristopher]

How come more than 6 of us were able to participate with CalClub this year with no points card? I attended 4 events with CalClub this year with no points card. It also doesn't make sense to say a points card is required when they have the whole 6xx number policy for those without a points card.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point about a points card being required?

Old question, but I'll answer for clarity. Points card gives you rights to permanent number and allows you to earn points towards the year-long class competition. It is not required to participate in an event.

I should add, it has been nice seeing the contingent show up and running the events. Beautiful cars. I sold my 68 Barracuda before there was really a place to play with it.

[Chad-1stGen]

Old question, but I'll answer for clarity. Points card gives you rights to permanent number and allows you to earn points towards the year-long class competition. It is not required to participate in an event.

I should add, it has been nice seeing the contingent show up and running the events. Beautiful cars. I sold my 68 Barracuda before there was really a place to play with it.

Thanks for clarify the points card question KJ. Also, thanks for all the work you do for CalClub so us CAM guys can come out and play!

[Chad-1stGen]

Catching up on recent events.

7/10/16 CalClub El Toro & SDR Qualcomm events recap

For Sunday 7/10/16, I ran what I've been calling an Autocross Double Header. I had so much fun at the practice event the Saturday before that when I got home Saturday evening I decided to try and compete in both the CalClub event at El Toro and then drive to San Diego and compete at the SDR event at Qualcomm.

It worked! To make it happen CalClub let me move my work group and SCAT in SDR let me check 45 minutes after they closed and my run group was lined up in grid already.

Stats for the day:
210 - miles driven
8 - auto cross laps driven
7 - miles of autocross driven
2 - cones hit
2nd - place in all of CAM out of 12 at El Toro
1st - place in CAMT out of 13 at Qualcomm

Here is video of my best lap from each event back to back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzQIP_fKlmw

- - - Updated - - -

7/31/16 recap

For overall CAM this is one of the better turnouts we have had at Cal Club and a nice mix of all three classes with 6 CAM-C drivers, 2 CAM-S drivers and 5 CAM-T drivers. The course was fun but was not favorable towards high HP cars as there just weren't any good spots to really put the pedal to the medal. It was a nicely flowing course but really required finesse on the throttle. This was also the weekend before COTA and my last chance to get some practice so I attended both the Saturday practice day and Sunday champ/points day.

It was great to have Ian S. drive his Mustang up from San Diego to run with us at El Toro and supporting the Cal Club CAMT class

CAMT cars in the pits.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/08/E1AB985492B9440D84E3DCA6D1167A15_zpsopev-1.jpg

CAM taking over grid!
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/08/AD08A0559D094855ACFF2E7AD52BE608_zpsxqx7-1.jpg

Sadly Chad H. who owns the beautiful 69 Mustang in the above pic snapped a throttle cable early on so he wasn't fully able to enjoy the day.

CAM results for Sunday
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/08/DEEC8A7B06F747E49E02D10AC5A839A3_zpsli40-1.jpeg

I managed to get the win with 1st in CAMT but my heavily heat cycled Falken's were really struggling. I was way behind Greg and Chris in CAMC. Right after this event I swapped to my fresh Falken tires for driving to and completing in Optima at COTA.

I didn't end up uploading video for this event as I was too busy getting ready for COTA as soon as the even ended.

[Chad-1stGen]

8/21/16 CalClub El Toro recap

And this past weekend I attended another Saturday practice and Sunday champ day with CalClub at El Toro.

We had one of the best CAMT turnouts at CalClub of the year with 6 drivers showing up. It was great to see Arlo try his first SCCA event and course and he picked a great one to attend. This was the last CalClub event before the national solo championships in Lincoln Nebraska in September so the course was a national level course that flowed very very well and was a ton of fun.

Efrain, Kevin and I are becoming regulars at these events which is great and in addition to Arlo we had his friend Joe try it out and Richard bringing up his Mustang from San Diego.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/08/2091B07FBF0C4364A1F1CAA1C1DBBA1C_zps7oso-1.jpg

Overall we had 10 CAM cars, 4 CAMC and 6 CAMT, which I believe might be the first time in a while that CAMT outnumbered CAMC in CalClub. I managed a first in CAMT and 2nd overall from all CAM cars. If I can get within about 2.5 seconds of the Brett's 99 Mustang aka Modzilla I'm doing pretty well. Especially since he had just recently upgraded to custom JRI shocks in preparation for Nationals.

Efrain got some payback on Kevin who beat him at the last event to take third place while Richard had a solid lock on second place.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/08/FAEB1DD4E43E46BFB21391DFE1B41BF9_zps8oyw-1.jpeg

Here is the video of my best run on this super fun course

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3MQI0QC7E4

[Chad-1stGen]

We had the final Cal Club SCCA autocross of 2016 this past weekend. Cal Club autocross events are quickly becoming some of my favorite driving events to run the car in.

