CT area events?

[Turbo T]

At the end of this month, having fulfilled my commitment to Uncle Sam, I'll be heading home to a little farm town in Connecticut after 5 years. While my car won't really be ready for any remotely serious thrashing for a few months, does anything happen in CT? What I mean is, when I left, it seems about the only thing anyone ever did was "cruise" the Berlin Turnpike. I can and will do some research of course, but to get me pointed in the right direction, does anyone know the deal on CT auto-x events, or even if there are Lime Rock open track days or anything like that? Thanks...

[Dr.Olds]

Hey man, I'm not sure how far you are from Bristol, but there's a group called Connecticut Autocross and Rally Team (CART) that holds Autocross events every other Sunday all summer ( I think from May to October or something like that). I live in Danbury, and there's alot of regular car cruises in the area almost every night of the week. Then there's the dragstrips which are all 2-3 hours away, we've got Lebanon Valley, Atco, and Englishtown. Limerock's not too far from me either, they do open track days every now and then I believe. Where in CT are you?

[Turbo T]

I'm headed to Ellington. Yeah, don't feel bad, no one else has heard of it either. Ellington's at least a good 20-30 minute trip from anywhere worth going, and in most cases, much worse. The shore is an hour away, Boston's an hour away, NYC is a couple hours away, etc. Oh wait, I forgot... I'm sorta near Six Flags New England, kind of. :bsjerk:

[Dr.Olds]

I have actually heard of Ellington, just wasn't sure exactly where it was, nice touch with the map! Seeing as you're towards the top of the state I would guess Bristol would be like 1-2 hours for you, it's about 45 minutes to an hour from me in Danbury.

[Dr.Olds]

I just saw your sig has the SC&C G-5 listed there.....do you have it on your car? I've been thinking about doing that since I found out about it and would love to hear some first hand experience with it!

[ponchopwr70]

I'd like to know if there is any auto-x events. I live up in northeren R.I. close to putnum ct. I just started putting my sc+c stage 2 kit on and waiting for my brakes.

[Turbo T]

Definitely no G-5 on this turd yet, I'm still rocking the 20 year old everything on this thing, suspension-wise. But I figure if I'm going to do the suspension at all, I might as well do it once, and do it right the first time (and hey, how 'bout some C5 brakes too, right?). From what I've seen and heard, SC&C is the go-to company for our cars, and I haven't seen anything close to that price anywhere else for what you get. I don't mind spending some coin when it's going to make such a dramatic improvement.

[sunkistcamaro]

Hey guys I live in Portland, CT.
Let me know if you go up to LimeRock, my car is not ready but I'd like to see some racing.

[YoungGun]

Welcome Neighbor!!!!!

I live in Somers, right next door. I will post tomorrow with some of the local events! I am going to bed early haha.


Tim

[Dr.Olds]

I'm only an hour away from Limerock, so I'm planning on getting up there over the summer a few times, not sure if I'd actually run the car or just go watch. But like I said, the main autocrosses that I've seen in the area for me are in Bristol. Check out www.cartct.com because they do open track days too, I would love to drive Limerock with the GN. I'm definetly looking at the G-5 too, with the same train of thought, do it once and spend a little more up front to get a killer setup. The Vette brakes are definetly a plus as well. I think Englishtown runs autocross events a few times throughout the summer as well, and they've got a roadcourse now too, so that might be a possibility too! I'll keep you guys posted if I come across anything else, I'm always on the lookout for something to do in the summer!

[RobM]

im up for some auto X in bristol thats less then 30 mins from me

[Turbo T]

I'm really interested in seeing the Monterey Historic cars if/when they come through Lime Rock; IMO the godfathers of pro-touring/g-machines. I was lucky enough to be stationed in Monterey a few years back, but unfortunately, I was never able to catch them at Laguna Seca when they came through there. I did, however get to see Parnelli Jones' old Orange TA Stang (#15?) sell at the annual auction in downtown Monterey for somewhere around $325K with a spare motor, 4 sets of rims/tires, and some other stuff.

