Streets of Willow - SpeedTrialUSA event - July 5, 6 2008

[autobahNESSA]

Again? Yep! Streets of Willow with SpeedTrialUSA July 5 and 6.

It's another cheap one! $130/day or $210/both days.

July 5 - Counterclockwise
July 6 - Clockwise

This one is filling up FAST!!! Intermediate is just about all filled up, so get your forms in people!

Here's the link: http://www.speedtrialusa.com/index1.html

Last time was a good one, but this time should be even better!

Attendees for July 6:
1. Steve S14 - Steve - S13 hatch
2. Autobahnessa - Vanessa - S14 zenki
3. Sr20detman - Vatche - S13 coupe
4. tacotacotaco - John - S13 hatch
5. azndummie - Mike - S14 kouki
6. 95nissan240sx - Emmo - S14 zenki
7. Pearl - S14 zenki
8. porkybmx - Ty - Fd3s

anyone else??

[S14SwimShark105]

stop going to these events!! go with nasa!!!!! lol

[autobahNESSA]

LOL, sorry STUSA satisfies me

[DreamN]

If I have the cash I'll attend. Aaron (racepar1) said good things about the last one.

[UNITEDMASTER]

Originally Posted by S14SwimShark105

stop going to these events!! go with nasa!!!!! lol

Is this sarcasim,I dont know!!!

Hello, please do elaborate. Im a NASA member also but I would like to hear your explanation as to why NASA is better,have you ever run with STUSA? Are you in a HPDE group or a race group.Personally Im not all that thrilled with/about NASA the racing is well eeehhhhh,the atitudes are unbeleivable. This is just my expirience & I have done quite a few HPDE days with them.

Looks like the whole Irvine crew is coming out!!!! Nice. Put me on the list I will most likely go for both days,why dont you guys just do both days,it really doecnt cost much more IMOO. SEE YA THERE

[S14SwimShark105]

hey unitedmaster, yeah I am with NASA,I run with the hpde group, I'm not saying it's better or not, from a lot of people I heard it sucks until you get into the racing. I just wanted more 240sx people to show up, you know, just cause I'm usually the only 240sx at any track event I go to haha Any why not go to the NASA events? Same price pretty much as any other track event and each track event you go to you get to work towards your racing license which is what I am going for.

I would totally go to this event but I signed up for the buttonwillow event on the 21st and 22nd for nasa already and have no money left!!

and yeah it was sarcasm haha cause last time i missed a speedtrials event when all the 240's went too so i'm sad haha

[autobahNESSA]

I really want to join NASA but I thought the price difference was pretty different, please let me know if I'm wrong! This is what I think: you have to pay an annual NASA membership fee (couple hundred bucks or something) and then on top of that you have to pay for each track event (another couple hundred bucks).

[racepar1]

NASA membership is only like $45 a year or so for a single membership. I MIGHT go, but I would have to flake out on another event to do so. Since my dad's racing his atlantic car at cali speedway the same weekend as the event I would have to flake on I my just do that. It's only on the balcony autocross anyways. If I do go it will be for saturday only.

[S14SwimShark105]

haha yeah the NASA annual memership is like 44$ and each track event is $155 dollars, if you do a 2 day event side-by-side it's $260 dollars so it's a pretty good deal if you go for 2 day track days. They don't run streets of willow though so that sorta sucks. NASA socal usually run Big Willow, and Buttonwillow the most I think.


Man this rep system is ridiculous, who freakin negative repped me saying "HUSH YO MOUTH", freakin retarded haha did i say something offensive or bad? please tell me what i did wrong so i can fix my life to cater to your needs........

[racepar1]

Ok dammit since everyone will be there sunday I'll take the heat from my wife and go sunday if I go.

[ronmcdon]

whoa, this event's filling up pretty fast for Sunday. 10 spots left on 1st intermediate grp as of sun, jun 08. 2nd intermediate grp's already full.
anyhow, just signed up for Sunday. will be there in my lancer. 2-day event for $210 seems like the better deal than the 1-day $130. how many of u guys doing a 2-day?

kinda ot, but I'm thinking about getting a transponder (timing unit) that'll work with speedventures, redline, nasa, and speed trials usa. I've spent over $100 this yr on renting track timing. I don't need anything fancy. I just need something that does the job, is accurate, and reliable. hopefully also able to withstand some abuse. anyone have any suggestions? tia

[azndummie]

this event looks like its going to be fun. i guess hopefully ill get a confirmation email this time.