Overall we had 10 cars run CAM. 4 CAMC and 6 CAMT cars.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/12/DFEBD8B847B748E890EED14AA77128BE_zpsxkf3-1.jpeg

In the CAMT class we saw Kraig make his first Cal Club event and a tight race between second and fourth place. This was Danny's first event with his fender flares and fat 315 Rival S tires. He closed the gap nicely compared to past events.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/12/633ACE0CE522438197C140CEE622D7D6_zpsovzl-1.jpg

The best part of my Sunday was placing do high in the PAX index. PAX is a handicap system that allows you to compare completely different cars to each other. I was the highest finishing v8 powered car and my first ever top 15 finish at Cal Club (out of 151 drivers that day).

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I found out about Cal Club at the end of 2014 when I got my V3.0 build of the Camaro completed. Searching around on the 2014 results there was *nobody* running CAM. I did my first Cal Club event in the second half of 2015 and have been trying to spread the word on how fun these events are. I'm excited that for 2016 almost all of the monthly events had solid CAM participation. We also had several folks buy points cards and run for the season championship. Due to the historically low participation all three CAM classes are combined for season points using PAX. I ended up second behind the CAMC national champion. I'm hopeful that 2017 will see more people signing up points cards and running for the season championship in all CAM classes.

[Chad-1stGen]

First event of 2017 is this weekend (1/15)! Forecast calls for sunny weather with highs in the mid 60's. 13 CAM cars are signed up already.

Sign up here: https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/autocross-sunday-13-hosted-by-e-board-auto-club-speedway-scca-socal-solo-ii-848585

The following weekend will be the first event in San Diego too.

[Chad-1stGen]

I posted two posts related to the first Cal Club event. An event specific recap here: https://www.scca.com/posts/1982662-record-cam-turnout-for-cal-club-s-first-autocross-of-2017

And here is a post about the rise of Cal Club CAM (https://www.scca.com/posts/1982662-record-cam-turnout-for-cal-club-s-first-autocross-of-2017) on my blog.

Below is an action recap:

The first autocross of 2017 with Cal Club is now in the books. This past Sunday we enjoyed the famous Southern California weather with a perfect mix of sun, temperature and wind. And with nearly 10% of all class competitors being CAM cars we also enjoyed (as once announcer put it) "the sound of America!"

AutoXandTrack has predicted that 2017 will see the rise of Cal Club CAM autocross.

Headed into Sunday 17 competitors had signed up and to battle in CAM. As Sunday dawned 15 of those competitors threw down on a fantastic and fun course from first time course designer Adam Tarnoff. CAM-T saw the largest turnout with 10 drivers followed by CAM-C with 5 drivers.

With a number of newer Cal Club drivers and one coming from as far away as Utah expectations were high for a fun and exciting event. And in the case of that Utah driver, aka Jordan Priestley of JDP Motorsports, he came all this way and his bad to the bone 2016 Camaro developed a mechanical issue. This proved to have a big impact on the competition as Michael Cuthbertson offered a codrive seat in his beautiful blue 1968 Camaro.

The CAM-T Action Recap

CAM-T was home not only to some awesome old school muscle cars bellowing out that sweet v8 music sound track but also to some incredibly competitive racing! Each time Chad Ryker came across the finish line he took first in CAM-T. Unfortunately for him, Jordan Priestley’s runs immediately followed and he reclaimed the lead. Each of the four runs saw Chad and Jordan swapping the lead for first place and battling hard with lap times dropping .3-.6 seconds each run. Jordan prevailed and took first place with a .198 second lead.

First place wasn't the only close racing in CAM-T. Michael Cuthbertson ended up solidly locking in 3rd but as he did his runs at the end of the heat the focus was on the next four competitors. It was hard to say who was going to end up in positions 3-6 as for a time less than 1 second separated these four compeitors and they kept switching ranks. The final standings had Tom Kamman and Efrain Diaz rounding out the top five spots.

As a neat aside, using the PAX index CAM-T cars made up 4 of the 5 fastest V8 powered cars in the whole Cal Club event.



The CAM-C Action Recap

Ranks and positions were also being swapped around in CAM-C. Four Mustangs squared off against a single Camaro with Kevin Largent taking the early lead in his 2008 Mustang. However, Don Gonzales shook off the "second place silver" moniker and came back with a vengeance to ultimately take first place. Don secured his lead by a little over one second lead over Kevin's second place finish.

And video from the event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3MQI0QC7E4

Next event is 2/19