Stop&TurnFreak

L8, WOW! I too hate the way they get crispy, and then hurt in your nose. It is the sand. However, I use this stuff called 'paper', rather than going bareback like that.

L8APEX

Flattering. Simply Flattering.

Bigpinekey

It was good seeing the RX8 contingent in their usual place in the paddock. While I was out with my student in HPDE2, time after time you guys passed us like a bad burrito. We were in the beige '78 Corvette. I'd see the gold 'Stang coming like a freight train and then the RX8 would blow by us . You guys did a good job.

I elect L8APEX as the Pit Out Boss of the year. His arm signals were motions NBA refrees/MLB umpires would die for. I particularily liked the spinning arm with the other arm pointing out. I think you might be starting a trend. You can copyright that as the Windmill Out signal. You did a great job!

L8APEX

HAHA, the windmill was my lets get going at a fast pace signal. The visibility from Pit Out down the straight was really bad, and the window of opportunity for those leaving the pits was small. But it seems like it worked at getting the attention of drivers, they usually seemed to step it up with that signal.

Phlash

I got in a little after 1:00...damn, what a drive......

The carivan down Friday was nice......we hit quite a bit of stop and go traffic and a nice little storm so we got to the track a little later than we hoped, but it all worked out. We ate at Gus's Friday night, good grub.....

Saturday, we all got the the track early, set up the EZ-up and did the usual morning stuff. I had control of the track Saturday......The entire morning went to hell fast......we only had one session that did not require a tow of some kind......damn, nobody could stay on the damn track, no matter what group they were in.....then to top it off, during the Thunder race in the afternoon, a nice little storm set up with all sorts of lightning....my corner workers started leaving their corners.......so based on weather reports we were getting form the west (where the storms were coming from), after the thunder race, the last two hours of the day were cancelled.....that bummed a few out to say the least. Sunday, Eric had the track.....it was one of the quietest radio days I have ever been a part of......until the Thunder race. I was in the start tower...at the drop of the white flag during the thunder race, all hell broke loose on the radios.....we had cars tie up, stall, go off track and start fires (second fire of the weekend...more on that in a moment). We had one tow vehicle and all this was happening all over the track. Eric (RC at the time) had to request that corner calls be halted until he had the chance to call corner to corner because they were coming in so fast and often. Lightning races went well. Both races Sunday were standing starts. They started well, went four wide through turn one and spread out.....good races. I don't recall the Thunder times but the lightning winner was running 1:51's......in a civic....he was flying.....We were able to combine groups one and two Sunday and were able to get the track time back for the folks that lost it Saturday......that made a lot of folks happy.

As for our guys.........well, all our drivers had an awesome weekend. TA2, learned more about brakes jobs this weekend than he cared to, and set 14 on fire with his flame throwing front brakes....(nice)......something just not right about front brakes throwing foot long flames......;0)......Lego was quick as hell....TA was fast and consistant as he always is, Howard (DCNSX)was quick and looked great on track! Congrats to the folks that got moved to HPDE3.....you had a hell of a weekend and it paid off...now TA can have some company. L8 and I got to lead some spirited touring laps.....cool track....I'll drive it next time....somehow......

Thank you to you all once again for a great time. I have made some great contacts and friends at these events and continue to sponge up information from all of them and from all of you. TA, thanks for the tread man! DCNSX, thanks for allowing me to take the wheel of one of my all time dream cars for a while. TA2, I am so glad things turned around for you and the brake issues. Lego, you looked really good out there this weekend, keep it up! L8, You were great on pit out....thanks for the company on the ride out and back, it's been a long time since I laughed that damn hard.....probably not a good thing to do while driving....

Can't wait to see you all again in a month......PEACE!

Phlash

LOL that's funny as hell, I don't care who you are....Thanks for the compliments......it was great seeing you again as well......

L8APEX

Yep, the weekend was great. A late start on Friday did not cost us as much time as I thought it would, Phlash got to remember why he lives in Chattanooga, and why 6 Speed manual trannies are no fun in rush hour. The Executive Inn, well, I did not see any executives, barely an employee, no ice, a few burnt our light bulbs, and apparently they don’t believe in turning on the A/C for your room before you get there. It had to be 90 degrees in the room when we got there at 10:30 Friday night.