[autobahNESSA]

^ Hopefully you don't want to go surfing this time!! :P

[autobahNESSA]

Hi Drivers:
You are confirmed for the July 6 Sunday at streets of
willow.

SWEET!!!!! Post up if you got your confirmation! I was worried for a sec.

[UNITEDMASTER]

Originally Posted by ronmcdon

whoa, this event's filling up pretty fast for Sunday. 10 spots left on 1st intermediate grp as of sun, jun 08. 2nd intermediate grp's already full.
anyhow, just signed up for Sunday. will be there in my lancer. 2-day event for $210 seems like the better deal than the 1-day $130. how many of u guys doing a 2-day?

kinda ot, but I'm thinking about getting a transponder (timing unit) that'll work with speedventures, redline, nasa, and speed trials usa. I've spent over $100 this yr on renting track timing. I don't need anything fancy. I just need something that does the job, is accurate, and reliable. hopefully also able to withstand some abuse. anyone have any suggestions? tia

Im gonna most likely do 2 days,as far as timing get the AMB transponder its like 350 bucks, but it is whats used at all race tracks,buy it once & your done.

The registration page is not working for me ,I tried to register today,I will try later.

[racepar1]

Speedtrials had transponders that you can rent for $20/day. That's what I did last event. If you are going to go to a lot of events though it is better if you have your own. What the hell is wrong with speedtrials though? They don't accept paypal!!! I mean seriously, what the hell!

[ronmcdon]

Originally Posted by UNITEDMASTER

Im gonna most likely do 2 days,as far as timing get the AMB transponder its like 350 bucks, but it is whats used at all race tracks,buy it once & your done.

The registration page is not working for me ,I tried to register today,I will try later.

that's expensive! (lol, j/k, I'm just poor)

I was actually looking at this 'long acre racing' bare-bones unit; $240 that has lap timing, display, and 60 lap time memory. figure it'll pay for itself in 12-13 track days or so. It's really all I need. Maybe a video-camera would be nice (I could try duct tape my cell-phone to the dash).
Only makes sense to buy stuff like that if you go to the track often. these days, i do so once a month on average, so i guess its not a bad investment. they also sell parts invididually, if certain components gets damaged.

http://www.longacreracing.com/catalo...d=275&catid=10

[UNITEDMASTER]

^^^^ for that price I would suggest the entry levle AIM unit its like 300. It has a much better display,can store over 1000 laps,you can download it to PC,comes with a much better beacon,& if there is someone else at the track with a AIM beacon you can get split times also. Its called the AIM TG light,check it out!!!!

[ronmcdon]

Originally Posted by UNITEDMASTER

^^^^ for that price I would suggest the entry levle AIM unit its like 300. It has a much better display,can store over 1000 laps,you can download it to PC,comes with a much better beacon,& if there is someone else at the track with a AIM beacon you can get split times also. Its called the AIM TG light,check it out!!!!

is it this unit?

http://www.aimsports.com/store/produ...products_id=28

looks good actually. i like the large display and the option to download and store info on your computer. do you have any personal experience with it?

Unless you also have to get a transponder separately, I think it's a fair deal. thanks for the rec.

my apologies to the OP for going off-topic.

[UNITEDMASTER]

Hello ,thats the one. Yes I do have experience with it ,it is in all of our clients Spec Boxsters.The other little black box is the transponder,its included,we generally mount it to the bottom of the windsheild. The beacon (small white box) is also included if you buy it direct from AIM, I have seen other companies spliting it up to rip you off.


Any body else going to this event !!!!!!

[azndummie]

Originally Posted by autobahNESSA

^ Hopefully you don't want to go surfing this time!! :P

LOL i always want to go surfing theres no getting around that

[racepar1]

I am going to shoot for both days, I should be able to register this weekend. I will run in the advanced group like I did last time though. It is soooo nice to not be stuck in traffic all day. I'll probably run with the intermediate guys in the last session of each day though. It's fun to work through traffic for one session.

[UNITEDMASTER]

Hello people , unfortunatly Im not gonna make this one. Its for a good reason though car is geting a new motor. Its something a lil outside of the box , with good reason. This motor has no valetrain ?????HMMMM!!!!

[racepar1]

Unfortuanetly I can't make it either, too broke! I have actually decided to be mature (somewhat) and stop going to the track untill I get my finances in order. The somewhat part means that I will still spend some money and a LOT of time on the car, which means it will be faster next time out! I wanna get myself set-up so that I can go to the track once a month or so next year, which means that I NEED to get my bills paid off in full. I will probably still hit two more events before the end of the year though. I wanna go to the speedventures event on the cali speedway roval course in november and I wanna go to buttonwillow sometime too.

