Trackside-Suzy
10-18-2016, 06:35 AM
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_5D31327_zpsedrpaagv-1.jpg
Here I sit Monday morning after the Bowling Green Kentucky Goodguys – also known as the Nostalgia Nationals – feeling:
Happy
Sad
Grateful
Tired
Anxious
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
I imagine that several of my autocross friends are feeling the same. For many of us, the season is over; we will not be making the trek to North Carolina next weekend, nor will we be heading to Scottsdale in November. I say this not to gain pity. I say this because it is a true statement of how much we rely upon the excitement and friendship that the autocross family brings to our lives. And if you're not going to miss weekend escapades of cone-chasing, then you're doing it wrong.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D23515_zpsbfwaarmm-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D23547_zpsnturh36f-1.jpg
Bowling Green, Kentucky is home to the Beech Bend Raceway Park, one of my favorite places to attend a car event. Rolling hills, big shady trees, lots of spectators, parking on the grass, brand new paved race surface and happy friends, are all reasons to love racing at Beech Bend and this weekend was no exception. Added to the excitement of autocross, Beech Bend has a drag strip so there is always the chance that you'll punch the throttle, heading for the checkered flags at just the same time that a nitro funny car goes bumper-up off the line at the green lights - making you appear just the right kind of bad-ass.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D22767_zps7gzit0ez-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D22796_zpsitdmaueq-1.jpg
This year John and his team at Goodguys set up a challenging course that was different from any course I can remember ever running at a Goodguys. For those few of you who have been running in California out at Marina, this course was similar to those that we ran with UFO. This track was challenging, tight with lots of turns, lots of back-to-back hair pins and keyholes and lots and lots (and lots) of cones.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D22233_zpswd1ctpq7-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D22579CR2_zpshcssctvb-1.jpg
Added to the maze in the middle was a banked sweeper to the finish that required another gear to avoid the rev limiter, but had a ton of run-off that enabled drivers to carry a lot of speed through the finish. It was fun (as a driver) to see how early you could get the throttle pegged in the back sweeper and still get through the timing only a little sideways; some pulled this off better than others.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D22760_zpsypqeiv1w-1.jpg
Instead of k-rails, Beech Bend has cement half-walls that can be intimidating when you’re full throttle towards a wall, only to stab the brakes and make a hard left or right turn, but in true Goodguys fashion, these make for a special kind of passenger reaction.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D22814_zpsw6pl079b-1.jpg
Friday’s runs were good, starting with sunshine and a warm track but seemed to slow down significantly as the day progressed. Approaching rain clouds cooled things down and reduced speeds quite a bit. Overnight the rain dumped pretty good and doused the track, preventing the Saturday-start until midday. The track was seeping water from an underground drain of some sort and required a change in the back sweeper (making it faster from what I could tell).
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_5D31344_zps88ilma2g-1.jpg
A track change meant that Friday’s runs could only be considered practice and all timing started over on Saturday to keep it fair for the folks who weren’t racing on Friday. The delay of game meant that there would only be a half-day of runs to come up with a winner. Goodguys generously offered to run until 7:00pm to give participants a chance to get in more runs. I personally cannot thank John, Tim, Carrie, Sue and the rest of the team enough for the twilight runs, that’s a lot of hours to spend taking care of us!
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_5D31332E1_zpsz4vt8y4u-1.jpg
Eventually, the race had to end at about 6:30 due to the track just not being well-lit enough to continue safely. I was reminded again of a track in California, that we ran a few times at night – where lighting was an issue, but never stopped us from racing (pretty sure it wasn’t safe. At all. But, it sure was fun!). So, for all of you who’ve run Adam’s Motorsports Park at night, the back corner of Beech Bend’s circle track – near the entrance to the drag strip/tower – is officially known (by me) as “Pepper Tree Corner”. Hopefully, a few of you giggle at the reference.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_5D31337_zpstrhonblr-1.jpg
The end of racing meant that it was time for Camp Autocross and the Low Country Boil. This weekend also meant cake and singing for our biggest supporter Danny – a friend of (the other) Tim Strange and all around great guy and master of the Low Country Boil. [For those of you who don’t know, we have two men named Tim Strange at the Goodguys autocross out here in the East. We have Tim Strange the announcer and Tim Strange the driver of the wicked flamed Camaro. We affectionately refer to the Camaro driver as ‘The Other Tim Strange’.]
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D23371_zpsegvkvqwk-1.jpg
Danny riding shot-gun with (The Other) Tim Strange
Sunday was met with a lot of fun runs (for those of us in the old cars), sunshine and, of course those ever-important: fastest-runs-of-the-weekend-that-don’t-count. Thanks to some other events that allow the newer cars, I’ve found that I have friends in the Sunday race too which brings a neat new element to sticking around for the full weekend.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D23329_zpsda2yvoew-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D23357_zpsyrflhcfi-1.jpg
So back to the beginning:
Happy – I drove well and loved hanging out with my autocross family.
Sad – I might not see most of these friends until next spring.
Grateful – I get to drive one of the coolest cars with the absolute coolest friends.
Tired – Three days of adrenaline is exhausting.
Anxious – How on earth am I going to survive the winter?
While many/most of you have Charlotte, Pleasanton, Scottsdale and Vegas to look forward to, those of us in the middle/South will wait anxiously for pictures and results in order to finish out the season vicariously. Happy Fall y’all!
Special thanks to our friend Alan Anderson who came all the way from Australia to hang out with the autocrossers and take a ton of pictures. If you don't see your car in the gallery, [link below] shoot me a DM and I probably have shots that didn't get posted.