They were storing all of the winner cars in an adjacent parking garage, and when the new owner pulled the car in there, while he drove down a couple of levels, looking for a spot, you couldn't hear ANYTHING. Open headers with nasty echoes. When he finally killed it, the rumble was replaced with the bleating of about 300 car alarms.

Wow YoungGun, Somers!? Who'da thunk it? I could start my car up and you'd probably hear it. I live on the Somers side of town "up the hill" from Route 83, about 2-3 miles from where 83 and 140 intersect.

[Turbo T]

Dr. Olds, just curious, have you been up to see Jack Cotton for any kind of work on the GN? I'm probably going to head there when I get the car back in 1 piece for a tune. This thing kind of fell into my lap, and I had to jump on it to get price I did. The problem is, it changed hands twice right before I got it, so I've had no luck tracking down the owner that did the majority of the engine/turbo work, and I'm the only one of the last three owners that had any idea of what it really was besides "fast". On top of that, the turbo is a mystery within itself.... all the numbers that could tell me what it is have been mysteriously filed off(??). All I know about the size is what I can see from the outside. I've been too busy on other stuff to tear it apart and start measuring, but I think I'll just wait til a pro gets his hands on it.

[68sixspeed]

From what I was told the auto-x in Bristol is off this year- the current owners of the old New Departure (now Firstone and others) don't want the liability risk or something along that line.

Limerock- talk to ProBell (Randy) on this site, he has a lot of info on the BMW track days, I did one with my vette and had a blast, I'm planning on more this year, and maybe with my '69 once it's together but before paint!


Turbo-T- welcome back and thanks for your service! You might want to stay clear of the pike- it's been nothing but trouble the last few years, the rice grinders and crotch rockets caused a bunch of headaches and ruined it for everyone. About the time you bring any real HP down , it's flashing lights.

I think the 2 best weekly cruises are Mark's in East Granby on Monday nights starting in May (wet field pending) www.markscruisenight.com - they get 400-800 cars; and also Saturdays at Marcus Dairy in Danbury. Once it gets to 'that' season, www.specialinterest.com has a good listing of local cruises and shows.

There are some real good events through the year too- Torrington, Bristol, and Manchester all do special events where they close down Main St. for a Friday or Saturday night and usually have good turnouts. -Dan

[Dr.Olds]

Dr. Olds, just curious, have you been up to see Jack Cotton for any kind of work on the GN? I'm probably going to head there when I get the car back in 1 piece for a tune. This thing kind of fell into my lap, and I had to jump on it to get price I did. The problem is, it changed hands twice right before I got it, so I've had no luck tracking down the owner that did the majority of the engine/turbo work, and I'm the only one of the last three owners that had any idea of what it really was besides "fast". On top of that, the turbo is a mystery within itself.... all the numbers that could tell me what it is have been mysteriously filed off(??). All I know about the size is what I can see from the outside. I've been too busy on other stuff to tear it apart and start measuring, but I think I'll just wait til a pro gets his hands on it.

I have not had the car up to Jack Cotton's or anything like that yet, my GN is all stock right now except a shift kit that was in it when I bought it. Cotton has checked out my dad's GN before, but nothing too serious, he keeps that one more for show. I'm waiting till I get some extra cash (I'm still in college) to really rip into the car, so I'm doing the cheap and effective upgrades right now, like the frame braces and stuff like that. We've got an Autocross this weekend at my school (Penn State), so I'm pumped to run the GN and get a baseline performance run finally. As for car cruises mentioned in the previous post, Marcus Dairy is a great one to go to, I live about 10 minutes from there, so I'm there every Saturday. If any of you guys ever make it down to that cruise let me know!