[autobahNESSA]

what! and what! We'll miss you two, but see you guys out there soon better than ever

[racepar1]

Making halfway mature decisions sucks! Oh well. at least the car will be faster next time out.

[ronmcdon]

see you guys at the track tomorrow. I am broke too, but I choose to irresponsible (thank goodness for credit cards).
I will be in the lancer. damn 240 broke down this week.

[ronmcdon]

just got back, and honestly I will say this was the worst run event I've ever participated. I ran with group C intermediate. I am not that fast of driver, but I kept on getting stuck behind traffic say 70% of the time.

supposedly it was passing on the straights only. my main gripe was the lack of reinforcing passing rules with the intermediate grps, and the high number of cars on track easily 25 or more at times. A lot of the participants were also driving extremely recklessly imo.

We had lots of road hogs who wouldn't let ppl pass ( I recall the black S13 coupe from the D-grp were blocking me and a mob of cars behind), and traffic piled up horrendously. many drivers in the rear would freqently get impatient, and pass recklessly without any signaling (a prelude and burgundy vette came to mind). nobody would get flagged off, or even been told they had done something wrong after the run session.

Actually the 1st and 2nd run in the afternoon were getting to be more enjoyable, as ppl left, the run grps had more a more reasonable number of cars. Maybe 12-16 cars, but certainly much less traffic. Coincidently the cars I ran with were also very courteous, allowing me to pass when the occasion arose.

On the 3rd afternoon group, STUSA foolishly decided to grp C & D together, creating one huge grp with barely any room to maneuver. I do not know the actual # of drivers on track at the time, but I will say i got the impression it was well over 25 cars. To STUSA's credit, I think they meant well by trying to give grp C & D more seat time, but it just didn't turn out well. At times, I drove to the pits to let the traffic pass by, and it took a good few minutes to get back on the track because it was so crowded.

I tried to keep an open mind and check out STUSA, but I will say some of the horror stories are warranted. I usually run with Speedventures, and I will say that in my experience they're much more organized and safer to run with. they're not perfect, but ppl will actually flag you for holding up traffic, and/or have a word with you after the event. I won't even go into the fender-bender I got into, or the excess gravel not being taken off from so many cars spinning out everywhere. A lot of drivers today in the intermediate grps, you could tell were beginners by the way they were braking, taking the wrong lines everywhere, and the spinning. A good grp would move drivers according to their skill level, if things were out of hand.

Technically the entry price is cheaper to run STUSA. Prior they had $100 track days at Streets. Today it was $130. Still very reasonable when you consider it's a track day at Streets. Speedventures charges a higher entry price at $150 per track day at Willow. However, the $20-$50 premium is negligible considering the amount of actual quality seat time you get, have workers on track who are making sure rules are followed, and civility is insured. I am at complete ease to concentrate on my driving, working on faster lap times, and enjoying myself. To me, a $20-$50 premium for a group I feel comfortable with, is a price I'm more than happy to pay.

Also with Speedventures, the run groups really arn't anywhere near as crowded. I've done Streets of Willow 3 times with them this year, and at no time did I ever encounter the traffic I did today. The few times I did encounter a cluster of cars, I was able to drive in the pits, and get right back out for more seat time, and I got lots of quality seat time. Some things in life are not worth skimping out on, especially if it concerns one's own safety.

Of course, this is only my experience and I cannot speak for others. As I mentioned, the STUSA coordinators seemed like really nice guys. I have no doubt they did the best the best they could, but where they really need to work on is the quality and attentiveness of the course workers, and limit the number of cars on track down to no more than 20. If you must run with STUSA, I would highly recommend you only join their event, IF it's not too full.

Next, I will try Redline (actually ran with them 2yrs ago) and also NASA. Until then, I'll have to say the Speedventures has been my best experience to date, and the best bargain in terms of obtaining quality seat time, as far as HPDE groups go.

[Don Nguyen]

It seemed like there were more 240s out there than anything, at least in the Intermediate group that I was running in. It was my first track event. I was hoping to see some more BMWs, but it was still fun running with all of you guys out there.

Here are some pictures I took throughout the day, from where I was sitting.

[UNITEDMASTER]

RONMCDOM
was your group intermidiate fas or intermidiate slow. Not to bash anybody but the last time I was out there looooots of rejects in intermidiate slow,this was observerd from the pits. next time run in intermidiate FAST or ADVANCED.

I dont feel so bad now that I didnt go.