A full gallery of pictures can be found here: http://s385.photobucket.com/user/protouringdotcom/Bowling%20Green%20Goodguys%202017/story
Here I sit Monday morning after the Bowling Green Kentucky Goodguys – also known as the Nostalgia Nationals – feeling:
Happy
Sad
Grateful
Tired
Anxious
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
I imagine that several of my autocross friends are feeling the same. For many of us, the season is over; we will not be making the trek to North Carolina next weekend, nor will we be heading to Scottsdale in November. I say this not to gain pity. I say this because it is a true statement of how much we rely upon the excitement and friendship that the autocross family brings to our lives. And if you're not going to miss weekend escapades of cone-chasing, then you're doing it wrong.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D23515_zpsbfwaarmm-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D23547_zpsnturh36f-1.jpg
Bowling Green, Kentucky is home to the Beech Bend Raceway Park, one of my favorite places to attend a car event. Rolling hills, big shady trees, lots of spectators, parking on the grass, brand new paved race surface and happy friends, are all reasons to love racing at Beech Bend and this weekend was no exception. Added to the excitement of autocross, Beech Bend has a drag strip so there is always the chance that you'll punch the throttle, heading for the checkered flags at just the same time that a nitro funny car goes bumper-up off the line at the green lights - making you appear just the right kind of bad-ass.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D22767_zps7gzit0ez-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D22796_zpsitdmaueq-1.jpg
This year John and his team at Goodguys set up a challenging course that was different from any course I can remember ever running at a Goodguys. For those few of you who have been running in California out at Marina, this course was similar to those that we ran with UFO. This track was challenging, tight with lots of turns, lots of back-to-back hair pins and keyholes and lots and lots (and lots) of cones.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D22233_zpswd1ctpq7-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D22579CR2_zpshcssctvb-1.jpg
Added to the maze in the middle was a banked sweeper to the finish that required another gear to avoid the rev limiter, but had a ton of run-off that enabled drivers to carry a lot of speed through the finish. It was fun (as a driver) to see how early you could get the throttle pegged in the back sweeper and still get through the timing only a little sideways; some pulled this off better than others.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D22760_zpsypqeiv1w-1.jpg
Instead of k-rails, Beech Bend has cement half-walls that can be intimidating when you’re full throttle towards a wall, only to stab the brakes and make a hard left or right turn, but in true Goodguys fashion, these make for a special kind of passenger reaction.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D22814_zpsw6pl079b-1.jpg
Friday’s runs were good, starting with sunshine and a warm track but seemed to slow down significantly as the day progressed. Approaching rain clouds cooled things down and reduced speeds quite a bit. Overnight the rain dumped pretty good and doused the track, preventing the Saturday-start until midday. The track was seeping water from an underground drain of some sort and required a change in the back sweeper (making it faster from what I could tell).
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_5D31344_zps88ilma2g-1.jpg
A track change meant that Friday’s runs could only be considered practice and all timing started over on Saturday to keep it fair for the folks who weren’t racing on Friday. The delay of game meant that there would only be a half-day of runs to come up with a winner. Goodguys generously offered to run until 7:00pm to give participants a chance to get in more runs. I personally cannot thank John, Tim, Carrie, Sue and the rest of the team enough for the twilight runs, that’s a lot of hours to spend taking care of us!
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_5D31332E1_zpsz4vt8y4u-1.jpg
Eventually, the race had to end at about 6:30 due to the track just not being well-lit enough to continue safely. I was reminded again of a track in California, that we ran a few times at night – where lighting was an issue, but never stopped us from racing (pretty sure it wasn’t safe. At all. But, it sure was fun!). So, for all of you who’ve run Adam’s Motorsports Park at night, the back corner of Beech Bend’s circle track – near the entrance to the drag strip/tower – is officially known (by me) as “Pepper Tree Corner”. Hopefully, a few of you giggle at the reference.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_5D31337_zpstrhonblr-1.jpg
The end of racing meant that it was time for Camp Autocross and the Low Country Boil. This weekend also meant cake and singing for our biggest supporter Danny – a friend of (the other) Tim Strange and all around great guy and master of the Low Country Boil. [For those of you who don’t know, we have two men named Tim Strange at the Goodguys autocross out here in the East. We have Tim Strange the announcer and Tim Strange the driver of the wicked flamed Camaro. We affectionately refer to the Camaro driver as ‘The Other Tim Strange’.]
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D23371_zpsegvkvqwk-1.jpg
Danny riding shot-gun with (The Other) Tim Strange
Sunday was met with a lot of fun runs (for those of us in the old cars), sunshine and, of course those ever-important: fastest-runs-of-the-weekend-that-don’t-count. Thanks to some other events that allow the newer cars, I’ve found that I have friends in the Sunday race too which brings a neat new element to sticking around for the full weekend.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D23329_zpsda2yvoew-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2016/10/_7D23357_zpsyrflhcfi-1.jpg
So back to the beginning:
Happy – I drove well and loved hanging out with my autocross family.
Sad – I might not see most of these friends until next spring.
Grateful – I get to drive one of the coolest cars with the absolute coolest friends.
Tired – Three days of adrenaline is exhausting.
Anxious – How on earth am I going to survive the winter?
While many/most of you have Charlotte, Pleasanton, Scottsdale and Vegas to look forward to, those of us in the middle/South will wait anxiously for pictures and results in order to finish out the season vicariously. Happy Fall y’all!
Special thanks to our friend Alan Anderson who came all the way from Australia to hang out with the autocrossers and take a ton of pictures. If you don't see your car in the gallery, [link below] shoot me a DM and I probably have shots that didn't get posted.
A full gallery of pictures can be found here: http://s385.photobucket.com/user/protouringdotcom/Bowling%20Green%20Goodguys%202017/story