Saturday was fun, it is pretty cool to hear all the behind the scenes things that make a NASA weekend take place. I have a new respect for the people that organize these all the time. Working Pit Out was fun, got to see al the cars, close up, sometimes really close. I learned a lot, like don’t say red or black on the radio. I thought people were just being uppity in the sticks, using the word crimson all the time, I could nto figure out why they didn’t just say red. Then I was reminded that red flags are bad, no need to confuse anyone. So it should be crimson and midnight. It will take me a while to get used to that. Touring laps on Saturday were fun, big thanks to TA for letting me drive his car for touring laps. CMP is on my list of places I have to drive now, it is a very nice layout, very technical, and looks like it would be a lot of fun at speed.

Sunday was good, apparently I got a little more sun than I thought, kinda red today. Sunday was a long hot day, spent out in the sun, but it sure beat spending it at work. I am looking forward to working the event at RA, despite that desire to be out on the track.

Lego, congrats on being signed off in DE2, and being promoted to DE3, that is awesome, folks all weekend talked about your driving, you were flying out there on Sunday, and looked like you were having a blast, trail braking through 1.

The drive back was good, phlash, that XM radio Comedy Channel made it a lot easier, I have not laughed so hard in all my life, I think I am more sore from that, than anything else all weekend. I am glad you made it home safely, I know it must have been a long ride from I-20 to Chattanooga solo.

All in all it was a great weekend, and for the record, for what it’s worth, it is impossible to put a finger up your nose to the first knuckle, not sure what I was doing, but I can assure you, there was no gold digging.

If you have any pictures, post them up in the Georgia Forum Gallery, I made a new album for CMP in the Driving Schools section.

On to RA, rotor on guys!
-L8

TrackAddict

I was going to post last night (or early this morning) and after typing in a few sentences I got wise and decided that bed beckons. I got home shortly before midnight and after a needed shower I had to catch up on news from the old country. I did enjoy Legos pictures. Thanks man!

The weekend was great as usual with the fantastic camaraderie of friends, old and new. Thanks to everyone who was a part of the event.
Phlash - great to see you again! I think you did a great job managing the track over the weekend. You did catch a fair bit of $h!t for Saturday but you can't run an event with corner workers. I only missed one session and by the end of session 2 on Sunday I felt like I had a full weekend. Plus, everyone got as much track time as they could handle. Enjoy the tires. Thanks for taking them off my hands. You already know how well those babies grip. I miss their performance but I think driving on street tires will not impact my enjoyment even though it will impact my speed. Tires do matter y'all.
L8PEX - thanks for your hard work in the sun. Nary a complaint. I think you handled pit out excellent. Sorry for almost running you down when you wanted me to stop until I could get out safely. Just know that if I was to hit you, I would really feel terrible about it. Letting you drive my car for touring laps was my pleasure. I am glad you got a chance to see the track from the left seat albeit not at speed.
Lego - once again, nice driving. You looked fast out there. The unofficial times further prove it. I must have missed that you were moved up to HPDE3. I hope that means you decide to drive RA in August so we can run together. If not RA, then Roebling but why not both? Life is short, play hard! But be careful, you really don't want to go to hell for those thoughts you were having...
TA2 aka FireStarter - we heard that CMP is hard on brakes but no one mentioned it is quite that bad. Nice job on your trial by fire! I am sure you will soon be in HPDE3 too. I am glad you got all the track time you wanted this weekend. I bet your were exhausted when you finally got home after all that went on Sunday. Looking forward to RA!
DCNSX - great meeting you and spending some time together. The NSX has such a classic shape and it looks fantastic on track. The picture says it all! I hope we meet up again at some point at some track. I am sure I'll be returning to CMP...
Big Pine Key - well it didn't work out to get a ride with you this weekend. It seemed like I was in class when HPDE4 was running and you had it packed up for your 4th session Sunday. I hope I can get out with you at Road Atlanta.

As for CMP, I found the track quite challenging. Although it is not too hard to pick out the general line around the course, it is very hard to get it just right where you can find maximum grip and avoid unsettling the chassis. This is a course I could really spend some time on building speed. I wasn't finding the speed right away. Instead I had to slowly build it up feeling out what I could carry through the various sections. I want to go back and work on it. This weekend I did very little sliding. I concentrated on being nice to my tires and not over driving the car as I have the past 2 events. I had no spins or crazy moments except a few brain fades. Once I totally missed the line around the carousel as I was driving in my mirrors as a car was approaching me from behind and I was more concerned about letting him by then following my line. Another brain fade was at the kink where I totally butchered it on the first lap as I wasn't focused. Nothing bad happened either time but it helped to kick me in the pants to focus on what I was doing. I had a great weekend. thanks to everyone for everything.