[Turbo T]

I hear you on the budget thing. I was in the Army for the last 5 years, which is not much better than minimum wage when you work out how many hours we put in per week (being unemployed now isn't helping much either). It's very frustrating trying to fix problems with that kind of cash flow, nevermind starting to mod (and doing it right). Turbo Regals (and G-bodies in general I suppose) are now in that limbo period where the factory has discontinued almost everything and no one's making any quality reproductions yet. Have you tried buying a new grille and/or headlight bezels lately? You'd better have a cool grand in your pocket. They're painted plastic for [your preferred deity]'s sake! You'd think they were made of Stage IV Carbon Fiber-Impregnated Adamantium or something for those prices.


The 2nd Gen F-bodies are starting to shine, though, so I can't complain too much. I've got a pair of those at home awaiting resto and mods. The G-bodies will get their turn.

[NOT A TA]

I went to my first "track day" at Lime Rock a few years ago with a group know as SCDA. Websearch will give you their schedule. They offered driver instruction with experienced racers as in car instructors and classroom teachers. It was really worthwhile even though I had track experience running 1/4 Midgets as a kid.

N.A.S.A. is olso offering HPDE (High Performance Driver Education) at new england tracks starting this year. HPDE events allow you to get track time and are run in a similarly to the SCDA. In NASA you can enter HPDE 1 with other new guys and get classroom/in car instruction. As you get better reviews by instructors on other track days you can move to HPDE 2-3-4 before qualifying for a competition license. There are also "crash course" weekend events to get competition liscense at substantialy more money.

Porsche club also runs events for any car to join in but I haven't been to any.

The day starts with an early morn drivers meeting then classroom session followed by on track session. You alternate between class and track all day with a short break for everyone to eat lunch The racers practice and race while you are in the classroom then ride with you during your track sessions. All the instructors I've had with both groups have been very good. Typicly they are teaching you the "line" for the track while in car and driving theory in the class. The last event of the day are the feature races your instructors are in and you'll be able to watch.

You can use your own car as long as it will pass tech. Sometimes using a regular car allows you to learn new/different things to help you be a better driver. I actually used a Cobalt 4 cyl auto rent a car at Road Atlanta one weekend because my car was apart. I had a great time with it!!! By the end of the weekend I could drive almost the whole track with the gas pedal mashed into the firewall ! Actually lapped a full race Cobra and a race prepped Saleen just by being smooth through the turns and catching up to them which requires a "point by" in HPDE 1-2. They're not allowed to pass back in the next straight !!! LOL

Now the bad part, Lime Rock always seems to be one of the most expensive tracks on the East coast. Track days are usually about 200-400 per day which includes all instruction etc. I'm noyt sure how much Lime Rock events are this year. If you want to go sign up waay in advance as HPDE 1 always sells out at every track.

You will come away at the end of the day a much better driver both on and off track. You don't have to go any faster on track than you're comfortable with. It's a great experience you'll never forget

[Turbo T]

I really wanted to make it to Road Atlanta while I was down here in Augusta, but the Army is essentially one scheduling nightmare after another, nevermind in my field. Roebling Road was also a popular spot for HPDE-type events and track days, and there were pretty regular auto-x events in Charlotte, NC. Unfortunately, I didn't make it to a single event, not even to spectate. Sad face.

[ProBell]

Good to see all the local people.
I run at Lime Rock with 2 BMW clubs. It is one HE-- of a good time.
Had my first track day already. It was cold but lots of fun. If you plan to run at LRP you should try to sign up as soon as possible. You can sign up for most of the events at http://www.motorsportreg.com/. As far as I know most of the events their sell out early. I have signed up for 5 so far.
Their are a few other tracks that are not that far away, Watkins glen NY, Pocono PA,and Louden NH. I have run at the Glen once. It was a blast till I got my first stripe from the blue bushes, but do plan to get back their some time soon.
I want to plan a PT cruise to On Track Karting this summer. It is a big indoor go cart track in Wallingford CT. I thought it would be a good way to get some of the CT people together an beat on some go carts.
Randy

[68sixspeed]

good reminder... I just signed up for the oct-19 event at lime rock.