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This was a great event and I highly recommend it for anyone doing autocross or road racing. For the price of a normal HPDE day, they offer autocross and speed stop on Saturday and then road race on Sunday. With 72 cars we ran over 2600 timed laps on Saturday alone. There were lots of cool cars there and a lot of modern muscle- new Vette's, Camaro's, Mustangs, Vipers and Hellcat's.
..and of course, you had the coolest car there. All others paled in comparison.
(not that I have a bias or anything )
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I was pleasantly surprised by all the people who said really nice things about the car. In the company of cars that were there, I thought it was a nice compliment. The tech guy spent about 2x the time on my car than the ones before me, at first that was making me nervous until he said "I just love this car!" And then started talking about it. There were 5 birds there in total, 71 and 73 pro toured TA's and a '67 firebird 400 and another 78. The 73 TA won peoples choice and deservedly so, a fantastic car!
I'm going to the event in Charlotte. Any pointers you can give me for the design portion? My car is basically a race car, no carpet ect... I can put the door panels back in and install a Radio and Speakers, I need to add weight anyway. Is the 3200lb threshold with the driver or empty? Now only if BFG would start shipping the Rivals so I can practice on street tires before July!
I just ran on Saturday so I didn't go through the design portion. What they said during the drivers meeting was that if you read there rules, there was something in there that would get you at least 15 of those points. I would read the rules if you are interested in doing well in this part of the points.
They really want cars with full interiors and not race cars, there were still a lot of race cars at the event I went to. They were fast and just didn't care about the design points.
They also have a road rally part that you get a free 25 points for, you just have to make it.
Thanks for the insight, I'm going to put most of the Interior back in with the exception of the back seat and Carpet. I should have no issues with the Road Rally unless I break on Sat, I drive my car back and forth to the local AutoX's which are about 20 miles each way or so, No issues on the street other than it's loud! I even plan on driving it to the event, But I'm trailering it to Charlotte, Lucky me, my son lives next to the speedway!
Thanks for the insight, I'm going to put most of the Interior back in with the exception of the back seat and Carpet. I should have no issues with the Road Rally unless I break on Sat, I drive my car back and forth to the local AutoX's which are about 20 miles each way or so, No issues on the street other than it's loud! I even plan on driving it to the event, But I'm trailering it to Charlotte, Lucky me, my son lives next to the speedway!
You will have a great time. Is this your first USCA event- they have a first timers code if you haven't ever been before- 50% discount!
I highly recommend using the autocross or road course instructors they provide, even if you are experienced. It won't hurt to have them come with you a few laps and then if you don't feel they help, say you don't need their help anymore. It's a ton of seat time and a great experience.
They really want cars with full interiors and not race cars, there were still a lot of race cars at the event I went to. They were fast and just didn't care about the design points.
They also have a road rally part that you get a free 25 points for, you just have to make it.
I understand SCCA wants the same thing for the Classic American Muscle (CAM) class, but use the term "finished interior" instead. Thankfully, some of the local scrutineers are willing to interpret "has full dash and painted floor and roll cage" as "finished." Unfortunately, the first event for Northwest Indiana is April 12 @ Majestic Star Casino and I'm already signed up for a track weekend at Gingerman Raceway for April 11 and 12.
Yeah, I put the dash back in it and cleaned up all the gauges this winter, I even put the center console back in. I just need to close out the back seat and package tray area so you can't see inside the trunk and add the door panels. Floor and roll bar are painted. Most likely I will be an instructor, I offered it up when I registered, I'm a certified NASA instructor.
These events look like a ton of fun, and I'm thankful that organizations like this and Goodguys are exposing so many people to try different types of driving events. Car shows are boring, get out there and turn some laps!
04-01-2015, 08:55 AM
2015 Texas Optima Street Car Challenge 
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