Stop&TurnFreak

Ok, now I am ticked. I should have come down and run with the TTA boys. I saw the winner turned at 1:51:35. I was running in the 1:51's on RA1s the weekend before in the heat. In a morning session, with the 255's Nittos, I should have been good for a 1:49:00, bigger and grippier than my street RA1's. I wish I could have been there to give Jody some competition.

UGGGHHHH!!! Oh well, there is always Road Atlanta.....

Bigpinekey

I was on old 710's. I had a new set of shoes sitting on the trailer just in case, but I wasn't going to waste them unless I needed them.

When I was there in May with NASA-MA I was in the 1:48's heading for the 1:47's. Those numbers this weekend could only have been obtained in the 1st session, but as you know, the first session doesn't count in TT, which I think ought to be rethought by NASA during hot weather.

I only ran 2 sessions on Sunday since I was instruction and spent almost all day in someone else's car and I couldn get enough liquid in me.

There was a STI there running TTU, but he broke early in the day and I didn't see him out again.

See you at R/A in August!

Stop&TurnFreak

Yeah, the heat at CMP is horrible. I was loosing up to 3s per lap when the track got hot. That is why I thought, if the track were cool, and the Nittos sticky, I could do a low 49. The car running the engine setup I am getting (hopefully) last weekend went a 1:45, on the same chassis setup, but with a 'touch' more HP (400whp).

TorqueAholic

Had a fantastic time, drove so hard, set the place on fire.. It was great hanging out with all of you guys and the drive up and down was entertaining with the walkie-talkies.

Looks like the Falkens are pretty much cooked so I'l have to figure something out for RA.

Big thanks for the hospitality at the RX-8 tent and the tools / pit crew for the Brake jobs..

Could'nt have done it without y'all.

legokcen

Here are some more pictures. I'll put them on the GA site album as well.

L8APEX

cool pics, thanks for posting them. Thankfully no more questionable ones either.

L8APEX

once he puts them on the GA forum Gallery, you can get the full high rez ones there. Just an option.

DCNSX

Great to meet everyone. Had a blast- CMP is a great track- very technical and lots of fun. Took me a while to learn it, though. Looking forward to getting Azenis on the NSX soon- I won't pass NC inspection without new tires (rationale to convince fiancee of need for new rubber )

Looking forward to seeing everyone at VIR sometime. Thanks for letting me join and get into the "clubhouse". Without that awning, we woulda been fried !!

legokcen

I'm starting to slowly add the photos to the gallery. I've got a few of TA and TA2 already there. I've got a 127 to upload, so it'll take a while, unless you all just want the RX-8 ones.

Stop&TurnFreak

I would like to see them all, but I understand time for you track ***** is at a premimum. Looking forward to seeing you all in Road Atlanta.

L8APEX

I did that yesterday. it looked somethign like this:

Hey Bill,

I just wanted to take a minute to once again thank you for your support, your banners, and your contributions to paying for our EZ-Up. Our group really appreciates it, and will continue to show our support for Grassroots & Classic Motorsports. We got good compliments and inquiries into the GRM/CM flags this past weekend at CMP, and were proud to tell the whole story. I also wanted to share the links to our Gallery for those last two events. CMP was a smaller turnout for us, due to a conflict in schedules with a Panoz event at Road Atlanta, but we had a very good turnout at Roebling.



Enjoy.

http://garx8club.com/phpBB/modules.p...view_album.php

http://garx8club.com/phpBB/modules.p...view_album.php

DCNSX

Lego- where did you get the track map of CMP ???

L8APEX

actually, I got it from the CMP website, and thought it woudl be good to have it in the gallery, as reference for those that had not been there.

Phlash

http://www.carolinamotorsportspark.com/tracklayout.htm

Phlash

Pictures from Jan:

http://www.nasa-southeast.com/pics/2...Jan/index.html

L8APEX

^^in those pictures, there are a coupel showing that I ACTUALLY did have to do some work.

Phlash

I have some more here:

http://www.geralds.net/CMP/CMP%20-%2...9,%202006.html

I am messing with learning how to post and size on a Mac so you can't blow them up much, but I'm working on that....